600w HPS in 1000w Ballast.....

simisimis

simisimis

Well-Known Member
bottletoke said:
I am an electrical technologist and I hold my eelectricians license as well. Did anybody read my previous post? If you need more of an explanation fire away.

Ps:only an hps needs an igniter/starter but all hid's require a cap.
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sorry man, I reread your post and only now I understood what you meant :))

Anyway the thing is that some ballasts like mine e.g. are sealed and there's no way to disconnect igniter and capacitor and connect another, unless you make DIY ballast with proper wiring caps so it could be easily disconnected and reconnected...

Maybe you can answer what are the consequences of using 1000W igniter and 1000W capacitor with 600W hps lamp? cause the way I see it is either lamp or igniter with capacitor are being phucked in this setup..
Also could you clarify, Igniter is working as a sort of relay unit or like a starter? Or starter is sort of relay unit just used for TL lights?
Thanks!
 
bottletoke

bottletoke

Well-Known Member
An igniter is just like a starter, its a coil that momentarily connects the high voltage tap from the transformer to the lamp just giving it enough hit to start burning some of the gases. Once the lamp heats up it only needs minimal voltage to maintain.
The lamp is not fused to the ballast so if your lamp is done and you connect a transformer that can push out 1000w to a lamp that could handle 600 the fault will occur at the weakest link, the lamp. So unless you want glass and chunks of molten plasma in your grow room make the igniter and the capacitor the weakest link and save yourself a possible fire.
 
Shankroid

Shankroid

Member
I am intrigued by this discussion, and often wondered the same thing myself. If feasible, it could open up many possibilities and options. Will a 250w bulb work in a 600w ballast, a 400w in a 600, etc. There are practical laws of electricity involved, but quite a few differing opinions and a lot of guesses as to will it actually work. Surely SOMONE has actually tried it. Another thing to take in consideration would be the quality of the ballast itself. Lots of people can only afford the cheap Chinese crap like me ;)
 
bottletoke

bottletoke

Well-Known Member
i'm not talking about a digital ballast, they are already manufactured to be dimmable or switchable(mh-hps) and shouldnt be altered. my mods should only be done on a magnetic ballast where the taps are accessible and the caps and ignitors are swap-able.
but i'll say this again, you CAN run a smaller lamp in a larger ballast but not the other way around. If you choose to run a 250w lamp with a 1000w ballast then you ignitor should be sized to run the lamp you plan on running!
 
Oo S0uP oO

Oo S0uP oO

Active Member
bottletoke said:
i'm not talking about a digital ballast, they are already manufactured to be dimmable or switchable(mh-hps) and shouldnt be altered. my mods should only be done on a magnetic ballast where the taps are accessible and the caps and ignitors are swap-able.
but i'll say this again, you CAN run a smaller lamp in a larger ballast but not the other way around. If you choose to run a 250w lamp with a 1000w ballast then you ignitor should be sized to run the lamp you plan on running!
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Ignitor AND capacitor right??? just to be clear....thanks!-S0uP
 
Shankroid

Shankroid

Member
nobody answered the original question presented in this thread, regardless of the conjecture of facts and what seems limited reasoning.
 
simisimis

simisimis

Well-Known Member
bottletoke said:
An igniter is just like a starter, its a coil that momentarily connects the high voltage tap from the transformer to the lamp just giving it enough hit to start burning some of the gases. Once the lamp heats up it only needs minimal voltage to maintain.
The lamp is not fused to the ballast so if your lamp is done and you connect a transformer that can push out 1000w to a lamp that could handle 600 the fault will occur at the weakest link, the lamp. So unless you want glass and chunks of molten plasma in your grow room make the igniter and the capacitor the weakest link and save yourself a possible fire.
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Thanks man, this was an answer which I was looking for!

Shankroid said:
nobody answered the original question presented in this thread, regardless of the conjecture of facts and what seems limited reasoning.
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Actually bottletoke answered it and very well.
Can you run a 600W on a 1000W ballast?
No.

What happens if you will do it?
It will run for a while and lamp will stop working earlier than manufacturer said it will.

How it will break?
Depends, It might only stop working or it could explode all over the room.

1000W Ballasts transformer is capable of easily supporting 600W, however igniter and capacitor need to be changed for proper use of a product cause they are way too strong.

