Can you use a 1000w dim ballast, but only crank up to 600w?

budtoker0987

budtoker0987

Active Member
What im wondering is, can I have my two 1000w dimmable ballasts turned to 600watts with 1000watt lights plugged in, and really only having it use/output 600watts?

Without hurting the 1000w bulbs. And ALSO only pulling 600w, to then also lower the electricity bill. Or do I NEED to use separate 600w bulbs? Tnkking of doing that in the hot summer months.


THANKS ALL!!
 
FilthyFletch

FilthyFletch

Mr I Can Do That For Half
You will need to use the 1000 watt bulbs in the fixture and yes you can dim it to the 600 watt setting. The dimming does hurt the overall life of the bulbs in the long run but really 2 or 3 grows on a bulbs is about the max you want to really put on bulbs anyways. Yes it will draw closer to the 600 watt usage then the 1000 watt max. Might not be exactly 600 depending on brand but real close some times over under by no more then 30-50 watts.
 
budtoker0987

budtoker0987

Active Member
+ Rep. Thanks man!! That's kind of what I thought too but wasn't sure. I'll go with that unless someone has some other facts to share. Thanks again man!
 
budtoker0987

budtoker0987

Active Member
SnapsProvolone said:
I agree with FilthyFletch. 1000 watt bulb only. Dimming will drop current draw. Stick with bulbs that are digital compatible.
Click to expand...
Oh so are you guys saying DONT put a 600watt HPS in a hood connected to a 1000W dimabel ballast dimmed to 600watts?

Only put 1000w lights in a 1000w ballast and dim to 600w if i want to only use 600w. Is this correct?
 
justugh

justugh

Well-Known Member
guy
unless that is a dail a watt do not use the dimmer

the dimmer reduces the amount of engery pulsing in the light this alters how the light works .............the lightwaves it admits are not on like it would be at 100% and the life of the bulb is going to be shortened


u seen a hps turn on the light does not look right for a few secs ..............think of it like that
when u turn the light on it is pulsing engery tho the bulb to get it up to the right amount of pulses and amount of engery then it triggers the bulb to work fully and correctly

u turning those down unless the bulb is designed that way just hurts the light ........and as far as i know no light is ment to be dimmed in growing
 
JSJ

JSJ

Well-Known Member
budtoker0987 said:
Oh so are you guys saying DONT put a 600watt HPS in a hood connected to a 1000W dimabel ballast dimmed to 600watts?

Only put 1000w lights in a 1000w ballast and dim to 600w if i want to only use 600w. Is this correct?
Click to expand...
correct. 1000W ballast means a 1000W bulb, no matter what the dim setting is on.
 
almightyfinesse

almightyfinesse

Active Member
can anybody help me find out how to make a post on this site im new and need help asap, sorry for posting this on this but i need help
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
I've noticed some lamp companies are designing lamps to be dimmed without throwing off spectrum. One of those companies is Digimax (who knows who makes them, probably something made by someone else and rebranded).
The problem that you may have when putting a lower wattage lamp in a 1kw ballast is that the ballast will more than likely fire and run for the first 15 minutes or so at full wattage(when dimming a lamp not really designed to dim and keep spectrum IF you run it at full power until operating temp is reached then dimming is good to go, if not the lamp may not reach high enough temperature to keep the spectrum) no matter what your dimmer is set at (depending on ballast).
Dial a watt ballast are becoming more and more popular and will run any lamp (400, 600 or 1000) .
Solis tek matrix you just put in the lamp you want and the ballast does the rest.
Of course I'm assuming this is about digital ballasts.
 
budtoker0987

budtoker0987

Active Member
dbkick said:
I've noticed some lamp companies are designing lamps to be dimmed without throwing off spectrum. One of those companies is Digimax (who knows who makes them, probably something made by someone else and rebranded).
The problem that you may have when putting a lower wattage lamp in a 1kw ballast is that the ballast will more than likely fire and run for the first 15 minutes or so at full wattage(when dimming a lamp not really designed to dim and keep spectrum IF you run it at full power until operating temp is reached then dimming is good to go, if not the lamp may not reach high enough temperature to keep the spectrum) no matter what your dimmer is set at (depending on ballast).
Dial a watt ballast are becoming more and more popular and will run any lamp (400, 600 or 1000) .
Solis tek matrix you just put in the lamp you want and the ballast does the rest.
Of course I'm assuming this is about digital ballasts.
Click to expand...

This isnt the matrix i dont think but the dimmable basllast im talking about is this Solistek:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SolisTek-1000-watt-Dimmable-Digital-Ballast-Solis-tek-STK1000-120v-240v/131095510105?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid=222006&algo=SIC.FITP&ao=1&asc=19840&meid=4508471416934613153&pid=100011&prg=8934&rk=1&rkt=10&sd=131081914299
 
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