switchable ballast info

[Father Nature]

after my ballast crapped out i did some research on a rebuild.I AM NOT AN ELECTICIAN.I ONLY MADE SOME PHONE CALLS and thought id share.I looked into turning my 1000w hps ballast into a switchable.i looked around and found some stores offer to adda switch to a standard ballast for $50.i called advance ballast tech support and they said a hps transformer could not be switched to a mh,totally different.so i thought how can these co. just add a switch.after many phone calls and no help i found a guy that seemed to know his shit.he said switchable ballast components are the same as standard and yes all you have to do is add a switch.the reason tech support said different was technically your not supposed to do this and they would never tell me its ok to alter there system.he also said changing a ballast to switchable severely cuts the life of ballast and bulb to the point there co. stopped offering a warranty on switchable ballasts..I chose to stick with a standard ballast.a digital switchable ballast is fine thou..again i have no experience in ballasts, i only made some calls.if any body has a swichable ballast(not digital)id be interested in how its working Edited February 17, 2009 by Father Nature

[Vdubz]

bro, you can get 400W MH globes that work with 600 W HPS ballasts, no switch necessary. Good for the grow before switching to flower and they should be av available from ur local hydro store.