250W bulb in 400W Ballast

weedyweedy

weedyweedy

Active Member
Guys, I will be starting my second grow soon and I was just wondering if it's alright to use a 250w bulb on a 400w ballast? One person already said that it "might" not be alright but if the ballast's purpose is to act as a generator, I don't see why not.

Enlighten me please cos I'm very ignorant when it comes to electrical matters.
 
JimmyPot

JimmyPot

Well-Known Member
Its simple 400 is for 400 and 600 ballast is for a 600 watt bulb.Its not anything that you need enlightened on.Im guessing your broke and cant afford to go out a buy a bulb now.I say don't do it.1000 bulbs has some cheap bulbs.Rosebud threw up a site the other day that had good deals too.The light would probably work but not long.
 
laserbrn

laserbrn

Well-Known Member
I certainly don't think that it's a good idea, but in all honesty I've never seen a thread where someone ACTUALLY tried it. I've seen plenty of speculation, but I think that most people ASSUME it's going to do very bad things.

If I had a 250w bulb on hand I would do it for you to see what happens. Some asshold broke my extra 250w bulb and I'm not gonna go waste $20.00 on another one. I have a 2 400w ballasts that I don't care much about that. If you paypal me $20 for the 250w bulb I'll hook it up for you and try it. Make a youtube video of it working/not working, the fire or explosion, whatever may happen.
 
weedyweedy

weedyweedy

Active Member
JimmyPot said:
Its simple 400 is for 400 and 600 ballast is for a 600 watt bulb.
Click to expand...
Well, that's very ambiguous of you. Any five-year-old kid could have pointed that out. What is your understanding of a ballast? You look like you're in need enlightening yourself. I do not take kindly to snarky remarks.
 
weedyweedy

weedyweedy

Active Member
laserbrn said:
I certainly don't think that it's a good idea, but in all honesty I've never seen a thread where someone ACTUALLY tried it. I've seen plenty of speculation, but I think that most people ASSUME it's going to do very bad things.

If I had a 250w bulb on hand I would do it for you to see what happens. Some asshold broke my extra 250w bulb and I'm not gonna go waste $20.00 on another one. I have a 2 400w ballasts that I don't care much about that. If you paypal me $20 for the 250w bulb I'll hook it up for you and try it. Make a youtube video of it working/not working, the fire or explosion, whatever may happen.
Click to expand...
Thanks laserbrn, I have followed one of your grows by the way and I think they're fantastic :) I actually found this guy here on RIU who somewhat did the same thing, only he used a 400watt bulb on a 1000watt ballast. He has it on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16A6nYQJEyc
 
laserbrn

laserbrn

Well-Known Member
weedyweedy said:
Thanks laserbrn, I have followed one of your grows by the way and I think they're fantastic :) I actually found this guy here on RIU who somewhat did the same thing, only he used a 400watt bulb on a 1000watt ballast. He has it on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16A6nYQJEyc
Click to expand...
Sweet. Saves me the trouble. I had a feeling nothing bad would happen, I just don't have a need for a 250w lamp. I admittedly don't know how the ballasts and lamps work, but I imagine like most other lamps the bulb actually draws electricity and it's not as if the ballast "pushes" extra wattage at the lamp. But then, this isn't exactly scientific speak and I'm completely talking out of my ass on the subject. It was just what I suspected so I wanted to see. Thanks for the link...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top