I really cannot think of any better answer to this thread question...
 
Oo S0uP oO

Oo S0uP oO

Active Member
I think all should add rep to bottletoke for an informative and well delivered answer to this question. The answer makes perfect sense, Thanks all for contributing to the conversation.-S0uP
 
1

19purpleking69

New Member
Oo S0uP oO said:
I read that thread. The videos are no longer available and there are no explanations as to why or why not to run the lower wattage bulb on the larger ballast. Thanks for the input though. -S0uP
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My neighbor is an electrician and he says that a 1000 watt ballast can run bulbs 1000 watts or less. When it comes to HPS/MH bulbs is where you need to be careful. If your ballast doesn't say it can run both types then it can't. There are conversion bulbs but that's another thing. The ballast does NOT push extra watts into a bulb that it can't take. The bulb draws what it needs from the ballast so if you're running a 400 watt or 600 watt bulb on a 1000 watt ballast you are NOT stressing the ballast. In fact, if you never used a 1000 watt bulb I would think the life of your ballast would extend. Common sense is important to have.
 
A

aapmpmo

Member
The open circuit voltage on the secondary of a 1000w ballast is around 430V while the 600w is around 220V. If you don't understand what that means let me make is simple, use the correct bulb with the correct ballast stupid.
 
J

jaybray

Member
Yes it can be done but I would think that you would burn your bulb up faster not pro long your ballast. IMO As long as it fires up.
 
J

Jay3Lee

Member
Kite High said:
whatever...happy fires
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Are you an ELECTRICIAN? NO? Then maybe you should shut your mouth and let someone that actually KNOWS what they are talking about answer the question.. Bottletoke is correct.. To put it in simple terms.. the ballast does not PUSH power to the bulb.. the bulb DRAWS from the ballast. So if the ballast supplies 1000w, but the bulb only draws 600.. your ballast will essentially run at 600 watts.. This only applies with Magnetic ballasts.. and should NOT be attempted with the digital or electronic type... Most digital ballasts are dimmable nowadays anyways.. so this issue never really comes up. Furthermore, you should NEVER use a bulb bigger than the ballast rating in any circumstance!
 
bird mcbride

bird mcbride

Well-Known Member
The only problem that I can see is the load factor. Given the fact that the 600 will only be drawing 600 watts, the 1000 watt ballast's voltage will float higher as it is not clamped at the appropriate amperage.

Solution: Get a giant Zener diode:).
 
overdose420

overdose420

Well-Known Member
Oo S0uP oO said:
With all due respect....Fuck you. If you have no scientific answer for your unfounded opinion keep your fucking mouth shut and maybe you could learn something same as I hope to do. Obviously you have no evidence for your belief besides what youve been told, shit you could be right, but I want to know why? You fucking lemming. Tell me to set my fucking house on fire, asshole.I hope you get cancer. Die.


RIU....Look,on a lighter note my instincts tell me not to stick a 600w bulb in a 1000w ballast BUT I dont think twice about what wattage bulb Im sticking into my desk lamp. I just want to know why it doesn't work? There has got to be a simple explanation as to whether it is or isnt safe to do.-S0uP
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I've been doing it for 7 years straight...
 
W

wrpinacate

New Member
Shankroid said:
I am intrigued by this discussion, and often wondered the same thing myself. If feasible, it could open up many possibilities and options. Will a 250w bulb work in a 600w ballast, a 400w in a 600, etc. There are practical laws of electricity involved, but quite a few differing opinions and a lot of guesses as to will it actually work. Surely SOMONE has actually tried it. Another thing to take in consideration would be the quality of the ballast itself. Lots of people can only afford the cheap Chinese crap like me ;)
Click to expand...
 
W

wrpinacate

New Member
So many comments and guesses.. but they have not actually tried it... a 1000 watt hpsl (high pressure sodium lamp) needs 90 to 100 microfarad capacitor parallel to the line and neutral.. (three paralleled connected 30 microfarad makes 90 microfarad) so a 400 watt needs less.. then commonly an ignitor has a capacity of 250 to 1000 watts.. no problem with that.
ballasted lamps last longer than self ballasted lamps
Yes, it will work... Ive done it and tried it . when it reach it usefull life it will be busted just like other hpsl.
 
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