175w MH wiring Q

[ava420]

so the lady wants me to try and drop our number 1 statues with the electric company for our area... so i decided to pull out an old af175wd made by ENERGY SAVERS UNLIMITED, INC ballast that fires two 175w bulbs to MAYBE replace my 2 250w. when i pulled the old ones (af174wd) out of the hood I'm using now i didn't change anything. so today i hooked up the wires to see if they would fire and only one light lit... so i got the voltmeter out and at the one that lit up I'm getting 282v and on the one that wont light I'm getting 120v. there is 6 wires coming out of this thing mind you so its a little bit of a mess... so i started trying them to see if i could find a combo that would match the one that fires (282v) and i did find a set that fires the other bulb! so now i have both bulbs lit but I'm wondering what could happen? as far as i know i thought most houses run on 120v. both bulbs are getting 282v is this bad?

 

[ava420]

Anyone?? still haven't left these things on for any amount of time. i guess its to the deck with them to leave them on fall day and see if they blow...

 

[planereefer]

I can't find much info on these ballasts but where are you taking your readings from? The wall or lamp socket?

You're correct in saying most houses have 120v outlets but there can be outlets in the house wired for 240.

Be careful playing with the insides of the ballast. Even with the power off, there is enough charge in the capacitors to kill you.

Btw, how are you at the top of the usage list with the electric company with your setup? Just a change in lighting won't make that much of a difference in your monthly electric bill.

 

[ava420]

I'm taking the reading at the lamp socket where i have them wire capped together... I'm in a standard wall outlet. i don't have the ballast open yet... i guess from what I've found about it there is 2 ballasts inside the box and all the wires inside the box are supposedly white so i haven't opened it up to see as i didn't think it would help any...

not sure how we are there but we didn't get the congratulations letter every month before we had the tank.... I'm guessing its the 2 250w MH, 2 48" t5s, small tank LEDs, Moon lights, sump lights, external return pump, mag9, skimmer pump, heater, mp40, tunez PH, fans, apex, ATO and a few others I'm sure i forgot. most run 24/7.. so yeah I'm not sure, i just know we get the letter and the lady yells at me so I'm trying for anything here haha....


i guess my real question is can a 175w bulb handle 280v? when i guess its suppose to get 120v. or am i wrong here and the ballast and capacitors are suppose to up the volts to fire the bulbs?

 

[planereefer]

I wasn't knocking you or anything, I'm just surprised because that isn't much usage. I run 4 - 5KW and never had an issue, I have friends out in northern part of the state that push 10+ KW without issues.

Anyways, It's hard to say without having more information regarding the ballast. It does sound like there are two ballasts inside, typically however the capacitor will bump up the starting voltage to 1000V or more. MH bulbs are gas-filled and require a high voltage to ignite.

check out this wikipedia link to read about Metal Halide.

This might explain the inner workings a little easier.