400w MH Ballast Wire Extension

[JCOLE]

I am installing 4 - 400W Hamilton M135 metal halide pendants and wanted to see if I could extend the wires? The wires from the bulb to ballast are not long enough to mount ballast in stand, etc.

Do the cables have to remain the same length or can I cut them and splice on 10' or so of cable to extend them without sacrificing performance? Bulbs are 400w Radiums.

 

[oreo54]

I am installing 4 - 400W Hamilton M135 metal halide pendants and wanted to see if I could extend the wires? The wires from the bulb to ballast are not long enough to mount ballast in stand, etc.

Do the cables have to remain the same length or can I cut them and splice on 10' or so of cable to extend them without sacrificing performance? Bulbs are 400w Radiums.

You need to ask Hamilton
Thus chart shows the " issue".

Ballasts that include an ignitor to start the HID lamp
are limited in the distance which they may be
mounted remotely from the lamp because the
ignitor pulse attenuates as the wire length between
the ballast and lamp increases. All Philips Advance
open core & coil ballasts listed in this Atlas include
a standard ignitor that provides the proper
electrical pulse to start lamps when the ballast is
mounted within the lighting fixture. For most of
these ballast/ignitor combinations, the maximum
ballast-to-lamp distance is listed as 2 feet. For
ballast-to-lamp distances greater than the capability
of the standard ignitor, a long-range ignitor
is required.

 

[JCOLE]

You need to ask Hamilton
Thus chart shows the " issue".

Thank you. I did reach out to Dave at Hamilton today and he didn't have the answer. He did say he would contact Radium to ask. Although, I would think it would be a ballast question.

 

[oreo54]

Thank you. I did reach out to Dave at Hamilton today and he didn't have the answer. He did say he would contact Radium to ask. Although, I would think it would be a ballast question.

AFAICT yea a ballast issue.
Distance from igniter to bulb or igniter to ballast core. There are " long distance" igniters.
Other ballasts. This is all from Phillips btw.

Metal Halide Ballasts
The distances at which most metal halide ballasts can
be located from their respective lamps are limited by
the ballast-to-lamp wire size. The exceptions being the
ballasts for the new lamps that require an ignitor for
starting. The mounting distances for these are limited by
the ignitor as shown on the following page.
Use this chart to determine the minimum wire size
required for the metal halide (not requiring an ignitor)
lamps shown:

No idea about electronic ballasts. MH aren't my forte .;
I did find this .

What is the maximum length I can have between the ballast and reflector?
This primarily depends upon the ballast type (magnetic vs electronic) and also the lamp type (HPS vs Probe Start MH). Some magnetic ballasts can use “long range ignitors” for up to 50’, and most Electronic ballasts reliably fire lamp at lengths above 50’.

 

[JCOLE]

AFAICT yea a ballast issue.
Distance from igniter to bulb or igniter to ballast core. There are " long distance" igniters.
Other ballasts. This is all from Phillips btw.

No idea about electronic ballasts. MH aren't my forte .;
I did find this .

Thanks. I do know it is a magnetic pulse start ballast. I will try and see if Hamilton can help shed some light on this.

 

[oreo54]

Thanks. I do know it is a magnetic pulse start ballast. I will try and see if Hamilton can help shed some light on this.

Out of curiosity how long is the included cord?

You could open it up and see which igniter is in there .
Up to 50ft ...

NEW ADVANCE LI533-LR LAMP IGNITOR LONG RANGE | eBay

LAMP IGNITOR LONG RANGE. NEW NOT IN BOX.

www.ebay.com

 

[PaulErik]

The cord length limit does depend on the ballast, ignitor and type of wire/cord used.

With pulse start lighting systems it is not recommended to extend the cord length from the reflector/fixture. Typically 8-15’ max was typical.

A long range ignitor is normally not used. These ignitors have to be matched with the appropriate ballast. Some ballasts can not withstand the higher peak voltage generated and will cause breakdown within the secondary coil of the ballast.

 

[JCOLE]

Out of curiosity how long is the included cord?

You could open it up and see which igniter is in there .
Up to 50ft ...

