Lumatek Ballast Problem

[Rollins4Miles]

I recently purchased a MH setup from a wholesaler who's converting the entire system over to LED. For $60 I got three reflectors, two 250W Ice Cap ballasts, and one adjustable 250W Lumatek ballast. The ballasts at the wholesaler were all hardwired into his system so I had to add a three prong plug to each ballast. I wired all three ballasts to a three prong plug, but only the two Ice Cap ballasts will fire the bulb. When I plug the Lumatek ballast in nothing happens.

I'm wondering if anyone with more electrical experience than I have (if you know anything about electrical work then you already know more than me) to help me out. The three prong plugs I purchased are 15A 125V from Home Depot. Is this the correct plug? I had to watch a Youtube video to learn how to do the wiring and the guy said it didn't matter which post the black and white wires were on, so long as the green was the ground. Is this accurate? I also have no idea what the two white buttons on the Lumatek ballast are for. I'm just hoping that this ballast isn't broken. If anyone can lead me to a resolution it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[James77]

The white buttons are built in surge protection, they will protect from external power surges.

I am unsure of your question on the power supply. The Lumateks have a female universal power cord....like the ones to power most PCs and like below:

http://www.cablestogo.com/category/power-cables-supplies/ac-power-cords/universal-power-cords

Are you referring to power into the ballast, or the power exiting the ballast to the bulb? If it is power into the ballast, black(hot) and white(neutral) would matter. If you are wiring power to the bulbs and using wire that has black white and green, black and white would not matter, green(ground) would. These wires, were you wiring them to a relector, would likely have two of the same color(those would be for white or black) and a green ground.

Can you post pics of what you have?

 

[Rollins4Miles]

I am referring to the power going into the ballast. If I can't get this plug to work I'll just purchase a universal power chord. Thank you for pointing out that fact. I may have missed it as I'm overly focused on the plug. Perhaps I have the black and white wires in the wrong place. I'll switch them around and see if that works.

Here's some pictures of my shabby work.

 

[Rollins4Miles]

Update

I switched the black and white wires on the plug and the bulb still would not fire. I then tried using the power supply cord from my MP40 and still no luck. The Ice Cap ballast fired the bulb right away after the two failed attempts with the Lumatek. At this point should I just assume the Lumatek ballast is bad?

 

[James77]

On male plugs for 120v, the smaller of the vertical blades is the hot(black), the wider is neutral(white)....with the ground(green) being the rounder one below them.

Before you rule the ballast as bad, have you tried it on a different socket with a different bulb? You never know if the Lumatek for some reason cannot fire that one particular bulb.

If you have tried it on another bulb that the IceCap could fire, I would would say the ballast is faulty

BTW...that is not shabby work on the plug. The only critique I can make is to make the exposed wire shorter. Ideally, you would want as much contact with the screw in post, with the insulating part of the wire as close to the post as possible...if that makes sense