So my parts for my 100w mv board will arrive soon and im wondering what im gonna do for my next project. Im wondering what the most common wattage of the lamp as i had to do some deep searching for 100w stuff that i liked. Maybe 250w ore 175 mv? or dou you guys have a different light source i could use like hps or mh? Let me know ur ideas!

  SOX, of course..! 

Some colored MHs will be cool.

SOX, of course..! 

As much as i would like to do that, sox lamps are really hard to find in the us and so is the gear. So it ins't very practical for me

Design and make some "proper" luminaire for the next lamp. For example using some electrical enclosure with a window etc

Design and make some "proper" luminaire for the next lamp. For example using some electrical enclosure with a window etc

I could try remote ballasting a fixture with the board

Thats cool too but then why you need a board ? Use some electrical box for the ballast. Or the case of a cheap PC power supply etc

Maybe he wants to make a demonstration/display board, as I do.

Ah, yes! A demostration board. You can use wood, but the heat of the ballast will slowly burn your wood. You can use some fiber cement, that is cheap, easy to work and it's resistant to heat. There's nothing to worry about the asbestos, beacuse new fiber cements uses glass fiber or other polymers instead of asbestos. Just use a dust mask when you are cutting the cement board.

I've used wood or chipboard for many years with no problem, although for the larger ballasts (250W and up) I mount them on spacers to give a small air gap.

That's a good idea Ria. He can suspend the ballast using some bolts. Maybe mounting everithing in a grounded metal plate can be an option.

Yes, that would act as a good heatsink.

If he will use wood, is better to use pine wood, plywood or OSB, are more resistant than other woods. I use pine wood with electrical things. Wood is good for electrical things, but not the best for extreme heat, where is extreme heat is better to use metal or fiber cement.

Maybe he wants to make a demonstration/display board, as I do.

That's what im currently making i have the wood and the box with me just no ballast and socket. Answering your guys other questions, I'm using some "premium" lumber from home depo as that was the only way i could buy a 2 foot piece of 2x4 which i then cut in half and hand sanded. (i dont have the space to houses a 12 foot long piece of wood!) Im pretty sure the wood i bought was higher quality than the oner pieces they had for sale but it was cheap since i bought 2 feet of it. Im mounting the ballast, box, and socket directly with wood screws as they are the easiest to use. My ballast is only 100w watts so i think it will not get too hot to burn the board. Beside demonstrating the lamps, i can use it as a remote ballast kit by using an adapete to convert the socket to an outlet that i cna plug in lamps and a clip light that i may try using mv for my workspace.

That's a good idea. I made up a project box with an E40 lampholder on it and an ignitor inside with a cutout switch, so I can plug it into any ballast, I'm in the process of modifying some of my boards with a BS546 5A socket to plug it into. Photos of those as they're done.