8 24” bulbs on Ice Cap 660 ballast possible?

[a.t.t.r]

Ok that makes it easier! Thank you for drawing that for me. I’ll try to tonight.

This almost certainly won’t fire unless you wire each color in series instead of parallel Ie red bulb one other red bulb 2 and the. Jumper the two bulbs. Then brown bulb 1 other brown bulb 4. Bulb 1 other pin to pin 1 of b2. P2 of b2 to p1 of b3 p2 of b3 to p1 of b4. But still. It won’t be balanced if one bulb fires and one bulb doesn’t it won’t give it a second strike. The method I said in last post is most likely to success

 

[Acrofiend]

Could also try just wiring in the recommended 4 bulb setup except instead of one bulb use two in series ie. Orange to bulb >other end of bulb wired to next bulbs pins >next bulbs pins to purple.

the more I think about it this is the most likely setup to fire.

So pretty much splicing each wire and doing it that way?

 

[C4ctus99]

Could also try just wiring in the recommended 4 bulb setup except instead of one bulb use two in series ie. Orange to bulb >other end of bulb wired to next bulbs pins >next bulbs pins to purple.

the more I think about it this is the most likely setup to fire.

Yeah, electronic ballasts regulate current, just don’t know the parallel vs series in this case. Yes, series makes sense (regulating current), but do you run into issues it’s the ballast not getting the proper power to the end to end lamp connection in the middle for starting?

 

[C4ctus99]

So pretty much splicing each wire and doing it that way?

I’ll draw up what he is saying in a second for you. Instead of putting a second bulb parallel, you would be essentially doubling the length of each bulb in series

 

[C4ctus99]

Sorry for the lack of color coding… hopefully this makes sense.

Instead of putting 2 lamps side by side on the same line, you are putting them end to end on the same line. They don’t have to be physically end to end, but electronically it needs to be that way, a lead from the ballast on the end of 2 separate bulbs, and a jumper between them on the other ends

 

[Acrofiend]

Sorry for the lack of color coding… hopefully this makes sense.

Instead of putting 2 lamps side by side on the same line, you are putting them end to end on the same line. They don’t have to be physically end to end, but electronically it needs to be that way, a lead from the ballast on the end of 2 separate bulbs, and a jumper between them on the other ends

Ok I can see how that would work. Appreciate that again!

 

[a.t.t.r]

Ok I can see how that would work. Appreciate that again!

And his drawing only shows one wire of each color but you need both so the filament can be heated. Again. This will all come down to total bulb length. But if you look at the 430 ballast diagram they use a similar idea so the ballast should be capable of striking with only one end heated per bulb

 

[a.t.t.r]

Yeah, electronic ballasts regulate current, just don’t know the parallel vs series in this case. Yes, series makes sense (regulating current), but do you run into issues it’s the ballast not getting the proper power to the end to end lamp connection in the middle for starting?

These bulbs are capable of consuming more power the warmer they get. It is a voltage issue in this case not a current issue. As long as each of the two bulbs raises pressure and the voltage is enough to start an initial arc the middle does no matter.

now if they are in parallel since a struck bulb is essentially just a low resistance wire there there would be no reason for the second bulb to fire as it is essentially a resistor and a voltage divider effect would come into play.