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Overall View of wiring. For the ballast connection, the two black wires to the far right must be moved to the empty spade for 90W operation (it's currently wired for 70W operation). One wire goes to 120V line and the other goes to the cap. (the other cap wire goes to the igniter.) For the igniter, the blue wire must be moved to the empty spade for 90W operation (again, it's wired for 70W right now since I'm using a 70W lamp in it which appears about the color and brightness it should, though i can't test the lamp on a proper ballast to see for sure) that blue wire goes to the lamp. So the cap is wired in series between the ballast and igniter. there is no nuetral to the ballast, only the igniter and cap (and the lamp and PC have a nuetral too). Then there are two wires left, an orange that connects the ballast and igniter together and a brown that connects the ballast and igniter together. when the blue wire is wired for 70W the brown wire and blue are connected together to the igniter. When it's wired for 90W, the orange and blue wire are connected together to the igniter. Keywords: Gear

Overall View of wiring.

For the ballast connection, the two black wires to the far right must be moved to the empty spade for 90W operation (it's currently wired for 70W operation). One wire goes to 120V line and the other goes to the cap. (the other cap wire goes to the igniter.)

For the igniter, the blue wire must be moved to the empty spade for 90W operation (again, it's wired for 70W right now since I'm using a 70W lamp in it which appears about the color and brightness it should, though i can't test the lamp on a proper ballast to see for sure) that blue wire goes to the lamp. So the cap is wired in series between the ballast and igniter. there is no nuetral to the ballast, only the igniter and cap (and the lamp and PC have a nuetral too). Then there are two wires left, an orange that connects the ballast and igniter together and a brown that connects the ballast and igniter together.

when the blue wire is wired for 70W the brown wire and blue are connected together to the igniter. When it's wired for 90W, the orange and blue wire are connected together to the igniter.

DSCF0012~6.JPG gol090714_009.JPG gol92413_001.JPG gol071614_004.JPG DSCF0016~2.JPG
File information
Filename:gol92413_001.JPG
Album name:Mike / My General Electric M-250CF (Chicago Exclusive)
Keywords:Gear
Filesize:211 KiB
Date added:Sep 24, 2013
Dimensions:1096 x 1489 pixels
Displayed:122 times
Color Space:sRGB
DateTime Original:2009:03:26 23:40:04
Exposure Bias:0 EV
Exposure Mode:0
Exposure Time:1/29296 sec
FNumber:f/2.8
Flash:No Flash
Focal length:28.8125 mm
Light Source:Unknown: 0
Make:Vivicam
Model:V5024
URL:http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=16409
Favorites:Add to Favorites

Comment 1 to 11 of 11
Page: 1

rjluna2   [Sep 25, 2013 at 11:25 AM]
Flexible ballast, nice Smile Complicated for those who don't know about the manual setting Razz
streetlight98   [Sep 25, 2013 at 08:40 PM]
thanks. Yeah it's a nifty ballast for sure! And For interest's sake, I can take the ballast off thi and put it on my M-250A door to make a HPS M-250A! and I can make the M-250R1 100W MV.
Mercuryvapor123   [Sep 26, 2013 at 02:48 PM]
And speaking of that, for some reason my 175 watt merc. M250A-2 has a plug in connection rather than the normal polorized plug for Mv.
streetlight98   [Sep 26, 2013 at 08:47 PM]
What do you mean? They started using white plugs for the power doors in the 90s instead of these black ones i think.
Mercuryvapor123   [Sep 26, 2013 at 09:59 PM]
I don't realy understand it either, This is the first time I'v seen this on a mercury vapor?
streetlight98   [Sep 27, 2013 at 12:33 AM]
this is HPS.
Mercuryvapor123   [Sep 27, 2013 at 12:03 PM]
Yes I know. I'll try and get some pics today and show you what I'm talking about. Rolling Eyes Laughing Shocked Wink
NiMo   [Sep 27, 2013 at 03:09 PM]
The white plugs first appeared on the M150/M250A2s in the mid 1980s, about the same time as the plug in ignitors. So all light sources that have the ballast door had the white plugs at that time.
Mercuryvapor123   [Mar 27, 2014 at 12:04 AM]
I don't know why they don't build all cobraheads like this.
streetlight98   [Mar 27, 2014 at 12:22 AM]
Well I don't know if this really is such a good concept lol. First off, one of the hinges is broken so the weight of the ballast is on one hinge (though i was able to reglue the broken hinge) and there is no hinge keeper so if the door opens up the whole thing's going to rip out. Neutral It's basically just a single-door Powr/Door fixture with the Chicago "C" embossed on the door.

Besides the poorly designed hinges, I really love the M-250R1s. When i bought this, the ebay listed showed BOTH hinges FULLY INTACT so the seller must have snapped one of the hinges while being a careless @$$hole and didn't bother to tell me. He at least included the broken piece though... You can't go ripping these lights open; gotta use care because they're not built like tanks like they were in the 60s and before. The M-250R2s have good hinges but the newer ones don't seem to let the latch engage too well. I'm thinking the lineman might close the light in a hurry and the latch might not be in the latch cradle perfectly so the wirst big windstorm or vibration from the pole getting hit or something, and that latch flies unlatch and the door swings open and lifts out of its hinges. AEL still offers a hinge keeper but I've never seen what it looks like. I heard it's like a screw that closes the opening to lift up the hinges to remove the door.
Mercuryvapor123   [Mar 27, 2014 at 12:29 AM]
Yes true I myself take great care when messing with my lights I treat them as if they were my own children. Laughing you'r right though they definitely don't build them like they use to.

Comment 1 to 11 of 11
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