I'm considering a project that might take a portable remote ballast. Now if I'm using a pulse start MH, and the distance between the ballast and the lamp is less than about 5-8 feet, I could in theory use a flexible cord. Would it be safe to use connectors such as BAASR, commonly used on horticulture ballasts ? I know such connectors are used at very high wattages, and with electronic ballasts that I assume are PSMH. I would most likely get a ballast extension cord and cut it to make the male/female connectors available on the ballast box and on the fixture.

I'm also considering such a thing on M57, which would be OK as it is probe start.

The PSMH I would be running would be most likely 50 or 70 watts, max 100 watts.

Thanks for your input.

You should add a switch to turn off the ignitor when you wanna run probe start lamps.... also you should add neon indicators to show whether its plugged in, also to show whether its on or off and to show whether the ignitor is engaged, maybe also have it be a multi tap ballast so you could use the ballast box at some point as a temporary step up transformer for new ballasts that take non-120v voltages such as 250V etc, perhaps also add a ballast bypass just in case you want to run a self ballasted lamp or an incandescent... IDK just ideas... stuff I would do given the resources to do so. as for the cable.. Not a clue... usually I just whatever is on hand and works properly without lighting on fire or getting hot lmao.

You're getting fancy, here. While I might add a power switch, there will most likely be no other components other than a ballast and required apparatus.

This ballast box will most likely end up behind a sofa or under some kind of furniture to feed a floor lamp. It might be as simple as an F-can MH ballast.

Do you have room in the fixture to mount just the igniter ? because if you do, you can run 4 conductor wire like 14/4 STW (common extension cord wire) and use a simple 4 wire twistlock plug and everything is available at most big box hardware stores, and so long as you watch the remote distance length and wire gauge you can go 50 feet or 100 feet with no issue, and since all the high voltage stuff is in the fixture you don't need any thing special for wire...

If you can get a remote igniter you could also use 3 conductor wire and stock extension cords.. 

If I go the remote ignitor route, I'd use semiparallel ones that only require two conductors to the lamp holder (plus ground for a total of three). That would get the pulse in the connector out of the equation.

One project I have in mind would have a floor lamp (5-ish feet tall) plus a small lead for a total of 6-7ish feet. Most PSMH ballasts should be able to handle this. In fact, if I go the F-can route, I'll have no choice.

Most ordinary cables and connectors will handle ignitor output voltages. But using that for remote ballast setup have some danger to it : The ignitor is capable to start isolaton breakdown somewhere where isolation is not great. This happens on the ballast output, so it won't cause any high currents even if it shorts completely. That is, it can go arcing and burning, for unlimited time, with ballast that limits the current and ignitor that will restrike it even if it goes out on its own. I think it is quite unsafe to wire anything like that throughout a building

A solution is to install the ignitor locally at the lamp, and make only the ballast remote. Well, if there is some existing isolation breakdown it won't help, but at voltages that dont exceed ballast Voc, it is very unlikely that an isolation breakdown will happen in the first place, unless some other factor (like moisture) is involved

From the standpoint of ignition reliability, ignitors that use the ballast as the pulse coil, have enough energy to overcome several ft of cable capacity. Ignitors that have their own pulse coil have little energy and are to be installed next to the lamp (but they are the ones that dont need the ballast tap, so make it convenient to separate the ballast from the ignitor)

You're getting fancy, here. While I might add a power switch, there will most likely be no other components other than a ballast and required apparatus.

This ballast box will most likely end up behind a sofa or under some kind of furniture to feed a floor lamp. It might be as simple as an F-can MH ballast.

Eh mybad... usually I try to think of all the possibilities (try) so I tend to get a little crazy with things lmao..

That's ok, we all get carried away sometimes.

Use an ammo case as they're cheap and durable for mounting components in like your ballast. use neutrik powercon connectors on the cord and a panel mount on the ballast box for connecting to your lamp housing.

Use an ammo case as they're cheap and durable for mounting components in like your ballast. use neutrik powercon connectors on the cord and a panel mount on the ballast box for connecting to your lamp housing.

That is an awesome idea. now I gotta find a few of them...

If I go the remote ignitor route, I'd use semiparallel ones that only require two conductors to the lamp holder (plus ground for a total of three). That would get the pulse in the connector out of the equation.

Semiparallel ignitor requires connection to a ballast tap. And these connection should be of a low inductance, so pretty short.
Your description correspond more to a parallel ignitor, but that form is available onlyfor very few lamp types.
For an ignitor close to the lamp and far away from the ballast,the best suited is the superimposed type. It still have two (plus one PE) wires tothe lamp, just one small box on the cable running from the ballast to the lamp...

Semiparallel ignitor requires connection to a ballast tap. And these connection should be of a low inductance, so pretty short.
Your description correspond more to a parallel ignitor, but that form is available onlyfor very few lamp types.
For an ignitor close to the lamp and far away from the ballast,the best suited is the superimposed type. It still have two (plus one PE) wires tothe lamp, just one small box on the cable running from the ballast to the lamp...

Thanks Medved. I get confused in the ignitor nomenclature sometimes. You are right, it is a superimposed ignitor I want as it requires no ballast tap. In this eventuality, the ignitor tap from the ballast would be capped off and unused.

Oh, and I forgot about an ammo box. Whenever I find some, I must get one or two for that purpose.

I really like this idea... I saw an old ammo box in the junkyard before... it was buried under a bunch of brake discs though...