How to connect a ballast?

I got an HPS Ballast, Mogul Socket, and an HPS bulb today. I went to hook it up, but there's only one white, one black, and one red wire coming out of the ballast.. How is it supposed to get power? :/ There's no cord, or connectors for me to connect a cord. What's the deal?...

Ok... Maybe take a picture of the ballast... Sounds like you got a ballast kit.... So there should be power taps... usually marked for different voltages... take a pic so you dont get any bad info... power is not a good thing to experiment with..

Pictures? Generally for household electricity black and red are hot, white is neutral and green is ground.

As you can see, There's a black and red coming from the transformer block. And a white coming from the Ignitor (i thought HPS ballasts didn't use an ignitor but whatever)..
So how do i wire it to a Mogul socket, AND power it, given one one set of leads and no other connectors.. I'm stumped...

I figured it out.. For anyone else who finds this thread here's the solution:

1. Connect all the white wires from the socket, ballast, and a power cable (with a cap is easiest)

2. Connect the black on the ballast to the black in your cable.

3. And connect the Red on the ballast to the black on the Socket.



This Method of connecting all White wires works with this specific type of ballast only.

you should mount all the parts to a board at the very least or put it in a can. if your mount is metal, ground that and the hood

Mr.McNooby said:

I got an HPS Ballast, Mogul Socket, and an HPS bulb today. I went to hook it up, but there's only one white, one black, and one red wire coming out of the ballast.. I connected the white and black to the socket leads, and the red to my reflector hood.. But uhm.. How is it supposed to get power? :/ There's no cord, or connectors for me to connect a cord. What's the deal?...

Click to expand...

post pics.. there is something missing here.. first off the red wire would not go to the reflector.. you will hurt yourself.. lol.. just post a pic or two and we'll walk you through it.. the ballast should have four wires.. black and white, typically the incoming feed of 120.. but if the ballast draws 240 v then it would be typically be connected to a red and black wire.. this does mean there should be two more wires from the ballast to go the the lamp socket. So we will need to get some more info before we can advise further..

Sorry McNooby but your theory of connecting white to white and such doesn't always work not to mention it can cause a fire or other hazards if its wired wrong. Every wire has a label on them read it and use it the right way.

alllrighty then.... here we go... with the explanation...

You neutral white wire will come from your feed wire and connect to both the white wire from the socket and the white wire from the ballast... this properly connects your neutral.
Next the black feed wire of 120V goes into the ballast, providing the ballast with an input of 120V.... the power is converted and then leaves the ballast on the red wire.. the red wire now goes to the black wire on the socket closing the loop and allowing the power to flow..

note: this only applies to this ballast mentioned.. other ballasts and mostly all transformers connect the feed neutral and hot to the transformer as the input, and the transformer provides a hot and completely separate neutral to be wired to the socked.. in this second mentioned situation the neutrals can NOT all be joined together..

please ask questions before attempting to wire anything..

OK.. I did ask.. Hence this thread.. And I called a local electrician and asked him how to wire it. I posted the solution with pics about 5 posts up.

But thanks for the info... Of course no one should wire anything without knowing what they're doing. I am smart enough to not plug anything in before I make sure it is done correctly tho.

I appreciate all the feedback.

mrmadcow said:

you should mount all the parts to a board at the very least or put it in a can. if your mount is metal, ground that and the hood

Click to expand...

Is it safe to mount it directly to a board?.. Does a ballast get hot enough to start a fire?... I would prefer to mount it to a board if possible.

Otherwise.. How safe would it be to use a big Coffee can?.. I have already patched the wires going to the socket to be 8 feet. So that I can house the ballast wherever.

I would be leary of using wood but if you are under 400 watts, it might be ok.I would use some sort of standoff to keep the ballast away from the wood. meybe a nut or a few washers between the board & the base of the ballast & check for heat every few days.
A coffee can would be better than nothing but difficult to fasten the parts inside.

Cool thanks for the input.. And they are both under 400 watts (The HPS ballast is 150w, and the MH ballast is 175w).
I'll likely mount the ballasts to some heat resistant board. I'll use long screws and put 3 or 4 nuts between the board and ballast to space it away from the board a little.. Should that be ok?

1/4 inch should be plenty

Right on. Thanks!