Gallery of Lights
The Site => General discussion => Topic started by: Matratt on January 14, 2011, 10:49:22 AM
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I just posted a pic in the Gallery of an 18watt SOX/LPS lamp working off a Fulham CFL ballast.
WH2-120-C $16.00
I'd like to try this with a 90watt LPS. The closest cheap Fulham ballast match I can find is
the Fulham Workhorse WH5-120-L. wire diagram #8 with the 3 wires together.
Do you think this makes sense?
I uploaded the specs for the light and Fulham ballast as well as the normally used L72 ballast.
The cost of those regular LPS ballasts can make them unaffordable for the average joe.
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Try a Electronic Ballast T8 instant start 32 watt 2 lamp ballast, connect the two reds together and the 2 blues together, and the 2 reds connects to the one side of LPS socket and the two blues connects to the other side of the sockets.....
That may do good for 90 watt, if it seems underdriven, try the 3 lamp electronic fluorescent T8 instant start ballast version
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Bit the bullet and ordered that Fulham wh5-120-L ballast.
Will post pics and electrical data if it works or doesn't.
that ballast will run 3 F32T8's at 0.93amps
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F32T8 is rated 0.32A, electronic use 10% lower current (for the same ballast factor, as on HF the light generation is more efficient) so it should be OK (the required 0.9A; LPS need full power even on HF, otherwise they would not reach correct temperature; so it will give about 10% more light)...
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Okay results are in: ;D
It runs well, took about 7-9 minutes to warm up.
Draws 0.78 - 0.84 amps (I put an inline 2amp fuse in just in case)
87 - 93 watts
Ballast runs cool.
I am currently running it outside for the recommended 100 hours to distribute the sodium evenly.
Will post pics in the gallery. Thanks to those that commented and gave advice
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Thats cool man! Let us know more!
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100 hour burn in went well. Didn't even melt the plastic around the twisty tie i used to secure the light to my temporary test housing.
Now...
almost done with my twin 90watt LPS bulbs inside an old waterproof 4ft fluorescent housing.
pics to follow.
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Still running strong since Feb 2011
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Ran strong for 6 months.
Moving to a permanent location now for the long term. Success!
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Well declaration of success may have been premature.
These lights ran well for about a year and a half. Six ballasts each with a 90 LPS light attached.
Now at least 4 of the six lights are fading, weak. The bulbs have a whitish color on the metal of the base and only on the downward facing side of the metal.
Swap one of these whitish base bulbs to another ballast and they burn strong as ever.
Any ideas what might be happening? Odd that they are only acting up now 1.5 years later.
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Something whiteish on the metal cap? I would expect some moisture and corrosion. Could be the contacts are not that good, or the ballast had suffered from the humidity as well...
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These lights are retrofit into a waterproof fluorescent fixture, 2 90watt bulbs per fixture each with a seperate ballast. The weird thing is on 3 seperate fixtures the corrosion looks to affect only one bulb. I will post a picture when I get the forklift out to replace the ballasts.
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This news is sad. How many hours/day were they runnning?
Keep us informed as the Fulham ballast setup remains a viable alternative to "display" LPS lamps.
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Draws 0.78 - 0.84 amps (I put an inline 2amp fuse in just in case)
87 - 93 watts
Is that lamp current or total current? (remember there will be some power used by the ballast)
Well declaration of success may have been premature.
These lights ran well for about a year and a half. Six ballasts each with a 90 LPS light attached.
Now at least 4 of the six lights are fading, weak. The bulbs have a whitish color on the metal of the base and only on the downward facing side of the metal.
I'm thinking they're being underdriven...
Remember that with T8 electronic ballasts, it won't just directly multiply the lamp current:
* wiring a 2-lamp for 1-lamp "2x overdrive" actually means you'll get between a 1.5x & 1.75 overdrive.
* wiring a 3-lamp for 1-lamp "3x overdrive" actually means you'll get between a 2x & 2.5x overdrive.
* wiring a 4-lamp for 1-lamp "4x overdrive" actually means you'll get between a 2.5x & maybe 3x overdrive.
^^this is ofcourse for fluorescents (F32T8)^^ I don't know what the results of SOX would be
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total current. These lights run at night every night.
Well the ballasts definitely all went bad. Burnt and oozing. Install date was 3/2013.
Replaced with new ballasts and the lights run strong.
I used three red wires for each ballast again.
It appears the Fulham ballast $25 is not a long term viable alternative to use instead of the normal $$$ sox ballasts.
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Ok thanks for the long-term results, however, I wonder if you had a control in the conditions you ran the 90w LPS. What is the life of a Fulham WH5 driving a fluorescent lamp in similar situations?
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No controls run.
Flourescent does not work for my application which is a wildlife lighting friendly certified facility.
I need a monochromatic light at about 589nm.
I'm just trying to do it on the cheap.
One day an affordable LED at that wavelength might work.
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Thanks for all info. But just curious, why 90watters? Is this a parking lot or a street? Wouldn't 35-55watts be wildlife friendlier?