DISCLAMER:
Try this modification at your own risk. I'm not responsible for any personal injury/death, mistakes/long term effects and/or damage to property. Please be cautious, ballasts run at high voltage and can carry risk of death if altered by people. Please refrain from carrying out this modification if you are unaware of the risk involved.
I write from Poland, sorry for my weak English, It’s My first post here
It take me lot of time to study this ballast. It has multi layer PCB, 3 or even 4 layers and main processor/controller is mount on ceramic hybrid board with capacitors and small transistor in SMD case, also 4pcs of N-FET full-bridge inverter. All carbon resistors are plot directly to ceramic surface and cut exactly by laser and then cover with some kind of protection paint.
I focus on main PCB but there was no resistors which can measure HID output current. I found this resistor on ceramic hybrid board. After long study I can say that this ballast is very similar to Microchip Reference design – base
http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/e...tes/01372A.pdf
Possibilities to make modification in this model is strong limited but not impossible.
First what You can do for have better performance is to change 2pcs of IRF540 TO-220 case, located on main PCB to better IRF540N – I notice 1W less of power consumption running at 35W, because of lower Rds and Qg so we have better efficiency.
One way to supercharge this ballast is to parallel existing current sens resistor, existing value is about 0,5ohm. After add external value of 3,3ohm/0,6W output power rise about +10W. I think that there be no problem to get also +20W with proper resister value.
This modification is very easy to make:
Try this modification at your own risk. I'm not responsible for any personal injury/death, mistakes/long term effects and/or damage to property. Please be cautious, ballasts run at high voltage and can carry risk of death if altered by people. Please refrain from carrying out this modification if you are unaware of the risk involved.
I write from Poland, sorry for my weak English, It’s My first post here

It take me lot of time to study this ballast. It has multi layer PCB, 3 or even 4 layers and main processor/controller is mount on ceramic hybrid board with capacitors and small transistor in SMD case, also 4pcs of N-FET full-bridge inverter. All carbon resistors are plot directly to ceramic surface and cut exactly by laser and then cover with some kind of protection paint.
I focus on main PCB but there was no resistors which can measure HID output current. I found this resistor on ceramic hybrid board. After long study I can say that this ballast is very similar to Microchip Reference design – base
http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/e...tes/01372A.pdf
Possibilities to make modification in this model is strong limited but not impossible.
First what You can do for have better performance is to change 2pcs of IRF540 TO-220 case, located on main PCB to better IRF540N – I notice 1W less of power consumption running at 35W, because of lower Rds and Qg so we have better efficiency.
One way to supercharge this ballast is to parallel existing current sens resistor, existing value is about 0,5ohm. After add external value of 3,3ohm/0,6W output power rise about +10W. I think that there be no problem to get also +20W with proper resister value.
This modification is very easy to make:
- You need only to open ballast by remove 4 screws
- Remove plastic cover on ceramic hybrid module.
- Solder one end of additional resistor to N-FET case metal tip – D in center.
- Second end move by existing hole on main PCB.
- Solder some isolated piece of wire to resistor and second pin from left.
- Check proper isolation to prevent short-circuit.
- To replace pair of IRF540 You need to take out metal bracket and desolder N-FET.
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