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Grounding an electronic ballast

I have some new GE ballasts that can power 4, 48" bulbs. I only have some 2 bulb shoplight fixtures so I'm thinking of just making a wood frame to hold the bi-pin sockets and bulbs. My question is these new ballasts do not have a ground wire (my old ballasts have a green wire that is a ground). Is it necessary to ground these ballasts?
 
71,

You should verify of course, but I would "assume" that they may be double insulated and/or "polarity" (for lack of a better term at the moment) sensitive on the primary side and/or they expect you to ground them via the fixture or mounting hardware... which I would probably do anywhays just to error on the side of safety...

and why not see if you can use these for 2 bulbs and overdrive them?

just another option maybe...


cheers'
Av
 
Overdrive the bulbs? What are the gains of doing this? Would this cut my bulbs life by some? Could the ballasts be mounted to wood or does it need to be metal and how much?

Thanks
 
I dunno what all this electrician stuff is lol, but I can tell you that OD'n bulbs burn a lot brighter but don't last as long.

EDIT:
I've never attempted to OD a lamp on an NO ballast. I've only done it with NO lamps on a VHO ballast (electronic, too. Magnetic probably makes a difference as to the harm the OD COULD possible do to the ballast.)
 
afaik JLAP is correct,

150% or so on the brightness but at the cost of bulb/ballast life.... not something I would consider unless they were in a metal fixture

basically you put the 2 unused secondaries in parallel with the ones being used thereby increasing the secondary current level

Personally, I have never tried it... but there are plenty who do and swear by it

google it...

Av

edit: "everything you always wanted to know about overdriving fluorescent lights"
 
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Interesting...

Now I'm debating whether or not it would be better to have 4 bulbs or 2 bulbs OD'ed.

Still though is anyone familiar with the grounding specifications of an electronic ballast if it does not include a ground wire? Could I just attach a 20 gauge wire to the ballast and connect it to some metal?
 
A grounding wire is that third prong right?

If it is, could you just use a 2prong-3prong adapter? If not then I dunno what I'm talking about lol
 
A grounding wire is that third prong right?

If it is, could you just use a 2prong-3prong adapter? If not then I dunno what I'm talking about lol

Using the adapter though wouldn't ground the ballast because there isn't a 3rd prong. My old ballasts have it's own green ground wire that goes from the inside of the ballast and then screwed into the ballast on the outside.
 
  • #11
71,

Personally, I would add a ground... probably by connecting one to the ballast's mounting screw/bolt/whatever...

and my lights are on a ground fault, not on purpose really but my setup is in my basement and where I am at all basement/outdoor/bathroom outlets are ground fault by code... no issues with the wal mart electronic ballast fixtures...

but of course ymmv :)
Av

edit: JLAP, the 3 prong adapters are a joke really, to be properly used you must remove the screw from the receptacle's faceplate, verify that this point is in fact a good ground via meter, then attach the 3 prong adapter to the receptacle with this screw...

how many you seen attached like this?.... not many i bet ;)
 
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  • #12
Any other ideas? Common where's the electricians at? :-D
 
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