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more to
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than meets
the eye.
BALLASTS FOR
H D LAMPS
General Electric
EALLASTS
DISCffi
High lntensity Discharge lamps are those which have a gaseous discharge arc tube, operating
at pressures and current densities sufficient to generate desired quantities of visibJe radiaiion
within their arcs alone These lamp types have become popu ar primarily for three reasons:
between 80 and 100 for metal ha ide, and between B0 and 140 for high pressure sodium.
The best incandescent lamps produce only about 20 lumens per watt.
WHAT AND WHY A BALLAST
These HID lamps have sornething else in common they all have a negative resistance cl]aracteristic. which means they must have an external device to iimit the current when voltage is
applied to them, or else they will be quickly destroyed. A ballast is the device used to lin,it
this current.
ln addltion the ballast provides suff cient voltage to start the amp and operate it in a stable
manner. ln all cases the ballast serves to match the votage required for the larf p to the avarlab e line voltage. This is done by a transforrner which s an integral part of the ballast
Several lamp electrical characteristics have an irnportant effect on ballasting, and should be
baL ast
types
STARTING VOLTAGE
Mercury and rnetal hal de lamps have spec al starting elecirodes which perm t them to start at relative y
ow vo talles The design of the Luca ox lamp does
not permii the use of a starting e ectrode so a specia
slarting device is required to deliver nterraittent
puses of 2500 volts oT moTe lo onrze the gases n
the arc tube and start the arc.
When mercury and meta ha ide larnps are started
at ow temperatures ess vaporized mercury s avail-
i\
st
onizat on A higher
startrng vo iage than that used for start ng at higher
temperatuTes s required For exarape, a 400 watt
mercLrry lamp requires 225 volts to start rellably at
20oF whereas 190 volts s sulf cient for slart ng at
f50oF Theba astmustprovideth sminirl-lumstarting
voltaqe throuqhout ts ranqe oi line volis. The ba last
narneplaies or lterature will usua y indrcate the min
rmum lemperature for realible starting atthe min mum
I ne voltage for wh ch the ba ast is recoaamended
Light ng Systems Department bal asts for raost
ass
to
20o
STARTING CU RR ENT
Thrs is the cuTrent ava able to the lamp dur ng the
frsi haf minute or so of warm-uo. lf ihe current s
too low. the laTnp may never warm up lt the current
is too h gh, the lamp lfe wl be shortened
LAIMP OPERATING VOLTAGE
For mercury and metal-hal de amps. the Lamp operating vo tage is a most constant throughout I fe. Due
Ee.tfl.Company
nom
the lamps n
the
in
amp.
GEItIERAt@^ITECTBIC
or
AUTO.REGULATOR BALLAST
This balLast s s m lar to the mercury auto_regulator, but has spec al core s ots
leakage reactance and starting aid to provide the necessary operational char
acter stics unique to the Lucalox lamp.
Theauto-regulatorbaliastmaybeoperatedonlneswithll0%voltagevariation,
but amp wattage regu ation and power factor gets worse as the lamp ages
Th s type of ba ast s ava lable for 200, 250 and '1000 watt Lucalox ar.ps for
allstandard voltaees
REACTOB BALLAST
The reacior bal ast can be des gned to g ve satisfactory performance w th the
Lucalox lamp. Useo with appropr ate starting aids and open circu t voltage, it
will g ive reasonab y co nslant wattage to th e Lu calox an'rp over the spec fied
range of operatrng lamp volts. Su tab e for 15% I ne voltage variations on y.
The 50, 70 T00 and 150 watt reaciors are suitable for operation directlv on
120 vot systern The 200, 250,310 and 400 watt reactors are suitable for
operation directly on 208 or 240 vo I system, but can be suppl ed with a su tab e
arrto lransformer lor use on 120. 277 and 480 voit lines The l000wattreactor
s furn shed for use on 480 vo t I ne only
LAG BALLAST
The lag balLast has the same operating characterstics as the reactor ballast
since the lag is simpy a reacior-auto transformer comblnation wound on a
common core Suitable for a5% ine voltage variation only.
