Help with a 400W MH Ballast Please

Hello everyone! I have a 400w Metal Halide that I bought on ebay years ago and never used due to the fact it is not assembled. Well I am wanting to take that step and use HID.

So please take a look at this and let me know if I need anything else, a little research and looking at the diagram in the back of this ballast sugggests that I need a capacitor. Well if thats the case, what kind do I need? Or if you think this looks like a POS that I shouldnt use let me know that too. Thanks in advance everyone!

Is the insulation on the transformer all dry and crusty and does it flake off when you touch it? Same with the wires?

If not it's ok to use it.

Yes you would need a capacitor, or an ignitor if you wanted to make it a hps. You can find them online. It should have come with one.

OregonMeds said:

Is the insulation on the transformer all dry and crusty and does it flake off when you touch it? Same with the wires?

If not it's ok to use it.

Yes you would need a capacitor, or an ignitor if you wanted to make it a hps. You can find them online. It should have come with one.

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Thanks for the reply, yeah it looks like all the insulation is ok. So just to clarify, it is usable as is for MH, and it can also run HPS if it has a capacitor/ignitor? Now for the MH i have three wires coming out, im assuming one is a earth ground, and the other two go to the socket correct? I know its pretty strait forward but I just dont want to kill myself on it. hahahaha

listerfiend said:

Thanks for the reply, yeah it looks like all the insulation is ok. So just to clarify, it is usable as is for MH, and it can also run HPS if it has a capacitor/ignitor? Now for the MH i have three wires coming out, im assuming one is a earth ground, and the other two go to the socket correct? I know its pretty strait forward but I just dont want to kill myself on it. hahahaha

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Thats new to me...I didn't think that just by adding a capacitor will make it able to power an HPS...I might be wrong. I would google it...let me know what you find out.

So can anyone tell me how to wire this thing? I have a wire thatt says 277v, 240v, 208v, and 120v, two that say COM all coming out of the smaller part of the coil, then one out of the larger part that says cap. If you look at the pic of the wiring diagram I posted you will see them listed there. So what wires do I connect to power, ground, to the bulb socket?