Ballasts for CF setup

[motoman]

I've lost my PC lighting for my 10 tank. I had an extra hood that had a 55 watt PC bulb in it and last week it just went out. I thought the bulb was done, so I replaced it. No luck there so I dismantled the hood and I'm thinking that the ballast may be faulty. Any idea where I can pick one up? Marchant electric or a place like that? Are they the same as a flourescent ballast in which case Home Depot would more than likely carry them. I'm thinking about making a custom hood out of oak since this one is just proped up over the glass cover.

Thoughts?

[jetstream]

Home depot can order one for you. Or you can go to Litmore at Old Innes old. It will be cheaper even it's a division of HomeDepot now.   

[motoman]

Sorry I wrote CF instead of PC in my post. 

[jetstream]

PC Power compact or CF compact flourescent they refer to the same thing. Ballast for regular flourescent and CF/PC are not the same. I believe the CF ballast output is high voltage DC. I'm not expert on that, please let me know if I'm wrong.

[BigDaddy]

Any good quality fully electronic ballast rated for at least your bulb wattage should drive it.

For example, I'm running a 36W CF bulb off a standard brand electronic ballast that normally fires a single F40T8

Litemor, Buchanon or Marchand are all places that will have the ballasts in stock usually

[motoman]

Ok great! thanks for the help. I'll have to head to one of those shops and pick one up. I hope they aren't too expensive though.

[BigDaddy]

A ballast to drive a single 55W should cost around $40

[motoman]

I've ordered two Workhorse 5 ballasts from Litemor. They were about $40 each. Has anyone used these before? Pros vs. Cons?

[BigDaddy]

Workhorse 5 is a very good ballast.  Used by All-Glass and AHSupply in their setups if memory serves

Excellent documentation and support... you shouldn't have any worries.

www.fulham.com will have all the wiring diagrams you will ever need.

[gvv]

I got mine from AC (http://aquariacanada.com/osCommerce/default.php?cPath=1_74_89_124)
Don't have any complains, works great for about year over my reef tank. I got 2 WH5 to replace my existing WH7, so that I would be able to control 2 pairs of 48" T5 lamps separately.

Regards