My New DIY Dual 250w
 

Just made this today. Its not quite complete, I didn't have enough screws to finish mounting the lid, and the power sockets (which I will do tomorrow), but both ballasts have been tested on 250w venture bulbs, and it works like a charm.

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/me...r/ballast1.jpg
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/me...r/ballast2.jpg

The box is made of aluminum (wood grain!) that Des bent up for me. The ballasts consist of two M58 (M250) ballasts. The sockets used in the back of computer power supplies was used as the AC power source, the top two sockets are used as quick disconnects to the lamps. The two white control panels on the front are wall mount digital timers. The whole enclosure measures at about 8"x6"x6" (lwh).

Here's a breakdown of the costs (including gst more or less):

Enclosure: 15 dollars
Ballasts: ~75 dollars each (~65 if I went to Westburne, but they ****ed me off) ~150 dollars total
Timers: ~26 dollars each ~52 dollars total
16/3 guage cord: 62 cents/foot. ~12.40 cents (20 feet bought)
Sockets and misc power cords for quick disconnects: ~25 bucks

Total cost for a 2x250watt setup in an aluminum enclosure with two integrated digital timers: ~260 dollars.

It was a bit of work, but in the end, I'm glad I went ahead and did this on my own.

-Rich

nice, i like the built in digital timers that makes it easy without having them plugged into the wall.

that is very nice! Good Job, man if i had an ounce of the skill you ppl had, i would be set lol

Looks good Rich! That woodgrain looks sweet :mrgreen:

How much for a 3 by 250 watt halide, I'll provide the enclosure. You did that for a pretty good price, considering that the timers are worth more than $50. I'm just too lazy to wire it up. You can tell me what dimensions to make the enclosure.

Des

mh
 

Are you drilling vent holes in the housing? or do you have a ventilation system?

I could probably get it down for you with the additional third timer for about 320 bucks... plus or minus 10 dollars. If you don't want those integrated timers, it could probably be done at around 250.

-Rich

I'm not sure if I'll put vents into the box. I know a few people with enclosures tigher than mine who don't have vents... it shouldn't be a problem dremling out a few vent slots if the need arises though.

-Rich

okay i have the ballast, now i need an enclosure and timers, what would that run?

Hey Rich
What store did you pick up the sockets at?

Alvin

PM'ed you Alvin

-Rich

PM'ed you Beermaster

-Rich

Re: My New DIY Dual 250w
 

:rofl: I do that ALL the time, "it's not about the money it's the principle"

P.S nice setup

Richer, if you don't put a fan or a louvered top, ect inthe casing you are going to have problems from the heat build up. the main problem will be a shortened life spam on the ballast its self. also if you have a capaciter in there fopr the ballast you will see it fail quite often.

the best way for a smaller enclosure like that is to get a computer fan grill on one side and on the other side mount the fan pulling air out of the box.

or you can do like me and leave the lid off all the time :redface:

Steve

Hey rich if you want I can get the same ballasts for cheaper!!!

Point well taken Steve, I'll take a dremel to casing.

-Rich

Oh? From where?

-Rich

Do they humm or buzz
 

Hey Rich,

How loud do you find them?

Brad

Nice
 

Nice project! I have been thinking about a making a similar project. Yours looks very well done.

Rich what are the white things on the one end? are they timers? and if so what kind and how much do they cost?

Steve

These ballasts are pretty quite....Rich since I am an electrician My company gets discounts at all electrical wholesalers.....I can get those ballasts for approx $52

Those are in wall digital timers that I got from Rona. Price wise they range from 25-35 dollars plus or minus 5 bucks.

-Rich

Great job there.

I don't mean to be the bad guy here, but a PFO 2 x 250w tar and coil is 224.00 at J&L and it's in a bullet proof casing with heatsinks. Add in the timers for 52 bucks and it comes to 276.00. You roughly paid 260.00 for your DIY and alot of labour. :confused:

I did a lot of shopping around before deciding to go DIY. Yes, I realize that the 2x250w tar ballast over at J&L is probably a better value, but I did it to see if I could actually do it. That and I wouldn't have the guts to take apart a pfo ballast to integrate two digital timers into it. As for the time spent... I DIYed my own 2x175watt setup awhile back... with that experience under my belt, doing a 2x250w with timers setup only took a couple hours to wire up and to test. I'm sure in the future, it wouldn't take as long for me to make another one.

-Rich

Wow, you have great patience! :smile:

Not surprisingly, the inside of a PFO ballast case is identical to the insides of yours! There's only 1 way to wire it. You'd probably have to dremel out the aluminum panel on the top to fit in the 2 timers, but nothing you couldn't have handled. There's a flat surface down the middle where there are no heat sinks, so that would make a perfect spot. Other than tapping the 110V with the timers, the rest is already wired up from factory.

But regardless, you've purposely gone out to learn so that deserves some cudos!

that's the right answer! DIY is always more fun that just "going out and buying one"..cuz anyone can do that.