Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

[Berleinchmit]

Hi.

I have a question: can i connect two compact fluorescent bulbs of 26w each to other two compact fluorescent bulbs of 9w each?

I want to light my fish tank and i have already installed two 26w daylight compact fluorescent bulbs.

i want to connect another two 9w fluorescent in series with the 26w.

the pics:

The series connections

The fluorescent bulb

I would appreciate any help.

Cheers

 

[securespark]

I'm not sure what you mean.

Do a search on "series" and "parallel" to see if your idea of wiring matches the description.

 

[breezer]

first things first
the fittings you are using are not waterproof (neither are the lamps), not good with fish tank full of water

go to your local aquatics store and get the propper kit, or get some flour, water, one egg, bowl and whisk, and wait

 

[securespark]

get some flour, water, one egg, bowl and whisk, and wait

 

[breezer]

think about it, flour, water, egg, whisk, and what does he have already?

 

[Berleinchmit]

first things first
the fittings you are using are not waterproof (neither are the lamps), not good with fish tank full of water

Don´t worry. The fitting has an acrilic plus a glass between the water and the lamps and are waterproof.

What i want to do is to connect two 26w bulbs with two 9w bulbs, doing, instead of parallel, a series connection.

The question is: can i do that or do i have to get another two 26w bulbs in order to have 4 bulbs conected..?

I think i´ve been cristal this time.

thx mates

 

[breezer]

the lamps are standard lamps, so are NOT waterproof, but anyway

try it and see.

I am at a loss as to why you want to wire the two in series, i have never tried it so do not know, in theory one should limit the current to the other, and not work, but thats theory, it wouldnt surprise me if they both lit up at 100%

 

[securespark]

You mean:

26 26 9 9
LIVE----------------O----------------O------------O-----------------O----|
NEUTRAL-------------------------------------------------------------------|

Think it best to use same wattage. Is using ES lampholders safe in series wiring?

Whatever you do, make sure you follow the wiring code for your country.
If in doubt, don't do it!
Better to pay than die......

 

[Berleinchmit]

What i mean is that the system itself is isolated from water through acrylic and galss, so there is no danger of water reaching the lamps. These lamps are standard as you said, not waterproof.

Anyway, i´ve made a terrible mistake on posting my problem. It seems that the system i´ve installed is connected in parallel.

So, connecting two 26W bulbs to two 9W bulbs is 100% safe and successfull, i think. It was a lamme mistake. Sorry.

Do you aprove my theory i mentioned in connecting the four bulbs in parallel, or do i have to install more components in order the system to work?

Cheers

 

[securespark]

No, in parallel, you can wire lamps as you describe.

Thought they looked in parallel looking at the pix, but was not sure.

 

[breezer]

you first said

and the lamps and are waterproof.

you then said

These lamps are standard as you said, not waterproof

to make this type of mistake implies you do not know what you are doing, you have also not taken into consideration the heat from all the lamps, the fact that plexiglass will remove a lot of the UV rays

disreagrding the plexiglass / uv note, what happens if it melts /cracks with age / heat , not to mention that lovely piece of tinfoil.

I am not even going to mention the green sticky tape, the red band holding the lamp holder (what will support the lamp?)

I am only mentioning all this for you saftey, i do not know you but wouldn't want to see you killed. You wanted to "save money" i still say get the right kit for the job