DIY HD light not working with T8

4982 Views 13 Replies 8 Participants Last post by xtremefour, Jan 5, 2009

xtremefour

Discussion Starter · Dec 30, 2008

I have a couple of questions so please guide me....

I made my own DIY light using a shop light from HD. I went out last night and had enought money for one 48" T8 Aqua Glo bulb. When I put the bulb in only the very ends light up and my balast makes a buzzing noise. I had done some reading about rapid fire balast verse electronic balast. Mine is a rapid fire. I am assuming this is why my bulb will not light. I put a crappy regular 48" in there and it worked fine.

Question: Should I return the bulb and go to HD for some of their bulbs? I heard they had good bulbs for plants.

I heard that I could use the wires that would be for the 2nd bulb and wire it up for the first bulb so it would "overload" and I could still use the bulb i bought. Is that right? Can I just go buy an electronic balast to do both lights?

My tank is in severe need of light. I have a 75 gal at the moment with two 15 watt Aqua Glo lights. This is what was given to me when I bought the tank.

Thanks you,

Matt

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niko

· #7 · Dec 31, 2008

Haha, just 2 hours ago I played with not one but four of these 48" Home Depot shop lights trying to figure out which one works with what bulbs.

The verdict is - there is no telling!

Some worked only with 2 bulbs. Remove one and the other bulb does not work. It doesn't matter T8 or T12.
One fixture worked perfecly with 1 bulb or with 2 bulbs.

I'd get the GE DayLight 6500 or 6700 bulbs - a 2-pack is about $6 I think. Using both bulbs will work fine and the color is nice too although a little too white.

--Nikolay

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