If you want to OD the floralight. I believe they have four tubes. So all you need is to go to Home Depot and buy 2 electronic ballasts for each fixture. (ADVANCE REL-4P32-SC) I paid 17.99 each for them. The thing I like about them is they are way quieter than the Sunpark SL.15's virtually no noise. They are probably quieter than the original magnetic ballasts in them.

So you are paying roughly 107.94 dollars for the retrofit.

Either that or you can replace the original two ballasts with one of the four tube ballast mentioned above and not OD it. Replace the tubes with T8's.

Here you only pay roughly 80 dollars but it will be brighter than the T12's that were running in there before.

-j-

Thanks for your reply. The Floralight has 4 bulbs driven by 2 ballasts, I believe magnetic rapid start, MagneTek 446-L-SLH-TC-P. They are rated High Power Factor, 2 F40T12's at .75A or ES bulbs at .63A.

The only ballasts I found at H-D here were the G.E. ones listed above, around $29-$30ea after sales tax, about 2x the cost of two SL15's (It would have been cheaper buying 4 shoplights than just ONE of the 4-bulb ballasts, of which I'd need 2 if I OD 4 bulbs.) The model # was slightly different than the G.E. one listed on zink's pic.

So I tore one fixture apart and rewired 2 bulbs with 2 SL15 ballasts. I wired the 2 outer bulbs and left the 2 inners the way they were. When I turn it on with the 4 used Verilux T12 bulbs, the outers start immediately, or at least quicker than the inner tubes, and 1 is definitely brighter, but the other outer doesn't seem as bright, maybe it's my imagination or eyes.

Both are wired the same way according to zink's pics--red paired to blue on each pin on 1 end and yellow on one pin & red/blue on the other at the opposite end of the tube. So:

RED BLUE YLW
-----------------------------------------------------
RED BLUE RED BLUE
The original setup had 2 jumpers from the 1 outer bulb in parallel to the other outer bulb, which I removed. It was both wires instead of just one yellow jumper wire. Don't know if this means anything.

I reversed the 2 OD'd bulbs but it still looks like the same postion is brighter. So I think this would rule out the bulbs?

Both ballasts are grounded to the fixture--actually the dimmer of the 2 has both ends fastened, the brighter just 1 nut holding it on 1 end, both have the green wires to the mounting screws/nuts.

The only real difference is I used the jumper wires I removed from the original setup (about 12" long) to extend the wires on one ballast so I could place it on an existing screw, but that's the brighter one. Maybe T8's would be different?

I still have a few questions:

Since trays get the least light at the furthest distance from the center, I OD'ed the outers. The Floralight has pretty wide reflectors, I think over 16", plus they curve down around 4" deep. Because of these reasons, that's why I did the outers. Is this the right thinking?

Is it worth the extra $17-$18 to do the inner bulbs? And if I don't get the other SL15's, can I use T8's with the original ballast?

For growing transplants from seed, which bulbs should I use? I think I have 8 Verilux T12 wide spectrum and 4 GE Chroma 50. What would be the best combo of these & T8's for growing transplants and then dwarf tomato plants in the winter? Would I use a different combo for growing the dwarf plants to fruition?

Has anyone used the new version of the H-D shoplight, I think the model # had 334 or 337 or something, instead of 904, and did they still have the SL15? The # above the barcode had SL16 instead of 15.

Thanks for anyone's/everyone's comments & help.

Mark

Try putting T8's in the Magneteks. I will guarantee the ballast will buzz loud and the tubes will flicker crazily! There aren't very magnetic ballasts that can handle T8 tubes.

-j-

Well, I ended up overdriving just the outer 2 bulbs so far, then swapped out those 2 Verilux for Philips T8 Daylight Deluxe bulbs. I'm amazed... especially when my neighbors call asking why my whole back yard is lit up like a full moon.

I posted a pic of the old 2 tier unit in the "mirrored grow room" thread; this was 2 tabletop floralights stacked above each other with the help of some plastic shelving on each end. That setup was with 2-bulb fixtures.

The new setup is a floralight 3-tier hi-intensity model with 4 bulbs per shelf. Just to see how it works, I did the outer bulbs on the top fixture. They looked brighter with the Verilux OD'd but after putting in the T8's, you can't look at them without getting blinded & seeing spots.

