250watt hps bulb on a 150watt ballast...Should it work?

I'm kind of confused about this, my friend gave me an hps system, and the bulb reads 250w, but the ignitor reads 150w...No other components are labeled...
Should this work? Because it does, it'll fire up and get pretty bright, but is it safe? And what wattage do you think the ballast would be considering what I stated above?

Thnks to all who help! and +rep

The ballast will prob be 150w if it came with a 150w ignitor, should think he just brought a 250w bulb, i would see if you can find any part numbers on the ballast and google it to see if you can find out any more about it, if the ballast is a 150w i would put a 150w bulb back in it.

have you got a grow on the go at the moment?

jasonlethal2001 said:

The ballast will prob be 150w if it came with a 150w ignitor, should think he just brought a 250w bulb, i would see if you can find any part numbers on the ballast and google it to see if you can find out any more about it, if the ballast is a 150w i would put a 150w bulb back in it.

have you got a grow on the go at the moment?

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I tried researching parts numbers on all of the components, but I found nothing that would specify wattage...It's not a store bought ballast either, it's the kind where you buy all the parts separate...I'm pretty clueless right now as to what the right move would be.

And I don't have a grow on the go with this thing, but it would be a great addition to my setup, just don't want any electrical mishaps!

do you know if your friend used the system as it is?

jasonlethal2001 said:

do you know if your friend used the system as it is?

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Yeah, he has used it before, with the same bulb and everything...it probably has a few hundred hours of usage on the bulb. not too sure where he got the ballast in the first place though.

i would say if it was ok when he used it and the ballast is still working then its ok to use, normaly a 150w ballast would give up after a month or two with a 250w bulb.

What do you think I should call it though? A 250 or a 150?
Thanks for all the help btw, very much appreciated.

a 250 the bulb will always draw its rated power! no poblem any time.
what do you currently use and how are you finding it?

jasonlethal2001 said:

a 250 the bulb will always draw its rated power! no poblem any time.
what do you currently use and how are you finding it?

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Cool! And what do I currently use??? As in my setup...I got 2x 250watt hps systems, in a 2.5 x 2.5 x 5 growbox with 150cfm's of bathroom exhaust power! Lol 6x 1 week old lemon kush clones in soil...I wish I could post up a grow journal, but I need to get my hands on a new camera! How 'bout you? What you runnin'?