# overdrive shop light



## Guest

I want to overdrive my shop light from Walmart.
I got every set but still can't image how I can rewire 2 power wire into 1.
I want one power wire only. How should I go about this?

It would be 2 ballast 1 power wire.


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## lohachata

i take it you are trying to either burn your house down or kill yourself.....or both....
what i know about electricity you could fit on a speck of dust....


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## Ladayen

difficult to explain. Have you been able to open up the insides and expose the wires? Are you able to post pictures?


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## emc7

The usual way to join wires is with a wire nut. But I think you are a nut to "supercharge" anything from walmart. It will have the minimum quality to meet specs. It will not have any spare capacity. Use a wire for more power than its intended for, it can get hot and/or melt. Consult an electrician or a EE. Maybe you can find one experienced with aquarium lights on a planted tank forum or a DIY forum.


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## Guest

I just got done wiring the thing. I did a search in overdrive shoplight and there was ton of info
And seem like ton of ppl used this overdrive shoplight DIY for plants grow.
Should be safe to run, bulb do get hotter so gotta watch out for that.
Can't really tell the different in the light. 

Still can't seem to get a image of wiring one ballast to the other. Maybe I need to sit n look at that thing longer lol.

Here a good YouTube vid on how to do it for ppl who think of trying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJncJmkQPtM&feature=youtube_gdata_player


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## Mikaila31

Its not worth it IMO and never will be. What little increase you get in output isn't gonna make up for the shortened life of the bulb. I build and wire a lot of my own fixtures or modify premade ones. The risks and cons of overdriving will never make me attempt it when its easier and safer to modify or just retrofit in something else.


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## Guest

its cheap and easy to do and save 30-40 buck compar to a t5.
ill give it a try and see how well this thing eat up, ill be sure to check on heat and see if it will overheat. the bulb do shorten it life time by 2x, bulb should be change every 12month.
thats all the info I got off ppl who used this overdrive t8.

i could get a ballast for $7 which i might do for some house herbs. 

the only way to find out if this thing is worth doing is ask someone who been doing it for yrs. ill try n search some more see if i can find anything about heat etc problem.

i run my light for 6hrs a day, maybe i can do 3hr on 1hr off 3hr on. just to cool the bulb down for an hr and turn it back up.


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## AquariumTech

Just get a better fixture, most people dont realize it til after the fact but most DIYs and stuff like this are pointless. Usually you end up spending the same amount of money anyways, not to mention you waste a lot more time, frustration, and SAFETY! O and I also forgot quality and ascetics to that. On top of that I also forgot the frustrations and expenses you get later down the road.


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## Mikaila31

ForMany said:


> its cheap and easy to do and save 30-40 buck compar to a t5.
> ill give it a try and see how well this thing eat up, ill be sure to check on heat and see if it will overheat. the bulb do shorten it life time by 2x, bulb should be change every 12month.
> thats all the info I got off ppl who used this overdrive t8.
> 
> i could get a ballast for $7 which i might do for some house herbs.
> 
> the only way to find out if this thing is worth doing is ask someone who been doing it for yrs. ill try n search some more see if i can find anything about heat etc problem.
> 
> i run my light for 6hrs a day, maybe i can do 3hr on 1hr off 3hr on. just to cool the bulb down for an hr and turn it back up.


Over driving a T8 isn't going to give you anywhere near the same output as a T5. Geez home depot sells normal output T5 fixtures starting at like $20 for a 2ft single bulb... just retrofit it into your hood. What kinda intensity are you trying to reach anyway? I run high tech planted tanks with pressurized CO2 and I don't have a single T5 fixture, but I don't use T8's either. Turning it off for an hour is gonna lessen the bulbs life even more. From my understanding its the on/off that effects a bulbs life the most. Shoving more current in a glass tube then it was designed to handle is a good way to kill them too though . 

About the T5's though, think wisely before venturing there. Increased light means increased fertilizers. A single so called 'compressive' fertilizer is usually inadequate at high lights. Its the one thing I really don't like about my tanks, remembering to dose every day and what the hell I dosed the day before.



