Putting square pin bulbs on my straight pin aqualight

3214 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by bharada, Dec 24, 2004

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Discussion Starter · Oct 28, 2004

Hi,

For those of you who had read my previous posts, i have a coralife aqualight light system and i wanted to get 8800k bulbs but the problem was that the 8800k bulbs are only available in the square pin configuration, and my aqualight has a straight pin configuration.

Despite what worries i had about having to rewire my aqualight, i ordered the bulbs and a pair of square pin configuration end caps.

So i got it today, and was getting to rewire my aqualight when i found out that i don't have to rewire it after all! When i unscrewed my Aqualight end caps, i found out that the wires are connected directly to the pin sockets, and all i had to do was plug the pins of the bulb directly to the Pin sockets! No cutting necessary! So i guess with minor modifications, aqualights are compatible with both straight pin and square pin bulbs!

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Adam

· #2 · Oct 28, 2004

Does the order of the pins matter at all? such as....

(1) (2) (3) (4)

VS

(1) (3) (1)(2) (2)(3)
(2) (4) (3)(4) (1)(4)

Or will any wire work with any pin?

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Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 28, 2004

to be honest i don't know:

given:
(1)(2)(3)(4)

i either wired it:

(1)(2)
(3)(4)

or

(3)(4)
(1)(2)

not sure, but it worked the first time, so i didn't bother testing out the other combinations.

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Rolo

· #4 · Nov 2, 2004

I wouldn't take it so fast that the wiring is correct. Many times straight pin and square pin bulbs of the same wattage need different ballast. For example on workhorse ballasts - a workhorse 5 is needed to run 2 straight pin 55w bulbs, but need a workhorse 7 to run 2 square pin 55w at full power. There is one person I know who however uses a WH 5 for square pin just fine.

I'm glad you put this up since I will be doing the same thing. Do the [::] bulbs seem dimmer however then your straight pin bulbs?

Do you know the specs of the ballast?

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Discussion Starter · #5 · Nov 2, 2004

My coralife aqualight is a 2 x 65 watt fixture. THe fixture has 2 ballasts, one for each bulb. Thats all i know about the ballasts.

The bulbs i got were labeled 55/65 watt bulbs: http://www.reefgeek.com/products/categories/lighting/103031.html

Right now i have 1 8800k, 55/65 watts bulb plugged in, and 1 6700k 65 watt bulb plugged in. 8800k definitely looks a lot better but having both on brings out the best result, but 2 of them on at the same time is too bright for my aquarium (130 watts over 20 gallons).

The new 8800k bulb is noticeably bright, but that could be due to several factors: new bulb vs 8 month old bulb, different colour sprectrums, etc...

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Rolo

· #6 · Dec 24, 2004

Today I received some 55/65w [::] 8800k from HelloLights and wired them into my 4x65w Aqualight.

I started with the wiring configuration sixty9 said but only got a buzzing bulb. Obviously you did it correctly but must have typed in the wrong configuration.

Given:

(1)(2)|(3)(4)

Do:

(1)|(3)
(2)|(4)

The vertical lines designate the separate tubes of the lamp. There are many more variations, but what not to do is cross the wires. Notice that the pair of pin connectors (1&2) (3&4) must remained paired on the same side of the verticle line. If you cross them, for example:

(1)|(2)
(3)|(4)

The bulb buzzes and won't fire up.

I also talked with Dave @ Coralife (or rather Energy Savers) and confirmed that the ballasts can properly power [::] bulbs. He said in their retrofit kits they use the same ballast between the straight-pin and square pin versions.

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