electric q's

[herb weedmen]

a buddy of mine gave me a 400 w hydrofarm hps ballast[s51type lamp] but it didnt have any socket so i bought one ..and well theres a place on the socket for the black and white wires but nothing to hook the ground to..what should i do..i told the dude at the store were i bought this socket that it was for a light on the front of my barn ...he said this was what i needed..


any help, i would be greatful for ..




thanks


herb weedmen

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

any chance at a pic or two?
you might be able to get away with just the black and white, neutral is a type of ground.

 

[fumancu]

I think it hooks to the socket base thats how mine was when I bought it.the bulb socket was on a metal base .If a hot wire some how touched the base it would be grounded so you wont get shooked

 

[PharmaCan]

I think it hooks to the socket base thats how mine was when I bought it.the bulb socket was on a metal base .If a hot wire some how touched the base it would be grounded so you wont get shooked

We have a winner!

Just put a terminal end on the ground wire and attach it to one of the screws on the metal.

If you are just going to use a ceramic socket with a bulb in it, and there is absolutely no metal to attach the ground wire to, the lamp will work without it. The ground is to protect the user from electrical shock - it's not necessary for the bulb to light.

PC

 

[herb weedmen]

its just the ceramic socket..it has only the 2 screws on the back side..


i am not even sure how the hell i am going to hang this thing..i dont have my camera here ..but its just a basic ceramic socket...theres no base ....i guess i can just let it hang by the cord ..i have a pole running across my closet were we used to hang cloths from..


thanks ,if you think it wont cause any thing bad to happen by not hooking it up i'll just leave it hang out or tape it back on to the cord itself..so its out of the way..


thanks everyone ..


herb weedmen

 

[fumancu]

you need to get a square metal box with the proper cover to screw the ceramic socket in to should be small holes in the back of the socket Im guessing a #8 screws but could be wrong get short ones hook it to the face plate.Bring wire from ballast into side of box and sucure with connector.wire everything screw faceplate to box.Add hook to back of box to hang.I wouldnt just tape ground back that for your saftey. The box hides the wires so you cant touch them.

 

[Guest]

Whatever you do make sure the wire connections at the socket are solidly shielded (taped), in the event you hang it by the cord. Touch the bare wires and you will KNOW PAIN, even with a 400W ballast.

TyStik

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

its just the ceramic socket..it has only the 2 screws on the back side..


i am not even sure how the hell i am going to hang this thing..i dont have my camera here ..but its just a basic ceramic socket...theres no base ....i guess i can just let it hang by the cord ..i have a pole running across my closet were we used to hang cloths from..


thanks ,if you think it wont cause any thing bad to happen by not hooking it up i'll just leave it hang out or tape it back on to the cord itself..so its out of the way..


thanks everyone ..


herb weedmen

id look for a spot to loop some steel thin cable through dont hang anything by the cord.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

You want something like this...
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/19806...sories/Junction-Boxes/Adaptable-Box-4-x-4-x-2
and get a cable gland..connect your wires to the ceramic socket then bolt it to the metal box, on the side fit a cable gland in one of the knockouts or drill a hole for it if your box doesnt have knockouts... also add 2 eye bolts on the opposite side to the socket id put them diagonally opposite in corners.... Youll be able to hang it with eazi rollers or chain or whatever...and the cable gland being on the side will keep the cord going to the ballast away from the lamp... Thats what ill be doing in my vert (2x400w vertical rockwool slabs) i think....I dont think ill be using a cool tube..

 

[herb weedmen]

wow thanks everyone..i was hoping for the answers that looked the safest ...and now i have it..i'll run out this afternoon and get a box from h depot...

there are 2 little holes on the back of the sockets and they appaer to be threaded ..i am assuming these are the holes you were refering to fumancu...i thought about just hooking it to one of those but figured that couldnt possible be right..


i have to say that when it comes to finding the right answers to how to grow and how to set a room up ..you guys are tits up ...


thanks

herb weedmen

 

[fumancu]

Thats the right box harry.But on the face plate for it they make one thats drilled for the socket he needs homedepot might not have them take socket to a electric supply store thell them you need a box and cover for it.You could say the one on barn light broke.Thr face plate will have 3 holes in it a big center one for the wires two small ones to screw socket on to face plate.

 

[herb weedmen]

thanks , i'll head to the same place i got the socket..any ideas on a dyi reflector for it..i've been surfing the boards on here theres just so much stuff to read..i got a little wake and bake happening here this morning and cant seem to find the one i had seen here..sorry i am babbling now..

thanks
herb weedmen

 

[fumancu]

I never use a reflector i hang my bulb vertical. I have mylar on ceiling and walls.