I wonder what my yard will look like if I do the inner 2 also. I'm on the 2nd floor and not far from the window, and all the snow in the yard is lit up for about 40 ft.

Has anybody figured out an easy way to run OD in stages? like adding another switch to the housing for either the outer two only when you need them, or by parallel wiring ballasts on switches? say, like a double throw switch to interrupt the 2nd wire to each bulb?

Mark

"Has anybody figured out an easy way to run OD in stages? like adding another switch to the housing for either the outer two only when you need them, or by parallel wiring ballasts on switches? say, like a double throw switch to interrupt the 2nd wire to each bulb?"

Yeah, well in theory that would work. Keep in mind that electronic ballasts seem sensitive to line spikes. It would be better to shut them off before throwing the switch.

When you connect or disconnect any switch, there's a momentary line spike. In fact, it's how the original florescent fixtures got the juice for their starting current.

They used to have a special switch that when you pulled the chain deliberately threw a long spark. This produced a line spike in the thousands of volts. That spike ionized the mercury gas in the tube. Without that spike, the early florescents couldn't light up.

So, you should definitely be avoiding these line spikes with electronic ballasts.

Okay, I admit it--I'm scard of fooling around with electricity. I have a four-tier, four-tube-per-tier fixture that I bought from Harris Seeds about 4 years ago. I am sure it has magnetic ballasts, but I would sure like to rev up its output. How complicated is it to change the ballasts?

ChrisAnne, see the dotted line diagram in my post above. In it, a ballast has 2 red & 2 blue wires coming out one end and a red, blue & yellow out the other end. Connect a red & a blue wire to the one terminal of the end socket, and another red & blue to the other terminal of the same socket. Then on the other end of the bulb, the yellow goes to one terminal of the bulb socket and the red & blue BOTH go to the other terminal.

You're really not playing with electricity--only after you plug it in does the juice flow, and if you wire it correctly, there's no problem. You can always ask here or post pics like Flame did right here before plugging it in!

I went with ballasts from the H-D commercial shoplight, 1 ballast for each bulb, only because 4 ballasts were MUCH cheaper ($4.46-$7.98ea) than using TWO 4-bulb ballasts (about $28ea.)

If you go the same way, see the wiring diagrams at the link below. All you have to do is remove your ballast(s) and find room for these little ballasts & a screw or bolt to anchor them, then rearrange the wires to match the diagrams and connect all the black wires to each other and all the white wires to each other (these are your power wires.) Connect all the green wires to ground/metal of the fixture.

For a copy of the original thread and some nice pics by Terry, see this url: http://www.geocities.com/overdrive_lights/?200524

Hope this helps.

Jkirk, I got a good idea on how to install the switches but not yet on an ON-OFF-ON or ON-ON switch, maybe on a four light setup to use a regular switch to turn on just 2, then an additional switch to turn on the other 2 at regular output and then flip the switch to kick in the 2nd wire? or a 2nd ballast? I would think it might be safer by turning on a second wire of 1 ballast than it would turning on a 2nd ballast.

Mark

Here is a link that might be useful: wiring diagrams

WARNING:
It may seem to be a clever and useful customization, but DO NOT put a switch on ANY wire, except for the BLACK wire feeding the power to the ballast. (The WHITE wire is the neutral, the GREEN wire is the ground)

If you place a switch on any wire coming OUT of the ballast (blue, red or yellow wires), you will be dealing with either the starting voltage (500 volts PLUS), or an inductive kickback voltage (possibly thousands of volts).

Again, place a switch ONLY on the black POWER wire, between the ballast and the plug.

Zink

And.. "Shine on, you crazy diamond" - Pink F

Zink, thanks for the warning. If it wasn't for you, this thread wouldn't be here so I'm glad you decided to pop in.

I've read just about every thread here, and all I've found was someone tried something similar and ruined their ballast I believe.

Shrubs suggested that I should format my questions in a much easier way to find them, then for sure they'd be answered by the long-time experts here (like you.)

So let me gather all my questions into one spot--here. Then it should be a breeze to answer them. Don't be shy zink... it's not like a classroom and the boy in the back's afraid to raise his hand. I know your excellent work here in the past on OD'ing and will pay attention to anything you'll share here.

