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

[superdaveumo]

Since there aren't any pics of these outside of a projector box, I thought I'd give some stats on these things for those who are planning / building their first projector.

First, some vital stats:

UHI-S400DD USHIO 400W Bulb

Found at:

http://www.atlantalightbulbs.com/eca...HI-S400DDUSHIO

- Metal Halide Bulb designed to work with a HPS (high pressure sodium) ballast.
- The bulb is 245mm long overall
- The base (threaded part) is 39mm in diameter; 41mm tall
- The bulb (glass part) is 47mm in diameter
- 400W
- 5200K

The ballast (transformer, Ignitor, and Capacitor) is a Venture Lighting 400W HPS QUAD CWA Core and Coil.

Found at:

http://www.goodmart.com/products/243289.htm

- 400W HPS system
- Supports 120V / 208V / 240V / 277V electrical systems
- HEAVY. I didn't have a scale to measure, but the shipping weight was 16lbs.
- Transformer size: 110mm x 107mm x 121mm
- Ignitor size: 35mm Diameter; 57mm tall
- Capacitor size: 45mm diameter; 117mm tall
- Capacitor is 55uF, 300VAC, 0.49MegaOhms (490k Ohms), Max operating temp of 100C

Ok, here are some pics of these beasts:



The bulb with a ruler for size reference.



A zoom in of the inner workings. The arc on this thing is 27mm.



The only label on the bulb.



The transformer, ignitor, and capacitor.



The label on top of the transformer.



The ignitor (black) and capacitor (beige) next to each other.

I wasn't expecting the ballast to be so heavy, but... this projector is going to have a floor base. Those who are mounting to the ceiling, might want to check out electronic ballasts or make SURE you have a sturdy mounting situation for your projector.

The ballast didn't come with a socket or a power cord. Not a biggie as you can pick these up at local hardware stores, but it would've been nice.

[Guy Grotke]

If you use one of these quad-voltage ballasts, you connect one of the input taps to the hot side of your AC linecord (probably through a switch). The white common lead connects directly to the white (neutral) wire of your line cord. Then you are done, right?

Wrong! When you apply the 120 VAC or 240 VAC power to the ballast, the unused voltage taps will be at their rated input voltage: ie. the 277 volt tap will be at 277 volts above ground, etc. This thing works as a transformer, and those unused voltage taps can kill you. You must put a seperate insulated wire nut on each of them. Do NOT connect them together, or you will blow a fuse or start a fire.

[superdaveumo]

Do NOT connect them together, or you will blow a fuse or start a fire.

Oh, but I love the smell of burning transformers in the morning. What's even better is burning / blown capacitors (electrolytics are the best) in the morning. Mmmmmm...

But yes, don't connect those wires together. You'll get a nice 240V toaster sitting on your table.

[redd38]

I just got my bulb and ballast today (same bulb, similar ballast). I was also hoping it came with a socket and power cord.... since it didn't can you take picture of how you wired those in once you've done that. Thanks

[Guy Grotke]

Didn't you notice the wiring diagram, four posts ago? You follow the wiring diagram that comes with your ballast. Then you connect the white wire to the white wire in your line cord. Then you connect the 120 VAC power wire from the ballast to a switch. The black wire in your line cord goes to the other side of the switch. Put individual wire nuts on the other three power wires, and you are finished.

You need an E39 Mogul socket for that lamp. You can get one at a local electrical contracter's supply warehouse. (Maybe at Home Depot, maybe not.) Around $6-$9 each.

For my line cord, I got a $7 12 foot heavy duty orange extension cord from Home Depot and cut off the outlet end. I also got a standard wall switch there for less than one dollar. The other part(s) you need to wire up would be a fan or two, to keep it all cool. I used one 120 VAC fan from Radio Shack, so I did not need to include a 12 VDC power supply. like people who use computer fans.

[superdaveumo]

You do want to hook up your ballast according to the wiring diagram that came with the package. Generally, in the world of transformers and house wiring, the BLACK wire is hot (a.k.a. live, power, positive, etc). This is contrary to most DC wiring. The WHITE wire is neutral (or return). It's not ground. Ground is that BARE wire that you see in your house. It's ultimately connected to the metal case of the fuse box or the pipe in the basement or the pole in the ground. This bare wire is the wire you would connect to a metal case for grounding purposes.

Generally, the wires you'll use on a transformer are the black and white wires (when talking about 110V/120V configurations). If your house is wired properly, on the outlets (and the plug of the extension cord you need to hook up to the transformer), the wider lead is neutral (white) and the shorter lead is hot (black). The round lead is ground. See the pic for a visual.



To power the bulb, it needs a HOT wire and a RETURN wire (generally the black and white wires) that come from the ignitor (as Guy pointed out).

Be careful. If you have more questions, search then ask. The internet has LOADS of info on wiring up these types of things.

[redd38]

So the ground wire isn't something that should be coming out of the ballast right? It should just be a wire from my power (or power switch) to my case right?

[superdaveumo]

There will probably not be a ground wire from your transformer. PROBABLY. I have used transformers with ground wires before. It should say ground. Sometimes if the transformer has a metal frame (not the iron core) for mounting, it'll have a ground wire. Pretty much, worry about the one coming from your wall. If you make a metal case for your projector, you can ground that.

Since most people make their projectors out of wood and most of the parts are ceramic, glass, and plastic, there is nothing to ground to.

[Guy Grotke]

The drawing that superdaveumo gave us is correct IN THE US, but only if your outlets are wired correctly. I have seen a few outlets that were wired backwards! When you wire your ballast circuit, it should not really matter much if you plug your line cord into such an outlet. (Just don't try to connect neutral to ground, and a reversed outlet won't make a short.)

But as soon as you step outside the US, the outlets may be different, and the hot/neutral "polarity" may be different. (Not to mention 240 VAC at 50 or 60 Hz.) NEVER trust a particular outlet pin to be safe! You need to turn off the circuit breaker or remove the fuse, and then measure with a volt meter, before you start poking around inside of an outlet box. Same goes for wiring your projector. ALWAYS UNPLUG IT, before you touch even the "neutral" wire. It could be hot, and then the switch would not protect you.

If you don't understand the ballast wiring diagram, and how to add switches, fans, etc., then you should take it all to a local electrician. With the diagram, he (or she) should be able to wire it safely for you in just a few minutes.

BTW: Inside line cords, the ground wire is usually covered in green insulation rather than bare.

[superdaveumo]

So I fired this thing up last night (pictures to come with US 120V wiring). Boy is this thing BRIGHT. One bulb lit my entire apartment! I had to used UV protected / polarized sun glasses to work with it. And even then, I couldn't look right at it.

The light that came from the bulb looked a little blue to me. Nothing harsh, but I could see it. I am in high altitude though (supposedly that changes coloring). Will have to see how it looks in the box. Should be getting the rest of my parts this week!

Oh, does anyone know if this bulb is horizotal or vertical mount?