Do you know how to wire a m57 ballast?
 

I bought a m57 ballast a reflector with socket and bulb but don't know for sure how to wire this thing. I thought this would be alot easier. LOL So if anyone has done this before could you please help me out?

Bump. Anyone?

do you have the wriring diagram?i wired my m58 but i couldnt walk you through it.i had the diagram and it was fairly simple though.

This may help

http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpo...ie/38/id33.htm

Yes it came with the diagram, but I dont know how to read the wiring digram.LOL I didn't think it would be so hard. I think I can figure it out but didn't want to take the chance so I'm hoping for someone with experience to hopefully help me out.

Bump

is it an advance m57 ballast.if so i can walk you threw it.

Yes its advance.

pic
 

Here is a pic of everything.
[IMG]http://www.livingreefs.com/gallery/f...mypictures.jpg[/IMG]

that ballast looks nothing like the one i have in front of me. mine must be a different style. this one only has 4 wires comming out of it. if that one was in front of me i could wire it. but from here i cant tell what is what. sorry

The reason for all the wires is so you could wire it to 120, 208, 240, or 277, then it has two com lines and one cap line. The diagram I have has several ways to wire it and I'm not sure which one to go by or if I'm reading right.

PIC
 

Here is a pic of the diagrams I got with it. I dont know if you can see it too well though.
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the one i have has the black going to one side of your plug. then i have rad going to the lamp on one side.white wire on the other side of lamp .white wire also goes to the other side of your plug. hope that helps.

can you get a good pic of the diagram on the ballast.

No I cant get a clear pic they all come out blurry. It is the same as the top one on the paper except right over the circle that says lamp it says input current. My wires are all yellow they just have markings on them that say what they are.

What are the three vertical lines in the middle and the wavy lines on each side mean. From the looks of it, it looks like the power and com is connected and I know thats not right.

my red and white are common. black is 120 v.

you neen two common wires and your 120v wire to wire same as mine.

llll
 

Yeah but I cant figure out both ends of a 18 gage extention cord and the cap all go together. The DIY I got the idea from made it sound soo easy.LOL But they were using a MV ballast. Heres the link. http://aquarium.union.rpi.edu/articles/DIY_MH.html

Can you get a pic of yours by chance.

i just pm you.

Your ballast is a tri-tap meaning it is tapped for different supply voltages.

The bars and squiggly lines are the transformer

Here is the Primary side

Locate the wire that is stamped 120v. This wire is connected to the HOT side of the power supply. In Canada this is the black wire from the wall/house socket. US should be the same. So wire your plug and extension wire the same so the 120v wire from the ballast connects to the hot side of the wall socket(black).

Locate a wire called COM from the ballast, this connects to the WHITE side of the wall/house supply. Wire this correctly to the wall socket (white)from your plugs and extension wire.

Clip off the other wires from the ballast primary side that are labelled 227, 208 etc. These are not needed, but ENSURE they can not short circuit anything. Wrap them in electrical tape.


Secondary side

Locate another wire labelled COM from the ballast and connect this to the lamp mogul socket. It should be connected to the socket so it is connected to the outer portion of the bulb socket (common side).

Connect the wire labelled cap from the ballast to the capacitor.

Connect the other wire from the capacitor to the mogul socket so it is connected to the bottom portion of the bulb(Hot side)

When you package your ballast in a case you SHOULD also ground the case, using the green wire from your wall/house supply. Quite often it is the bare wire/green wire that conencts to the outside of the wall socket.

Ok I think we got! Thank you very much Jim.

Thanks Bryan that helps ensure we got it right. Thats basicly what jbrown said on the phone. Thank you guys sooo much. It is awsome to have a community with soo many people willing to help. You guys are awsome.

Thank you, Bobby

You are welcome, and PLEASE make sure that you are using GFCI on all your outlets to the aquarium. Saltwater and electricity don't mix, well actually they mix real well, but not in a good way<g>

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/gfci