Ballast housing

[Deft]

I just bought a 250w hps which came with everything I need besides wiring and ballast housing. I got the wiring figured out along with how to hang the reflector but am having trouble thinking of something good to use as the ballast housing. Anyone have any ideas on what to use to house the ballast/igniter/cap? I've determined that it should be around 6"wide, 8"long, and 5" tall to give plenty of room for the large core. I'm guessing everything needs to be able to be screwed down to ground it and ensure stability and I cant think of anything that would fit that description.

I know there has to be something I can get that will work well but could not find anything wandering around home de-pot that I thought would work well. The original housing wont work because its way too heavy and huge.

 

[hedpi]

get an old computer power supply, take everything out.. good to go!

 

[MostHigh]

Sturdy...affordable...US made...
http://shopping.yahoo.com/search;_y...i=UTF-8&p=ammo can&fr=sfp&cop=mss&fr2=tab-img

 

[342]

If you can find some old milk house heaters from wall mart stores pull out the heater parts and keep the fan parts . the fan helps keep it cool and it has a Handel small box heater you use in the bath room i think they cost $10.00 U>S I get them a 2st hand stores for about $5.00 there made for heat have louvers

 

[Deft]

Whats a milk house heater? I should go to the computer store, bound to find something but I don't want to pay much for whats inside lol.

 

[FreezerBoy]

http://californiahydro.stores.yahoo.net/ballastbox.html

http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=HLBARBXGSLD&eq=&Tp=

At $18 plus postage, a little more expensive but, an actual ballast box.

 

[MPL]

I would just go to a military surplus store and get an ammo box.

I also saw some pics of ballasts in what looked like small orange tackle boxes. They looked like they were made of plastic, were not enclosed and had no fans. I believe they were 1kW ballasts. The grower was a professional who grew for the coffeehouses in Amsterdam.

 

[Kaos!]

^Yup, My 1st thought was ammo box too..
You can cut louvers, or cut a hole and run a muffin fan for a higher wattage set up. ( Seen a clean home-brew ballast set-up this way ...looked great.)

Kaos!

 

[Deft]

Yea funny thing I store my grinder/scale/random other junk in an old ass ammo case, but its from the first world war I think and was a gift so I cant use it. It also doesn't latch shut anymore. I'll hit up the computer store and look for a surplus store tomorrow.

How do you latch the components down though? I want to try to separate the cap/igniter from the core best I can thermally.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Screws and nuts.

When I recently replaced my ballast core, I found the interior was divided in two by a wall. Coil to one side, cap and Ignitor to the other. Coil was bolted down on one side. The cap and ignitor were (plastic) strapped to the far side of the wall.

The core wasn't bolted straight to the bottom but, to a 1/4" raised shelf welded to the bottom. This allows for airflow under the core. You can create the same effect by placing a nut or two on the retaining bolts before you fit the coil to the bolts.

 

[FRANKENBLUNT420]

Yea funny thing I store my grinder/scale/random other junk in an old ass ammo case, but its from the first world war I think and was a gift so I cant use it. It also doesn't latch shut anymore. I'll hit up the computer store and look for a surplus store tomorrow.

How do you latch the components down though? I want to try to separate the cap/igniter from the core best I can thermally.

aluminum strapping, last time i bought a roll, it was in the plumbing section with the smaller steel parts/connectors.
then head over to your hardware section for the smaller screws to set it down in the box.
word to the wise , the links that peeps on here suggested are top notch, i am gonna be ordering one of those ballast boxes myself since i too have looked in home depot and found nothing in regards to a descent ballast box

 

[hedpi]

Don't go buying a new computer power supply man, just scavenge one..people throw them out..just go to a computer shop and ask if they have a couple of old ones that don't work anymore, they usually have a shitload of them. It already has the fan, the holes, and it's free, the only problem i can see is if your ballast is larger, but i've seen comercial boxes that are just like computer power supplys. for example the agrolite one!
http://www.agrolite.com/ficha.php?idioma=ing&art=plug
Anyway, good luck with whatever you choose

 

[Ganja Guerilla]

You could look at smaller metal tool boxes also, I have my eye on a circular saw box that should hold 4 x 400w ballasts nicely for the price of a single purpose built ballast enclosure.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[Deft]

I am kinda worried that the core would not fit into a power supply since just the core would be about 60% of the 400w one on my tower, the core is about 6.5" at the largest part and 3" at the smallest.

I dunno why I didn't think of the strapping/nuts bolts and the tool box idea, seems so obvious!

I found an old heat sync which will be good for cooling the core if I can fit it in with it, I think I am going to look for a metal toolbox or a large power supply/small computer case when stores open back up.

 

[Deft]

I ended up getting an ammo can for 6$, I figure it looks kinda cool too and is my favorite color

 

[MPL]

Got any pics?

I ended up getting an ammo can for 6$, I figure it looks kinda cool too and is my favorite color