Wiring light help

Hello mates I have this little light

http://www.htgsupply.com/products/floralux-150-watt-hps-mini-grow-light


It's been sitting in my closet not being used and I thought today I could use it as a supplement light in my flowering room but I don't want to add a lot of extra heat

So today I separated the hood from the ballast because I want to have the ballast outside of the tent.

So now I have the hood with a socket in it with a white and black wire

(Looks just like this)

http://www.htgsupply.com/products/mogul-based-socket


And the ballast in the metal box


Do I need a special kind of wire to connect the socket to the ballast or can I just buy a heavy duty extension cord and cut/splice it and connect the socket to the ballast?

Last time I checked I thought extension cords had three wires in them when you cut them but I can't remember?

If I can use extension cord, what gauge should I look for and what's the longest length I can safely run between the ballast and light socket?


Thank you

The two wires just go to the mogul socket and don't need a ground. Get some 12 gauge wire if you want to run something like a 20' cord to the bulb or 14 is fine probably as it's just 150W so not a lot of draw. A piece of extension cord or run down to the hardware store for some. I use some heavy gauge stuff with all my ballasts as they are bare-bone units with wires all over the place. lol

14 is the gauge used for standard 120v house wiring. A few twist on connectors and you're good to go.

That's a 400w hps at the top with the red wires running of to the left and the round grey thing is an explosion proof housing with the 150w ballast in it. I just took the socket out to use it in a reflector and ran the same kind of wire over to the bulb.

OldMedUser said:

The two wires just go to the mogul socket and don't need a ground. Get some 12 gauge wire if you want to run something like a 20' cord to the bulb or 14 is fine probably as it's just 150W so not a lot of draw. A piece of extension cord or run down to the hardware store for some. I use some heavy gauge stuff with all my ballasts as they are bare-bone units with wires all over the place. lol

14 is the gauge used for standard 120v house wiring. A few twist on connectors and you're good to go.

That's a 400w hps at the top with the red wires running of to the left and the round grey thing is an explosion proof housing with the 150w ballast in it. I just took the socket out to use it in a reflector and ran the same kind of wire over to the bulb.

View attachment 3858339

Click to expand...

This guy's got you covered.

Also want to second the mention that it is only 150w, but that doesn't mean poor connections can't spark. Also, as far as you wire length answer goes, I would use as little as you can. Resistance in the system (basically wasted energy) is dependent on the length of wire. The longer the wire the dimmer the bulb. While the difference is probably negligible when talking about under 20 feet or so, but you could calculate it with Ohm's Law (there are online calculators if your physics is rusty).

Max wire length from the ballast to the socket is usually set by the manufacturer. Most say to keep the length under 10' on the old mag. ballasts. I found this out when rewiring some high bay lights to use, similar to what your doing. I think the new digitalis require even less, that's why they all usually have 6' cord sets. The wire length increases resistance, reducing the bulbs efficiency and output. I could see a output difference when I shortened my wife from 15' to 8', and the wire didn't run as hot.

That's why I recommended a 12 gauge wire for longer runs. 10 gauge would be even better. Can get small rolls of all sorts at Radio Shack. Thicker the wire the less resistance.

Thanks everyone I think 8ft will be plenty for my application. Any advice on how to hang the bulb? Is it dangerous to just hang it via the wire (8ft 14gauge) that attaches it to the ballast? I just can't think of any other way to hang a socket from the top tent crossbar poles

It's no problem to just hang the bulb on it's own tho it wouldn't likely pass an electrical inspection.

I'm assuming you will be using the reflector that came with the light originally. Are there any hooks or other attachment points to hang it with? I rig up chains to hold up my reflectors using "S" hooks. Easy to adjust height and angle and cheaper than buying yo-yos that tend to fail and allow your light to drop down onto the plants. That cheap twisted wire chain that any hardware store sells.

Here's an example of DIY gone wild.