Lumatek

[thegambler]

It's a long time for no answer but....... if the ballast runs at 400 watts, it's only pulling 400 watts other than when it starts up- in which it will pull slightly higher for a short moment while the bulb fires up. Do not use a bulb lower than what's called for- if it's a 1000 watt ballast- use a 1000 bulb and turn it down. DO NOT USE a 400 watt bulb even if it's run at 400 watts- Lumatek states directly not to do that and it will probably void your warranty. Also opening your ballast up will void it too......

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Do not use a bulb lower than what's called for- if it's a 1000 watt ballast- use a 1000 bulb and turn it down. DO NOT USE a 400 watt bulb even if it's run at 400 watts- Lumatek states directly not to do that and it will probably void your warranty. Also opening your ballast up will void it too......

I have on many occasions ran 600w lamps in my 1K dimmables turned down. No problems ever.

Where did you get this info? The instructions with my LK1000 1000w 120/240v units states the following:

1. Multi-Wattage - Now you can power different wattage lamps on the same ballast. You can use up to three different wattages of lamps. The list below details which wattage lamps can be used on each model.

LK1000 1,000w/750w/600w MH/HPS
LK600 600w/400w MH/HPS

You certainly dont want to put a smaller lamp in on a higher setting, but according to these instructions you can put the smaller wattage lamp in if its dimmed down.

With the exception of "a 400w halide should not be used in a 600w ballast". That is the only thing I see noted.


The new air-cooled unit can run 1000w, 600w, and 400w.
You should also see post #37 in regards to running lower wattage lamps in Lumateks.



While I'd never recommend it.. HID lamps are actually pretty hard to blow... at least the ones I have. I've tried to pop an old 600w lamp and even on 1000w super lumens can not cause this solarmax 600w lamp to blow.

 

[The_Core]

It's a long time for no answer but....... if the ballast runs at 400 watts, it's only pulling 400 watts other than when it starts up- in which it will pull slightly higher for a short moment while the bulb fires up. Do not use a bulb lower than what's called for- if it's a 1000 watt ballast- use a 1000 bulb and turn it down. DO NOT USE a 400 watt bulb even if it's run at 400 watts- Lumatek states directly not to do that and it will probably void your warranty. Also opening your ballast up will void it too......

I can definitely understand why a manufacture might want to say something like that. Use the max rated bulb for the ballast and turn it down. They don't want to risk any possible situation where you would explode a bulb, for safety reasons I am sure.

 

[The_Core]

I have on many occasions ran 600w lamps in my 1K dimmables turned down. No problems ever.

Where did you get this info? The instructions with my LK1000 1000w 120/240v units states the following:

1. Multi-Wattage - Now you can power different wattage lamps on the same ballast. You can use up to three different wattages of lamps. The list below details which wattage lamps can be used on each model.

LK1000 1,000w/750w/600w MH/HPS
LK600 600w/400w MH/HPS

You certainly dont want to put a smaller lamp in on a higher setting, but according to these instructions you can put the smaller wattage lamp in if its dimmed down.

With the exception of "a 400w halide should not be used in a 600w ballast". That is the only thing I see noted.


The new air-cooled unit can run 1000w, 600w, and 400w.
You should also see post #37 in regards to running lower wattage lamps in Lumateks.



While I'd never recommend it.. HID lamps are actually pretty hard to blow... at least the ones I have. I've tried to pop an old 600w lamp and even on 1000w super lumens can not cause this solarmax 600w lamp to blow.

Thanks for the info. We are using the same Ballast and its good to have this information.

 

[FlowerFarmer]

That said I'd question whether or not the 600w setting is actually pushing 600w.

I've handled a lot of these ballasts and the newer units say 1000w, 750w, 600w. They previously said 100% , 75%, 50%... with several batches in between where there was only a "wattage" sticker placed over the percentages.

So is the 600w setting truly 600w, or is it merely 50% of 1000w = 500w. Does the 600w setting unpower your 600w lamps?

 

[OldSSSCGuy]

Nothing against you FlowerFarmer, but the factory is real clear about always running the maximum capacity lamp. You can dim down but should not use lamps of a wattage lower than the maximum capacity of the ballast.

At fire up the Lumatek ballasts don't surge like magnetic ballasts. A mag ballast will often draw 12+ amps to turn on, then settle down to about 9 amps. When I did the test & pics below I found that it starts at 4 amps and slow ramps upward as the bulb comes to capacity.

