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Anyone ever hook up a VHO to a workhorse 5 Ballast?


phisigs79

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I have 2x workhorse 5 ballast hooked up for 4x65w pcs and was wondering if anyone has hooked then up to VHO's? I looked at their website but didnt seem to see a wiring diagram for them so I thought I would ask her. I know that the ballast each have a max watts of 128w but not sure if that is what you go by.

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Chris,

I had a Workhorse 5 Ballast, but thought it was only good for one of my 110w VHO Actinic for me.

Sooo if that is correct, will only run one of your 65w bulbs at a time each. If your hooking up 2 on a daisy chain type setup, don't believe that will work. If I'm right, you can use 1 bulb per ballast and will need to get another with more wattage allowance.

Howard

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They'll work fine, I run 2x Workhorse 7 and 1x workhorse 5. The 7's run T5's, the 5 runs 2x55w PC (I believe 55w and 65w are the same bulbs, like how wall voltage is referred to as both 110VAC and 120VAC)

 

Anyway, the ballast is smart enough to run any combination of fluorescent bulbs (think of a PC bulb as a straight bulb that was bent), up to the wattage limit. They each have 2 wires on each end, and use same wiring diagram. It is also possible to overdrive bulbs with the Workhorse ballasts - I'm overdriving two 48" T5s.

 

Here is the diagram I used for overdriving; it also shows the normal way to do it. Workhorse are "Instant Start" and may have all red wires instead of red and blue.

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Steve,

If the ballast is only rated to 128w and he is using 2x65w = 130w, he won't be able to get the second bulb lit correct? The 2w difference will keep them from kicking over the second?? Resulting in constant flickering but NO lighting....at least that's what I thought?

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Howard

 

It does work; I guess the 2 watts doesn't make enough difference :) I really do think that 55w and 65w PC bulbs/fixtures are identical except for maybe the ballast. It's possible to push more wattage though any fluorescent bulb; that's what overdriving is. So maybe the 65W fixture has a ballast that pushes 10 more watts through the bulb... then the bulb would light at 55w and just burns at 65w? Or maybe Fulham (Workhorse manufacturer) makes the ballasts a bit stronger than specified. Either way it should handle a single 110w VHO (or multiple smaller ones) with no problem.

 

Steven

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anyone have two sets of vho endcaps or bulbs? I only need them to be 36 inches but 48 would work too

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