400W ultraviolet!

I really hope you aren't right, but a capacitor discharge is also the only reason I can come up with. Why else would it be dangerous to touch the pins?!? Considering it is sold in Denmark by a European company it should be a legit CE mark but it can't be with the pins being dangerous to touch... I may need to take it more apart and try to figure out the schematics. Perhaps ask some big electronics youtubers like BigClive or Dave from EEVblog for help. They are usually also interested in uncovering death traps. Thanks for the input!

Hehe, it does give you a tan if not wearing sunscreen. Though skin cancer is much less likely with UVA-light. As I remember it, the reason that sunscreens started adding UVA-protection - not just UVB-protection - is because UVA will cause skin aging. You will basically wrinkle up quicker under UVA light x) That's why I prefer to use sunscreen when having my hands close to this light... During the 12 years I have made videos I have noticed how my hands are getting older - don't need them to wrinkle/age faster due to extensive UVA light too :D

It sure is big. I haven't seen a larger one, but I guess larger ones exist(ed). I am no expert on electronics either, but I know the bulb will basically be a short cut if screwed into an E40 socket and connected directly to mains power. That will blow the fuse and/or bulb quickly since it will draw a huge amount of amps being an almost zero ohm resistor. That's the point of a ballast. It is basically a big resistor limiting the amps in the circuit. An old filament light will also work as a ballast since it adds resistance. Maybe the two lamps in your terrarium light were in series. Could they be turned on and off separately? The capacitor is - to my knowledge - just to limit the flicker from the light running on AC current. When the current is switching polarity (0 volt 50 to 60 times a second) the light can draw current from the capacitor, which works sort of like a battery (DC source). But I could be completely wrong... Learned most of my electronics from BigClive and Dave from EEVblog on YouTube :D

They must have that huge capacitor directly connected to the power cord. That seems like a death trap.

Bob Drucker

I use one since I don't think I have enough skin Cancer or sun burns in my life. :D

SantaClaw

That is one big UV bulb. I never quite understood how the ballast and the capacitor work for those lights. The light I used to have for a terrarium just screwed into a normal lamp and it had the gas lamp as well as a normal filament light next to it.