Ballast is Hot as a Mutha....

If I put my finger on it for 3 seconds i'll probably burn myself, it's currently on the ground, and I've now pointed my small 5" fan on it, will this help much?

I had it on for 12 hours last night, it didn't burn the carpet(very thin carpet) or anything, I realize this isn't safe, should I rest it on a brick or something?

Ballasts get hot. My digital one is warm as heck too. I wouldn't want to carry it around! Build a wood shelf, get a cinder block, something... yes. I wouldn't have it on carpet. A fan will help cool the surface as well.

Raising it off a surface so air flows around it will help cool it as well. If allowed to warm up it can heat up a small area quite significantly.

http://imgur.com/OiDvX


Edit: Dear lord that was a big pic when posted directly here.

It should be raised off the ground as a water spill/flood too much run off etc will fuck the ballast.

i got a digital ballest best thing ive done stays warm never burning hot dont need bricks wood its legit got it for about 100 bucks

I was wondering about the heat on my ballasts too. I have an IR temp sensor and my are reading 140 degrees. Seems pretty hot to me but I dont know what the standard range is. Does anyone know what temp is considered "too hot"?
@Niall: Jorge (the Ganja Guru) says as a rule of thumb "plants and water below the waist, all electrical above the waist". Nobody wants a shock or a fire!