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 Topic: Workhorse 7
Posted: May 28 2004 at 7:01pm |
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Will a workhorse 7 work for 4x55 straight pin power compacts.
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jfinch
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 9:24pm |
I've not done it, but I'm confident that it would work. One red to each lamp. Total of 220 watts. I do know that one red wire will fire a 55 watt straight pin lamp just fine, but I've not tried four at once. Good luck.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 9:34pm |
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According to the Fulham chart I got from CLS, the WH7 will run four 50W but only 3 55W.
On the 4-50W one red wire per tube with yellow common to all.
(Personal Note: I would still use 55's this way, just making sure the ballast is open to the air on all sides or mounted on cool metal so the heat dissipates faster, allowing it to provide the higher power needs of the 55W. But there is the possibility that If wired different than Fulham's schematic the tube may not work at maximum capacity or else the ballast will run too hot, shortening it's life. I think the manufacturer assumes that these ballasts are being used in applications where they are enclosed in the fixture, where it can get very warm. I believe, and it's just my personal belief, that if the ballast is left open to the air like hanging on the back of the stand or hood, it can handle a slightly higher power draw.)
On the 3-55W it's 3 red wires, each leading to a pair of pins, with yellow common on the other two pins. The spare red wire is left unused.
Evidently the straight pin, which I believe are Panasonic type, have a slightly higher power demand so the chart actually recommends using a WH7 for 2 Panasonic 55W tubes with 2 red wires leading to each tube.
If you are planning to use different colors like 2 white or white/pink(my hearty recomendation) and two blue, then you might consider splitting between two ballasts. The WH5 will probably do the job. Two red wires to each tube with yellow common. Using two ballasts is more versatile allowing just blue lights to fluoresce the coral.
Sorry for making this such a long post to a simple question.
Edited by Mark Peterson
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 9:38pm |
I'm trying to replace my old helios ballast. What I did was just take the helios ballasts out, and put in the workhorse. However, when I powered it up only one side of all the bulbs lit up. I also tried it so that I lit up 1,2, or 3 bulbs, and again only one side of all the bulbs lit up. Any suggestions on what to do? Here's a picture of how I wired it.
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 9:46pm |
Hey cody the problem is in the canopy they are wired diffrent. when you wire a workhorse it has to be wired diffrent in the canopy aswell i have done this retro allready and can show you how to give me a call or stop by the store
Eric 809.4469
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 9:49pm |
I used wiring diagram #7 on their website, which shows one red and one yellow to each of the bulbs. I can't figure out why only one side lights up, it happens even when I unplug some of the red wires. I would be happy if I could just get 3 or even two of the pc bulbs to fully light up.
I am planning on use the powercompacts for blue only to supplement my MH lighting. The ballast will also be stored in separate cabinet away from the tank, with an open back.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 9:50pm |
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Can't follow it. The wires are too messy and it gives no idea which pins on the actual tubes are connected to which red wires and yellow wires.
Have you had a course in electronics? You need to patiently trace each wire to it's respective pins. Of the 4 pins on each tube, the 2 on one side must be connected to the yellow wire. The two on the other side must be connected to a red wire. Is that how you have it?
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jfinch
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 9:57pm |
Here's a picture of how I wired
 could I have some garlic bread with that spaghetti? Seriously, I would have to look at the wiring to see what the problem is. And I'm sure Eric and Mark could help you out too.
Mark, I know it's confusing, but the straight pin (....) are osram and the 55 watt osram lamp only needs one red wire to fire it. the square pin (::) are panasonic and require two red wires to fire. If you look at the bulbs you'll notice that the panasonics are basically a folded over T8 bulb while the osrams are a folded over T5 bulb (at least to my eyes).
Edited by jfinch
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 10:03pm |
Eric - what do you mean the canopy is wired different? All there is is two wires coming from each bulb that go down to the ballast. I already have the canopy torn apart and retrofitted in my canopy, before the ballast went bad.
Mark-Sorry, best I could do with the picture. Yes I have had a course in electronics. I have a yellow/green and red wire from one bulb plus a brown and blue wire from another bulb that goes together and plugs into the ballast. Then the other four wires from the two bulbs connects to a heat sensor. This wiring is the same for the other two bulbs as well. Then inside the ballast each bulb is connected with one red wire and one yellow(split with the white wires).
