ballast and pl light

[benkho]

would want to know if it is alright to use a 36watt light on a 40-55w ballast. would there me any safety and lifespan issues..thanks

[aquanatix]

As far as my electrical knowledge is concerned, its a yes to your question. It's perfectly ok to step down in terms of wattage as the max recommended wattage of the ballast is 40-55watts.So anything that doesn't exceed the recommended wattage is fine. I myself using a 36watt on a 55watt ballast.Not so sure about lifespan issues though as i've been running mine 8hours a day for the past 1 year +?

[Shadow]

I worry about the starting portion, 55 watts ballast for example might pumping higher voltage during the startup but I'm only guessing

[Wahlin]

I worry about the starting portion, 55 watts ballast for example might pumping higher voltage during the startup but I'm only guessing

My understanding is 55W is the max capacity. As long as you don't exceed the max capacity, it should be alright. Imagine connecting a 12VDC 5W fan to a 100W 12VDC power supply. That is perfectly ok.

[Shadow]

true wattage wise should be ok but how does PL light initially start? I'm talking about the start up process.

This is from wiki:

Low cost ballasts mostly contain only a simple oscillator and series resonant LC circuit. When turned on, the oscillator starts, and the LC circuit charges. After a short time the voltage across the lamp reaches about 1kv and the lamp ignites. The process is too fast to preheat the cathodes, so the lamp instant-starts in cold cathode mode.

The question is does the start up voltage for 36 Watts light bulb equal to 55 Watts light bulb? if yes then no problem.

There must be a reason why they did not put 18-55 Watts electronic ballast

[benkho]

so i guess its fine? or its quite inconclusive here? Bro aquanatix, you have been doing so and no problems? then i follow suit, beats buying a new light ;p

[tawauboy]

the light tube's life will be shortened as it is being overdriven.
the ballast will drive at the tube at the rated power regardless of the tube's wattage.

[aquanatix]

so i guess its fine? or its quite inconclusive here? Bro aquanatix, you have been doing so and no problems? then i follow suit, beats buying a new light ;p

As mentioned,i'm using a 36watt tube on a 55watt ballast lightset on my fry raising setup as i figured i wouldn't be using so much light. I personally have no issues whatsoever,my lights are on about 10 hours a day for the past 1 year odd? Not sure about specifics though, but so long as it works i'm ok with it