Looks a lot like the ballast that's in my 70w HPS tallpack which had a broken ignitor in it except that yours has a bracket on the ballast.

You could try getting one of those two wire BBQ ignitor buttons and connecting it in parallel to the lamp as a manual ignitor.

From my experience, these little Caster HPS reactors are decent ballasts. They run fairly cool and quiet. The weak point is their ignitors which have a high failure rate. Any 55 volt one will work in a pinch, but I think the best bet for a replacement would be a 2-lead ignitor if you can find one.

well...the ignitor that came in the fixture was a white square with a small circuit board inside with a Tiny 3 Coil inductor thing along with what looked like a Ceramic Resistor and a 275 Volt Cap,and a 3 Legged Black Component that looked like a Transistor or something like that,i have long disposed of it but i still have a picture of it so i'll post a picture of it at a Later time.

i was thinking of a BBQ Ignitor,but since i'd like this to be a Dusk to Dawn type application,then i don't think it'd be very practical for me to have to go outside and push a button to Start the Light,lol

a 3 Wire Ignitor seems most fesible since those are easiest to find,however i think ive heard somewhere that the Wrong ignitor might fry the ballast or the ballast might fry the ignitor?...im not sure where i heard that.

a 2 Wire ignitor would be absoultely excelent,if only they were easy to find.

You could try a glow bottle in parallel with the lamp?

This works where I am on 240V, in fact you can buy SON/HPS bulbs with built in glow bottles so they don't need an ignitor. only slight down side is if you leave a failing lamp switched on and the contacts in the bottle stick together then the ballast overheats.

I'd use a 70-125W fluorescent starter, these work up to 0.94A but I'm not sure if you have starters rated that high in the US.

Hi Elliot

Unfortunately the Glow Bottle Starter is Fine for UK SON/HPS Lamps as theu have a 85 to 90 volt arc, unfortunately this method does not work with the US lamps as they have a 52 to 55 volt arc, a but too low to ionise the Gas, bend the contacts to close, in the Starter and strike the lamp it may work using a 155/200 or S2 Series Starter but will have Problems as they are only designed for 4w to 22w Fluorescents sometimes the old 2ft 40w Fluorescent Tubes

I too am looking for a US Ignitor of my 100w S54 HPS Ballast, see HERE which is annoying as it is designed for running on the UK 240v 50 Hz Supply, I have other US ballasts but are no use as they are designed for 120v 60Hz Supplies, they get very hot on the UK 115v 50 Hz Supply, (via Transformer).

All the Best

Colin

Hi there Colin,

Ah, I still have a lot to learn about US lighting by the looks of things. I assume that if it does work with a 115/200, the contacts might stick?

Would a 70W ignitor not suffice for your 100w ballast if it's designed to run off 240V?

I'm also glad you mentioned that the lower frequency causes them to get rather hot, I was considering ordering a 120V instant start ballast because such things are very uncommon here. I did wonder about the frequency problem, I know that motors designed for 60Hz can overheat but I was considering risking it with the ballast.

Eliot

Hi Elliot

Yep US lamps run differently than the European Lamp especially the 35w, 50w, 100w and 150w HPS Lamps have a arc voltage of 52 to 55 volts where the UK/European 35w 50w, 100w,and 150w HPS Lamps have a arc voltage of 85 to 100 volts, except for the US LU150/100 Lamp this LAmp is Interchangable for Both European SON and US S56 HPS Ballasts/Ignitors (if they fit the same Lampholder.

Re the 100w HPS Ballast this is actuallt a Auto Transformer type which runs the LAmp at the US specifications at 55 volts 2.1 amps unlike a 100w SON lamp which runs at 100 volts 1.2 amps, so a US 35 to 150w HPS Ignitor is required for the 52/55v arc tubes is needed.

Yep Frequencys are a big problem with Motors and Ballasts as well as Transformers, as you use a 60Hz Motor, Ballast and Transformer, on a 50 Hz Supply it will cause excessive Magnetic Satuaration and overheat the Motor, Ballast and Transformer.

It's what has put me off collecting Fluorescent Lights off the Warships here in Liverpool as they seem to run at 220 volts 60 Hz, Out of Interest Electronic Ballasts are fine on Both 50 and 60 Hz Supplies

All the Best

Colin

I know too this voltage and frequency problems of European and American lights, but what's with fluorescent tubes of higher power like 4 and 5-footers on magnetic ballasts in the USA? In Europe they run on 230V 50Hz and glow bottle starter with arc voltages of 100-120V. That's impossible on 120V power...

Yep it why they use Auto Transformer Ballasts in the USA in the UK where Fluorescent Lights are used on 115v Supplies on Building Sites, they have a Small 115v to 240v Transformer built into the Fitting in conjunction with a standard 240v Choke type Ballast and Starter Switch,

All the Best

Colin

you Guys lost me.