electrical help needed please.

[Cheech]

OK, So I purchased a T5 set off a friend, but I have no idea how to set it up . Worst case I'll get an electrician, but I would try getting this done sooner than later.

The ballast is a Fulham Workhorse model: WH8-120-L

here is a picture of the ballast, I bought the connectors. on the right, there are 6 red wires, and on the left, there is 1 yellow, a black, and a white.

I know the black and the whites are pos/neg, as they're already connected to the plug, and a ground from the plug's been added.


I found wiring diagrams for this particular model of ballast, and I've attatched them to this thread.



I basically want to connect 2 36" t5s, one on either side of the MH...



Any help would greatly be appreciated.


thank you.


c

 

[Cheech]

I think I'm going to try this one.

# 11 (picture uploading seems to be lagging right now)


I'll cute and tape the other 2 red wires, and see how that goes.


Should this work ?

 

[Cory Keeper]

Cheech, looks like the wiring diagrams are correct,

Red connects to one side, just remember to use one and only one wire for the two pins, otherwise your overdriving.

Yellow connects to the other side.

BTW, with AC (mains) power there is no negative or positive, only Hot and Common. Black is the Hot wire, black and white is the common.

 

[Cheech]

ahh.. Thanks Cory . . .


So 1 wire per light. . . . . That was going to be my next question.

Figure 11 has 2 wires per light. Any reason why they would have it done this way, and, is there any risk involved in overdriving the strips?

 

[Cory Keeper]

sorry cheech, I didn't see that. I'm not 100% sure why they did that, may have something to do with which ballast. Try 1 wire per side, if its dim, add the second.

There is little danger to doing a 2X OD, there is some speculation as to how much shorter the bulb life is, but no one seems to have an answer. A little extra heat might be generated but if you have a fan, no worries, go ahead and do 2 and try to OD them. More light for free IMO.

 

[Cheech]

thanks Cory . . i tried it with one, it works, not sure if I'd want to risk trying with 2. the transformer has a 220 max. output... So far, with 2 T5s, I'm only using 90. If anything I'll use the extra room for a couple more lights. ..


Thank you for your help,

 

[Cory Keeper]

No problem, I love electricity.