lighting question

Overdriving is not hard. Quit easy actually. If you follow the link in my sig and go to the DIY section there is an article on it there. I use 2 x 32watt overdriven lights in my 75 & 90 gallons and my plants do just fine.
 
thanks, it still doesn't quite make sense to me, I do much better with photos or seeing something in person. I'm going to have to have a good look at my light strip - I thought the whole housing part was the ballast, but, looking at ballasts online, I'm guessing not. So, if I get a bigger/more powerful ballast that is meant for 2 or more lights, I should be able to use it with/wire it into my current light housing?

so confused, lol...
 
You use a 2 lamp ballast and instead of puting one live wire to each bulb you gang them together and run one bulb off it. It HAS to be an electronic ballast though. You can actually overdrive it with a ballast for 4 lamps but effeciency really drops off. 2x overdriving is all I do.
 
yes

I've not done it but from what I understand you are just wiring two or four outlets on a 4 way ballast to one or two bulbs

instead of
a===========a
b===========b
c===========c
d===========d

its

ab=========ba
cd=========dc

or
abcd==========dbca

someone correct me if I'm wrong.
 
hrmmmm, i just see a box with a red x...

I do get the whole doubling up bit. And my light strip does have an electric ballast. I just thought the whole thing was the ballast, and evidently it's not. So I'm going to have to take the housing apart and have a good boo at the insides - see how everything works. Once I have a looky-loo, I'll be able to figure out how to do an override, and if a ballast meant for two lamps would fit inside the housing I've got :) I'm not really keen to have a bunch of exposed wiring and a couple of bare bulbs dangling over my tank, it needs some sort of housing. Plus, I'll want the reflector provided by the light strip, to direct/reflect all the light down (more efficient).

Thanks for all the help.
 
WHAT DOES IT SAY ON THE LAMP (BULB)? WHAT IS THE CATALOGUE NUMBER? IT SHOULD START WITH AN "F"
THEN BUY AN ELECTRONIC BALLAST THAT WILL RUN 2, OR MORE OF THOSE LAMPS. WIRING SHOULD BE EASY, THE WIRES ARE COLOR CODED. ALSO THERE SHOULD BE A WIRING DIAGRAM EITHER ON OR WITH THE BALLAST. JUST MAKE SURE THE CONNECTIONS ARE GOOD AND TIGHT. YOUR LAMP WILL BURN HOTTER AND NOT LAST AS LONG. I ADDED A 2" DC FAN TO MINE.

CHARLES
 
You should be aware that over driving bulbs effectively shifts the spectrum toward the high end of the K scale. If you go w/ 10K bulbs (for example) & overdrive 'em, you're shifting light into the blue end of the spectrum, which is not optimal for plants.
 
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