This type of baLlast is available for 50, 70, 100 and 150 watt Lucalox amps on 240
and 277 vo t systerl1s for 200 and 250 watt Lucalox lamps on 1 20 volt systems
r"'Tr.demark of General
ectrrc ComDanv
MERCURY SYSTEMS
The mercury lamp is the easiest of the HID lamps to ballast because of its inherent
stability. The lamp voltage changes very little,<3%, through tife.
The regulator ba ast has primary and secondary windings electrica ly iso ated from each other and current
limting is provided by a capacitor in series with the lar.p The capacitor makes it a ead crcuit rather
than a ag circu t. ln some des gns a separate peaking capacitor may be used to ncrease the open
circuit vo tage for low temperature stariing The ballast is so designed that the seconclary portion of the
core operates n magnet c saiurat on. The secondary current remarns essent ally constant over a w de Tange
of pr rnary voltage variat ons, prov d ng excellent regulation of lhe lamp waltage.
Any llne voltage can be accommodated w th th s design. Duai votageratingsareavailable,suchasl20x24O.
or 240 x 480, w th the pr mary coils connected in parallel or in series
Excellent regulation for change in I ne voltage is prov ded by this bal ast Line voltage changes oi :!13% wi I
cause only r:2 or 3% change in lamp watts The power factor usually about 95%, is inherenfly good ancl
the line curreni during starting is always ess than it rs dLlring operation L ne voltage d ps are no problem
with ihis ballast since it will to erate dips of about 50% for at teast 4 seconds duration.
Thechiefvirtueofthereguatorballastisitseaseofappl
--*F
caton.licanbe nstalledonanycircuitwthmnmLtm
concern for line voltage variation, votage d ps, ground ng or fus ng, and
-E[g---l,
wt
The auto regulator bal ast cornbines an autotransjormer with the regulator c rcuit By using a pori on of
the primary windrng common with the secondary, ts size is reduced. Snce ony the secondary winding
contr butes to good regulat on the degree of regulaiton depends on ihe amount of primary voltage coup ed
rnto the secondary.
The auto-regulator provides lower cost, sjze, and weight than the regulator and its osses are somewhat
lower lts regulation rs ,/ery good though sornewhat ess than ihe regulator usually about t5% change
in lamp watts for 110% change in line volts. lt enjoys the other ree'ulator advanlages, ncluding good power
factor low line starttng current and good tolerance to ltne vo tage d ps.
A disadvantage of the auto regulator compared to the regulator bal ast is ts lack of isolation between
ts primary and secondary wind nq.
BEACTOR BALLAST
The lag ballast, tn efiect conssts of an aLrtotransformer plus a reactor combined on a single structLtre.
This ballast gives perforrnance s raiar to the reactor but with the capabi ity of operation on other I ne
voltages
Like the reactor
the ag ba ast has an nherent low power factor but rnay be corrected by us ng a capacitor operating on an extended higher votage windng to save capacrtor costs. Ths ballast is seldom
made today for high power Jactor operation since ts add tional cost puts it n a price c ass with ballasts having
better perforrnance. lts chief application is for operation on 120 volt c rcurts w lh no power factor coTrect on
required
The lag ba ast ava lable at 120 vo ts has about the same virtues and drawbacks as the reactor ballast. lt is
necessar ly larger in size than the reactor. and consequent y is sontewhat cosilier and has higher losses.
