# [Wet Thumb Forum]-ODNO lighting question



## Jookie (Sep 30, 2003)

I recently set my tank up with an ODNO system. I wired it up according to the plans I saw on other posts, and everything looks great. My plants are even pearling for the first time. The only problem I found is that one of the connections makes a hissing sound with an occasional spark and sometimes even smoke when it first starts up. Also if I take a bulb out it will make the same sound. Is this just due to the increased amount of juice flowing through the wires, or did I do something wrong? Please tell me if you have/had a similar experience, or know what is causing this. Thanks!

Your tiger style is no match for my aquarium style!


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## Jookie (Sep 30, 2003)

I recently set my tank up with an ODNO system. I wired it up according to the plans I saw on other posts, and everything looks great. My plants are even pearling for the first time. The only problem I found is that one of the connections makes a hissing sound with an occasional spark and sometimes even smoke when it first starts up. Also if I take a bulb out it will make the same sound. Is this just due to the increased amount of juice flowing through the wires, or did I do something wrong? Please tell me if you have/had a similar experience, or know what is causing this. Thanks!

Your tiger style is no match for my aquarium style!


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

No, I don't have that problem and would be pretty worried if I did!
Can you tell us a little more about you setup?
What ballast and how did you wire it?

Regards,
Mike Morrissey

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*My Digital Gallery*


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## Jookie (Sep 30, 2003)

It was just a crappy connection. I fixed it and it's working beautifully now. By the way does anyone know how many watts per gallon I have if I am using 3 ODNO t8's (48") over my 75 gal?

Your tiger style is no match for my aquarium style!


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Thats good news!
I would guess about, 175 Watts, 2.3wpg.

Regards,
Mike Morrissey

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*My Digital Gallery*


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

I'm curious to know how you chose to connect it all up, do you have the tubes in series or parallel? What ballast did you use and how many feeds are you provinding per tube? Are you running them all at 2x or more? Are the tubes or ballast getting considerably hotter than before?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm doing a little experimenting myself with different configurations and would like to hear from people who are also overdriving their lights.

Thanks
Giancarlo Podio


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

I have 2 20 watt T12(24")tubes hooked up in series and overdriven two times.
The ballast is electronic and made by Triad, it will run 4 48" bulbs.
The bulbs and ballast do get pretty hot, I think 4x OD would be crasy!
This is lighting my 20 gallon tank, glosso is growing super fast and flat.
I figure it's giving me about 60-70 watts.

Regards,
Mike Morrissey

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*My Digital Gallery*


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## Jookie (Sep 30, 2003)

I am using 3 ballasts for 4 48" bulbs and I don't notice any heat in either the ballasts or the wires. The only noticeable difference is the heat from the bulbs. I simply cut the wires about 2-3 in from where they leave the ballast on either side and use the electrical caps (trust me; use caps, not just electrical tape) to connect all the wires together. I then ran the single wire to one endcap. Repeat for the other endcap and set of wires. So basically my set up is 3 ballasts and 3 tubes (t-8's). I can say that the light comming off of the bulbs is almost blinding! I painted the inside of the hood with high-gloss white paint. This set up is all over a 75 gal.

Your tiger style is no match for my aquarium style!


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

Thanks guys!

Mike, so you are only running 2 leads from the ballast to the bulbs, is that correct? Are you combining same color leads or using two different colored leads? Ekim, if you have some lying around, try to see if using T8 sized tubes make any difference in ballast temperature. Have you noticed any significant reduction of bulb life?

Jookie, you could get a tan under that kind of light







So you're individually driving each bulb at 4x on individual ballasts. Could you tell me the ballast brand and model number?

Thanks
Giancarlo Podio


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Giancarlo Podio:
> Mike, so you are only running 2 leads from the ballast to the bulbs, is that correct? Are you combining same color leads or using two different colored leads?


Yes, both blue wires.



> quote:
> 
> Ekim, if you have some lying around, try to see if using T8 sized tubes make any difference in ballast temperature. Have you noticed any significant reduction of bulb life??


