Okay, so I work part time at my apartment complex as an "Exterior Lighting and environment control tech". In short, I replace light bulbs, and fix light posts and sprinkler heads when the local boxcar children decide to vandalize them.
Anywho yesterday I'm talking to the new guy, he's older than me, just out of the army. He was Commenting about how he didn't feel comfortable putting 70w MH bulbs in the 100w ballasts that we have on a lot of the walkway lighting. So I told him that:
"I've been doing this for about a year, we've never put anything but the 70w Lamps in the 100's (half of them are 70 and half 100). I've also had aquariums (read: a growcab) that were MH lighted and it's perfectly safe to put a lamp to a higher rated ballast as long as you don't do something completely ridiculous (Like a 70w lamp to a 400w ballast), and you retire the bulb after it's RATED life."
If you've ever done any kind of commercial lighting you know this is true.
So it's like 6, we're putting all our shit back in the shed, I fire up a cig, and right in front of our eyes one of the lamps we JUST REPLACED went thermo nuclear and blew the plastic lens right off the wallpack mounted on the side of the shed, showering sparks and red hot broken glass everywhere. Remarkably the lens wasn't even cracked. Mr Cocky army guy start's getting all I told you so, untill I pointed out: All of the wall mounted lighting have 70w ballasts in them
.
I've never ever, ever seen this happen. I've seen them blow up waaaayyy after they've started getting dim, but never on a lamp of such low wattage! I have a 70w ballast that I'm planning a file cabnet SCROG around, using CMH, but now I'm worried about shrapnel killing my baby and my apartment catching fire, especially with CMH's supposed explosive disposistion.
Anyone else have a bulb fail like that in such a low wattage situation?
Anywho yesterday I'm talking to the new guy, he's older than me, just out of the army. He was Commenting about how he didn't feel comfortable putting 70w MH bulbs in the 100w ballasts that we have on a lot of the walkway lighting. So I told him that:
"I've been doing this for about a year, we've never put anything but the 70w Lamps in the 100's (half of them are 70 and half 100). I've also had aquariums (read: a growcab) that were MH lighted and it's perfectly safe to put a lamp to a higher rated ballast as long as you don't do something completely ridiculous (Like a 70w lamp to a 400w ballast), and you retire the bulb after it's RATED life."
If you've ever done any kind of commercial lighting you know this is true.
So it's like 6, we're putting all our shit back in the shed, I fire up a cig, and right in front of our eyes one of the lamps we JUST REPLACED went thermo nuclear and blew the plastic lens right off the wallpack mounted on the side of the shed, showering sparks and red hot broken glass everywhere. Remarkably the lens wasn't even cracked. Mr Cocky army guy start's getting all I told you so, untill I pointed out: All of the wall mounted lighting have 70w ballasts in them
. I've never ever, ever seen this happen. I've seen them blow up waaaayyy after they've started getting dim, but never on a lamp of such low wattage! I have a 70w ballast that I'm planning a file cabnet SCROG around, using CMH, but now I'm worried about shrapnel killing my baby and my apartment catching fire, especially with CMH's supposed explosive disposistion.
Anyone else have a bulb fail like that in such a low wattage situation?
I would never do that personally. Then again, I have an electrician for a step father..and he tells me horror stories on purpose.