AquariumTech said:


> Just get a better fixture, most people dont realize it til after the fact but most DIYs and stuff like this are pointless. Usually you end up spending the same amount of money anyways, not to mention you waste a lot more time, frustration, and SAFETY! O and I also forgot quality and ascetics to that. On top of that I also forgot the frustrations and expenses you get later down the road.


I am and always will be a fan of DIY. Its just DIY done properly.... I don't own a lot of equipment I haven't either built myself or torn apart and made better. Normally ascetics or lack of don't bother me, since I have my show tanks and my non-show tanks. While one might get a canister the other gets a sponge rubberbanded to a $2 powerhead. You don't have to sacrifice ascetics or quality though to do DIY. And as far as quality goes, from a lot of the stuff I've taken apart its hard to match that poor quality. Its just too common to find aquarium fixture that markets for over $100 and they still can't use water proof connections . This is fixture I built for my 55 years back, it will still be running years from now.


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## Guest

i rather do this then pay 3time the price for a better fixture. 
i dont like to support big chain name as there stuff r all junks anyways.
DIY is way more fun plus u learn something new. nothing is a waste of time.


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## blindkiller85

A bulb for planted tanks should only last 8-12 months. Cut that in half. 4-6 months for proper spectrum of light. Do the math here. Spend more now, or spend A LOT more over time. Cheapest T8 i could find, which will not fully support proper plant growth with "3500k" was 13.95. A 6500k T5 for 6.95, this will support plant growth in a single tank with a single light (size of tank depending). T8/12 is not good for plant growth. Because it doesn't put out enough of the proper light spectrum and doesn't penetrate the water very well at all. Lets dive in here more for cost regardless of effectiveness.

Every 4-6 months, half of the life is gone. Let's call it every 5 months, same with the regular T5 bulb at 10 months.
13.95 x 5 (hair over 2 years) 69.15 + tax. 2 and 1/2 years at 6.95 x 3 = 20.85 + tax. Difference? $48.30 + tax and a longer period of time.

Bad idea to "supercharge" a T8. We at Fish Forums are not responsible IF YOUR HOUSE BURNS DOWN. You create much more stress on that bulb. Ohms, volts, watts, amps. It's just bad. Will it work? Yes, does it improve light quality, or quantity? No. Will it keep working? It might or it might blow up, kill your fish because of the elements inside the T8 tube going in the water. Might spark when it blows as well and catch something on fire.

You said it yourself, no real difference other than heat. DIY is fine if you DIY RIGHT. This isn't. As stated before T5's chain hardware stores is a cheaper route for a more effective product that is rated properly and not "supercharged". T5's have much better spectrum's of light and can penetrate water much further than T8/12's.

Toodles.


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## emc7

Don't go overboard on lights. Anything more than 2 T8s, and you will need CO2 to avoid excessive algae. And put electricity costs in your calculations. There are 2 levels of T5 and both are more efficient at making light than T8s, which are more efficient than T12s. 

There are now LEDs that come installed in T8 shaped tubes. You use them in T8 fixtures, but have to rewire and take the ballast out of the loop. I'm hoping to see these get brighter and affordable soon as they should be priced to replace all the industrial ceiling lights T8s and T12s.


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## Mikaila31

ForMany said:


> i rather do this then pay 3time the price for a better fixture.
> i dont like to support big chain name as there stuff r all junks anyways.
> DIY is way more fun plus u learn something new. nothing is a waste of time.


LOL how can you say this when you are using a T8 fixture from walmart! I can't imagine a T5 from lowe's cost 3x more, since walmart's lighting section always seems to be over priced. You still have to take the T5 out of the ceiling fixture it comes in and mount it in your existing hood... so its just as fun.

T8's do work just fine for plant growth. For tanks up to a 20 long there is no reason why you need anything more then 2 T8's max. The spectrums can be exactly the same between T8's and T5's, T5's are just more intense. They have a greater light output per watt. 

