Ballast Wiring Help

Shy_Koi · #1 12-13-2003, 05:15 PM

I bought a 175 W Hamilton MH ballast/socket/spider reflector from eBay, sans cord

The wiring diagram appears straight forward enough - except that the mogul socket's wires are white & black and the instructions say that the red & blue ballast wires go to the lamp...? (pics below)
The black & white ballast wires go the power cord (I want to have a quick disconnect) what type/rating of wire does it require?
Lastly, there is a 5th wire (green) - I'm assuming this is the ground. Does this get wired in with the AC? What about the reflector? Does it need to be grounded, and if so, where from/to?
Although I do most of the DIY stuff around here, I havn't fooled around with something like this before - should I just hand it over to an expert?

Thanks in advance for any help!
~Tamara

Delphinus · #2 12-13-2003, 05:30 PM

Green is indeed the ground. You can use the ground in your wall socket. Ground everything together. The metal bracket of your socket, your reflector, the ballast.

In AC terminology, black goes to "hot" and white goes to "neutral." On the wall socket, the slightly larger terminal is neutral.

For the AC I would use a heavy-duty extension cord. Someone can correct me on this one, but I think what you want to use for the ballast leads is 14 guage wiring. If you go to Home Depot or Rona or whatever and get a "heavy duty appliance power cord" you should be OK.

I'd also use a heavy guage for the ballast to the lamp. The longer that this is going to be, the more resistance there is in the wiring itself, so you can hopefully compensate by using a heavier guage. Why make the stuff work harder than it has to.

I'll go check what guage I use on my ballast to lamp wiring. I'll post back what it is after I go take a look.

I don't think it will matter how you connect the red and blue wires to the socket. Even if it does matter, you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right on the first try. If the lamp doens't fire, turn everything off, switch the red & blue, and try again.

I don't bother with a quick disconnect for the connections between ballast and lamp. Once the ballast is connected you will rarely need to disconnect it anyways, you can use any old crimp-on butt connectors or the threaded wire nuts or stuff like that. But if you can get your hands on a quick-disconnect, go for it ... it's as fun as you make it, right?

Delphinus · #3 12-13-2003, 05:35 PM

My ballast to lamp wiring has "16/3" (among other things) written on the insulation ... which I assume means 16 guage.

Shy_Koi · #4 12-13-2003, 05:46 PM

Tony, thank you so much!!!
That is extremely helpful, and I appreciate your quick response

~Tamara, who thinks she can attempt this now...

Bob I · #5 12-14-2003, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

My ballast to lamp wiring has "16/3" (among other things) written on the insulation ... which I assume means 16 guage.

That is correct. 16 guage is fine because the voltage is higher, but the current is considerably lower (we are talking milliamps here)

Bob I · #6 12-14-2003, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I don't bother with a quick disconnect for the connections between ballast and lamp. Once the ballast is connected you will rarely need to disconnect it anyways, you can use any old crimp-on butt connectors or the threaded wire nuts or stuff like that. But if you can get your hands on a quick-disconnect, go for it ... it's as fun as you make it, right?

Sure butt splices are fine, but then you have to go and buy a tool to crimp them. I just wired a ballast and had to use wirenuts because the correct tool is at my summer retreat which is 120 Kms away.