The HiWatt 2 UV programmable electronic arc lamp ballast is a dual-processor controlled, solid-state switching power supply. It consists of two power stages: a square wave AC output converter and igniter for powering a mercury vapor or halide arc lamp, and an auxiliary DC power supply for providing 24VDC (6A) for user controls and cooling fans.
The HiWatt 2 ballasts are designed to be factory or customer software configurable (via PC serial port) to allow the unit to adapt to a wide range of lamp types and utility power sources. This capability allows the unit to power an arc lamp in the range of 1kW–20kW, with lamp voltages of 200–850V, from single or three-phase AC sources of 208 / 240 / 480V 60Hz—200 / 230 / 380 / 415V 50Hz.
The electronic ballast may be used to power two arc lamps in a series as long as the total composite voltage does not exceed 850V. This programmability makes the HiWatt 2 a truly universal arc lamp ballast that can be used as a single unit solution for powering many types of lamps from power sources worldwide.
The HiWatt 2 can communicate with customer-connected controllers or PCs via optically isolated digital logic signals, RS485 serial port or USB port. The logic signals include status lines for lamp ignited, lamp ready (warm-up-complete) and unit alarm, as well as control signals for lamp enable / disable and lamp dimming (via PWM control, pulse frequency or 0–10V).
A lamp cooling blower control is also provided with a blower on / off signal, air temperature / flow regulation and lamp temperature monitoring. The unit can optionally control motorized or pneumatic lamp shutters.