600w HPS with magnetic ballast vs 400w with electronic

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Lethaldose

420 Member
Hey, I was wondering since the 600w hps with shittiest magnetic ballast is giving too much heat for me to handle currently that if I upgrade to electronic ballast and blast it with 400w, would it make up for it? Since electronic ballast boast they put out "up to 30% more lumens" in theory this would be 520w of magnetic ballast? I have 3 plants in row in 80x80x160cm room and the height is bit of a problem.
 
Lethaldose said:
Hey, I was wondering since the 600w hps with shittiest magnetic ballast is giving too much heat for me to handle currently that if I upgrade to electronic ballast and blast it with 400w, would it make up for it? Since electronic ballast boast they put out "up to 30% more lumens" in theory this would be 520w of magnetic ballast? I have 3 plants in row in 80x80x160cm room and the height is bit of a problem.
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Have you considered the quantum boards from Horticulture lighting? LED, super low heat output.
 
KeithVi said:
Have you considered the quantum boards from Horticulture lighting? LED, super low heat output.
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Well my budget is somewhere around 100e-150e so I dont think LED lights fit in that category right now man, but I will consider them in future though. Right now I just want this crop to pull through.
 
First off. Have you considered upgrading to the 600 electronic? With it you can turn it down as low as 50% or up if the heat will let you. With adjustments I think a 600 at 50 to 75% would put off less heat then a 400 at 110%. Then you always have more power for the future if needed. The 400 should give you a good 3 foot of depth penetration. "Not technical info so no need to correct me" If my math is right your room is close to 3'x3'x6'. The 400 should be enough light. Just keep training your plants wider instead of up. You will loose a little bud density with the smaller light.
 
Jackalope said:
First off. Have you considered upgrading to the 600 electronic? With it you can turn it down as low as 50% or up if the heat will let you. With adjustments I think a 600 at 50 to 75% would put off less heat then a 400 at 110%. Then you always have more power for the future if needed. The 400 should give you a good 3 foot of depth penetration. "Not technical info so no need to correct me" If my math is right your room is close to 3'x3'x6'. The 400 should be enough light. Just keep training your plants wider instead of up. You will loose a little bud density with the smaller light.
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Yeah man, thats actually what I meant. Id buy 600watt dimmable electronic ballast and blast it at 400watt. Your math is pretty spot on and ive been trying to train the ladies a little bit. So you think it would be viablr solution ?
 
Yeah it will work. You have to adapt to what the grow as you go. From what I have seen people doing with training. You will get good penetration through out. Lumens are Lumens though and when you drop them you will loose some size and density. But still better then heat stressed unhealthy plants.
 
Just received my 600w dimmable electronic ballast and the instructions were vague on the switch settings. After contacting my dealer he recommended that those always be left on 100% or the ballast life is shortened! Which kinda makes you wonder why they have them on there?
 
600w dimmable electronic ballast is the way to go ;)

buzz62 said:
Just received my 600w dimmable electronic ballast and the instructions were vague on the switch settings. After contacting my dealer he recommended that those always be left on 100% or the ballast life is shortened! Which kinda makes you wonder why they have them on there?
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Because you don't need 600w on small plants so you can save a lot on power and bulb life, they usually have a 110%(superlumen) setting.
 
buzz62 said:
Just received my 600w dimmable electronic ballast and the instructions were vague on the switch settings. After contacting my dealer he recommended that those always be left on 100% or the ballast life is shortened! Which kinda makes you wonder why they have them on there?
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I just bought a 600wt and a 1000wt, both dimmable. I was going to dim for the seedlings but I don't know now. I wonder how long the ballast will last. The dealer saying leave at 100% doesn't sound good
 
I've never heard that before. I used the same three dimmable ballasts for the last five or six years. Had one of them burn out last year but other than that it's been event-free.
Dimming loses bulb efficiency. So a 600w bulb dimmed to 400w is not the same as a 400w bulb/ballast. The dimmed one will use 400w (I tested it) but won't give the same amount of light. That's usually fine since we did want it dimmed after all.
 
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