my new ballast's are ZAPPING me!

[river rat01]

i bought 2 unused 400 w MH ballast's from a friend that found them at an estate sale. i paid $100 each for them.

they were still in their original boxes and look to be totally brand new.

they are made by sunlight supply.

i plugged them up and they both 'hum' (i dont have any bulbs for them,) but when i touched the metal case, i get a little zap.

could this be because i dont have bulbs in them?

i hope i didnt get fucked on this deal.

 

[rives]

I would get a very close look at the grounding in your house or wherever you were testing the ballasts. With no lamp installed, the high voltage pulse to ignite the lamp is going to try and go somewhere and could easily be what got you. However, if the device was correctly grounded, that is where the voltage should have gone.

 

[river rat01]

ok ,i'll try another outlet.

if you never hear from me again, i didnt make it. lol.

 

[river rat01]

ok, whew, thats what it was.

i tried another outlet and no zap.

thanks rives!

 

[river rat01]

.

 

[river rat01]

oh one other thing, how do i tell if the sockets are made for vert or horizontal?

 

[rives]

There shouldn't be any difference in the sockets. Different lamps are made for vertical or horizontal applications.

 

[growshopfrank]

i bought 2 unused 400 w MH ballast's from a friend that found them at an estate sale. i paid $100 each for them.

they were still in their original boxes and look to be totally brand new.

they are made by sunlight supply.

i plugged them up and they both 'hum' (i dont have any bulbs for them,) but when i touched the metal case, i get a little zap.

could this be because i dont have bulbs in them?

i hope i didnt get fucked on this deal.

gotta ask why were you running the ballasts without lamps?
what were you expecting?

universal mogul sockets are white and if you look inside the female threaded part has a smooth top
horizontal mogul sockets are yellow and the porcelain has a notch that should face up for proper orientation of the lamp also the female threaded portion of the socket has a hook that engages the positioning pin on a horizontal lamp

its OK to use universal or base up lamps in a horizontal socket

 

[rives]

universal mogul sockets are white and if you look inside the female threaded part has a smooth top
horizontal mogul sockets are yellow and the porcelain has a notch that should face up for proper orientation of the lamp also the female threaded portion of the socket has a hook that engages the positioning pin on a horizontal lamp

Interesting - The mogul sockets with different configurations for open vs enclosed fixtures are fairly common, but I don't recall ever seeing the yellow ones.

 

[stagehand099]

gotta ask why were you running the ballasts without lamps?
what were you expecting?

universal mogul sockets are white and if you look inside the female threaded part has a smooth top
horizontal mogul sockets are yellow and the porcelain has a notch that should face up for proper orientation of the lamp also the female threaded portion of the socket has a hook that engages the positioning pin on a horizontal lamp

its OK to use universal or base up lamps in a horizontal socket

Huh? What could a socket do to prevent you from using it in the wrong position? As Rives said, the lamp (bulb) is the determining factor in safe burn position.

stagehand

 

[rives]

Huh? What could a socket do to prevent you from using it in the wrong position? As Rives said, the lamp (bulb) is the determining factor in safe burn position.

stagehand

Stagehand, as I mentioned above, I don't recall ever seeing the sockets that Frank is talking about, but there are a number of ways that sockets can be arranged to only use the correct lamps for the application. On the enclosed vs open fixture type, the center electrode is set deeper into the base of the socket so that the incorrect lamp will bottom out before it makes contact (the correct lamp has a significantly longer center electrode dropping away from the lamp base at a steep angle).

I'm building up some fixtures to take the Philips 315w CMH lamps, and they take either the PGZ18 socket or the PGZX18. The PGZ model has a recess in the base to accept a mating "key" on the lamp, and will accept either single or double-jacketed lamps for open or enclosed fixtures. The PGZX doesn't have the recess, and will only take the lamp without the key, limiting it to open-fixture rated lamps with the double jacket.

Of course, the correct socket has to be used in the fixture when it is assembled for this to work!

 

[growshopfrank]

Interesting - The mogul sockets with different configurations for open vs enclosed fixtures are fairly common, but I don't recall ever seeing the yellow ones.

I guess mogul sockets don't get any respect i know you have seen these before you just didn't notice them

here is a illustration with the "hook" visible
http://www.levitonproducts.com/catalog/model_8750.htm

here is one showing the notch in the porcelain

http://www.hid-light-fixtures.ledfl...d-Mogul-Base-One-Piece-Keyless-HID-2ols6.html

most sun system kits come with them as standard

 

[growshopfrank]

Huh? What could a socket do to prevent you from using it in the wrong position? As Rives said, the lamp (bulb) is the determining factor in safe burn position.

stagehand

Hand the problem is that horizontal lamps have a locating pin that prevents them from being used in a standard mogul

 

[rives]

I guess mogul sockets don't get any respect i know you have seen these before you just didn't notice them

Could very well be, Frank. I can see where they would be pretty common for grow lighting, but virtually all of my background is industrial. Horizontal lamps are almost unheard of in that setting, the only exceptions that I can think of would be roadway fixtures and some very compact flood lighting.