400w MH conversion in 430w HPS ballast?

Hey folks, my question is a two-parter:

1. Yesterday I picked up a 430 watt MAX HPS ballast, and it came with a 430 watt son agro HPS, which is supposed to have an enhanced blue spectrum. I have a 400w MH conversion bulb for use with a 400w HPS ballast. I currently have the 400w MH conversion being powered by the 430 watt HPS ballast. Is this safe? Does the 30 watts extra on the ballast cause any problems for the light bulb or anything?

2. Am I better off using this metal halide or would my plants veg better under that Son Agro? I know those are good bulbs and it puts out WAY more lumens, but even with the 'balanced spectrum' it doesn't have the same spectrum as my Metal Halide Conversion, which is 6400 k.

Any thoughts? Please note that I am not asking about running a standard metal halide in an HPS setup. I am asking about my MH CONVERSION bulb (intended for HPS ballast), which is 400watts, and if that's safe to run with a 430 watt MAX ballast. Thanks much!

vtguitar88 said:

Hey folks, my question is a two-parter:

1. Yesterday I picked up a 430 watt MAX HPS ballast, and it came with a 430 watt son agro HPS, which is supposed to have an enhanced blue spectrum. I have a 400w MH conversion bulb for use with a 400w HPS ballast. I currently have the 400w MH conversion being powered by the 430 watt HPS ballast. Is this safe? Does the 30 watts extra on the ballast cause any problems for the light bulb or anything?

2. Am I better off using this metal halide or would my plants veg better under that Son Agro? I know those are good bulbs and it puts out WAY more lumens, but even with the 'balanced spectrum' it doesn't have the same spectrum as my Metal Halide Conversion, which is 6400 k.

Any thoughts? Please note that I am not asking about running a standard metal halide in an HPS setup. I am asking about my MH CONVERSION bulb (intended for HPS ballast), which is 400watts, and if that's safe to run with a 430 watt MAX ballast. Thanks much!

Click to expand...

1. Yes it is safe. I have the same setup and have run the mh bulb for over a month on a 430 son agro ballast. No issues.

2. I don't know for sure but I would say the 400mh is better for vegging then the 430 son agro.

Banditt said:

1. Yes it is safe. I have the same setup and have run the mh bulb for over a month on a 430 son agro ballast. No issues.

2. I don't know for sure but I would say the 400mh is better for vegging then the 430 son agro.

Click to expand...

okay, great. thanks for the response. I wouldn't be surprised if it shortened the bulb life a bit or something, but as long as it doesn't blow up all over me and my plants, im' not worried. I have a 400w hps setup in my flower room, so I could just bring the 430 watt up there and run the 400 w halide conversion in the 400w ballast for my veg area. I've just been too busy to switch all the stuff around. thanks again!

anybody else have any experience or thoughts on this?

Correct, you want to veg with the MH and flower with the HPS and yes it is safe.

I now have the same question. Anyone have any updates on this? Any news on the safety, vtguitar88, especially on the whole blowing up thing?

I got the same setup as well running 18/6 for about 3 weeks.