MH in a HPS Ballast

Can you use a Metal Halide lamp in a High Pressure Sodium ballast?

From the little research I've done, the short answer is yes.

With all things being equal, matched wattage to ballast, a MH lamp will fire and run appropriately. I do not have a strong understanding on the why's. Something about MH having one less ignitor than HPS or something.

This is not referring to digital or switchable or anything else. Just a basic HPS ballast. Also, the reverse is NOT true. HPS does not run at all or appropriately in a MH ballast.

Do any light gurus want to step in and shed a bit of basic knowledge or criticism?

Mh bulbs have built in ignitiors. Mh ballast don't have ignitiors.

Hps bulbs don't have ignitors. Hps ballast do have ignitors.

Mh bulb can be ran in hps ballast. 2 ignitors and one is just cancelled out.

Hps can not run it mh ballast. There is no ignitor in the circuit.

If you added an ignitor to you mh ballast, then it would fire the hps up.

hondagrower420 said:

If you added an ignitor to you mh ballast, then it would fire the hps up.

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If "I" added an ignitor to a MH ballast, I could burn my house down. lol I am not even comfortable with that level elec work.

ziggo said:

If "I" added an ignitor to a MH ballast, I could burn my house down. lol I am not even comfortable with that level elec work.

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Haha. Understandable. Old mag ballast are really easy circuits. If you can wire a 12v head unit (stereo) in a car, you can build and wire a ballast.

But yes, mag ballasts are the ones that burn people's house down.

Why fuck around

most growers use 2 hids anyway

1x veg 1x bud?

@vostok I'm poor and like to fuck around. It's also just gaining knowledge and opinion.

Ultimately, I'd love to cobble together a CREE 3590 COB array, growmau5's rig looks so clean.

hondagrower420 said:

Haha. Understandable. Old mag ballast are really easy circuits. If you can wire a 12v head unit (stereo) in a car, you can build and wire a ballast.

But yes, mag ballasts are the ones that burn people's house down.

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But you are growing with DOHC VTEC POWER!

Most magnetic ballasts have printed wire. The igniter should also have printed wire. To run the metal halide, no igniter, to run the sodium wire in the igniter using marette wire connectors. There should be a diagram on the transformer. An appropriate diagram could also be found on the internet. Keep in mind that if the capacitor is still charged for some reason there is enough zap to fry the end off a screw driver etc.

I put mh in hps ballast works just fine . but only in veg .

I've been reading a lot of contradictory info, but today I realized that I have been running a MH bulb in a 600W magnetic HPS ballast. It's been about a year and I didn't even know that the ballast was meant for HPS. oops?

I've never had a problem putting a MH bulb in a HPS ballast. In fact my old Sun system trifecta ballasts have a little switch for MH and HPS