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Wiring an old unlabelled HPS ballast

magiccannabus

Next Stop: Outer Space!
Veteran
Hey everyone. I have a pair of 250W ballast guts that I bought about 5-6 years ago and never put together because they came with no instructions, no diagrams, and all the wiring was not connected. I've managed to finally figure out how to make it fire, and have tested it, but I have a couple of questions.

First off, does one of the leads on an HPS ballast basically feed straight to the bulb? It seems how I had it wired, it has a clear path to the bulb, but I had that lead of the bulb connected to the same terminal as the lead from the wall. I would assume this means I can just connect it directly(electrically, not physically) to the wall.

I've heard there are different ways to wire a ballast depending on how you want it to start and whatnot. Not sure how true that is, but I'm curious if I've done it the best way.

Can I connect the third prong ground to the steel body of the transformer? It seems that it would connect nicely to one of the bolts holding it down....

Here's a picture of it when I had it together and tested. The new housing for it is much better, but I won't have pictures of it till a bit later.

picture.php
 
K

KMK0420

hopefully you get an answer but this is exactly why I buy premade ballasts! they come with warranties plus what you have there is a major fire hazard..
 

FreezerBoy

Was blind but now IC Puckbunny in Training
Veteran
Halfway down the page below the "Additional Images" are links to the finest HPS ballast instructions I've found. They're HUGE PDFs so be patient.
 
M

masterKahn

be careful I wire ballasts all the time but have had some older ones i salvaged leak some oil and smoke up my house. I only use brand new ballasts from now on. Use wire nuts and not just tape and if you can afford it throw this away and buy a new light.

Also the plug for the wall is way to old/small/crappy looking it would need replaced.
 
E

EvilTwin

Magic,
I can list what I have on a 400hps ballast. See if that helps.

One capacitor wire comes from the wide winding and one from the narrow winding so it looks like you have that correct. Were those wires marked with writing?

The tap wire comes from the wide winding and goes to energise the igniter. Then the other two wires from the igniter go one each to the socket wires. You'll have to try and figure out which goes to neutral and which to hot.

The lamp wire that goes to the center of the socket also comes out from the wide winding.

Two remaining wires coming from the narrow winding are for line in connections. There should be two common wires...one to the outside of the socket and the other to the white wire from the wall. Then the wire that goes to the black wire from the wall.

Yes you can wire the ground to the base of the transformer. Where are you grounding the other end? Better to have a proper 3 pronged plug.

Good luck and be careful...
ET
 

magiccannabus

Next Stop: Outer Space!
Veteran
Thanks for the replies everyone. That picture just shows it all set up temporarily. I am building a chassis for it and am using a much heavier power cord(off an air conditioner). I'm soldering it all together where needed, and putting terminals on other things. It should be finished tonight. I'll try to post a picture.

One other question though. Does the capacitor get hot? I may have to change how I have it situated....
 

magiccannabus

Next Stop: Outer Space!
Veteran
I think a better way to word my question about the one socket lead would be: Does the ballast itself run on just one pole of the circuit? I suppose in a lot of ways that would make sense, but my understanding of transformers leads me to suspect there may be something wrong with this. Why does it fire up just fine when I do it that way? Shouldn't both socket leads come from the output side of the transformer?
 

magiccannabus

Next Stop: Outer Space!
Veteran
Found this page of wiring diagrams too:
Venture Lighting: HPS Ballast Wiring Diagrams

I think I get it on how the common line can go straight to the bulb. If I understand correctly, there's a return path to the transformer, and the resistance of the ballast itself on the hot line prevents all the power from shorting straight through the socket. I'm still not sure I completely get how the transformer functions in this situation, since transformers produce output that is out of phase with the input. I'm guessing the answer probably has something to do with the ignitor though.
 
M

masterKahn

the capacitor does not get hot only the heavy ballast itself, it gets very hot. The capacitor will store a charge when pluged in and for some time after unplugged(like all capacitors) I have shocked myself before it hurts. Don't touch it if it is charged or suspected to be charged.
 

magiccannabus

Next Stop: Outer Space!
Veteran
Great to know, thank you. I have the cap held down by a plastic ring(an old shower curtain ring actually, you'll see when I get a picture in a bit here). The transformer is mounted on steel ballast mounting rails, which are suspended between wooden blocks which are covered in aluminum foil to prevent them igniting. It's all going to run on a GFCI outlet too. I'm pretty confident it does and will work, but it's always good to ask for advice when doing something like this....
 

magiccannabus

Next Stop: Outer Space!
Veteran
Couldn't find the camera for a while. Here's the new housing. It's not quite finished yet though. I still have to set up the terminals for the socket leads. Otherwise it's more or less finished. Ignore the power line coming in though, that's the temporary one.

picture.php
 

magiccannabus

Next Stop: Outer Space!
Veteran
Oh I just remembered I never posted the model number off the transformer oops. It is a General Electric 217205-26. I think everything is wired up, seems to all match the schematics I can find, plus the notes I took last time I wired it up. Gonna fire it up tomorrow somewhere safe to test it.
 

magiccannabus

Next Stop: Outer Space!
Veteran
Lights right up! I guess I understand now how the circuit works. I don't have the reflector set up yet, but I'm so happy the thing fired up flawlessly. Didn't even hum, but I have the transformer pretty secure on that board. Getting close to go time!
 
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