MH Ballast, now wat?

[Gfoot2000]

is this how a normal ballast look like? its a Blue Wave 2,
im hoping they all like this so i can buy a retro kit for it, if these plugs arent normal to the usually kind, what should i do? i dont want to chose a retrokit that wont plug into this

also if the ballast i rated at 250w, can i use a 150w bulb? usually you can go on a lower w bulb then the ballast

 

[Eric]

250w ballast need 250w bulbs, so not you can't mix and match.

you just need bluewave cords to wire up to your fixtures. looking at it again the singleplug on the right is what most look like not sure on the other two but bluewave will have plugs to suit.

 

[Scooterman]

Those plugs are purposely done like that, proprietary so you don't screw up and plug in the wrong cords, nothing wrong with these. You do need to run the same wattage they are rated for. All you need now is the mogul socket, reflector and bulb to make the retro complete! If you don't have these connectors then you need to order them from sunlight supply or wherever you got them.

 

[Gfoot2000]

So those two type plugs on the left are called mogul sockets? Also it says duel but I don't want 500watts on my 60g, will it light up only 1 bulb?

 

[Eric]

ok you have a dual 250w ballast dual means two, this mean it can run 2x250w bulbs if you want but there should have two switches so you can run one and leave the other one off if you want to.

A mogul socket is the socket your bulb screws into if you are running single ended bulbs, if you plan to run HQI/double ended bulbs there is a different type of socket.

what you need is the cords, reflectors, sockets and bulbs.Where ever you got the ballast they probably sell the cords with plugs for that ballast then you simply wire those cords to the mogul socket if you use SE and plug the other end into the ballast and your all set to go.

The ballast is only the power supply you still need the list above.

 

[Gfoot2000]

This ballast only has the power cable, I need to buy the rest, no switches so I gotta unplug to turn it off, ill be using a timer, I got the ballast from someone and I'm sure I can't get the rest of the part, just needed to know if there's a special name for that kind of outlet on the ballast or if its universal cuz I've never seen a mh ballast b4

 

[Frankie]

Those plugs are purposely done like that, proprietary so you don't screw up and plug in the wrong cords, nothing wrong with these. You do need to run the same wattage they are rated for. All you need now is the mogul socket, reflector and bulb to make the retro complete! If you don't have these connectors then you need to order them from sunlight supply or wherever you got them.

Hello Scott! Nice to see you posting here!
The plug diagram looks like the same as the lumetek ballast. You will need two cords for the reasons Eric pointed out.
Products

 

[Eric]

You may want to look into a different ballast one more suited to your setup, maybe someone would trade you a 150w ballast for the dual 250w.

Does it have two power cords that plug into the wall socket? If so just leave one of them unplugged, if there is just one power cord I would assume both of the ballast are on even if it's not hooked up and that is not something you want if your not using it.