I have a SunSystem 10 Crop Master external ballast hooked up to a hilux gro 1000w HPS in a cool tube. Now my question, the ballast is hot, like where at first when you touch the exterior you think you wanna pull away because of how hot it is, but you can actually hold your hand on the exterior, all sides, for I'd say about 5-10 seconds before your fingers feel hot enough to take off. Just wondering if this is normal because of the wires around it, not many at all, just the ones pertaining to the cool tube and plug to wall are next to it, and I have it on a piece of sheetwood, or plywood if you will. I have a little 8 inch fan i can just turn on and blow towards it i guess. any answers appreciated p.s. I'm not exactly a newbie, I usually just do outdoor, and messed with some CFL for experimental reasons.
Man you should just invest in an electronic ballast. I know that sounds expensive. But save yourself any hassles once you get things going, you dont want ur ballast crap out and die during your cycle, it will run cooler and more quite and better on the hydro bill lol
I have a electronic ballast and it gets hot. Like if I put my hand on it I really dont want it there. I did Electronics Maint in the Marine Corp for 10 years (just got out) and when you have a heat sink that big means some heat gonna be generated...thats the electronic ballasts enclosure has all those fins. We had heat sinks on some stuff that were measured in feet and you could cook on top of them..but thats what there there for to rapidly dissipate heat...so being hot is a good thing it means its doing its job. Circuits like that have a thermal auto cut off. If it gets to hot you will know it wont power up. If you have not experienced it then your operating just fine and as intended. Whats interesting and most do not realize it if you did not have that it would be so hot you could light a match. Theres a video of a intel processor turned on with no heat sink and thermal overide turned off and it bursts into flames in seconds.
Now this, is an answer... thank you, and to the others who took their time to post as well. Only thing I'm confused by is, electronic ballast? isn't that what mine is? Its plugged into an electrical socket, running electricity, so wouldn't that make it an "electric ballast" as you can tell I don't have much electricity knowledge besides voltages and amps and grounds lol.
Electric relates purely to electricity alone. Modern electronics refers to solid-state semiconductor technology.
Theres two kinds. Magnetic Ballast and Electronic ones. 99% sure you have a electronic as thats whats everyone has migrated to. A magnetic one has a those fins on but but looks different. It operates a little differently to. Uses a magnetic as a inductor. Both plug in a wall but like I said 99% chance you got a electronic ballast. What makes a electronic ballast a electronic one is it has a circuit board in it that controls everything. Thats whats giving off the heat actually. When you run electricity through semiconductors one of the big by products is massive heat generation. Hence the heatsink to dissipate it. They look like this Magnetic Ballasts
You really don't have to US Electrical code was designed for people with no knowledge to take advantage of it. Simply plug in your device and your done. Nearly all electronics as well have some sort of thermal cut off, and numerous other things to make them safe. Thats why we have the Underwriters Laboratories. If you see a UL logo it means they have judged it safe for consumers to use. Theres some simple stuff to keep it safe that you can do. Like do not put anything on your ballast, dont plug a surge protector into another one. Thats one reason why most surge protectors have only 6 plugs. Its a safety thing. If your set up is drawing lots of amps and power you will know it since your circuit breaker box will flip. It means your exceeding your breakers capacity and should figure out a alternative means of powering everything. Anyhow not much knowledge is required to operate electronics at least not in the civilized west.