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 10:10pm |
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I see an odd black and white "jumper" wire connecting something between the two plugs. What's that for?
Crossed wires? It looks like you are setting each red wire into a connection that leads to some black wires. Do you know which pins each of those black wires leads to? Do you know which pins those white wires lead to?
It might be that the black wires lead to one tube and the white wires lead to the other tube.
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 10:16pm |
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If it were me, I'd get rid of all that extraneous wiring and just do as the wiring diagram shows. You'll only have two wires coming from each bulb. One will connect to a red ballast wire and one will connect to the yellow ballast wire. All four bulbs will share this yellow wire. Or track all those wires down to see what bulb they go to and what lamp pin they're connected to.
Edited by jfinch
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 10:23pm |
The jumper wire is just to combine the two switches, so that you just have to flip one switch on to turn it on.
Not sure what those wires lead to since it goes to a concealed plug. I also have put one red and one yellow directly into the plug and the same thing happens with one side of the bulb lighting up.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 10:29pm |
 cpearce.... wrote:
I have a yellow/green and red wire from one bulb plus a brown and blue wire from another bulb that goes together and plugs into the ballast. Then the other four wires from the two bulbs connects to a heat sensor. This wiring is the same for the other two bulbs as well. Then inside the ballast each bulb is connected with one red wire and one yellow(split with the white wires). |
I don't see anything "plugging" into the ballast and I don't see any blue wire. If you want to do it yourself, the best advice I can give is to trace the wires coming from the respective pins of each Osram/Phillips (thanks Jon) PC. If you don't know which pins the red and yellow wires are actually delivering power to, you shouldn't even turn the thing on because you may be creating a short circuit that might fry the ballast... or you! 
As Eric said, this ballast is not the same as the one you replaced so you cannot just run the wires that you think are the same as before. It needs to be studied out and drawn on paper as a schematic, to help you keep it straight and to be sure the right power is going to the right place.
The more I think about it the more that I am convinced that the yellow doesn't just go to all the white wires and the reds do not just connect to all the blacks.
Here is a fast and dirty shot at making it work. The two bundles of black and white wires coming from the tubes go to separate halves of the strip. In each half of the strip, take the center red and white wires and swap places. I'm willing to bet that will get the entire tubes glowing.
Edited by Mark Peterson
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Posted: May 28 2004 at 10:54pm |
I just realized another possible wiring set-up. I'm not so confident that my quick and dirty shot will work. It may be that you need to combine one white and black pair to the yellow and the other pair to two reds. Sorry for the confusion, electronics can be that way, and dangerous too. That's why it's important to trace the wires to see where they each lead, before energizing a circuit. 
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Posted: May 29 2004 at 8:45am |
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cody the plug that is all concealed is like a little bulb looking resistor that has to be cut out and rewired..
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Posted: May 29 2004 at 8:53am |
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Eric, Is that the overheating cut-off switch? I've never used one, but I guess when you have the ballast enclosed in a box/hood it makes sense.
My ballasts are usually placed kinda away from the aquarium to avoid overheating issues. Sometimes they sit outside on the back of the hood or they hang on a nail on the back of the stand or just sit on the floor inline with the power cord. Am I weird to do it this way?
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Posted: May 29 2004 at 9:07am |
BTW Cody, to trace those black and white wires that are in the cord, may require an ohmmeter.
Sometimes the insulation on each wire is slightly different. For example, look at power cord on an appliance or a cheap extension cord. One wire usually has a smooth surface and the other is rough.
This DIY project probably became tougher than you thought, but it's good to learn these things. 
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Posted: May 29 2004 at 12:03pm |
I have taken it all apart and then put one of the red wires with the green wire and the yellow wire with the white one. It still did not work.
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Posted: May 29 2004 at 12:53pm |
Cody,
cut the black piece out and wire them with the blue and green wire to the red of the ballast and the brown and white to yellow of the ballast
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Posted: May 29 2004 at 1:38pm |
Success at last  .
Thank you everyone for your help  .
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