Ideas on how to mount large/heavy ballast on inside of canopy

[nos68]

I've got two old, large, heavy (10 lbs at least) MH ballasts that have the endcap connected to the ballast so it's all one sealed object. Originally, they were systems that had their bulbs vertical and used the bell-type reflector but that wouldn't work for me so I removed the bell reflectors and went about finding a way of mounting it to the canopy. This turned out to be more difficult than I thought originally.

My question is, will metal straps be OK to use to attach the enclosures to the canopy? I can't really think of any other way to do this. I had originally hoped to be able to separate the endcap from the ballast, but this isn't going to happen.

So, I wanted to see if anyone had used similar lights and find out what they used to mount them.

thanks!

[Joel]

It may be easier and not too much money to buy a couple of Magnatek ballasts and mogul sockets from an electrical supply store. (not Lowe's or HD, a real electricians supply store). I had 2 of these that I used for 4 years and never had a minutes trouble. You can then locate the ballasts wherever you want. Just my .02.

[Darkfrog]

Are they the big gray boxes that were used by Bell South? That is what I was using for awhile. You can easily wire a mogul socket to the ballast with new wire from home depot and leave the ballast on the floor and mount the socket in the canopy. The other way I have seen them work is an open top canopy and just lie them across.
Blender bought one of mine, he said he cut the case down (I'm not sure how), but if you PM him, maybe he can show you a picture.
Ron

[nos68]

Actually, I was able to get the containers open after all. Only part that was slow was due to the rusted out screws, but it's taken care of.

thanks guys,
Chris

[Geoff]

i would just extend the wires to the socket and place the ballast on the floor. the ballast will get hot, so allow plenty of ventilation around the ballast. i would also wrap the extended wire with electrical tape to keep it together and nicer looking.

G~

[Flatfish]

Likely they are magnetic ballasts. Unless you are building an ultra high canopy or building a hanging canopy I would not mount the ballast up there though it is do-able. I will be taking on the same thing but I am building an pendant with a box *on top with no lid* to house the ballasts ( I'll post design on my site soon). The problem is that magnetic ballasts will generate more heat than you will want to have in the canopy.

Put it on the floor and wire from there. It you live in a warm climate in the summer like most of us do, you'll want to be able to remove the ballast from under the stand in the summer time to avoid heat issues. Just some friendly advice .

FYI - it's easy, as you may have found out, to remove and rewire the ballasts outside of the enclousures. Just remember that primary reason for the enclousure is that they get HOT. I.E. it keeps you from getting scorched.

Joe