How do you overdrive a T5 bulb?

Rhodes19

Rhodes19

Active Member
Hi All,

Is there a formula used to figure out how much you can safely over drive T5 HO lights? If not, what percentages are most folks using when overdrive their lights? Some one gave me a T5 retro kit with out the bulb and I’m trying to figure out what bulb to get. The ballast is a Workhorse 2 and puts out 35W and I have end caps for one bulb. Based on available bulbs, I figure my bulb choose is a 24” 24W bulb. Next size up is 39W, which is more than the ballast out put. I want to make sure I won’t overload the 24W before I get it. My thought is to use this to supplement my 2 bulb Nova Extreme over my 29 g tank. Thanks. :)
 
Clownfish518

Clownfish518

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You overdrive a T5 bulb with an Icecap 660 ballast (4 lamps) or a 430 ballast (2 lamps)

There is another manufacturer that makes a ballast that you can overdrive T5s with, but I don't recall offhand. 99% of the T5VHO ballasts are Icecap. Workhorse won't do it

Use ATI or UVL bulbs too - some bulbs shift spectra or burn out when overdriven. These two can handle it
 
Clownfish518

Clownfish518

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48" 54w bulbs are driven to 85 watts. I think 36" bulbs 54 watts, 24" bulbs to 39 watts, but not as certain on the smaller bulbs
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

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some Workhorse CAN over-drive but it's not worth it because they only push about 10% which isn't enough to justify the change or expense.
 
Rhodes19

Rhodes19

Active Member
Thanks every one. I was hoping to be able to use what I already have for now. At some point I'll be getting some of Frankie's MH, but can't afford them at the moment so I want to use what I have.

I still don't understand how T5s are over driven though. I figure its using a ballast that produces more watts than what the bulb is rated for. But that is just a guess. Do the Icecap 660 ballasts have a switch you throw for overdriving or is it special wiring? What are the differances between the Workhorse and the Icecap 660? If I did my calculations correctly based on the bulb wattage and what they can be driven to, I figure bulbs can be overdriven by about 60%. Thanks.

Chris
 
chipmunkofdoom2

chipmunkofdoom2

Well-Known Member
I've never done this, but I don't think there's a switch. The way it works is by the ballast outputting a higher quantity and quality of power, a power level which the bulb can handle. The result is instead of having a bulb at 54w or whatever, you have the overdriven bulb at 80 watts or whatever it ends up being.
 
Frankie

Frankie

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RS STAFF
Clownfish518 said:
You overdrive a T5 bulb with an Icecap 660 ballast (4 lamps) or a 430 ballast (2 lamps)

There is another manufacturer that makes a ballast that you can overdrive T5s with, but I don't recall offhand. 99% of the T5VHO ballasts are Icecap. Workhorse won't do it

Use ATI or UVL bulbs too - some bulbs shift spectra or burn out when overdriven. These two can handle it
Click to expand...
This is exactly how it is done. With the 660 Icecap. The problem is longevity of the bulbs get banged back to about 6-8 months. I have read that people were getting up to 10 months using aggressive cooling of the bulbs via powerful fans within the canopy.

I've never done this, but I don't think there's a switch. The way it works is by the ballast outputting a higher quantity and quality of power, a power level which the bulb can handle. The result is instead of having a bulb at 54w or whatever, you have the overdriven bulb at 80 watts or whatever it ends up being.
Click to expand...
Just right Chipmonkofdoom2. The bulb(s) are over driven by more wattage.
 
Rhodes19

Rhodes19

Active Member
Thanks Al and Frankie,

I just talked with Icecap and basicly, overdriving is a function of the ballast putting out more watts than the bulb is rated for. The wiring has to do with how many bulbs you can connect to the ballast. I also called Fulham and they told me I could run a 24" 24w bulb with no problem. Just add a cooling fan. I'll pick up a bulb this weekend and see what happens. :)
 
nightfire76

nightfire76

Active Member
doing this,which would be very good in my case ,being that a 55gallons canopy is small and can only maybe fit 4 t5 bulbs which would only be 216watts and if i could over drive them by doing this then id get 340 and thats alot better,though im not even sure what corals i could keep under 216 vs 340,not that i think ill get a coral that costs 200 dollars,but even some corals that are merely 20 bucks need alot of light,so again im not sure what could be or not be kept under 216 vs 340
 
Rhodes19

Rhodes19

Active Member
nightfire76 said:
doing this,which would be very good in my case ,being that a 55gallons canopy is small and can only maybe fit 4 t5 bulbs which would only be 216watts and if i could over drive them by doing this then id get 340 and thats alot better,though im not even sure what corals i could keep under 216 vs 340,not that i think ill get a coral that costs 200 dollars,but even some corals that are merely 20 bucks need alot of light,so again im not sure what could be or not be kept under 216 vs 340
Click to expand...

Hi nightfire,

I'm no expert, but you might be able to do it especially if you use individual reflectors on the T5s. I've seen some folks on RS do it.
 
Clownfish518

Clownfish518

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nightfire76 said:
doing this,which would be very good in my case ,being that a 55gallons canopy is small and can only maybe fit 4 t5 bulbs which would only be 216watts and if i could over drive them by doing this then id get 340 and thats alot better,though im not even sure what corals i could keep under 216 vs 340,not that i think ill get a coral that costs 200 dollars,but even some corals that are merely 20 bucks need alot of light,so again im not sure what could be or not be kept under 216 vs 340
Click to expand...

You can do this with an Icecap 660 ballast. It will drive 4 T5 or T12 bulbs to VHO
 
nightfire76

nightfire76

Active Member
i understood that though the question now is,what corals could i keep under that amount of light if that is all i can pull....340 that is
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

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RS STAFF
Honestly going to IDR's will give you more "bang for your buck" than over-driving but if you're doing it from scratch and you don't mind shortened bulb life why not do BOTH!! :)
 
Clownfish518

Clownfish518

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you'll need the individual reflectors for sure. With that and going VHO, you will be able to keep most cndarians. A few of the light lovers, like Ritteris, will be out of reach but there would be very little in that category
 
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