# 48'' t8 Shop light mod gone wrong!



## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

Well, i spent a good part of saturday working on a 48'' t8 shop light to make it fit over my tank (had to reduce 4 inches from the width). Well i plugged it in again just to see if it worked, and it did for a few minutes than it shut off. My suspicion was that the ballast was overheating. I thought this because the first time I turned the light on it would stay on for about 3 minutes then turn off. If i unplugged it and plugged it back in right away nothing would happen. If I unplugged it, waited 10 seconds then plugged it back in it would turn on and stay on for about 15 seconds, this process repeated. I waited for a while then plugged it in again and it stayed on for 3 minutes ect..... Well I re-wired the ballast so it sits on top of the structure I made for it. It stayed on for a while the first time but its shutting off again. Any suggestions? Should I buy a new light (only 10 dollars), cut the ballast out and wire it to this light? I did a lot of modification to this light but nothing that messes with the wires (before i moved the ballast). Does the ground wire need to be tightly fixed to a metal object or does it even matter? I need help!!


----------



## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Out of curiosity... did the ballast used to be mounted inside the fixture next to a big metal plate, and now it's not? I don't think it should be an issue with electronic T-8 ballasts, but I seem to remember something about magnetic ballasts needing to be fixed to a ground plate or somesuch.

Also, did you test the light before disasembling it? If you do end up buying a new light (and for $10, why not?) I'd test it before modifying it!

-Rick


----------



## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

Well i didnt think about the magnetic issue. It is as you described and when i modded it i tore out the metal frame since i dont have anything to cut it with. maybe if i hacksaw a section of the metal, make a box, and surround it? i guess its worth a shot. I tested the light before i disasembled it, but i didnt do it for over 3 minutes, i just thought it was working(lesson learned). Thank you for the suggestion!

(edit) now that i think about it does the metal box need to be connected to anything besides the ground wire? If i surround the ballast (which was originally in a plastic housing above the metal frame) would that work? I have the long strip (about 2'') of metal that was on the original housing that runs 46'' and covers the wires (this is what i currently have the ground wire(just touching) connected to.

(edit)ok well I found some reading and apparently the metal behind the bulbs is important in completing the ground circuit. So.... now I think I might try to get some metallic tape to simplify and hopefully create a remedy to this situation


----------



## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

The ballast isn't grounded. The ballast is grounded to metal chassis, and you'll see a small green wire attached to the chassis. Try adding a ground to the ballast body. If this is the issue, hopefully the ballast didn't get fried due to the lack of a ground.


----------



## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

The small green wire is coming straight from the wall to the metal strip that hides the wires, i unclamped it from the chassis then i "put" it on to the 46'' metal strip that hides the wires. Do i need to relocate it or attach it to the metal better? (i dont have a soldering iron). how do i attach it to the ballast, i just notices it isnt touching it at all


----------



## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

use the screw that is holding the ballast to whatever you have it attached to.


----------



## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

huh.... i did that, plugged it in..... and (crosses fingers, knocks on wood) its working....


----------



## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

well thats good. i put in the second bulb and POP. thats the end of this thing. guess ill just srap it and buy one i dont have to mod  . any ideas on a double t8 setup thats only 4'' wide?


----------



## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

I think that not having it grounded before may have damaged the ballast.


----------



## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

I'm using a walmart bought 48" shoplight on a 55gal, it's just barely over 48" with electronic ballast








BTW, not the safest of my ideas :roll:

Are you trying to put it inside a canopy?
not quite understanding the need to trim 4" off


----------



## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

thats what i bought, but i modded it down to 4'' across so i could put it on my hood, i think im just gonna go to lowes and find a light that is close to 4'' across that has 2 bulbs so i dont have to do any more modding 

edit: i need it 4'' from fron to back becasue of the dimensions of my hood


----------



## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Argh. Just typed a bunch of stuff and lost it, but the nutshell...

If it were me, I'd drop the $10 and try again, only with the ground from the get go.

With that said, however, I've seen bare-bones "shoplight" type fixtures that may fit your space, they're basically a long box with bulb-holders stick out the top, no reflector or housing or much of anything like that.

If you're willing to spend a few more $$ though there are T-5 aquarium lights like this one :

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ct ... riplight48

That may fit your bill as well. That one costs $64 but it comes with the bulbs and is cheaper than most high-output or compact-flourescent fixtures. You could DIY cheaper of course, but if i were going to buy (rather than DIY) an aquarium light for a non-planted tank, i'd probably get something like that. T-5's with good reflectors give alot of light for the watt, and don't take up much space (I believe a typical T-5 reflector can be as narrow as 1"). You'll get quite a bit more light out of a dual-T5 with reflectors than you will a pair of naked T8's.

-Rick (the armchair aquarists)


----------



## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

I agree with what you are saying Rick, but I think the beauty of the DIY shop light mod is that it is extremely inexpensive. Sure, you can get a T5 that outperforms this for $75 or $100 but that is common sense. I build my 34w x 4 setup for about $35. Something similar in the T5 department would cost 4 times that price.

You could always buy another light, swap the ballast, and return it


----------



## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

vaypourus said:


> I agree with what you are saying Rick, but I think the beauty of the DIY shop light mod is that it is extremely inexpensive. Sure, you can get a T5 that outperforms this for $75 or $100 but that is common sense. I build my 34w x 4 setup for about $35. Something similar in the T5 department would cost 4 times that price.


True that . Beauty of DIY is money saved, and "I did it!" satisfaction. Sometimes the aggravation starts to add up though, so I figured I'd offer an out just in case .

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who wasn't limited to 4" so he just screwed the whole shoplight fixture into his canopy)


----------



## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

Well, thank you everyone for the input. I am going home from college tomorrow so there isnâ€™t time to do the whole light situation, it will have to wait till august  . Just to save the hassle Iâ€™m going to find something in my dimensions and hope it works out better next time around! :lol:


----------



## klc9100 (Apr 14, 2009)

bulldogg7 said:


> I'm using a walmart bought 48" shoplight on a 55gal, it's just barely over 48" with electronic ballast
> 
> 
> 
> ...


what kind of bulbs are you using??? i just got that same fixture for one of my tanks. i put two 40W "daylight" bulbs in mine. i don't like the way it looks though. it has a yellowish tint to it.


----------



## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

daylights give my water a green tint which i dont like, but they really show the reflective colors of my fish, so I put an aqua-glo with it and it looks a lot better. I've also heard power-glo's work well with daylights (6700k)


----------



## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

I was using 6500k T-8's in that pic, I switched one out for one the yellowish lights because they just too white. 
Here's the tank now with a "softwhite"(yellow) bulb and a 6500k(the ends painted blue with anodized paint)








I'm going to swap that yellow one back to 6500k, I just don't like the yellow look.


----------



## klc9100 (Apr 14, 2009)

thanks. yeah mine has a yellow/greed tint. i know what you're talking about. i can't stand it. i was thinking about putting one "cool white" bulb in.


----------



## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

I think the cool whites are yellow too, 
here's the 6500k on some fry tanks








here's a color temp chart








it says 6500k are a little blue


----------



## klc9100 (Apr 14, 2009)

i think the daylights i got are 6700, but they are yellow as can be.


----------