1. Is there such a thing as an SL16 ballast, since the box had that # printed above the UPC barcode on the new/replacement model commercial shoplight?

2. Why does the SL15 label say (2)F40 T12 54W 1.0A instead of 64W like it does for T8's?

3. Is there an inexpensive 4 light ballast to use that's cheaper than 2 shoplights?

3b. H-D did have some 4-light electronic ballasts, G.E. model GE-432-MAX-N-IP. Will these work for OD'ing, and is this just the same as the GE ballast in your wiring diagram with a slightly different #?

4. The Floralight has pretty wide reflectors, I think over 16", plus they curve down around 4" deep. Because of these reasons, that's why I started out trying just the outers. Is this the right thinking, since the reflector's curve/angles and distance apart would throw more light [inward]like crossfire?

5. Can you please "shed some light" on ballast power factors? In othere words, a high power factor magnetic w/40w vs a medium power factor electronic w/40w bulbs, either normal or OD.

6. Keeping in mind I only have the 2 outer bulbs OD'ed but now have SL15's up the wazoo, I have 8 Verilux T12 wide spectrum and 4 GE Chroma 50 (it's a 3-tier w/4 bulbs each but just doing one tier for now, though it may help to consider what's left over to use in the other 2 tiers.) What would be the best combo of these and T8's for growing transplants and then dwarf tomato plants in the winter, and would I use a different combo for growing the dwarf plants to fruition?

7. What's the best way to run OD in stages? like adding another switch to the housing for either the outer two only when you need them, or by parallel wiring ballasts on switches?

Thank you for any info on these questions Zink, and also to anyone else who'd like to contribute. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Mark

Thinking my way through this...

Each SL-15 ballast has two circuits, each capable of running one tube.

Overdriving is using two or more circuits to run the same tube. No problem.

I guess you could gain the ability to switch from normal to overdrive by keeping splicing the second circuit in via a switch on the black wire.

I was wondering if you could get feedback from the hot circuit to the cold, but decided it would probably be okay as long as the wires are kept in the same plug polarity on the same cord.

All you'd need to switch from normal to overdrive would be a double-pole single throw switch for the black lines INTO the extra ballasts.

Or you could use four single-pole switches and be able to dial up the brightness on each tube as you please.

Thanks for replying Jkirk. I follow the switch for each light part. But let's say the fixture only had 1 bulb. How can you wire it to go from non-OD to OD? The way I was thinking was to switch (open & close) the 2nd wire to the tube, but Zink said don't.

So are you saying something like on a 2 bulb fixture, instead of wiring 2 outputs from 1 balast to 1 bulb to OD, wire them normally, THEN piggyback (parallel?) another ballast the same identical way and interupt its power by switching the black wire? or black & white? or does it matter? Then when on, you are supplying 2 outputs to each bulb, albeit 1 from each ballast instead 2 from 1 ballast?

And will the output from the first ballast travel out to the end of the bulb to light it and come back down the other wire into the 2nd ballast, the wrong direction? (In Through the Out Door?) Do you need a diode to prevent this? That's why I originally thought of interrupting the 2nd output to the bulb, but didn't realize an "inductive kickback" as mentioned by zink... though there are probably switches rated @ 600V. I don't understand that part. And has anybody measured the ballast output voltage?

Funny thing is I went to college for Electrical Technology but after 1 year changed majors to Automotive Technology and am drawing a blank on the inductive kickback stuff. I was into racing cars back then and at that time, 1 in 6 jobs was auto-related, and I went against my father's wishes, who was a TV repairman/electrician who wanted me to do the same!

Mark

Mark,

I did intend to reply to your questions, but I seem to have come down with the flu, or something worse. I haven't been this sick in years.

I will be back.

Zink

I feel for you zink. I just started to recover from the flu yesterday.

I feel okay as long as I keep taking sinus meds and don't try actually DOING anything.

I was seeding my tomato flats on Friday and even sitting there dropping seeds into sets wore me out....

I've been thinking and re-thinking this issue of switching from OD to normal.

When you OD, you have two circuits running the same tube and there's no trouble as there's no potential difference between the two circuits.

But, what's got me worried, is that if you had two ballasts wired to the same tube, and one was off, the voltage from the active ballast might bleed back into the inactive ballast.

Now, this could be nothing to worry about, if the ballasts have diode protection on their output circuit, that power can't GO anywhere or do any harm.