NEW ADVANCE LI533-LR LAMP IGNITOR LONG RANGE | eBay

LAMP IGNITOR LONG RANGE. NEW NOT IN BOX.

www.ebay.com

It is a 12' cord coming from the Pendant.

 

[JCOLE]

The cord length limit does depend on the ballast, ignitor and type of wire/cord used.

With pulse start lighting systems it is not recommended to extend the cord length from the reflector/fixture. Typically 8-15’ max was typical.

A long range ignitor is normally not used. These ignitors have to be matched with the appropriate ballast. Some ballasts can not withstand the higher peak voltage generated and will cause breakdown within the secondary coil of the ballast.

Thank you. Yes, it is a 12' cord coming from the pendant. My main concern for relocating them is the noise. 4 of the 400w ballast sounds like a swarm of bees.

 

[GarrettT]

I extended both of my 400w ballast, but it was electronic not magnetic.

 

[X-37B]

I extended mine but they were 250 watt. I would not splice any wires personally. I opened up the fixture and replace the entire wire from fixture to ballasts.

 

[oreo54]

It is a 12' cord coming from the Pendant.

After looking at a bunch of on line stuff I'm still of the opinion that you probably should not extend your ballasts unless Hamilton or whomever actually makes the ballasts confirms the distance you can extend it to.

Using Phillips (Signaty, ect.) as a guide, besides specific long range igniters (with the possibility of burning out the ballast ), most have limits of 10-15 ft out of the box. Well besides the industry 2 ft standard.
Igniters generate 2-5kV apparently with I assume the long distance ones approaching 5kV or who knows with Chinese stuff.

The quality/design of the core is important I suppose.

Many designs require that the ballast and igniter be carefully
matched to provide a proper pulse value. A low pulse will not
start the lamp and a high pulse can damage the components of
the ballast. The igniter should be mounted within the specified
distance from the lamp. Caution: Starting pulses can damage
meters. Measure with oscilloscope and compare to ANSI.
Consult labels and manufacturers’ catalogs to ensure
compatibility among lamp, ballast, and ignite

Apparently buzzing has multiple reasons..

MH ballast buzzing loudly

Ok I have a 250w aquamedic oceanlight that I recently purchased used. Its my first MH so I am not sure if this is normal or not. My ballast has an extremely loud buzz to it. Its not the fan but the capacitor. Do they normally keep a constand loud buzz or is this a sign that the capacitor is...

forums.reefcentral.com

One last tid-bit of the google-fu.
For some reason the recommendation is not to put ballasts closer than 1ft apart..

 

[olonmv]

I couldn’t see why 12’ would be an issue. Problems occur in long runs of 100’+ realm and usually it’s a voltage drop issue which upsizing wire gauge fixes.

 

[JCOLE]

I couldn’t see why 12’ would be an issue. Problems occur in long runs of 100’+ realm and usually it’s a voltage drop issue which upsizing wire gauge fixes.

12' is the wire that is currently on the pendant. I want to extend it for a total of about 25-30'.

 

[olonmv]

12' is the wire that is currently on the pendant. I want to extend it for a total of about 25-30'.

I still don’t think voltage drop would be an issue. Main part I’d be worried about is the wire you’d be using to run the lamps after remote locating the ballasts. The wire insulation needs to be high heat type and probably at least 14awg.

 

[mtraylor]

One other option you may want to ponder is getn a silent electronic ballast that will fit your needs. That way you wouldn't have to extend away and there would be no noise.

 

[Yanir34]

I highly recommend on Lumatek 400w dimmable electronic ballast.
this is true beast.
also, they have 4 meters long cables for them .

 

[mtraylor]

Yes and they make absolutely no noise. Ran them for years and never had any issues or noise.

 

[Yanir34]

By the way , hamilton manufacturer very good MH bulbs.
I'm using the 14K 400w bulbs, they are simply amazing !

 

[JCOLE]

I am using the 400w Radiums. They spec the M135 ballast for this bulb for proper operation. What electronic ballast will meet proper spec for the 400w? I love the color and really don't want it any bluer. If anything, it could be whiter.