600w bulb in 400w ballast?

[Sharpie]

Hi Guys,

 

I have a fairly old 400w ballast that's successfully done a few grows for me. Wanting to replace the bulb as it was getting a bit old and came with the ballast second hand, I went to my local hydro store. The owner said he didn't stock any 400w bulbs because in his words, "they're all shit". What he offered instead was a 600w at a discount. He said he had run this by a friend who was an electrician and said it was fine and he had sold them to a number of others with no bad reports.

 

I bought the 600w bulb and have been running it for a few weeks. The ballast is only drawing 400w from the mains. No apparent issues with heat on the ballast or other issues one might expect, however I'm not convinced it's running as well as the old second hand bulb did. The plants seem happy and haven't stretched (in fact one seems quite content to grow as short as possible), but to my eyes; I don't have a lux meter, it just doesn't seem as bright.

 

Wondering what other's take on this is? Am I crazy taking this guy's advice? Am I running the risk of burning the place to the ground? Or is this common practice and if so, should I expect the same performance as a 400w with a 400w ballast?

 

Thanks

[Indycar]

I have heard this theory that what you might be dealing with the light being under powered, which in turn doesn't get the bulb into the right spectrum for what the 600w bulb is intended for. So what you mentioned sounds similar what I heard.

 

Sounds like a prick of a salesperson, might be worth giving them a miss in future.

[Gazza2001au]

I have never heard of a 600w bulb running off a 400w ballast that is on the old magnetic ballast, i once bought a second hand MH 400w and it came with a HPS globe and it ran but i was told to take it back to the shop once i raised the concern with the shop i was told it shouldn't have even worked! but than again this is from those fuck wits that sold me a second hand ballast that caught fire...

 

always match your lamp (globe) to the ballast, you can run MH Retro or HPS conversion lamps in vise versa ballast but u cannot run a dedicated MH lamp on a HPS ballast and vise versa (magnetic ballast)

 

the new digital technology i donno about swapping and changing i have heard u can run all sorts of bulbs on certain settings on dimmable ballast this i have never looked into nor tried

[Riverinaboy]

Just buy a 600w ballast

 

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[Indycar]

I will give the Salesperson some credit. They're kinda correct in regards to the 400w ballast. Fairly old tech and a lot of other lighting today would run rings around it when it comes power consumption and potential yield.

 

That said, there's a few 400w cupboard growers here that have had great success.

[Riverinaboy]

But these days the technology in the spectrum on the globe. They can get the buds rock hard and more resin. There is nothing wrong with old technology. But if you want to get a improvement in your buds you might step up to the 600w 400v or even the 315w. Or just keep doing what you have but get a new globe. EBay has millions of the 400w

 

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[Gazza2001au]

I use to use a 400w in a wardrobe size tent worked really well and with modern technology from today i would have loved that old tent now with silent fans and dimmable ballast, i actually even made one of those aluminium que locking frames and had one of the vintage Canadian imported aircooled reflectors from the 1990's running a 400w HPS i placed some panda film around the frame from pot height two foot up and it worked great didn't need a ventilation fan however needed one for the bigger room it was in

 

as for this guys shop i don't know one shop that doesn't stock 400w lamps? that's a first... 400w are still really popular, mostly season growers upgrade to 600w and 1000w for the increased yield , i have done many more grows using a 400w than the 600-1000w lights

 

I'm not sure if the ballast produces the amount of power or if the lamp draws x amount of power from the ballast to ignite.. but i would look at getting a quality 400w lamp, Phillips Son-T are probably the best Lucagrow, Lucalox, Sunmaster are all good lamps i have used

[Sharpie]

Thanks everyone.

 

FWIW, I had really good results from my last grow with this setup. It's a small area (about the size of a cupboard) so I'm quite content with what I have for now. 2 plants does me for ~12 months.

[_Puff_Tough_]

You need to stop buying gear from that hydroponics supplier, that lamp wont fire up properly and cast the desirable spectrum of light.... It might look like its operating as it should but it most likely isnt.

[louise]

Hi Guys,

 The owner said he didn't stock any 400w bulbs because in his words, "they're all shit". What he offered instead was a 600w at a discount. He said he had run this by a friend who was an electrician and said it was fine and he had sold them to a number of others with no bad reports.

 

 

And I'd be finding a new hydroponics supplier...