0000000i1
slots, provid ng a loca ized restrlction and saturat on. This core slot produces a h ghly peaked wave shape
of open c rcu t voltage corapared to the usua s ne wave ocv oi a mercury ballast. lt s imporlant to note
that a mercury ballasawith a peak ng capacttor, even though it also prov des a peaked OCV wili not work with
ameta halidetamp The peaked voltage d isappears as soon as th e lam p fires and the prese nce of the capac itor
connected across the lamp aggravates the arc instability on warm-up and cycllng resu ts
The stot in the meial halide ballasi prov des a high vo tage peak lor start ng the lamp. lt reduces the RMS
value ol the open circuit voltage which essens the physical volt-ampere size of the ballast. lt provides a
h gher susta ning vottage to the lamp so that it w I ride-through the warm Llp onizat on deficiency without
ext ngu shing the lamp ltreducesthe oif-time olthelampstartngcurrent,theperioddurngthecurrentwave
shap6 wherJthe current dwells near zero for an appreciable part of each half-cyc e thereby iurther irnproving
the lamp siability. F na y, it prov des the lower crest factor requ red by the lamp for ong ife
The rnetal hal de bal ast usua ly provicles regu ation somewhere between an auto regulator bal ast and a ag
or reactor bat ast. For a 110% I ne vo tage change. the lamp watts wiLl vary about a10%. This bal asi exhibits
most of ihe other advanlages of the auto-regulator bal ast: high power factor, low line start ng current, and
good to erance to ine voltage diP.
.Line Current - on some ba ast types the ine cLlrrent as the amp
starts is less than the final oJeratlng current, so that fuses and circuii
breaker ratings can be based strlci y on the operating currentvalues
For other ballasts, the llne starting curTent may be cons derabJy
higher than the flnal operat ng value, so fuses, circu t breakers,
and P.E contro sw tches must be sized to accommodate this higher
Factor
are norrna power factor are down around 50% This rneans that a
norma power factor ballast has alrnost twice the line current as a
high power factor ballast, and makes less effic ent Llse ol the dis
tributon systern This requ res larger wire sizes, arger switches
c rcu t breakers and d slribut on transformers tor the equ va ent
connecled load
capable
of rding through
and susta ning the lamp, the amp will exiingu sh and recycle
Dip.
107"
Med um
1617
High
17
10-35%
N/ed iu m
1618
Hlgher
1A-zo)a
Low
1 4-1 5
Higher
1O 2A%
Med iu m
92 99%
50-60%
H sh
18-20
90-95%
40 5A%
Med ir m
1A-20
H gher
1A-2O%
Low
1 4-1 .5
her
1O 2A%
Med iu rn
141s
4A-50%
H gh
27.
60-85%
H gher
30 45%
14-187.
s9-90%
Lower
40-50
30-35%
99-65%
Lower
Voltage
EGI J LATOR
%
Vo tage
AUTO-REGULATOR
110%
L
Voltage
c
A
REACTOR
120 Volt
90%
for
HPF
35 150 Watt
25%
41%
200-400 Watt
480 Voli
for
1OO0 Watt
LAG
90%
50 150 Wati
HPF
25%
120 Volt
200 & 250 Wati
14-t
47%
REGU LATOR
"1,
It
r!
Any
.t 13%
Vo tage
AUTO-REGULATOR
ti0%
M
10%
Voitage
E
R
REACTOR
c
U
90%
HPF
.i99 i.99.Yi'l
2A%
480 Volt
for
40-50%
NPF
120 Volt
MH
EA
TL
AI
LD
E
AUTO
R EG U
00 400 Watt
!5L
2A%
40-50
-10%
2A%
90-95%
H ig
LATOR
Vo taqe
16-1
BALLAST
ELECTRICAL DATA
(Approximate See noie)
NOTE S
/cr
-eis
LU
10c)0
LU 310
310
480
204
48
204
24A
204
244
2TT
100
66
37
337
50
30
31
30
27a
120
22
244
277
12
16
204
LU 70
120
204
16
2TT
12
t1
244
4AO
120
2aa
12
a
277
:16
436
2Aa
1c)62
480
241
274
224
117
127
34
39
39
4A
32
4a
45
92
93
58
66
66
66
20
17
132
l5
36
37
37
3:l
o
1a 2A
2A
15
t3
tl
t5
11
34
36
10
a
TA
39
250
2.]a
LU-150
226
214
150
147
210
LUCALOX BALLAST
_
20a
24A
277
4i30
LU 250
120
2AA
244
2TT
4ao
124
204
24A
277
99
58
50
70
106
277
244
I
I
129
t2a
r5 20
32
2A
r6
25
29
26
30+
12
t5
12
t1
.10 50
21
12
11
6
6
3
12
to
LU
]50
150
LU
IOO
100
LU 70
277
60
2TT
19
6
26
23
187
ra9
t2a
127
70
15 20
31
34
33
LU
LU-1000
LU 4OO
480
400
244
2TT
480
I c)62
23
l9
434
:165
11
3a
3a
2T
l5
LU-2sO
250
210
LU
2OO
15O
23
24
tl
to
234
18
t9
17
10
194
2TT
12
204
12
?oo
24A
2TT
LU
276
l5
150
204
240
277
480
LU lOO
208
244
277
70
9
a
4ao
124
2aa
2!0
277
U
5[J
50
204
244
2TT
480
243
197
196
3
2
465
t6
12
294
8T
294
90
10
16
14
a7
a5
1a 2a
195
11/
i 3l
1/
132
10
132
t3
tl
132
94
94
t3
6
19
r6
6A
6a
67
TA
6
6
3
'
H gher than .orma lne starl ng current to cover e ectron. oadln! eiiects
iNeweectrca datawrl beprnted n next iss!e oi GEP-635 l
G.E.
