Im taking some lights i have and taking the ballast out and building another light. What i have is four ballast two of the ballast will run a 36watt power compact and two will run 65watt power compact. So i will have a 65watt and a 36watt on one side and the same on the other. Along with my regular strip lights that are 30watts each. So it will be a total of 262watts. But my question is can i mount the ballast under the stand with just the bulbs above. Dose running a longer lead off the ballast effect the bulb lighting. Also how hot do the ballast get do i need a fan in the box that im going to make for the ballast.
building power compact light
- Thread starter kmyers18
- Start date
yote
In Memoriam
The longer you lead going to the bulbs the more amp draw you'll have.Dont ask me to explain that cause im no electrian.
You want the fan too.those ballasts do get hot,so you'll want to remove the heat with a fan.
You want the fan too.those ballasts do get hot,so you'll want to remove the heat with a fan.
bjohanson1234
.........
There shouldnt be that much extra draw from the ballast to the bulbs from the couple extra feet. I had a regular ballast underneath the tank for my old lighting system because it would overheat in the hood. Make sure the ballast is wired right and well ventilated. Also make sure that the casing is grounded incase anything happens. Also make sure that the wire splices are water prooffed and have drip legs in them. Dont want anything bad to happen :death: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Brian
Brian
yote
In Memoriam
A drip loop.Make sure that if water happens to run down the cord that there is no way it can get into the ballast or wall socket.
oooooh now i understand;-) yeah that makes since. Well i think I'm going to buy two other light also each has two 96watt 10k/act03 along with my diy lights and just get rid of the two strip lights. There just cheap regular fluorescents with 10k coralife bulbs in them. So i will have a total of 580watts. Do you guys think that will be good enough for a 125gal reef?
yote
In Memoriam
I dont see any reason it wouldnt work.
