Will a VHO ballast fire regular T12 bulbs

[weaglereefer]

Since no one has some sitting around, I was wondering if I could put some regular bulbs on the ballast and fire it up for a few seconds just to make sure it works. I don't want to order bulbs just to find out the ballast is bad. Will this blow the bulbs immediately, or what?

 

[bclark7169]

I looked at a icecap 660 ballast and t-12 lights the other day and the guy fired them up and they all came on

 

[theplatypus]

Vho are t12

 

[weaglereefer]

The ones I have here are 25w for my kitchen. Thought VHO's were 110w?

They didn't fire no matter how I arranged the endcaps. But the switch on the ballast did light up...

 

[grouper therapy]

if the bulbs are good and the ballast are as well then they should fire. vho ballast will fire regular t12 bulb just fine .

 

[weaglereefer]

From what I found online, it's good for 2 24", 2 36", or 2 48" bulbs.


I noticed one of the endcaps appears to have the wires crossed, gonna see if that matters.

 

[grouper therapy]

what type ballast brand #? i have run regular 25 and 40 watt bulbs on t12 ballast with no problems. There are a few planted tank guys that do it all the time.

 

[weaglereefer]

No dice. Tried all endcaps in all orientations and combos. Got a voltmeter but it's been about 5 years since I used it...

T12 bulbs still come on in my kitchen.

It's a Coralife Wizard, the one someone posted up here before the last meeting.

 

[hayabusa72]

I have a coralife vho ballast set-up ,it has 4 bulbs that are 110w you can borrow set-up or I will sell it to you for 30.00 which is what I paid for it on here a couple weeks ago if you want I can bring to meeting LMK thanks


they are t-12 but they all have to be plugged in for ballast to work on the set-up I have ??

 

[rbredding]

that ballast should fire both VHO and NO T-12 lamps..

the wiring is almost never the issue (as typically the wiring is both yellows to this endcap and both reds to that end cap, etc...) it's tough to get that wrong, switching the yellows with their orientation on the endcap won't change the outcome..

sounds like the ballast isn't functioning properly... take a trip to LaGrange and see if Gary's setup will fire off your ballast...

 

[weaglereefer]

It's honestly not worth the trouble. It was free. If someone wants it and wants to tinker with it I can bring it to the meeting.

 

[rbredding]

theplatypus;411380 wrote: Vho are t12

YES (but not all T12's are VHO)

au01st;411385 wrote: The ones I have here are 25w for my kitchen. Thought VHO's were 110w?

They ARE


T-5
T-8
T-12
all refer to the physical dimensions of the lamp, not the output of the lamp..

 

[weaglereefer]

Rbredding;413895 wrote: YES (but not all T12's are VHO)

They ARE


T-5
T-8
T-12
all refer to the physical dimensions of the lamp, not the output of the lamp..

Yup, aware T5 = 5/8", T8 = 8/8" = 1", and T12 = 12/8" = 1.5"

I guess I should have stated the watts in the original question...

 

[downtime89]

Are you even gettin power? do you have a test light?