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Old 05-15-2002, 04:14 AM
reefburnaby reefburnaby is offline
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Default Workhorse Ballasts

Hi,

Quote:
1. Does overdriving cut the bulb life down?
2. What is the worst case scenario from doing that.... a burnt out bulb or a burnt out house!?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">1. Yes. But, most tubes are designed to work up to 15000-20000 hours. In reefing, we probably turn our lights on for 8 hours a day or ~3000 hours a year. Even if the tube life is degraded by 1/2 or 1/4, we are still fine.

2. Worst case senario...burn down a house due to electrical miswire. Well, everything has risks...especially with electricity around a big box of salt water. With careful planning and proper instalation, it should be as safe as an Icecap. If anything, it will be just the tubes failing like normal tubes (blacken ends).

- Victor
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