Versatile, cleverly-designed ballast
January 10, 2012
As I and many other people are discovering, this ballast will drive an SOX-E18 18W low-pressure sodium lamp. I'm using it in a gutted and converted Lights Of America 9042 CFL fixture. With the lamp base-up in the fixture, the lamp and ballast draw 17.9W at startup and about 16.4W after about 20 minutes of warm-up and stabilization.
Compared to the large, heavy $140 ballast/ignitor designed for the SOX-E18 and the 30W input specs, this ballast is a very viable and efficient alternative.
Pros:
* Inexpensive for my application
* Small size
* Versatile connection and application options
* Very low ballast losses
Cons:
* None for my application