The 400W Venture Lighting Ballast and UHI-S400DD USHIO 400W Bulb

[Guy Grotke]

Ushio retrofit lamps are universal position, which means any position you like.

[superdaveumo]

Ok, so a couple days ago I twisted the wires and fired this baby up. The photos haven't been touched up (as far as coloring is concerned). I wanted to preserve the coloring.



This is it turned on for a good 10 or 15 minutes. It's REALLY bright (had to wear sunglasses to work with it). The blue wasn't QUITE that bad, but it definitely had a blueish glow to it.



Ok, how to wire this thing.... There are 4 major wires you have to be concerned with. 1) The white common wire from the transformer 2) The hot wire (120V, 240V, etc) from the transformer 3) The common wire from the ignitor (white in the picture) 4) The hot wire from the ignitor (yellow).

So which is which? Well, on this transformer, all of the wires have labels. Very handy. For the US, the red wire from the transformer is 120V. That needs to be hooked up to the black (hot) wire from the outlet. The white wire from the transformer is connected to the white (common) wire from the outlet.



The wires from the ignitor (there are three, but only two aren't hooked to something) are hooked to the bulb. The common wire (white) is connected to the common wire in your socket. On your socket, this is the wire that is connected to the threads. The hot wire (yellow) is connected to the hot wire from the socket. On the socket, the hot wire is the one connected to the little tab at the bottom. Incidently, for this socket, the black wire is hot and the white wire is common.

Make sure there are no exposed wires (the wires from the transformer you didn't use). I cut my ends off and will wire cap them.

The heat from this thing wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I didn't touch it (of course) but I could hold my hand a few inches from it and be ok. I could feel the heat radiating from the bulb about 3 feet (1 meter) away. I also had a little issue getting the bulb screwed in. It's a TIGHT fit. Correct parts, just tight.

[Miedosoracing]

Ok, the 100w electronic ballast took like 2 minutes. This 400w one is kinda worrying me. Only for one thing though. The ignitor has 3 lines coming off. But according to the info it seems two, blue and red go to the actual positive side of the light, and 1 goes to the com. I believe that is the white one. Well, the two that go to the positive side, the blue says goes to the capacitor. Do I put that on the opposite side from the wire going to the lamp? so for instance, wire from ballast to cap, and ignitor, then other side of cap, cap to red wire from ignitor and then to the lamp?

[Guy Grotke]

I don't like to see concise wiring explanations on this forum, because each ballast manufacturer may have a different one! We should not mislead people into thinking that every single ballast kit gets wired the same way. Manufacturers may have multiple common wires coming out, or an internal connection to a single common wire, etc. Their wires have different colors, so you can't go by that either. It gets even trickier when you consider that different countries have different voltages, different power plugs, and different color-coding of line cord wires.

What you MUST have, is the wiring diagram from the ballast manufacturer. If you have a ballast (and hopefully the other parts that go with it, ie. condensor and ignitor) and you do not have the wiring diagram, then you need to get it from the manufacturer or vendor. There is no reason for them to keep it a secret! They want electricians to understand exactly how to wire it up. (Little problem called Liability Lawsuit!)

Even if you can't get it from your vendor, look for another vendor's website that sells the same ballast. Most of them have ballast diagrams online. Use the diagram for your exact model.

[Miedosoracing]

Yeah, mine has the label on the actual ballast, but I just don't understand what some of the wiggly lines mean. Anyways, I will take it to a electric shop and have them put it together for me. Thanks

[Guy Grotke]

If you have access to a good digital camera or even better, a flat bed scanner, then you should post the diagram. I have no problem with explaining the diagram! I just don't want to tell somebody to hook it up the wrong way, and have them get hurt or burn down their house.

But of course, if you are not comfortable with high voltage high power wiring, then taking it to an electrician or electronics tech is a fine way to go.

I like to include a switch in the circuit so I can turn it on and off without pulling the wall plug. I also have another switch to control the fan circuit, so I can leave the fan running for a few minutes after I shut off the lamp. I used standard wall switches ($0.99 at Home Depot), but you can use any switch rated for 120 VAC 6 Amps or higher. (250 VAC 3 Amps if you use 240 VAC power.)

[Mikey p]

In referring to the burn position it doesn't really matter that much. It's rated at 15,000 hours in the horizontal position and 20,000 hours in the vertical position.

[Scubasteve2365]

Ignore this post, for a second I thought you had an M135 ballast on that lamp, I was wrong

[dannyss]

i was wondering if the lumenlab light kit electronic ballast will give an optinum performance https://secure.lumenlab.com/shop/group.php?id=4
is ushio S400DD has the same performance quality as osram HQI-TSD-400W double ended?
do i still nedd a reflector for ushio S400DD ? will it affect the projected image without reflector?

[superdaveumo]

I don't like to see concise wiring explanations on this forum, because each ballast manufacturer may have a different one! We should not mislead people into thinking that every single ballast kit gets wired the same way. Manufacturers may have multiple common wires coming out, or an internal connection to a single common wire, etc. Their wires have different colors, so you can't go by that either. It gets even trickier when you consider that different countries have different voltages, different power plugs, and different color-coding of line cord wires.

I think it is perfectly fine to post something like this. Of course you'll want to consult your wiring diagram. But I think you get a good example of one being hooked up (even if it isn't exact). If you want to get techinical (and I know you like to ), the voltages might be different and the colors might be different, but they all hook up just about the same. Power comes in from the wall, is transformed to a new voltage, hits the capacitor and ignitor and goes to the bulb. No magic. If enough of these are posted, you'll hit all the different common ballasts and bulbs.

I do absolutely agree that if you have no clue about electricity, GET SOMEONE WHO KNOWS TO DO IT. 120V will kill you very easily. 240V even quicker. Takes only milli-amps to kill you. Just my opinion. We welcome yours.