To answer the OP's original question about whether a Lumatek uses less power when you dim it down - yes it does. Below are pics of a 1000 watt Lumatek hooked I hooked up one to 110-volt in a Kill-a-Watt unit to see exactly what it draws at each setting: 600 watts, 750 watts, 1000 watts, and 'Super Lumens".

600 watts - 5.92 amps: 750 watts - 6.94 amps:

1000 watts: - 8.83 amps Super Lumens - 9.13 amps:

So they draw only what they use, and according to my meter they do not surge on start up.

And yes - you can switch the wattage with the ballast on and running. No drama.

.

 

[The_Core]

Nothing against you FlowerFarmer, but the factory is real clear about always running the maximum capacity lamp. You can dim down but should not use lamps of a wattage lower than the maximum capacity of the ballast.

At fire up the Lumatek ballasts don't surge like magnetic ballasts. A mag ballast will often draw 12+ amps to turn on, then settle down to about 9 amps. When I did the test & pics below I found that it starts at 4 amps and slow ramps upward as the bulb comes to capacity.

To answer the OP's original question about whether a Lumatek uses less power when you dim it down - yes it does. Below are pics of a 1000 watt Lumatek hooked I hooked up one to 110-volt in a Kill-a-Watt unit to see exactly what it draws at each setting: 600 watts, 750 watts, 1000 watts, and 'Super Lumens".

600 watts - 5.92 amps: View attachment 207159 750 watts - 6.94 amps: View attachment 207160

1000 watts: - 8.83 amps View attachment 207161 Super Lumens - 9.13 amps: View attachment 207162

So they draw only what they use, and according to my meter they do not surge on start up.

Thanks for the solid data OldSSSCGuy! Good to know they power up to the wattage and not spike up an extra 3 amps!

 

[OldSSSCGuy]

I had to do it a couple of times because I thought I messed up. I'd never seen a 1000 watt ballast turn on and suck only 3.5 amps! Don't know if that's standard for all digi ballasts because I'm cheap and still have a rack of really old mag ballasts humming at me like pissed off bees.

 

[StickyHands]

Nothing against you FlowerFarmer, but the factory is real clear about always running the maximum capacity lamp. You can dim down but should not use lamps of a wattage lower than the maximum capacity of the ballast.

At fire up the Lumatek ballasts don't surge like magnetic ballasts. A mag ballast will often draw 12+ amps to turn on, then settle down to about 9 amps. When I did the test & pics below I found that it starts at 4 amps and slow ramps upward as the bulb comes to capacity.

To answer the OP's original question about whether a Lumatek uses less power when you dim it down - yes it does. Below are pics of a 1000 watt Lumatek hooked I hooked up one to 110-volt in a Kill-a-Watt unit to see exactly what it draws at each setting: 600 watts, 750 watts, 1000 watts, and 'Super Lumens".

600 watts - 5.92 amps: View attachment 207159 750 watts - 6.94 amps: View attachment 207160

1000 watts: - 8.83 amps View attachment 207161 Super Lumens - 9.13 amps: View attachment 207162

So they draw only what they use, and according to my meter they do not surge on start up.

And yes - you can switch the wattage with the ballast on and running. No drama.

.

Excellent post mate.
Im just about to buy some lumatek ballasts i think.

I had a mate who grew, and when i went into his room for the first time, he had a line of ballasts for his lights. I noticed one was purple and others were old skool type. The lumatek was silent, and luke warm to touch. The other ballasts were buzzing away and roasting hot.

He always told me it gave him no problems, and the fact that he could swap bulb safely, made me wanna try using this ballast.
Would be good for me, as I could veg with 400mh, then move onto 600hps safely, with just a bulb change.

Thanks for the thread.

 

[rives]

At fire up the Lumatek ballasts don't surge like magnetic ballasts. A mag ballast will often draw 12+ amps to turn on, then settle down to about 9 amps. When I did the test & pics below I found that it starts at 4 amps and slow ramps upward as the bulb comes to capacity.

This is "sort of" true. Any electronic ballast is going to pull much, much harder than a magnetic ballast, but the draw is only for a very short period of time - way too short for you to be able to see it without specialized instrumentation. Electronic ballasts have a large bank of capacitors on the "front end" of the device, and when a capacitor charges up, it is one of the heaviest instantaneous loads that there is. It only takes a fraction of a second for the cap to charge, but that time period is very hard on relay or timer contacts. This is why you will see different ratings for resistive (heaters), inductive (magnetic ballasts and motors), or capacitive (electronic ballasts, amplifiers, etc) loads when looking at the contact ratings for a switch.