 

[herb weedmen]

i plan on buying some of those mylar fire blankets from wally world to put on the walls and ceiling my self ..you think that would be enough and i should hang it vertical...yeah anything to make this easyer ...

oh i had another q...its about bulb care ..it sounds kinda stupid..but i had heard that even the oils from our hands can cause them to exsplode .how do ya avoid touching the bulb and if you do touch them ,how do you clean them...i also heard ya cant just turn these kinds of lites on and off and back on again without letting them cool for about 30 min or so..

i told ya they were kinda stupid but if its so then i guess they are not..[stupid that is]...


thanks

herb weedmen

 

[fumancu]

Yea the lights have to cool before they will relight.finger prints on bulb wont make them explode. I have touched mine alot.It just leaves marks on the glass making them less effective.

 

[Guest]

The instruction to clean bulbs comes from the fact that the dirtied part of the envelope can expand at a different rate than the clean, clear envelope can expand and contract at, around carbonized stains on the surface.
When the bulb is put into a sealed fixture - particularly larger bulbs - the amount of heat surrounding it can be very high: high enough in fact, to burn the oil into a blackened, carbonized stain. The envelope that's under this blackened stain won't be able to pass heat through it's surface and radiate it off at the same rate as the clean, clear part. This causes uneven heating: hence, uneven expansion and contraction: which leads to them cracking along the boundary region where the black part, meets the still clear, clean part.

It's not a problem in most cases. I've taken fixtures apart and found several blackened, carbonized fingerprints on a bulb in a perfect pattern around a bulb where some guy handled the bulb- yet the bulb operated fine for years.
Nevertheless most manufacturers do instruct you to not handle the bulb; and when putting in several dozen or score of them it's common to carry a bottle of alcohol and clean, dry cloth to clean off bulbs you touch. That's the accepted standard for cleaning one. It doesn't have to be particularly pure alcohol, it just has to be able to solulize the oil on the glass so it can be removed thru wiping with your cloth.

Wanna get perfectionistic about it? When you wipe it off, get to the side and look at the surface of the bulb's glass envelope: see that lint? It'll melt/'burn', carbonize, blacken, and stain the bulb, too. Make sure you whisk off all the lint, too. Now you're a bulb cleaning specialist.

Typical installation is done by putting the bulb in, using the paper sleeve it comes shipped in: then if it gets touched, wipe it down with the alcohol & towel/cloth/rag.

Not to contradict funancu, rather to let you know: yes, it is advised you clean them: because in some installations the heat inside a fixture gets really extreme; but also -just as he said it's typically not a problem, and yes, many a one has burned for years with stains & smudges on them.

Just so you're not thinking ''then why did I get that idea they're supposed to be kept free of fingerprints?" when we're in here telling you it's not actually critical.


Typically the time to turn one back on is about 10 minutes. That's give-or-take; there's not a certain time for all conditions. It's a specific, local, temperature related time to turn any individual bulb in a set back on.

The turn-back-on time is called the "re-strike" time- & is based on how long it takes for metal vapors inside the bulb, to cool to the point where they re-condense around the power insertion points, and will conduct a sufficent electron stream, that it will re-ignite the rest of the gaseous atmosphere inside the bulb, that gives off the main light component.

It's mercury they use, to make it initially conductive enough, to fire at low temperature. If you ever look at a graph, of an hps bulb's light output spectrum, you'll notice the great majority of the light given off, is over in the yellowish-orange, and red spectrum - but over to the left, in the blue section of the graph, you'll see a small, but relatively high spike of blue light: that spike is the mercury used to ignite the bulb, giving off light as it's heated and vaporized, too: giving off the characteristic blue light of mercury vapor.

 

[herb weedmen]

thanks i kinda was thinking it was a big deal but i figured the rubbing alcohol was what i would use to clean them..i was given some bulbs that were used and not sure if they even work but i did see the finger prints like you said on them...i have a new bulb i think i'll just use it and save the used ones for back ups...

it is always nice to know that the answers i have been looking for are always just a click or 2 away..

thanks everyone ..


herb weedmen

 

[herb weedmen]

fired up my lite for the first time to check it out and it was as bright as the sun..i want to thank you guys who help with your replys ..and i will always pass any info on growing that i have to anyone who needs it..

thanks..

herb weedmen