"400 or 430 Watt Ballast"

[happyguy]

the manufacturer's sticker on the ballast says "400 or 430 watts" ...dude at a hydro store told me it takes both when he sold it to me. i've been running a 400w hps since last november with no problems but i am changing my setup a bit and want to run the 430 bulb for the extra daylight spectrum so i can do both veg and flower stages ....
when i went to go buy a son agro 430w bulb at another local hydro store this week they asked if it was for a 400w ballast or a 430w ballast. i told them it was a combo ballast (lol ..) they said no such thing and if i ran a 430 bulb in there i would not benefit from the increased blue spectrum... i am confused why a ballast would state 400 or 430 if there is no point in putting a 430 bulb in my ballast. all opinions gratefully appreciated in advance.

 

[McBudz]

Maybe the hydro guy does not know his stuff? I would go by the ballast manufacturer.

 

[TorturedSoul]

You would benefit from the blue spectrum in any event. It's not like the ballast fires up the regular spectrum and then if there's any juice left over fires up the blue.

You just might not see the additional lumens that such a bulb can produce if the ballast is not strong enough. But many (most?) magnetic ones are. I do not know about electronic ones.