digital 1,000 on dimmer?

I really would just like to buy the lumitek digital 400w ballast but my friend has a full 1,000 digital light that he wants to hand down to me. if i put the dimmer half way on the 1,000 watt will that be almost the same as having 400 watts? ish.. i would like to save the $300 and use this 1,000 watter i just dont need that much light and all that HEAT!! if i had things the way i wanted i would have a cool tube/sun tube 400w hps with wings, digital balast and gett things growin the right way any ideas? can i use the 1000 digital hps as a 400???

thanks youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu=)

ps the lumitek digital balast has a dimmer on there

yea it will dimm it BUT u r ruining ur bulbs life hours. it wares the reg bulbs down hard, if u really need to dim u need to loook into digital bulbs first.

FuZZyBUDz said:

yea it will dimm it BUT u r ruining ur bulbs life hours. it wares the reg bulbs down hard, if u really need to dim u need to loook into digital bulbs first.

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i've never heard of a digital bulb nor does my local grow shop carries a such thing.. are you talking about the hortilux bulbs??

harlesjohn said:

i really would just like to buy the lumitek digital 400w ballast but my friend has a full 1,000 digital light that he wants to hand down to me. If i put the dimmer half way on the 1,000 watt will that be almost the same as having 400 watts? Ish.. I would like to save the $300 and use this 1,000 watter i just dont need that much light and all that heat!! If i had things the way i wanted i would have a cool tube/sun tube 400w hps with wings, digital balast and gett things growin the right way Any ideas? Can i use the 1000 digital hps as a 400???

Thanks youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu=)

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nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

My 1000w digital goes 1000, 800, 600 but uses the 1000 watt bulb to do this. The dimmer would have to be something hooked up to the inter workings of the ballast not like a regular light dimmer.you need a wiring diagram for the ballast and a 3 way switch and a drill to pop a hole in the case to mount the switch and then figure out how to hook up the switch.Hitman40

I don't know

hitman40 said:

My 1000w digital goes 1000, 800, 600 but uses the 1000 watt bulb to do this. The dimmer would have to be something hooked up to the inter workings of the ballast not like a regular light dimmer.you need a wiring diagram for the ballast and a 3 way switch and a drill to pop a hole in the case to mount the switch and then figure out how to hook up the switch.Hitman40

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the Lumatek ballast is designed to light both HPS and MH bulbs. This ballast gives you more lumens generated per watt over magnetic ballasts. The Lumatek electronic ballast has a power factor of 95%+. The electronic starter gives you fast start-up to reach full brightness quickly. The Lumatek electronic ballast is completely silent, produces less heat, and has a small compact design. For ultimate safety, the Lumatek ballast features cut-off circuitry to cut the power should a short occur. Lumatek ballasts carry a 5-year warranty (3-year full, 2-year prorated).
All ballasts (except the 600 Dual) operate on standard 120 volt, but 240 volt is available. If you prefer the 240 volt cord - just let us know and we'll switch out the 120 for the 240.
NEW - A dimming knob has been added (not available on 250 watt) which will allow you to select the output of your bulb; 50%, 75%, 100%, or Super Lumens.

you absolutly CANNOT put an HID ballast on a dimmer...

some digital ballasts have a dimmer built in, but as someone mentioned before they will require a 1000w lamp. However dimmng an HID lamp will GREATLY reduce both the lumens output and the usable lamp life for growing.
IMHO i think a dimmable digital ballast is a peice of crap that costs too much and will fail, sooner rather than later.
I prefer my magnetic dual lamp/dual wattage/multi tap ballasts over almost any digital, i can go 400w HPS/MH/CMH or 1000w HPS/MH/CMH, simply by switching the lamps only... that means a max of 4 points of failure(trans, starter, cap, lamp), as compared to a dimmable switchable digital ballast that has dozens of points of failure... (PCB) the bastards are heavy tho, lol.

The sunpulse bulb is for digital ballast but 155.00 a bulb is pretty steep.

Harlesjohn said:

the Lumatek ballast is designed to light both HPS and MH bulbs. This ballast gives you more lumens generated per watt over magnetic ballasts. The Lumatek electronic ballast has a power factor of 95%+. The electronic starter gives you fast start-up to reach full brightness quickly. The Lumatek electronic ballast is completely silent, produces less heat, and has a small compact design. For ultimate safety, the Lumatek ballast features cut-off circuitry to cut the power should a short occur. Lumatek ballasts carry a 5-year warranty (3-year full, 2-year prorated).
All ballasts (except the 600 Dual) operate on standard 120 volt, but 240 volt is available. If you prefer the 240 volt cord - just let us know and we'll switch out the 120 for the 240.
NEW - A dimming knob has been added (not available on 250 watt) which will allow you to select the output of your bulb; 50%, 75%, 100%, or Super Lumens.