I don't think I have any T8's around but that would be interesting! 
I think most of the heat is because of they way I have it wired up...(series)

Here is a pic of how mine is wired up, except I didn't use the Red wire and only one of the yellow wires.
What are you Trying to do?

3x ODNO









Regards,
Mike Morrissey

---------------
*My Digital Gallery*


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## Jookie (Sep 30, 2003)

Yes, I am combining wires, cuz you are going to either combine or just not use them eventually. It doesn't really matter if you combine them at the endcap or before. It is just neater when using two leads instead of having a crap-load of wires on top of your hood. I'm not even using jumper wires on the endcaps. Just one wire on each end. It seems to work









Your tiger style is no match for my aquarium style!


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## Barfly (Nov 2, 2003)

What's F32t8 or F40t12? does it got something to do with the length or wattage of the bulb?

Jookie.... that'd be 4x odno right?...... wow!!

I'm thinking of doing a 2x odno. with a 1x40 watt electronic ballast for a 20 watt bulb. is that correct? or maybe a 2x 40 watt electronic ballast for 4x odno. i thought i knew, btu then i'm confused by your all the terminology.

May the pearls be with your Riccias'.


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

Ekim,
I agree, the heat is probably due to having the bulbs in series. One thing you can try is to use one blue and one red wire, this would divide the load among the two circuits that are in the ballast, it may help some. In most cases however the ballasts don't heat up a lot, just the bulbs.

Jookie,
as long as the one wire can handle the increased amount of power there is nothing wrong with combining the wires at the ballast. The wire should not feel warm, if it does you may want to run a second wire to divide the load.

Barfly,
Fxx refers to the wattage and length, and Txx refers to the type of lamp.

F32T8 is a 32W (48") T8 (1" in diameter)

F40T12 is a 40W (48") T12 (1.5" in diameter)

The T8 is a newer type of lamp, it's more efficient than a T12 so even though it consumes less power than the T12 it puts out more light.

I'm not sure which one will be better; using a higher power ballast (40W on a 20W bulb) or using multiple supply lines on a single bulb (2x20W on one 20W bulb). And there are even more possible combinations... This is what I'm trying to figure out, what the various pros and cons are to each possible method.

Thanks
Giancarlo Podio


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## Jookie (Sep 30, 2003)

I personally don't think that I would bother with 2x, cuz there isn't any drawback that I can see with 4x. The whole point is to pack a lot of light over a small area. By going 4x I use less wires and less bulbs. My plants are doing really well, and I am only using three fluorescent tubes.

Your tiger style is no match for my aquarium style!


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## Steve Hampton (Feb 13, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Jookie:
> I personally don't think that I would bother with 2x, cuz there isn't any drawback that I can see with 4x. The whole point is to pack a lot of light over a small area. By going 4x I use less wires and less bulbs. My plants are doing really well, and I am only using three fluorescent tubes.
> ...


I'm of the same opinion. I'm using a relatively cheap $20 electronic ballast Damar Item No. 3093A to overdrive my T-8 865/ALTOS lamps four times. I'm using 3 ballasts with overdriving 3 bulbs over a 75 gallon tank. The bulbs were in for 10 months and I just replaced them because I felt I should. My ballasts are very warm but not so hot that you can't leave you hand on them all the time. The bulbs run considerably hotter the NO but no hotter than PC's. Personally I've never been happier with a lighting system...simple to wire and build, very inexpensive and great results.


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Jookie:
> I personally don't think that I would bother with 2x, cuz there isn't any drawback that I can see with 4x.


Well, in that case why don't you run them at 8x?









Not everyone is looking to get as much light as possible, some people do have an upper limit they don't want to pass. Specially those with large tanks that need to cover a bigger surface area.

There is more heat to deal with and shorter bulb life, those are the drawbacks. The rest is up to you, depends how much light you want to have.

Giancarlo Podio


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