Confused as hell...will wall recepticle operate 1000w hps on 100%

Running 220V won't solve anything unless your light is made to handle it. Motors, for example, would need to be changed to 220V by re-wiring the terminations to the 220V set up. Household 220V is really only 2 independent 110V circuits so the appliance can run at lower current draw (amps). If you aren't sensing any heat in the wires, which is a sign of high current draw, I would check the dimmer; maybe that is faulty. Can you wire it without the dimmer? If the wiring feels warm, make sure all your connections are tight with plenty of contact area between the connection.

Yeah sounds like your ballast or cords are the problem rather then the bulbs. Unless your ordering the bulbs from a 3rd world country or something. You want to run your HID on it's own line, with a higher amp fuse connected to it.

He said he has a digital ballast. Most every one I've seen will take any voltage you are likely to find.

Any time you have a flow of electricity, you will have 2 additional things. Heat, and an electromagnetic field. A warm conductor under a heavy amp load is perfectly normal. A conductor on FIRE is another issue.

Residential 220 is not 2 independent 110V circuits either. Parallel circuits have the same voltage. No, how it works is like this: The electric company supplies 3 phases of power, and they divide residential neighborhoods up between the 3 for load balancing. What you get at your house is likely Single Phase 220. By only using 1/2 of this wave (one hot wire from your main bus bar) you get your standard 110V. Use the full wave and you get 220V.

You have a bad ballast. I would still run a new 220 line.

BossHoggins said:

He said he has a digital ballast. Most every one I've seen will take any voltage you

Click to expand...

And that is well the problem with the ballast Not reading the input voltage correctly resulting in incorrect output voltage.