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never said i was putting on a dimmer.. im getting a digital ballast no matter what.. but its either going to be a FREE 1,000 watt or $300 for the 400watt set up.. im simply trying to find out if i can use the 1,000 watt for a max output of 400 watts will i put out the same lumans as an acutal 400watt those are my concerns... because I DONT WANT THE HEAT AND I DONT WANT THE BILL OF A 1000 WATT !!!! THE BALAST HAS A BUILT IN DIMMER !

OK....as i said b4 to dimm it fer the time u use it(all the time). u NEED a digital bulb or u will go throo bulbs like every grow! that would suk, the digital ballist r NICE. soory. i DO perfer the life of the magnetic, but the digital is MORE EFFEICENT. yea where did everyone go and think u were tryin to INSTALL a dimmer??

FuZZyBUDz said:

OK....as i said b4 to dimm it fer the time u use it(all the time). u NEED a digital bulb or u will go throo bulbs like every grow! that would suk, the digital ballist r NICE. soory. i DO perfer the life of the magnetic, but the digital is MORE EFFEICENT. yea where did everyone go and think u were tryin to INSTALL a dimmer??

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if i get a digi bulb will i still put out the same amount of lumenz as a full powered 400watt system (digital balast) i think its around 50k-55k lumenz for a 400watt system..

i wasn't 100% clear on my first post so i understand, plus i know some people are a few joints deep but take your time and read everything on the thread no one is in a rush here as for me im about to spark one up

Does the ballast provide the wattage outputed when you dim it or is it just a rheostat? The new dimmable lumatek ballasts show how much is being outputed at lower settings and is actually designed to run lower wattage bulbs on a higher wattage ballast if you dim it to the correct wattage. I have a new lumatek ballast and I could run a 400w bulb on it if I dimmed it to the correct setting.

SickSadLittleWorld said:

Does the ballast provide the wattage outputed when you dim it or is it just a rheostat? The new dimmable lumatek ballasts show how much is being outputed at lower settings and is actually designed to run lower wattage bulbs on a higher wattage ballast if you dim it to the correct wattage. I have a new lumatek ballast and I could run a 400w bulb on it if I dimmed it to the correct setting.

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
this is what i like to hear!!

i need to buy a new bulb anyway.. i'll do it and give it a few days and let yous know how it works. sounds like it will be easy..

hitman40 said:

My 1000w digital goes 1000, 800, 600 but uses the 1000 watt bulb to do this. The dimmer would have to be something hooked up to the inter workings of the ballast not like a regular light dimmer.you need a wiring diagram for the ballast and a 3 way switch and a drill to pop a hole in the case to mount the switch and then figure out how to hook up the switch.Hitman40

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Why would you tell someone to do this?

DO NOT DO THIS!!!!!

SickSadLittleWorld said:

Does the ballast provide the wattage outputed when you dim it or is it just a rheostat? The new dimmable lumatek ballasts show how much is being outputed at lower settings and is actually designed to run lower wattage bulbs on a higher wattage ballast if you dim it to the correct wattage. I have a new lumatek ballast and I could run a 400w bulb on it if I dimmed it to the correct setting.

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This is not correct.

Do not do this either.

Mr.Bob Saget said:

This is not correct.

Do not do this either.

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I'll bet money on it. Call up lumatek. Their dimmable ballasts are able to run different wattage bulbs.

But thanks for contributing nothing but two worthless posts.

SickSadLittleWorld said:

I'll bet money on it. Call up lumatek. Their dimmable ballasts are able to run different wattage bulbs.

But thanks for contributing nothing but two worthless posts.

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I went to Lumatek's web site and know where on there does it say that you can use a lower wattage bulb.

There is no doubt in my mind that the selectable output balast is just reducing the voltage output tot he bulb, which is reduce the light output, but to say to put a lower wattage bulb just seems like you would be asking to blow a blulb very easily, I wouldn't think the manufacture would recomened something like this.

I just purchased the 1000w/120v Dimmable ballast on 2/25/10. The instructions are not very instructive so I called Lumatek (866-369-8943) and they say that I can use 3 different bulbs 600w/750w/1000w. Just set the switch to the right output setting. I can also use a 1000w bulb and still use any of the dim settings. (Why dont they provide this info in the instructions? duh?) Super Lumens setting is 110% output. Seems like a versatile ballast to me. All Lumatek ballasts are internally RF shielded and supposedly have the lowest EMI levels of any electronic ballast. The new versions of their ballasts can strike up to the required voltage needed for most HID lamp requirements ie: which helps with the lifespan of your expensive bulbs. My seller said Eye Hortilux users are having issues still with lamp failure and recommended the Ultrasun 1000 watter... hmmmm we'll see how this all goes.