Custome made ballast

[SaltyinSeattle]

So I purchased this aquarium last November and think it’s about time to replace the MH bulbs. The only problem is that the guy who owned it prior to me was an electrician and made his own ballast so I have no idea what wattage light I can put in it.
All the writing on the current bulb is gone so no luck there. I checked all around the ballast and found 120V written on it, but I don’t know much about lighting so im not sure what that translates to in wattage. Also, he gave me an extra used bulb that he had before which has 70W written on it. I would imagine a 120V ballast can house a stronger bulb than 70W. Right???
Thanks
Aaron

 

[Scooterman]

No not necessary.
If it is a mogul lamp, unscrew it & read the wattage on the brass, on HQI DE you should see it on the metal ends.
Being that he gave you a 70W lamp, good chances it is a 70 ballast but you need to find out for sure otherwise you'll just burn up lamps or the ballast.

 

[burning2nd]

i would just use what he gave you.... take the old one and find a match...

 

[MC Lighting]

the 120v has absolutly nothing to do with the lamp that is the power input voltage the point of the ballast is to step that up to the bulb voltage and as stated can be anything from 70w all the way up to 400w I would also suggest looking on the brass end of the bulb to see what is engraved on it...