Why does my 1000W setup draw too many amperes? Please help!

On 220v circuit (Europe) it should draw about 4,5 amperes (1000W / 220v = 4,5A)
On 110v circuit (USA) it should draw about 9 amperes (1000W / 110v = 9A)

I have a 220v circuit. Why does my light setup draw 10A? At first it actually starts with 12,3A and then slowly starts going down and eventually stabilizes at 10,3A.

I feel like it's too loud too. Some kind of buzzing sound comes from the starter/ignitor.

Does anyone has ANY idea what might be causing this?

Turns out that I've missed one component - a capacitor.

I bought a ballast and ignitor and connected them to the bulb just as it was written on the "picture" on both the ballast and the ignitor.

HOWEVER, I did not see anything about the capacitor on these pictures. There were only 3 components, thus I thought they were 1) ballast 2) ignitor 3) and bulb.

I connected just as it was shown on the pictures and the lamp works, but draws too much amperes.

Then I found something about the purpose of a capacitor:
" if there was no capacitor in the ballast the bulb would keep drawing more and more power until it finally burned out. "

I'm confused. Where can I find a guide about how to connect a capacitor?

What kind of ballast do you have that doesn't have the capacitors built in?? I would suggest a Quantum or SolisTek.

If you plan to build your own ballast from the basic electrical components, you really need to find a schematic diagram of the circuit you need. It will tell you about what power supplies, capacitors, resistors and so forth you will need to build a unit that works properly and safely. Doing it ad hoc like you are is asking for serious trouble indeed.

If you don't have the knowledge to build the circuit correctly, purchasing a ballast with a manufacturers warranty generally works out pretty well for most of us.

Wiring of the capacitor depends on HPS ballast type. Consult manufacturer recommendation.

High reactance autotransformer ballasts are wired differently than a linear reactor ballast.

Schematics should be available based on transformer part number.

I found a pretty simple picture that should help me with the wiring. Although I did already have them wired like that, it turns out I did miss one essential component - a capacitor.

Unfortunately these schematics on my ballast did not point out anything about the capacitor or I just could not see it there.. but I'll go get the capacitor and give it a try.

Tesla wouldnt forget the capacitor

Ironic, I know. However, I did add a capacitor and it's working now. Amperes have dropped down to 4,5!

lol, my first atomic bomb.


http://postimage.org/app.php

I think that I would have just bought a new name brand ballast. Why take any risks. I see several exposed wires in your picture.