Desperately need help w/ cooltube! (life and death matter)

[margreenthumb]

Hi all, I've never posted, but I've lurked for a while. I've asked this question on a few forums before with no answer. I built my own cooltube out of a bake-a-round and some PVC fittings.

My problem is I have no idea how/were to ground the socket since I don't have any significant metal other than some brass cafe rod holders that hold the socket in the tube.

How much metal and where do I need to ground??? I'm really confused on the whole idea of grounding, I don't get how just sticking a wire to metal does anything. I think it's supposed to give an alternate pathway for electricity to flow back into, but on a normal reflector setup it's just touching the reflector metal and doesn't come in contact with any other terminal to establish a loop.

help please! thanks!

 

[mygirls]

Hi all, I've never posted, but I've lurked for a while. I've asked this question on a few forums before with no answer. I built my own cooltube out of a bake-a-round and some PVC fittings.

My problem is I have no idea how/were to ground the socket since I don't have any significant metal other than some brass cafe rod holders that hold the socket in the tube.

How much metal and where do I need to ground??? I'm really confused on the whole idea of grounding, I don't get how just sticking a wire to metal does anything. I think it's supposed to give an alternate pathway for electricity to flow back into, but on a normal reflector setup it's just touching the reflector metal and doesn't come in contact with any other terminal to establish a loop.

help please! thanks!

my socket from the shop don;t have a ground. its ok its the ground that runs your ballast is the one thats important.

 

[margreenthumb]

my socket from the shop don;t have a ground. its ok its the ground that runs your ballast is the one thats important.

the socket that I took from my other reflector had the ground at the base of the reflector, not the socket itself, and the ground wire was coming from the ballast. From what I've read it's really dangerous to be without a ground.

 

[mygirls]

the socket that I took from my other reflector had the ground at the base of the reflector, not the socket itself, and the ground wire was coming from the ballast. From what I've read it's really dangerous to be without a ground.

from the ballast to the bulb is not dangeros with no ground, from the wallto the ballast with no ground is not good

 

[margreenthumb]

from the ballast to the bulb is not dangeros with no ground, from the wallto the ballast with no ground is not good

then why did the lamp cord have a ground to the reflector?

 

[mygirls]

then why did the lamp cord have a ground to the reflector?

you tell me. some sockets have the ground hook up and some don't.

 

[dirt clean]

mine that came from ebay for aquariums did not have ground worked fine. My Lumatek with the prewired ballast plugs has a ground. I hear a lot no ground is needed. IDK> Could you not take it at the base of the ballast (the ground) and screw it to ground there?

 

[mygirls]

mine that came from ebay for aquariums did not have ground worked fine. My Lumatek with the prewired ballast plugs has a ground. I hear a lot no ground is needed. IDK> Could you not take it at the base of the ballast (the ground) and screw it to ground there?

yes he could but its all plastic he said, so that will not work.

 

[RhymesWithGosh]

i have 2 150w econolights that I made remote ballasts out of. They dont have a ground wire from the lamp to the ballast, only from the ballast to the wall.

 

[margreenthumb]

any other input on how I avoid electrocution?

 

[RhymesWithGosh]

any other input on how I avoid electrocution?

Make sure its not plugged into the wall when your wiring it.

 

[Mcgician]

Life and death question huh? Somebody's cryin' wolf here. Dude, unless your ballast magically finds some way to send more energy to the bulb than it's designed for, you don't need to do anything. Relax.

 

[cousinvenny]

You could always go to your local electrical store and get a grounding bar You can find an example of a grounding bar in your electrical box found in your house. Mount the bar on your ceiling and ground to that. This is what the bar would look like -

http://www.hoffmanonline.com/product_catalog/product_detail.aspx?cat_1=34&cat_2=2193&cat_3=2203&catID=2203&itemID=2531

Hope this helps,

Venny

 

[seele]

So long as the ballast to the wall is grounded things should be fine (I say "should" because you can never be 100% certain). As well, if there is a ground coming from the ballast, that means that the socket (which is a product of the ballast), in turn, will also be grounded. If you want, unscrew your bulb and look inside the socket, you should be able to see where the positive and negative terminals connect, as well, there should also be a third wire, which is the ground. Hope that helps.

 

[Mcgician]

Better yet, why not just use an extension cord with a 10 or 15amp fuse in it and call it a day.

 

[mygirls]

you allare makeing this more diffacult then it is. you don't need one to the bulb, you will be just fine.

 

[dbo24242]

you ground whatever metal fitting the socket is attached to, but not the socket itself. usually sockets are bolted onto the metal fitting.

 

[420OldSchoolDJ420]

Is it really bad to use the 3 prong to 2 prong adapters if you dont have a grounded outlet you can use? Honestly that is my only option is one of these -

I also use those adapters for other things like my PC and some DJ lighting I test.

 

[stumps]

If all your touching is plastic the ground is a mute point. the ground stops you form getting the shock or at least feeds back to something to kill the power like a fuse or breaker. You should have a ground on the plug for the ballist.

 

[420OldSchoolDJ420]

I ran a 600w digital ballast in a what I thought was a grounded 3 prong outlet.. But the outlet was not actually wired for ground but it did have the 3 hole plug for a grounded plug ( so lame ).. The ballast caused RF interference that knocked out all the cable modems within a 2 mile radius from my home.. The cable company came and everything.. I am not BS'ing.
This is why I have no other alternative other than using one of those adapters.. Im not risking that shit again.And I have no grounded outlets anywhere near my cab.Theres not even a grounded outlet in any room in my home besides the living room ( which is the one mentioned above.. I ran a long heavy duty extension cord through a wall to reach it ) and laundry room.