Yellow switch on arri mag ballast

[Matt Dennie]

What is the yellow orange switch on the arri 575w mag ballast for? It looks like a ground symbol on it.

[Matthew Parnell]

Its a ground lift switch. Basically it disconnects the ground/earth. HMIs, particularly magnetic HMIs by nature tend to leak a fair bit of current to earth which can be rather problematic as it can trip a sensitive or fatigued earth leakage breaker, or cause problems with other equipment.

 

Only ever use the ground lift when it is required because equipment is bonded to earth for very good safety reasons.

 

Also if you are in a situation where it has caused a trip. Be mindful that the trip may have been caused by a more serious problems.

Edited August 4, 2012 by Matthew Parnell