 

[The_Core]

This is "sort of" true. Any electronic ballast is going to pull much, much harder than a magnetic ballast, but the draw is only for a very short period of time - way too short for you to be able to see it without specialized instrumentation. Electronic ballasts have a large bank of capacitors on the "front end" of the device, and when a capacitor charges up, it is one of the heaviest instantaneous loads that there is. It only takes a fraction of a second for the cap to charge, but that time period is very hard on relay or timer contacts. This is why you will see different ratings for resistive (heaters), inductive (magnetic ballasts and motors), or capacitive (electronic ballasts, amplifiers, etc) loads when looking at the contact ratings for a switch.

Thanks for the info Rives! I did not know that about the electronic ballast's, I learn alot off of these forums.

 

[LeeROI]

Interesting post, rives. I didn't know digital ballasts would be considered a capacitive load.

To preserve the contacts on (say) an Intermatic timer, maybe a good idea to combine magnetic and digital ballasts in a multi light room? (I know a contactor is the best solution.)

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Nothing against you FlowerFarmer, but the factory is real clear about always running the maximum capacity lamp. You can dim down but should not use lamps of a wattage lower than the maximum capacity of the ballast.

Well they must not be being that clear because the instructions that came with my Lumateks clearly state that you CAN put the lower wattage bulb in the 1000w unit turned down.

Where did you get this info OldSSSCGuy?

Here is what I'm seeing. Let me know what you are reading.



-

StickyHands, running a 400w MH in the 600w Ballast is actually the one thing in my instructions in which they tell you not to do.

 

[rives]

Interesting post, rives. I didn't know digital ballasts would be considered a capacitive load.

To preserve the contacts on (say) an Intermatic timer, maybe a good idea to combine magnetic and digital ballasts in a multi light room? (I know a contactor is the best solution.)

It would be hard to predict the effect of the combined load characteristics, but I doubt that they would negate one another. I would think that it would probably be best to use one type of ballast and stay well within the recommended load for that type.

 

[rives]

Well they must not be being that clear because the instructions that came with my Lumateks clearly state that you CAN put the lower wattage bulb in the 1000w unit turned down.

Again, where are you guys reading this.

Different generations/models, perhaps? I know that both the Philips electronic ballasts and the GEL ballasts for the Philips CDM lamps will fire the lamps up at full power for several minutes and then back them off to whatever the dimmer setting is. Supposedly this was done to optimize lamp life.

 

[Hammerhead]

I use T5 for veg. IMO these work very well. It all depends on how big of a plant you want.. Im startin a veg now that will be going for 4 months. I want to see what a 4 month vegged GSC will do in a 20g smart pot indoors. I might need to use a 600 to finish such a long veg.

For 99% of the plants I grow I use T5 for veg

 

[The_Core]

I use T5 for veg. IMO these work very well. It all depends on how big of a plant you want.. Im startin a veg now that will be going for 4 months. I want to see what a 4 month vegged GSC will do in a 20g smart pot indoors. I might need to use a 600 to finish such a long veg.

For 99% of the plants I grow I use T5 for veg

T-5's are great. A 4 month veg........How tall will you grow them out before you throw the HID into the mix?

 

[Hammerhead]

I dont know never done a 4 month veg ..I will just have to see how it goes ..

 

[thegambler]

I have the Lumatek INformation Sheet in front of me. It states:

"New Lumatek ballasts are protected from voltage surges by an external breaker system. If a ballast fails to start reset the breakers by pressing in the white buttons located about the input power receptacle."

So, the fuses are internal and not meant to be replaced by customers since opening the unit voids the warranty. If it doesn't work and you are under warranty, it must be returned for fixing or replacement.

 

[rangergord]

"reset the breakers " Breakers are not fuses. When a fuse blows it is burned out and must be replaced. Circuit breakers usually just have to cool down a bit and once the reason for the overloaded circuit is corrected the breaker is turned back on. If breakers are repeatedly tripped by overloading the circuit breaker can fatigue and cease to stay on. At this point it must be replaced. Breakers take time and/or abuse to fail.