After absolutely grand-slamming my way into a forum post that I realized was in the wrong place after I wrote it, I write this again, because why not? Hoping it’s at least a little bit more on track. About a month ago, I got a Designer’s Edge 175W MV yard-blaster from a Habitat ReStore for $10, marking my first HID fixture.

Upon first power up, the ballast was quite noisy, and later I discovered that the ballast produced an odd odor after about four minutes of runtime (high current draw from loose connections). I took it apart today to see up close the condition of the ballast. As mentioned earlier, the connections are loose, and it looks pretty rough overall. Doesn’t surprise me too much for it being used. I’d like to get a new ballast so I can use the two 175W MV bulbs I have, though I’m unsure how I would attain one. I have pictures, though I’ll either edit this post later or upload them to my gallery. Any ideas?