Lanterns/Fixtures > Modern

HID Ballast Questions regarding my "new" Ballast

<< < (2/2)

Mike:
Oval is ED and boxy is BT. if it's medium base it can't be BT though so it was either ED17 or mogul base.

LampLover84:
OK I am back with a wiring question on my ballast

I got a new capacitor for it (12UF and 300Volts)

here is the wiring diagram



I noticed the ballast has two wires marked Com (Which I assume mean Common)

One for each part of the ballast as this is a two coil unit
I wired it the way it was when it was given to me (I think It was right as it was lit up the night before I got it) The person just cut the three wires off and I then re-spliced them with a new wire nut and I only did one at a time so I would not mix up the wires

The wires that were cut were the 120V input tap, One Common/Lamp Neutral/capacitor and the lamp bottom button/Ignitor

But I am afraid to plug it in because my Multimeter says 7.8Ohms between the Hot and the Neutral wire (It is also buzzing which means continuity between the two wires and a direct short) there however is No continuity between Hot and ground and Neutral and ground

The lamp was not installed (If that matters) when I did the test with my multimeter

Mike:
Yep COM is the neutral (white) wire. All the white wires connect together. For the cap, it has two black wires. You can choose either one to use as hot or neutal since capacitors don't have polarity.

Was your multimter buzzing or the ballast? The ballast is supposed to buzz. Some are louder than others. I'd say put in a lamp and see if it works. Just put the lamp in a (empty) glass jar so if the lamp explodes it will be contained in the jar. And if the jar has a lid, keep it nearby so if the lamp explodes you can cap the jar and throw it out (so the gases and stuff don't get in the air inside of your house as easily). Odds are that the lamp isn't going to explode but I'm always on my toes whenever i run a lamp "exposed" without a fixture. I mean, anything could happen. The lamp could fall over (and if that happens while it's running, it could shatter from the coolness of the surface it lands on) and all sorts of other things. So if you have a fixture i'd run the lamp in that but for testing purposes you're fine. Let the lamp warm up all the way and see if it's as bright as it should be.
0

LampLover84:
It was the multimeter that was buzzing (Which means continuity) when I tested between the hot and the neutral prongs on the cord I wired up. I have not plugged it in yet as I am afraid the ballast is shorted or my wiring is wrong
I only get 7.8 Ohms between the hot and neutral prongs
I also got a fixture now (A_Lights got me one for the shipping cost)

Mike:
You want continuity since the capacitor is connected between the hot and neutral, as it's a power factor-correcting capacitor. if the capacitor was open (shorted) you'd get no continuity. Also the igniter is connected too.

Try a PSMH lamp in it and see what happens. If you're truly afraid, test it outside, but I don't think you have anything to be afraid of. :)

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page