does the ballast need to be grounded?

[yamaha_1fan]

I have some raw ballasts here that I bought. The wiring instructions dont indicate how to wire the ballast to the incoming ground wire. I assume they should be grounded. How about on the metal brackets that attach the ballast to the mounting surface?

BTW, the ballasts are being mounted on a plywood board, no ballast box.


Also can the ignitor and cap touch each other? The igniter is all plastic. I am ziptying them together on the board.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

the shells can touch.

the ballist MUST MUST MUST be grounded...
VERY important.
good chance it will start a fire or trip a breaker if not.

u can mount them on a wood thats fine. use screws at the base of the balist into the wood. if u use a metal board u should ground the board....

are they multi-tap ballists (120/220/208/240/480)???

 

[Guest]

The only way to ground a ballast is to properly bond it to a metal enclosure and ground the enclosure,there is no grounding conductor for the ballast itself.If the ballast is mounted in/on plastic or other non-conductive material,it need not be grounded

 

[yamaha_1fan]

The ballasts are mounted on plywood, on the wall. The cap and ignitor are zip-tied to the plywood. There is a screw going through the bracket, the ballast then through the bracket on the other side. I thought that would be a good ground point How else would the ballast get bonded to a box?

I will try to post pics soon.


1 says ground


1 says no ground needed.


Now I am more confused

 

[Guest]

Don't be confused,if the ballasts are mounted on plywood they dont need to be grounded.

 

[Guest]

The American -

I hold three administrator level electrical cards in one state and have 15yrs of hands on and theory related experience in the electrical/mechanical field. I must say that your statement is wrong and could get somebody killed!!! Any line voltage device needs to be grounded and that ground connection is the most important and should be the first oe established. If someone were to touch a failing/failed ballast that was not grounded they could be killed. You can not guarantee that they will not have ground continuity through their feet, or some other part of their body. We ground iems such that they should fail/short/melt and not go solid hot to neutral or leg to leg(240v and above) and do not trip the breaker. I have been hit hard before because some dumb ass failed to ground equipment. Sitting on wood, plastic or otherwise means nothing! Be careful with others and your safety please.

Azeotrope

 

[I.M. Boggled]

Seek and yee all shall find...
...peace ya'll


Electrical Safety For Indoor Growrooms

IMB

 

[Guest]

Excellent says it all! Thanks

 

[Johnny Rotten]

The American, you should read more and post less. Especially where you have little to no knowledge. If a wire were to come lose or the transformer shorts out, it could energize the case. Then when you go to check it to see whats wrong you get a good surprise.

 

[Guest]

I see..Maybe one of you electricians can tell this young man exactly which wire on the ballast to tie his ground wire on to?If someone says under the bolt holding the ballast to the plywood I'll know I'm among stoners haha!

 

[Johnny Rotten]

Well considering he is going to free air mount it to a piece of board(which i wouldn't recommend at all,BIG FIRE HAZZARD get a metal breaker box case or an army surplus ammo box and put a little fan in it.) the obvious answer would be the ground lug on the case.

I need more info then what your giving me. What type of "ballast?" If it is for a HPS or A MH it isn't a ballast. The whole unit is the ballast. You are probably thinking of the transformer. If its a ballast for a Fluorescent light, the wire diagram should be on the backside of the case.
Without pictures or amt/colors of wires coming out the "ballast" the electrician would need a sixth sense to answer.

 

[Guest]

The ground lug on what case?Are we talking about effective grounding or "feel good" tactics?I love it when folks so knowledgable feel the need to put someone down when they don't have any viable options haha.You need info on the HID ballast?Look man,to effectively ground your ballasts mount them in a sheet metal enclosure or trough and ground the trough,all other means are bullshit.O and I have six cards hahaha.Go ahead and mount them to plywood putting the ground under the bolt and washer if'n it'll make you feel better...And Aezotyrope electric mowers weedeaters and ther yard equipment are just a couple examples of dozens of motor lods and inductive loads I can think of that arent effectively grounded on the line side.Just do it right and mount them in a trough and ground the trough.For best continuity,use a tap to make a threaded hole and use appropriate size nut and bolt for tapped hole.Sheet metal screws are another not so mechanically sound option for bonding ballast to trough or enclosure

 

[Johnny Rotten]

Look man,to effectively ground your ballasts mount them in a sheet metal enclosure or trough and ground the trough,all other means are bullshit.

You should've left it at that...then i would totally agree with you as with everyone else (in this thread anyway)
Were talking HID lights, not whatever the fook your going on about. A sheet metal screw ran through the metal base of the transformer would have effectively grounded just the transformer. Now tell me how i'm wrong??

 

[Johnny Rotten]

Who did we put down? The thread starter? Or you, turbo-posting horrible advice in every grow thread. I was trying to look out for Mr. thread starter. You need to work on your reading comprehension and writing skills....they're bad for a fifth grader.

I speak with real life learned knowledge, especially with a/c, schematics, and electrical. I'm no sparky, but i could jump right in with em on a jobsite.

 

[Guest]

Yes it is bullshit trying to bond a HID ballast to an insulator like plywood and tie in a ground,it would look goofy as hell too.A sheet metal screw into a metal enclosure is an effective means of bonding,not as effective as what I mentioned before though.If I were free airing ballasts on wood they would not be grounded.All you ballast experts here do you even know why ballasts hum?

 

[Johnny Rotten]

Cause they don't know the words??

 

[Guest]

Damn..I am among experts..But why have they not learned the words?Because they were in a proper soundproof metal enclosure not floating around on some board lol.

 

[Johnny Rotten]

The hum because of the windings vibrating from electricity running through them.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

I guess I was referring to the transformer

Shit, I spent a good amount of time mounting those transformers, and everything else. I am not going to be able to put them in boxes. The whole reason I went with the raw ballast is I thought they could be mounted up on a board like this.

Should I pull them down and mount them on some sheet metal? Can they all be mounted on one sheet of metal?

And what is the difference between mounting them in a box or attaching a ground wire to the bracket? contact area?

 

[Johnny Rotten]

If a wire comes off and causes a spark or heats up real hot it has dry kindling ready to go. Also, it has plenty of air to fuel it so it could burn down you whole grow. Then the cops and firemen come and see your grow and your fuked. Your way will work but it isn't safe. PERIOD.