OrionTheHunter

well as some of you may have read recently i had 2 100 watt MH balast kits with bulbs. it took me forever to figure out how to put these suckers togeather as the wiring diagram was less than helpfull and the tech support guy wasnt returning my calls. I searched and searched and searched but never could find a decent step by step consice and clear guide to assembling these lights.

So, in true american fassion, i simply created a guide. I wanted to share this with everyone. I gave it to my buddy and he knows $hit about lights or electricity but he built a kit all by himself in like 10 min. so here it is attached as a word document. no viruses i promise.

tell me what u think!

edit------ well i couldnt atach it so here How to assemble a HID balast kit for 120volt applications.doc

__________________
3rd grow Running

High Stess, bad luck, totally awesome first grow(finished)


Here we go again!!!! (aborted )

OrionTheHunter

I got some pm's saying that the doc for some reason didnt include the pictures so i thought id post it here to make sure the picswent with it.



How to Assemble A HID Ballast for 120Volt Application.
By: OrionTheHunter



I am a true believer in purchasing and assembling your own HID ballasts. Why pay higher prices for pre-assembled HID lights? A waste of money. I will show you how to easily assemble a Pulse Start MH kit, and wire it for 120v applications. I chose the Pulse Start MH because it has all the same parts of a HPS system and a standard start MH system. You will see that you need not be an electrician to wire these simple machines and you can start saving money right away.



Parts Needed
1. Pulse-Start MH ballast kit.

2. 16 Gauge corded shop light. (see picture)

3. Set of wire cutters/strippers/or even a knife
4. Electrical Tape/Wire Nuts
5. Something to set your ballast on/in



Step 1

Okay lets get started we open our ballast kit and find we have 4 parts.
1. Ballast. This is essentially a transformer.
2. Capacitor. This will wire directly into the ballast.
3. We have an igniter. This wires into the ballast and the lamp.4
4. Medium socket MH bulb.



First Step to take your Shop light and make a cut. Mine is a 15ft. cord so I will make the cut right in the middle giving me plenty of cord for both the power outlet and the lamp itself.
1. Make your cut.
2. Strip the outer insulation off giving yourself a couple of inches to work with.

3. Separate the Black and White wires. (Some cords have a green wire leave this one alone for now)
4. Strip them down so you have about a ½ inch of insulation removed.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 For both sides of your cut cord



I like to wire up the lamp side first.

1. Find the red and blue wires on the ballast. Sometimes labeled X1,X2,X3

2. Take the black wire from your lamp and splice it with the red wires(X1). Take the blue wires(X3) and splice them together.

3. Next connection is a 4 way connection. Grab the following:
a. Yellow(X2) wire from igniter
b. White wire from lamp
c. White(com) wire from ballast
d. White wire from power cord

4. Splice together using tape/wire nut.

The lamp is now wired and all we have left is the Capacitor and lead from the power cord.

Grab the capacitor. This is an ac capacitor witch means it isn’t polarized. Simply connect the black and white striped wire and the other White (com) wire to the two wires coming from the capacitor. It doesn’t matter which go to which.

Last step for the wiring part.
1. Find the orange wire or the wire that has 120v printed on it.
2. Grab this and splice together with the black wire from the power cord.

That’s it your kit is wired up. Last step is to put in a safe place that is out of the way. There are many ways of mounting these things inside Computer cases, ammo cans, even just setting them on a block of wood. For safety all you need to remember is that this is an exposed transformer with an unprotected capacitor. It will take about 15 minutes for it to fully discharge and you can safely handle it.


Just plug that baby in and turn her on!

__________________
3rd grow Running

High Stess, bad luck, totally awesome first grow(finished)


Here we go again!!!! (aborted )