alright i just got in everything else that i needed ive have been gone on spring break so i havent really been looking around and reading up that much but i am having trouble wiring everything i dont have the typical ballast...i have one of those old looking ones like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/400-watt-HPS-Grow-Ligh...1QQcmdZViewItem

but i dont have the capacitor i have the ignitor i believe it says its a internal resistor so i just want to start getting everything wired up there are alot of white wires with
2 com wire
480v wire
208 wire
277v wire
240v wire
120v wire
cap wire
and i dont have any wiring diagram that is similar to my ballast

That link ain't workin' fer me.

It's a multi tap ballast and you only use the one that matches your mains rating - likely the 120V. Others should be capped off.

Can't help you off the top of my head regarding capacitor.

Please provide us with all markings on the ballast and some quality pictures to assist diagnosis.

Likely that is a ballast for a light fixture and they usually put multiple wires in there so they are versatile in to the end user. For your pj you will want the 120 as D stated. That is as long as you are in the US!!

You want to use the wiring diagram printed on your ballast. Any more questions?

If you're unsure seek advice from a friend who knows some electronics.

hmmm.... WARNING: .... before you continue, can you please get the link in your first post to work ? The lamp you're listing appears to be a HPS (High Pressure Sodium) lamp, which would require a S51 ballast. The ballast you have is a MH (Metal Halide) ballast used for running M59 Metal Halide Probe Start Lamps (or H33, Mercury Vapor Lamps).

gs

So you bought the components piece-meal and not as a matched set??? Listen to GadgetSmith!!!!!!

Ya I wouldn't attempt to power a HPS with that ballst. I do have a spare MH Bulb if you're interested. Only used it for a few months and still in great condition.

this is the bulb i have

Yah, that looks to be a good lamp. It's not a HPS and it has that extra resistor in there which I believe is the probe (as in probe start). I think you're good to go but a second opinion can't hurt so maybe wait around to see what others say. I'm not the expert and I shouldn't have overlooked that the link was labelled for a HPS lamp to begin with.

Edit: What is the golden lettering on there "MH --W PLUS 6500K" Fill in the dashes for me.

its ok i didnt know how to put up pictures so that was just showing like what kind i had and what it kinda looked like when i get home i will try and fill in the blanks for you

also i am having trouble with my lcd i stripped it and then connected it and it turned on but went out i think i had the fcc hooked up just by tape to see if it would work and now i can't fire it up anymore did i mess something up or are the ribbons messed up now????

The FFC cables have been the downfall of many. Just be very, very careful when handling. If you get absolutely no signal that's rather ominous. Frequently a single trace is damaged and it shows up as a line on the LCD. If you're seeing nothing at all it may be things just aren't quite plugged in correctly or all the way?

Edit: I see now you said it went on and then off. Was there any sign of an electrical problem? Snapping, arcing, bad smell, blown fuse somewhere, etc.? I had a controller that went mysteriously bad on me and couldn't get it working again.

yeah i smelled a little something so i checked the back but it looks like nothing really burnt maybe i didnt connect something that well cause i was just trying to see if i can get it up and running but i didnt connect the fcc cable right i know i just eyeballed it and then connected it with a piece of tape to see if i can get it working maybe its because it was connected properly....how do i know if i messed it up completly???

That's the million dollar question.

sorry but i forgot to metion that i connected the fcc extension with the regular connection with tape... ....was that a stupid idea??? or can this be done???

You mean instead of using a proper connector you just taped an extension on? If so, that almost certainly wouldn't work.

so i do need another piece to connect the fcc to the lcd??? dual jumper right??? but since everything wasnt properly secure that means that maybe the lcd doesnt work because of that reason or would the lcd have blown out because of that???

where do i get the fcc dual jumpers??? i think the same place where i got them does but forgot the site

I've never used an extension but I know they're sold here https://secure.lumenlab.com/shop/group.php?id=6 and I think people have gotten them at DigiKey?

Edit: Are you using an extension or did you just pull the ribbon cable out when you stripped the LCD?

Edit: Are you using an extension or did you just pull the ribbon cable out when you stripped the LCD?
[/quote]when i was srtipping the lcd i disconnected everything and then tried to reconnect everything to make sure everything was working properly but then turned off so i dont know what the cause of the problem was but i am probably going to just reconnect the orignal fcc back to the board and see if the lcd still works cause i have been kinda skiddish since that incident so hopefully it still work correctly if not ill post pictures to let you know how it went

ps thanks for all the help

No problem at all. Please keep us posted. Feel free to PM me if I miss you later since these forums are humongous.

And best of luck to ya. I know just how it feels to be in your position.

I think the bulb will work fine. about the fcc prob, one thing is if they're not PERFECTLY lined up on the receiving pins and firmly in place you either get no screen or lines. I had an fcc issue with my first LCD strip and quite honestly I got so frustrated by it I accidentally tore the input fcc. I think I was doing something along the lines of what you are-- Taping it. tape is not a firm enough hold my screen constantly would flicker on and off. I had to wiggle the end to get it back and did one too many wiggles. After that I made sure to get LCDs with no fcc probs. One side note too is FCCs are extremely delicate handling them is always a risky thing. As to whats your prob I honestly can't say. It could be something simple like not getting the pins lined up or something more serious like a damaged FCC (which by the way you'd need to be a brain surgeon to fix). Pics would help a lot.