HPS bulb question?

I was wondering what the maximum wattage that i could apply to my 400 W HPS bulb, i have an adjustable Lumatek ballast that goes to 440 W, would it be worth it to bump it up to MAX? Could the bulb handle the extra 40 watts?

If the bulb Is rated at 400 watts dont go over that 400, the bulb might be able to handle it but the life on it would get cut in half, I would think.

I replace the bulb every 6 months anyways....

mastiffkush said:

I was wondering what the maximum wattage that i could apply to my 400 W HPS bulb, i have an adjustable Lumatek ballast that goes to 440 W, would it be worth it to bump it up to MAX? Could the bulb handle the extra 40 watts?

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I just got the same ballast except its a 600w, and was wondering the same thing!!

some 400 watt balasts are listed at diff numbers, i had one that said it was 480...bu tit was actualy a 400.

Bump..............................

Do it. See what happens

The only time it's even remotely safe to go beyond a manufacturers rating is if you've found a batch number on the product, looked up that batch number, and discovered that the batch is actually a defective batch of higher powered products that were rated down a tier so they're not a total loss to the manufacturer. For instance, if your 400W HPS was actually from what was supposed to be a batch of 600W HPS bulbs that didn't pass quality tests designed for 600W bulbs, but did pass the tests for 400W bulbs, it could very well be safe up to 440 0r so watts.

If you can't find anything definitively indicating that you have a product like that, don't try it. Especially with something that can cause a fire.

How exactly do you make a bulb run at a higher wattage? Based on Ohm's law it would seem the only way to do that is to increase the voltage to the bulb. Is that what happens when you set the ballast to run the bulb at 440W?

smokeymarine said:

How exactly do you make a bulb run at a higher wattage? Based on Ohm's law it would seem the only way to do that is to increase the voltage to the bulb. Is that what happens when you set the ballast to run the bulb at 440W?

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Yup..... All the ballast really is, is a step up transformer. Those lumatek ballasts are digital and the adjusting dial just switches the voltage. Im still looking for the answer to the original question. I think 440w to a 400w bulb is fine, but will just limit the life of the bulb. Imo.....

I actually just found a post with a hortilux 440w. I'm gonna look around and see if I can buy one.

I'm a fan of Digilux. The spectrum is so good on both bulbs (hps or MH) you could go start to finish with either!