Hi

Im curious as to how to wire a s51 coil ballast. Im lost, Thanks

It is exactly the same as a pulse strike metal halide ballast. Who is the manufacturer and don't you have some diagram that came with it/on it? Is it a quad tap or multi tap?

Thanks Deathray for your quick response

The ballast is made by Advance Transformer, it does come with a diagram but I dont understand it. As far as it being a quad or multitap ballast I would assume it is a quad tap for it supports four different voltages.Thanks alot deathray any help is really appreciated.

Is this what your diagram looks like? If so, maybe some others can comment on it tonight, (It's a really unclear diagram). I will check back tomorrow.

very similiar except the bottom two voltages show 127 and 220.also the diagram shows an x1 as well.thanks deathray.

The ballast is made in mexico and it states that it is for a s51 400w high pressure sodium lamp.

Here is another wiring diagram that is a little more user friendly. It is from a different company for a different ballast, but the layout is the same. Hopefully it will make more sense to you. You will have to substitute for the different color coding.

Just ask if you need help with that. If you do, in your reply list the color/labels for the wires on your ballast.

its shouldnt be too difficult ......

select the line voltage that your country is working off of ..... (that could be any color wire, look at the schematic for that) .... That is the input into the coil ....

The coil will then step up the voltage, and step down the current ...... there should be primarily only two wires for output ... one feeds the HOT side of the bulb the other is circuit common .... common will often be white, but not always ...

Deathray your awesome
I really appreciate the help.That is just what i needed Thanks.You too scuba thanks.

No problem.

ok im back

I believe i have eveything plugged in right except i have one question about wiring the caps.My ballast has two cap wires where do they go? and does it matter which order?thanxs before hand.

Shouldn't matter. Are the wires the same color? Any marking on either connection? It is doubtful there are any markings that differentiate the connections and there is no indication of a polarized capacitor on the wiring diagram(the first one I posted) Unless you see something that indicates otherwise, it dosen't matter.

Where do they go? To the capacitor connections. If it's a metal can there should be two places to make connections, connect a wire to each one. If it's a plastic cylinder it should have two wires coming out of it, one for each ballast wire.

Hook it up and put on your sunglasses.

One more thing, since metal halides have a break in period where the metal salts settle in the arc envelope to their optimum position, I recommend burning the bulb in a position that is as close to the final burning position as is possible. This will make the burn in easier and reduce the chances that you end up with a difficult to start lamp. This may be a little over cautious, but it seems to make sense from what I have learned about metal halides. Normally a MH lamp is placed in its socket and is never repositioned so I believe that it is better to be safe than sorry.

deathray

thanks. Ive been testing them both ways and it seems the ballast only hums one way.Now that i have the ballast atleast huming.Im still having trouble gettin it to light the bulb.Im going to recheck my connections but i cant seem to figure it out.

I assume that you are running the S400DD? Make sure that the center tab of the socket is making good contact with the base contact. Bend up the tab a little (don't forget to disconnect power of course).

deathray

you're the man You were right about the bulb being s400dd and the problem.thanks the bulb lights up like a champ now.