How the heck led driver hps ?

So new led in the shop has a ballast and upon having a look the guy shows me it’s a hps ballast running lmb301 strips etc and he has a few doing it now …..

how is this possible that there hps ballast can use used for led or hps when I have to buy specific drivers to make em work n do math
Maybe @Rocket Soul can help lol

seems too good to be true I can slap strips up on a hps ballast I have in the shed from my old hps when my meanwell drivers cost £200 a pop


Elite 720W LED (With Ballast)
The new high-performing, high-efficiency Elite 720W Ballast-Boosted Six Bar Fixture is powered and controlled by the Elite 600W Digital Ballast. This ballast can be fixed directly to the LED. The fixture is lightweight and easy to install. The included rope ratchets allow the height of the fixture to be easily adjusted as plants grow.

This is not something ive done or recommend. But if i understand correctly; hos ballast outputs high voltage dc currents so should be marginally possible. But you get a 400V ish circuit which safety isnt guaranteed: most wagos and connectors have a max voltage limit of lower.

Doable is not recommendable

If you want cheaper led drivers look into meanwell LRS range. Its no frills, lo efficiency but quite cheap for a 350w driver. Or even alibaba bought drivers. Dont use dangerously high voltage

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Rocket Soul said:

This is not something ive done or recommend. But if i understand correctly; hos ballast outputs high voltage dc currents so should be marginally possible. But you get a 400V ish circuit which safety isnt guaranteed: most wagos and connectors have a max voltage limit of lower.

Doable is not recommendable

If you want cheaper led drivers look into meanwell LRS range. Its no frills, lo efficiency but quite cheap for a 350w driver. Or even alibaba bought drivers. Dont use dangerously high voltage

.

Click to expand...

I don’t mind the prices just blew my mind thinking how the hell is a hps driving led , thought the game may have changed some how I was puzzled how to plugged it in and lit it up then used another ballast n did it too I get drivers specific to the led I am building and at a price so this seems crazy especially as his driver 600w by elite is 25 quid lol

What Rocket said. Although the standard 600W bulbs were run on 230-240V so I'm guessing they've just created a 240V DC circuit to run the LEDs on. Still very high voltage output. I'm not sure what the efficiency would be like.

OK, zoom in on the ballast and it looks like it is a 250V DC output version. Zoom right in under the output plug.

Pretty sure Updayday started out making ballasts and then pivoted with market demand.

There's a few in the UK market that are typically HPS manufacturers and have designed their bar lights to run on said ballast.

Lumii and maxbright spring to mind.

Oddly both are 720w lights but come with 600w digital dimmable ballast.
I always thought boosted they were 660w but apparently not

It's a pretty cool workaround for the guy or gal that has a warehouse full of digital hid ballasts and that market is slowly fading away.

FYI
I am using the Lumi Black 720 with ballast that came with it, it boosts to 720w with it..
with my 600w son t digi ballast , presume no boost and no dimming at all..
I paid £360 with ballast in the UK

I replaced 1x600W son-t with this.. Im also using another 600W son-t with this LED and i did compare, the LED blew the socks of the son-t for mass growth.

i did choose it over the maxibright

Chris-UK420 said:

FYI
I am using the Lumi Black 720 with ballast that came with it, it boosts to 720w with it..
with my 600w son t digi ballast , presume no boost and no dimming at all..
I paid £360 with ballast in the UK

I replaced 1x600W son-t with this.. Im also using another 600W son-t with this LED and i did compare, the LED blew the socks of the son-t for mass growth.

i did choose it over the maxibright

Click to expand...

Oh yeah , itl blow any 600w hps out the water no doubt.

I was looking for a mate recently who's skint, there's some now that without the ballast ate £209 each, for a 720w light.

Crazy how cheap they are.