Here's a good response I was given from "disciple", seems logical.
If the ballast does not draw more wattage when the feature is engaged, then the power being sent from the ballast to the bulb is greater than in the normal setting. I believe the ballast "conditions" the power (voltage etc) that comes out of the wall before it gets to the bulb. B/c heat is generated by the ballast itself, it leads me to believe that not 100% of the wall plug power is flowing through to the bulb so if that holds as somewhat accurate, then there may be a way for the ballast to send more power to the bulb without drawing more at the wall.
Perhaps the ballast sends its "normal" power (say 600W in your case) as perfectly conditioned or tuned power at the frequency/voltage etc that the bulb likes. When you activate "Super Lumens", the bulb then sends more power to the bulb but of crappier quality and that's what burns out the bulb faster.
If the ballast does draw more power from the wall plug with the feature engaged, it wouldn't be more than what, 50 watts? The Super Lumen feature on mine is about 50 watts greater so that works out to 0.42 amps at 120V. Most home circuits are rated at 15 amps and the 600W ballast should draw about 5 amps at 120V so add up your load per circuit and see if you are over. I was told not to exceed 10 to 11 amps per 15 amp circuit if I want to be really safe.
I believe the "Super Lumens" is a "marketing feature" that provides no measurable value and will not make any difference in most gardens. How many gardens are out there where the limiting factor is a lack of 50 watts per light fixture? Supposedly only old bulbs should be super-lumened but at that point I'd rather replace the bulb anyway because I'm sure the spectrums are off and total intensity is lower than any feature can overcome.
The dimming feature, on the other other hand, is an amazing option for people running high density top-lit or vertical gardens where they either veg under fluorescents or go from rooted cutting to finished plant in one space under one set of fixtures. Cuts vegged under floros as well as freshly rooted small cuts need an adjustment period when put under HID lighting and the dimming thing works awesome for that.
I just warrantied a dead unit and it was awesome dealing with Lumatek. I called the distributor, they gave me the number in Cali for Lumatek, I talked to them and they made arrangements in my area for me to exchange it. Couldn't have been smoother and I got a brand new ballast.
The shop told me that while Lumatek is very awesome with warranty claims, he estimated that 25% of Lumateks sold come back for warranty. He said he has had virtually no comebacks with the Quantums.
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