400Watt bulb in 600Watt Ballast

[animosity2k1]

Exactly as the title says, will a 400watt bulb fit into a 600 watt balast and not blow out?

 

[ebbnflow]

NO it whont work!

 

[ebbnflow]

why would you wanna do that?

 

[Guest]

you can do 600 in a 1000 also or a 400 in a 600 ,, and a 250 in a 400 but ya can't do a 1000 in a 600 or A 600 in a 400 or a 250 in a 400
as long as the bulb is lower wattage than the ballast it will work!!

 

[MTF-Sandman]

It'll fit...it'll probably work for a while, but eventually the 600w going through a bulb that's only rated for 400w will take it's toll. It could just stop working, or it could blow up. Is it really worth the risk?

Edit: Sumsimulator - a 10% variance is acceptable...a 400 in a 600 or 600 in a 1K is NOT.

The only bulbs that you can SAFELY run in a situation like this is a 430 in a 400 or a 960 in a 1K.

The ballast will put out a set amount voltage no matter what bulb is installed in it....these aren't incandescent lights that can use up to a certain wattage of bulb as long as it's lower than the socket's rating.

 

[Guest]

Sandman is right,thats some crazy shit Sunsimulator what you say works for incandescent lamps only,you cant do that with HIDs safely

 

[Guest]

you two are fuggin crazy !!! i know for a fact you can run these bulbs in what i have posted above ,, the problem with this place is alot of ppl know how to type alot and don't know how to keep confusion out!! listen if yall gonna post !!! ya need to know what ya talking about!!!! KIDS!!!!

so i just have to ask have you two confusist! have you ever tried it!!! i have ran every bulb in the order i have posted just to see if it would work!!! now i base my facts on trial!!!! and there was no error!!!
THANK YOU ,, AND NEXT TIME POST FACTS!

 

[Guest]

you can do 600 in a 1000 also or a 400 in a 600 ,, and a 250 in a 400 but ya can't do a 1000 in a 600 or A 600 in a 400 or a 250 in a 400
as long as the bulb is lower wattage than the ballast it will work!!

Is this true on both digital and reg. ballasts?
I need to test a Digi. 600watt ballast & bulb I just got. It worked for about an hour when I came back my 2 old lights were on and the new 1 out I have extra 400watt bulbs but no 600 just the 1 that came with it.

 

[MTF-Sandman]

At the very minimum, you're going to shorten the life of the bulb if you're using a standard core/coil ballast with an incorrect wattage bulb if the bulb is undersized.

SS - What were the test parameters (bulb make/model and ballast make/models) and duration of the "test" that you ran? What else was tested besides functionality?

Seems funny that every growing site, manufacturer and online shop would recommend only using the correct wattage bulb if it wasn't needed....especially the sellers since they could make a killing selling cheap 400w bulbs to work in 600w's.

 

[Guest]

MTF.. I bought it on line and since they said to send it back for a new 1 I did. I don't like to give bad rep so I won't say where it came from unless the next 1 sucks too.

The only test I could do was a meter reading with bulb in from connections on socket. Got nothing. The power source is the same for all of the ballasts. 30amp line for just the lights.

Got my fingers crossed that the next 1 last many grows

 

[MTF-Sandman]

Sorry, I intended the SS to refer to Sunsimulator re: testing mixed wattage bulbs in various ballasts.

No voltage at the socket is a good indicator of ballast failure though...good troubleshooting

 

[Guest]

Try http://www.htgsupply.com/faq.asp it might work.You shouldnt lose your temper like that and call others kids man I'm a 46 year old electrician that really cant believe he's even having this conversation.Do me a favor,interchange all the lamps you want but dont give others the impression its OK.

 

[Verite]

Exactly, why else would they rate the bulbs and ballasts for different wattages instead of having a universal ballast?

 

[Guest]

ok sorry for sayin names here ,, i really am ,, but anyway !! this will infact work!!
im not sayin you should go out and by lower wattage bulbs for the ballast im sayin in if ya blow a bulb and ya have a lower wattage use that until you get another bulb!!

thats all im sayin ,, someone said you CAN'T DO IT ! im just sayin in fact you can!!

 

[Verite]

Its almost as good as the fact that you can cook a hotdog off the heat of your house as its burning down.

 

[krippysmoker]

You can jump off a bridge to...but that doesnt mean its a good idea. Why would you risk an accident....you will lose the whole crop if your hurt when it explodes...not worth the risk...go with the bulb wattage that was ment for the ballast

 

[DeadlyFoez]

thats all im sayin ,, someone said you CAN'T DO IT ! im just sayin in fact you can!!

Yeah, you can also have a pig make love to a dog, but that doesn't mean that you'll get the desired results. You can also blow dry your hair in the shower...but you'd deserve to get shocked for that kind of stupidity.

Considering that you were asked how long you had tried that out for, and you have responded since that question was asked, but you didn't responde to that question just tells me that you didn't try it long enough to find out if its even safe. Sure it's possible, but you certainly should not be telling ppl it's ok to do, especially considering every brand of ballast and bulbs are different. Just because it worked with your setup for a short time does not mean it wont start a fire for someone else. Thats just really bad advise to be giving, and pretty much everyone else agrees except you.

Dont you think that if it was even slightly safe to do, that one of these manufactures would advertise it as a selling advantage? NO!!! These companies have engineers that do the work and research. I garrentee that if it was safe AT LEAST ONE company would sell a ballast stating that it was capable. And there are plenty of companies that make ballasts and they all say to ONLY USE THE SPECIFIED WATTAGE BULBS FOR YOUR SPECIFIED WATTAGE BALLAST.

Dude, really, I dont mean to put you down, but that was the worst advise I've ever heard someone to give. Go ahead, do it yourself and put ur family and home in jeopardy, but do not tell others that it's ok when every single company tells you not to. Thats just dumb.

 

[animosity2k1]

Any recommendations, the 600watt I bought is to hott for my box and I'd hate to toss that to get a 400watt ballast...

 

[MTF-Sandman]

What's your ventilation system and the ambient room temps outside your cab?

 

[animosity2k1]

Outside my cabinent its around 82 Degrees (Room Temp), I have an intake sucking air in through a 6" Vortex, blowing it across the 600watt cooltube, and thats it for the intake it ends there.

Then I have an exhaust I'm using, it's a 4" vortex pulling out through a Can9000.

Temps inside the cab are still relatively ridiculious that lights hot as fuck. Seeds are already germinated... so I'm triyng to figure this out asap.