On smaller tanks I love to just use incandescent hoods then just put some spiral compacts in it. I have around 3 T8 strip lights and since some of the ballasts have started to go I just retrofit in spiral compacts. I can get about 60% more watts into a fixture. You can also get 15 watt 6500K spiral compacts for about $2.50 each. On top of that they are all self ballasted. They grow plants alot better then the T8's even if you have the same wattage. It only on tanks taller then 12" that you start needing the more intense bulb types.


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## Guest

So far so good, test the temper of the bulb its around 100-120f.
With that say its the same temper as my reptiles tank. I used 100watts house light bulb those round one. 

All the info I found so far put me in the safe Zoon for now. 
What I mean is, its safe enough for me to run it.


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## Mikaila31

ForMany said:


> So far so good, test the temper of the bulb its around 100-120f.
> With that say its the same temper as my reptiles tank. I used 100watts house light bulb those round one.
> 
> All the info I found so far put me in the safe Zoon for now.
> What I mean is, its safe enough for me to run it.


LOL so your T8 is just as hot as an 100 watt incandescent. Sounds totally safe and normal..... 

HEAT BTW is a sign of inefficiency. The heat is all the energy that was not converted to light. Thats why incandescents get so hot and are so inefficient and its also the reason LED's are so efficient. That goes for a lot of things like engines too.

Be aware you are also risking breaking a mercury containing bulb over your fish tank....


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## Guest

I think ill overdrive it one more time.
3x the power to the max. 

Look out for my next DIY should be diy heater.


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## blindkiller85

You're an idiot. I hope for your fish's sake that it doesn't break and kill your fish. For you, you're willingly doing this all and the mercury poisoning you could receive from the particles going everywhere I don't wish upon you, but I won't care one bit if and when that happens.

Otherwise, toodles. I feel like posting in this thread is feeding the troll.


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## Guest

Did u know Idiot r the smart one, bill gate is one myself. Look how smart he is. Lol
When the bulb pop ill send you some left over of the tube.

My fish won't die, cuz I ate them all. 
I keep fish to eat them, grow them to 12-15inch then kill, cook,eat.

Red belly pacu r my favo, they grow fast n breed like crazy.


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## Ladayen

ForMany said:


> Did u know Idiot r the smart one, bill gate is one myself. Look how smart he is.


Erm.. what did you just say?


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## AquariumTech

Wow, just wow. Seriously man, for the sake of your fish, just stop, DIY is not for you. Not to mention your probably going to spend more money on this DIY anyways. Especially considering future costs. Even if you eat your fish, the toxic stuff in the bulbs, is going to ruin your fish, when something goes wrong.


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## Guest

So far so good, my plants r sky rocking.


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## Mikaila31

Thats good. As long as you are aware of the dangers and risks of what you are doing. I've been wiring hoods for years and would still never see a reason to do this. The video you linked previously made me lol though, he's defiantly not growing tomatoes. First off there were some issues in that video. Either those light fixtures are absolutely horrible(eh walmart) or his meter is off quite a bit. The standard fixture should of been consuming OVER 64 watts. Basically he starts with 2 fixtures that together should of PRODUCED 128 watts of light. He basically combines them and gets one fixture that CONSUMES 107 watts. Those two words are different for a reason. 

I found a site that gives the intensity of those exact fixtures in the video(possibly even same guy). The NO T8 fixture was 400, the OD T8 was 580. In comparison a 97 watt T5 fixture had an intensity of 800. So IMO a overdriven T8 isn't gonna beat a T5. Had they just used both fixtures they could match the T5, instead you lose over 25% of light output for the same number of watts, the output that is lost ends up as the extra heat. 

Also when saying something compares to a T5, please take note that there are technically 3 different variants of the T5 (NO, HO, VHO). 

All aquarium lights/hoods are over priced. Home depot and lowe's sells pretty much all you need except proper spectrum T5 bulbs. Along with some know-how, reflectors play a big key in light both material and shape is important, ect.... Then releasing there is a balance between cost and efficiency. If you screw the efficiency to save on the cost it will come back to bite you in your energy bill. A 100 watt fixture on 8 hours a day at 11 cents/kW will cost you about $32 a year regardless of how much light it actually puts into the tank.


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