Some advise needed please on which ballasts to use.

[martinclarkie]

Hello, hope you had a lovely Christmas, slightly unusual request, im trying to make to small light box to fit some collagen tube lights. I was wondering if you could help me work out what sort of ballast I would need to power the lights, the details are the following

12 tubes needed
g13 tube light t5
each tube is 15 w.
12x15 is 180w,
So does that mean I just need 1 ballast with a 180w output or does it need to be split.


I would be very grateful if you could help me out


Thanks Martin

im trying to make the same as this

COLLAGEN LIGHT BOX | eBay

 

[telectrix]

you could split down int 3 banks of 4 tubes each.

 

[martinclarkie]

you could split down int 3 banks of 4 tubes each.

Hi thanks for your reply, mate to be honest im just after the cheapest way possible, as they are such small tubes do i need a starter for them

thanks

 

[telectrix]

if you use electronic ballasts, then you don't need starters.

 

[martinclarkie]

if you use electronic ballasts, then you don't need starters.

I see yes that does make sense now, can you just have a quick look at theses ballasts to make sure you think there ok for the job, it reads it will run 4x14w bulbs

do you think it would be ok to run 4 of my 15w bulbs or do i need to pick a higher ballast output as its 1 watt short,

If i did pick a higher output ballast doesn't it blow the tubes

thank you for your replies so far mate,

 

[telectrix]

i'd use ballasts that are rated 10 -15% higher than the load. e.g. for 60watt load, use a 75watt rated ballast.

 

[martinclarkie]

i'd use ballasts that are rated 10 -15% higher than the load. e.g. for 60watt load, use a 75watt rated ballast.

i see ok then thank you very much for all your help

 

[martinclarkie]

Hi, can you please just check this before i order, im going to do as you say and split the banks up, i was going to buy 12 tubes in total and going to buy 4 of theses ballasts and connect 3x 15w tube upto each ballast, would that be ok

3AAA YZ-414EAA Electronic Ballast Runs 4 x 14w T5 220/240v 50/60Hz New | eBay

thanks Martin

 

[telectrix]

it's normal to have an even number of tubes to a ballast. not sure how to configure with an odd no. of tubes. like a lot of projects, a bit of trial and error might be in the equation before you get it spot on. might be an idea to buy just 1 ballast and try it with 4 tubes. if that runs OK, then buy another 2 ballasts. if the first is a fail, then you've only wasted 1 ballast.

 

[martinclarkie]

it's normal to have an even number of tubes to a ballast. not sure how to configure with an odd no. of tubes. like a lot of projects, a bit of trial and error might be in the equation before you get it spot on. might be an idea to buy just 1 ballast and try it with 4 tubes. if that runs OK, then buy another 2 ballasts. if the first is a fail, then you've only wasted 1 ballast.

jezzz i thought this would be quite straight forward but clearly not, just another quick question then my bulbs are expensive so would it just make the ballast fail or the the tubes too. if i did just order 1 for the moment to try would it fail straight away or after a couple of hours normally if i was running the 4x 15w tubes on the ballast which is only ment for 4x14w

thanks