Extreme CFL Overdriving?

[Hydro-Soil]

Hey all,

After reading about overdriving flouro tubes using electronic ballasts I became curious if anyone has done the same with CFL tubes?

I'm not an electrician so I'm looking for experienced ones who've played around with this stuff before.

Are CFL's even compatible in any way with Tube ballasts?

I'd love to remote the ballast on a bunch of CFL's I've ripped apart from their own ballast. (unless the guts turn out not to like this kind of process)

Anything to remove the heat from the chamber while still getting all that flouro goodness across the spectrum.

Thanks

 

[Pig-Pen]

You can actually buy remote ballasts for plug-in CFL's.

Like these: http://www.1000bulbs.com/Plug-In-Compact-Fluorescent-Ballast/

 

[Whatever]

Something you may want to look into are products from www.icecapinc.com but have never messed with CFL's so don't know if this will work.

 

[Danksta408]

Hey all,

After reading about overdriving flouro tubes using electronic ballasts I became curious if anyone has done the same with CFL tubes?

What do you mean by "overdriving"??

 

[Whatever]

What do you mean by "overdriving"??

When they engineer stuff they leave a margin/room for error so in some cases equipment can function better by taking it to the edge a bit. The issue sometimes is not with the bulbs but just the equipment that lights it. Some equipment is built based on keeping costs down so the manufacturer keeps their products under a certain price point...which does not necessarily equate to maximum performance.

 

[bounty29]

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=51517

There's a good amount of info about overdriving floros in my thread there, if you want to check it out.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Good information guys, thank you.

Still wondering if anyone has taken these bulbs apart down to just the coiled glass and wired a bunch to any ballasts.

Are the coiled type compatible with regular tube ballasts?

Is it a different pulse/voltage or something?

 

[Danksta408]

OIC........Kinda like overclocking your computer or running a mod chip in your car to make it run better and more gas efficient, right??

 

[highallthetime]

CFL Exstream

CFL Exstream





U can get up too 6 bulbs in this one. I think there was only 1 more like it here on IC Mag

Check out my photo gallery for more photos

 

[Hydro-Soil]

OIC........Kinda like overclocking your computer or running a mod chip in your car to make it run better and more gas efficient, right??

Exactly...

The CFL's are designed to last around 10 years. I want to burn them out in 6-12 months.


The question I'm asking is whether or not the CFL built in ballast is the same type of ballast that regular flouros use.

If it is... you should be able to disassemble a number of CFL's and wire them up straight to an electronic ballast. (Keeping the ballast heat and bulk out of the chamber)

Using a higher wattage ballast should get extreme lighting out of the bulb but shorten the lifespan of it. I figure a ballast/bulb combo that has me replacing them every 12 months on average should be fine.

Make sense?

 

[Hydro-Soil]

You can actually buy remote ballasts for plug-in CFL's.

Like these: http://www.1000bulbs.com/Plug-In-Compact-Fluorescent-Ballast/

So.... Which one of these would you suggest would be appropriate for lighting up say... 4 27Watt daylight flouros?


Also... Which one would be appropriate for wiring up 8 23w and 3 27w CFL's?

I'm definitely not an electrician but if someone can show me what's what I'm very good at assembly.


What a BONEHEAD!!!

The "Plug-In" type CFL's are already set up for this...

These bulbs look interesting for Veg........ no? http://www.1000bulbs.com/36-Watt-4-Pin-2G10-Base-Compact-Fluorescent-Light-Bulbs/

They're 'Flat' CFL's

I'm curious if a 36w 4 pin plugin bulb would work with a 43w ballast like one of these.....
http://www.1000bulbs.com/42-Watt-4-Pin-GX24q2-Base-Fluorescent-Ballasts/
Or whether going with a lower wattage ballast would work.

Anyone have some extra cash and time they want to blow "In the name of research" of course.

*** Edit *** I found the ballast you'd want to use with this. They're the Fulham ballasts. Only a few dollars more for a Workhorse 8 model that runs 220watts *** Edit ***