Capacitor for PFO 400 Watt HQI

[Freenow54]

This is a an old school metal halide ballast.

Only reason I said that is because you mentioned ignitors

 

[NitrateKillah]

Only reason I said that is because you mentioned ignitors

All good, I didn't know what an ignitor was, didn't know it exist in HVAC. Are they common failures also?

 

[Freenow54]

All good, I didn't know what an ignitor was, didn't know it exist in HVAC. Are they common failures also?

In HVAC yes they light the furnace or water heater or gas stoves as an example

 

[X-37B]

All good, I didn't know what an ignitor was, didn't know it exist in HVAC. Are they common failures also?

The ignitor is there just to fire the lamp. Some euro bulbs require a higher voltage/ignitor to fire.

 

[fish_collector]

In HVAC yes they light the furnace or water heater or gas stoves as an example

Those would be different from the device that will initiate a mh arc.

It takes a big burst of high voltage to strike the arc then it levels off. And it’s difficult to reinitiate the arc if the lamp is already hot, that’s why mh take a few minutes of cooldown before they’ll restart. IIRC an igniter is just a big capacitor that discharges to strike the arc.

The capacitor in the OPs photo is a 240v 55 microfarad capacitor. You should be able to match something up at an appliance supply house, or Grainger. A higher voltage rating is also ok just never lower.

 

[Yanir34]

my giessmann spectra ballasts have no capacitors at all

 

[Freenow54]

Those would be different from the device that will initiate a mh arc.

It takes a big burst of high voltage to strike the arc then it levels off. And it’s difficult to reinitiate the arc if the lamp is already hot, that’s why mh take a few minutes of cooldown before they’ll restart. IIRC an igniter is just a big capacitor that discharges to strike the arc.

The capacitor in the OPs photo is a 240v 55 microfarad capacitor. You should be able to match something up at an appliance supply house, or Grainger. A higher voltage rating is also ok just never

Those would be different from the device that will initiate a mh arc.

It takes a big burst of high voltage to strike the arc then it levels off. And it’s difficult to reinitiate the arc if the lamp is already hot, that’s why mh take a few minutes of cooldown before they’ll restart. IIRC an igniter is just a big capacitor that discharges to strike the arc.

The capacitor in the OPs photo is a 240v 55 microfarad capacitor. You should be able to match something up at an appliance supply house, or Grainger. A higher voltage rating is also ok just never lower.

I have no idea what you are referring to NITRATEKillah was asking what an ignitor was in the HVAC business . That was all I said when he referred to his research in his first post , and mentioned them. I informed him that he might be getting himself confused, and to look for what he was really after. I have no knowledge of what you guys are discussing

 

[fish_collector]

My apologies good sir, I didn't read back far enough

 

[NitrateKillah]

Ok, so I decided to go back in the ballast and and loosen the cap, its using a 45 mfd. Interesting, how your is different!