running a ballast with no bulb?

How bad is it to run a ballast with no bulb in it? will it burn up and be damaged?

why would you do this??

just cause....anyone know the answer?

I don't think it would do anything same as any other light socket without a bulb in it just don't lick ur finger and c what happens if u stick it in the socket. That and I don't know anyone that would do this just to c if it would ruin their ballast, so I think u might be at a bit of a loss tryin to find someone with exp doin this.

its a waste of power for sure and pointless

why don't you do it for a week and let us know

I will try if you want, i have a 400 and 1000 sitting in the basement, i would imagine a magnetic would, digital, i wonder

i'm not sure about the no affect as a ballast doesn't work the same way as a house light .... a ballast fires high rates of current to a bulb, and when the bulb fires, the current drops.. idk watt would happen if there would be no bulb for the current to drop...

interesting question, one i don't know the answer to, but i don't think it's as simple as saying it's the same as not having a bulb in a normal house hold socket, that's for sure..

bluntmassa1 said:

its a waste of power for sure and pointless

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I agree. I just replaced three commercial grocery store florescent ballasts. I replaced each hot because that is how I roll. With no bulbs in the fixture, there was still a small spark when I connected the power leads. It drains power just like your cell phone charger even if the cell phone is not attached. If ballasts work like stereo amps, not having speakers connected causes them to heat up and burn out since there is no load and the power has to be dissipated by the amp...or in this case the ballast.

Dirty Harry said:

I agree. I just replaced three commercial grocery store florescent ballasts. I replaced each hot because that is how I roll. With no bulbs in the fixture, there was still a small spark when I connected the power leads. It drains power just like your cell phone charger even if the cell phone is not attached. If ballasts work like stereo amps, not having speakers connected causes them to heat up and burn out since there is no load and the power has to be dissipated by the amp...or in this case the ballast.

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good info dirty.. i didn't think it would be the same thing as say a light fixture not having a bulb in it as ballasts work much differently then say a light..

no damage. it will use a lot less current, but still run. i know your pain, are they mounted in the ceiling or super high up?

btw: hope u guys are doing ok down there. say hi to the guys for me

To help shed some light on his/our situation, were running 2x 10 ballast flip boxes between two flower
rooms and are trying to fight the heat by not turning on lights were not utilizing. So in room 1 we have
16 lights firing, but in room 2 we only need 12 lights to fire for now as were not at full capacity. But during
the flip to room 1 we need that ballast on to ensure that during the flip all the necessary lights will be on.

So we can either unplug the light cable coming from the flip box to that light or take the bulb out. I figured
there would be some kind of vampire electrical usage but according to the powerbox amperage readout it really
doesn't look like much at all, but we were curious to get some opinions on this as none of us are really electrically
savvy.

Thanks

eyecandi said:

no damage. it will use a lot less current, but still run. i know your pain, are they mounted in the ceiling or super high up?

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I was actually waiting for you to weigh in on this. I knew if anyone would understand the question you would pick up on it

the digis will be more efficient vs mag ballasts in that mode. should never cause an issue though, unless something arcs out the base contacts (bugs, dummass moments -please record these for posterity-, accidents)

dumbass moments like me refilling the res. and forgetting the water was running ----> resulting in severe overflow =P

BadAndy said:

dumbass moments like me refilling the res. and forgetting the water was running ----> resulting in severe overflow =P

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You are not alone there buddy!

lol, i cant think of any grower that hasn't done it at least once

drolove said:

why would you do this??

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I googled your name Dr. Olove and this is the pic that I found
I know he doesnt look very russian but I still thought it was funny.