T5 Ho - Will A Regular Fixture Drive It?

[Dunge]

The HO designation has prevented me from buying T5 format lamps.
Regular T5 bulbs draw about half the watts the HO do.
The housings available at Home Depot come with regular bulbs.
Will driving HO bulbs work from regular transformers?
What would be the point of a T5 standard if they were not interchangeable?

 

[We Solidarity]

I believe it will work but the spectrum will be off (more blue) and the bulbs won't last as long. I use HO fixtures with normal bulbs and it works alright...I def wouldn't waste the money putting nice bulbs in cheap units though.

 

[trippinballz]

These ballasts and lamps are all specific to one another.

4ft length t-5 (aka 5/8ths diameter)

NO (normal output) lamps and ballasts are 28 watts
HO (high output) lamps and ballasts are 54 watts
VHO (very high output) lamps and ballasts are 90'ish watts (I'd have to look/aka brain damage from takin those drugs)

Never tried powering a lower watt lamp in an HO fixture but I would guess it still uses 54 watts while only offering 28 watts of light . (It obviously works)

But to get the full lumens/watts...they need to be like/matched ballasts and lamp wattages.

light up, everybody....

 

[Dunge]

Things I hear about T5s.
I hear that aquarium supply industry has a water tight end connector for T5s.
I was also told that some housings only supply power to one end of the lamp with the other end simply jumpered back.
If this is true, I'd like to hang some two footers vertically into my canopy.

Ano of this sound true?

 

[MGRox]

I have a couple links that may, at least, provide a little bit more insight; though not an answer for you.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1743849
(This first link shows some 3d drawings of wiring for aquarium lamps that do have the waterproof caps. They are discussing "shunting" the 2 wires fed to a bulb; to a single wire)

(some talk about running a VHO on an HO ballast)

I'm pretty sure (though not looked to be positive) that FL's are fed with an A/C signal vs D/C and I'm not sure if there's a phase difference with multi-bulb balllasts; though all typically have a wires on boths ends. Many ballasts can handle running a good wire distance before needed to connect to a bulb. So, from a wiring standpoint; it should be easy to fish wires exactly where you need them.

I know with electronic ballasts; that you can run lower output bulbs fine (E.G. an NO in a VHO ballast), but I'm not sure about backwards. There was some conjecture in the second link provided and shorter life may be the biggest worry there.

The water tight connectors are nice in that, once connected; you don't have to worry about moving bulbs and having them pull out of the caps. So, that should be helpful for a vertical scenario.

hope this helps ya a little anyway xD

 

[Dunge]

Thanks MGRox.
I did a close read on those links, and am more confused, if possible.
May just need to start experimenting.
Anybody know where I can get those waterproof T5 lamp connections?

 

[MGRox]

xD ye they weren't talking specifically about what your doing and I didn't want to confuse. Heck I'm not sure why running 1 wire to an end and shunting would be any more difficult than just running the 2 wires.
Though the filament in T5's was an interesting detail there. I suppose the second link had a little value with the typical amperage for various bulb types.

Experimentation for the win! As long as they light I guess. Obviously they won't be driven at full power and at least FL's are better about maintaining spectrum over a range of outputs; so it may be down to if they last less time being under driven.

For the caps; probably the cheapest places:
http://premiumaquatics.com/products/german-cap-t5-pair.html

or

is the cheapest if you want stand-off (mounts) for some reason.

EDIT: you will love the end caps!