electronic ballast wiering q

[freddy949]

Hi all
I have this odyssea light that I bought for cheap. After 6 months of use the electronic ballast broke(supprise supprise). I ordered a ballast to replace it.
My problem is that it is the right ballast for my lights, but it is a different one than what was in the light. My light has 2 96 w bulbs and I got an elctronic ballast for 2 96 w lights, but the problem is the original ballast was made in china and the one I bought was made in the us.
The old one had 2 sets of output wires with 2 blue and 2 red for each set. my new one only has 1 set and it is 1 red and 2 blue. the picture on the new ballast has each blue going to one light and the red split and then going to each light. My questions is the plug that goes into the light bulb has 4 wires going into it 2 black and 2 red, so how do I go from the 3 wires that my balast puts out to the two 4 wire plugs that plug into my two lights. There should be some way of doing it since the balast is made for 2 96 w lights and tahts what I got.
Any input or refrences would be great. Thanks
-Fred

 

[scsinet]

It's entirely possible that the new ballast is able to light the lamps with only one wire connected to the one side of each bulb, leaving the other wire abandoned. If the old ballast had one wire for each connection on each bulb (eight total) then you should be able to redo the wiring to make it match. Just tape off any wires you don't use and give it a shot.

 

[freddy949]

not sure i follow
here are some pics
old ballst

new ballast

plugs for lightbulb

 

[scsinet]

Can you get a close up of the wiring diagrams on the old and new ballast, or lay them in a scanner or something?

 

[freddy949]

new

old

 

[freddy949]

in case you can't read the old it says red blue red blue starting from the top going down

 

[scsinet]

It looks like your new ballast doesn't have to preheat the bulbs, that's the reason why two wires on each end of the bulbs are needed.
Ok here is what you do:
You said that each socket has two red and two blue coming from the socket. Abandon ONE red and ONE blue from each socket, leaving you with ONE red and ONE blue from each socket. Use wire nuts to cap off the unused wires. Join the reds and run that to your ballast, and run the two remaining blues to the ballast.
I attached a professional looking graphic to show you.

 

[freddy949]

sick thanks man, i'll try it today, i'll let you know how it works

 

[freddy949]

The wires comming out of the bulb plugs are acctually red and black, so should I just match the blue with black and the red with red, and does it matter which one I cap off and which one I plug into the ballast?

 

[scsinet]

Just think blue when you are looking at your black wires.
It does not matter which one you cap from a circuit functuality perspective. From what I understand of your description and diagrams, capping one red and one blue(black) from each socket will leave you with one red going to one "side" of the bulb and one blue(black) going to the other "side."
Keep in mind, this *may* not work, but if you are sure that the ballast you have is designed to run the bulbs you have, it should. What I am telling you isn't something I've tried, but rather the approach I'd be taking from my interpretation of the circuit(s).

 

[triga22]

Dont mean to Hijack your thread. I would scsinet. I am selling the undulate. I was wondering your friends email? What is it again?

 

[scsinet]

That was MY email address, I dunno where the friend thing came from.
Sorry to leave you hanging, but I decided to pass as an Undulate is probably way to aggressive for my system.

 

[freddy949]

it work like a charm.
Thanks a lot you saved me some cash.
let me know if you ever need any home theater stuff i'll hook you up. I got a home theater company.