Other Manulacturers
ne!! aror ....,CW tC,onstait \'Vattagel
a!to req! ator..CWA iconstant waltaqe a!lo-lra.siormerl
.r L ea.l tor H PS
or Peak Lead ior meta halde
Lag. -.,,.,.,.,
H gh Reactance
WARNING
operalrng
Srze bran.h cr.u ls l. ac..nrnrodale
'ne
amperes or lne-slarl nq amperes wh chever s arger
I5i)0
_
120
20
a/
277
67
214
63
T6
55
to90
.1
120
2TT
35
29
277
r8
48
63
x2
90,1
.1 2
2T
21
12.)
204
277
4AO
t20
17
2A
tl
2(]a
244
15
l3
12
120
204
24a
ta
ll
2f7
M E FICU FIY
10
26
13
t1
BALLAS']
I t02
H35
7aa
2(]4
?.10
277
H33
120
2AA
2.10
4ao
Ft33
12t-)
72
12
J3
31
75
277
to
I
99
ts39
13
12(]
2c]4
2TT
H3a
98
1l
24a
50 60
19
277
4ao
21
11
10
r20
2aa
.-e
18
24
2A
18
240
H37
SERIES TYPE
12
277
99
NOTE S
3
3
11
6
3
3
2
19 2
111
WARNING
Ia
overrhe percenl a owab e l.e vortaqe var atro. ranqe Thevo teae
L.
l
o, d^p. l" r- / | , o e ., fr
-'5oaoa
r'6.oo d'1s l-!-^d | c pro
o d'-'pq,'o
d ooesred
a to'or,a -lD"'o
n- ^ .. ",o,b"t.d ',n. o.o,
the iu I ran!e oi a owabre ne vo lage var ar on
controt amp warls wrlir n
the prescr becl lm ls of operairon thio!qhour rhe rated fe oi the amo as
dei ned by traDezo da rmtsinANS slanctards for H qh Pressure sodiLm
p
2 '.^
Merc!ryreaclorba asts srcd ns,attaqetO0lo4OOmaybe!sedar5OHZas
iolows 277 volts (60 Hzlal250 vorts l5O Hzt and 240 v. rs i6O Hzta122O vo rs
i50 Hzl Reaclors usecl o. 220vols are o. y adeq!.1e ior anrp sra.tinq 1o O!F
'd b"l l.\
ao--Ol
4Ol tr
o^
oed 1e olro.e .dr d r r FF N. e N.
\o . on - o-o, p...
-.;.;--i,"
spe.ied luseisl sho! d be rated 3 limes maxrmum
';
' may''
c!rrent F!sinO
nren!plro.s The l!s .g ol a reaclor type baltast shoa d b;
5 For ele.tn.a dala on dua wallage or s rq -a \ratta.rc m! I vo 1 bat a:ts retcr
ado
..r".vteno
o.o"Ivar es
'
I ooo.r,.a,4p,.,
99
tnsrt!te iANS
STEADILUX
REGULATOR
28739
GEirERAr.
@'tecTRrc