The diode would insure that power can only travel out through that circuit and not bleed back in.

But, I don't know. I could take apart an SL-15 and puzzle it out. I've got one that 'FSSSST' out on me.

And even if it's not diode protected, when the ballast is off, I don't really see what could go wrong. Just a little voice in the back of my head saying it's not kosher.

Anyway, the simple answer to your question would be, yes, use two ballasts, put switches in the BLACK lines powering each ballast, and use wire-nuts to combine the outputs blue-blue red-red, etc.

Although I don't see the point of doing it, really.

You could achieve the same effect as OD'ing the tubes and switching them on one by one.

Another alternative if you do not mind parting with $32 is to use the SIMKAR light fixture sold by Lowes. There are 3 bulbs @ 32 W each (T8) and they are a pretty good fit in width for a seed tray. I think you can get about 9000 lumens with 3 t8 bulbs. I do not know if you can OD them, because the ballast appears to be built into the connectors.

Mark ,

I meant to try to answer you sooner, but lost track of your post.

1) I saw the SL16 label on a box the last time I went to Home Depot. I had the box opened and saw they had the correct SL15 ballasts in them. I believe that they may be changing the style of the fixture and just used the old number and upped it by one, not realizing that somebody initially based the product number on the ballast number. Beats me. I always open one box to see if its got the SL15. Sunpark doesnÂt make an SL16.

2) The traditional T12 fluorescents were designed to use 430mA each, and use a magnetic ballast. The newer T8Âs have been designed for 265mA of current. The SL15 ballast is able to drive the old F40T12Âs, but it causes the circuitry to operate different, drawing less current than the older design normally would use. I use F40T12Âs in them, both out-of-the-box and overdriven. An overdriven fixture really lights up the older style 430mA tubes.
(Extra design info: T12HO=800mA , T12VHO=1200mA, 34wT12=460mA, 20wT12=380mA, 20w/40w slimline=425mA, and thereÂs more, each different T5 wattage has a different current design.)

3) Probably not. It is nearly always cheaper to buy a good, inexpensive shoplight and remove the ballast Especially that Home Depot one.

3b) I donÂt know. I had downloaded brochures on them from GE months ago. They may be designed differently, as they are supposed to have special features, such as automatic line voltage matching.

4) I donÂt know the fixture you speak of, but reflecting back light that otherwise would escape is always a good thing.

5) Power Factor (not ballast factor) is a ratio of the how efficiently the current and voltage waveforms match due to the circuit design. Without trying to remember how to explain it, I can tell you this  donÂt worry. Poor Power Factor normally does not cost you. It costs the electric company, unless they have special meters on your house to detect it. That is rare.

7) DonÂt try to switch in and out of overdrive. Too late for details, but youÂre asking for trouble if you do it If you are using a single SL15 to light each bulb, then put any switches on the line-side/power-side of the ballasts (black wire).

Zink

okay, the wife is going to kill me now. I just got two of the new cheap shop lights from home depot. Took one of them apart and even though they say SL16 on the box, they had the correct SL15 inside(red,blue and yellow from the one end.) So now I have to go and get some more to get some more ballasts to overdrive. Luckily I found the link above with the directions. I wish that I had found it before. Anyway, any suggestions on the bulbs that I should be using for starting tomatoes, peppers and flowers by seed? I currently have the T8 Phillips Daylight Deluxe, should I stick with these or go with perhaps a better bulb? Shrubs n bulbs and Zink, what are your thoughts, or anyone else for that matter. By the way, while at the depot, I will look to see if they sell the SL15 ballasts seperately, but that would just be too easy. Thanks all, rich

Wow...
That thread has been dead for a while... (no posts since Apr-05?)
And no one ever answered if those T8 Philips Daylight Deluxe are a good choice or not.

Any one still out there reading these posts?
Any comments on these bulbs?

Thanks

-ChrisL

Four years later people still read it! Now I wish the links with the diagrams still worked---they are all dead...If anybody still has them, please post them. Wayback doesn't include links anymore either!

@ChrisL, I have used the Daylight Deluxe for 14-16 hours/day, about 120-150 days per year since about 2004! I think I replaced 1 bulb all those years!

Has anybody tried LED tubes? Is the original thread & links still around on GW/Houzz?