High voltage sodium/halide ignitor teardown

Thanks go to Lukas for sending this faulty ignitor for our exploration.
Having pondered the complexities of this circuit a bit more, the size of the main resistor and snubbing network may be to do with clamping the high voltage spike that the module creates on the ballast without attenuating it too much. Quite a complex thing to design around.

Alternatives to this ignitor are:-
A module that goes inline after a two wire ballast and superimposes a high voltage pulse.
A simple shunt system that briefly shunts the output of the ballast to cause a high voltage spike.
A resistor and extra ignition electrode built into the lamp itself.

I'll see if I can find other versions, but many of them are potted.


If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- https://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's algorithm quirks, allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.


#ElectronicsCreators