Lumatek Dimmable Ballast Question

I just got a new lumatek 1000w ballast. My question is can it be used in 400w mode with my 400w MH bulb? Or is it only to be used with my 1000w MH and HPS bulbs in 400w mode? I tried to search but there has been conflicting info on the subject and some people even said it uses the same power (1000w+) in the lower wattage modes. There also has been several generations. This is the newest one. The thing is that my 1000w mh and hps bulbs are new EYES and I don't want to use them in dim mode. I was planning to go 400mh>1000wMH>1000wHPS. Thanks!

im not to sure to be honest buddie, I ust bought the 400w version myself, i think only the HPS bulbs are dimmable, both MH and duel spectrum bulbs have problems with electronic ballasts, and cant be dimmed............or so i hear.
my question is with the difference between the model with 50%,75%,100%, "super" settings and the model with 250w, 250wsl, 400w, 400w super lumen's?
from the pictures i have seen there seems to be 2 models, one shows wattage, the other a % value of the power...... what's the difference?.....is there a difference?.....can one only use the "full spec" light and dim it, and the other accept different wattage lamps? what's going on?
it seems weird that there's 2 ever so slightly different models out there, and even more weird more information isnt available......orat least from what i can see theres not much

can ANYONE shed some light onto the difference between these ballasts? or how to properly use them?...can the settings be switched while the lamp is on?....do you have to wait for it to warm up?......or do you just select the setting before you turn it on?
so much mystery for such a seemingly popular product, that from what ive read is the best ballast out there?

ANYONE????????

i have the galaxy 400 watt dimmeable ballast, and mine says 25o, 4oo, and super or watt ever the last setting is.. i just put in a 250 watt bulb in it for the 250 watt setting, and a 400 watt bulb for the 400 watt setting instead of keeping the 400 watt in for the lower, or dimmed setting.. i've never really thought about how it would work on the ones that are just decreased by % and not by wattage, but i guess i've always assumed that all it does is decrease the wattage that is going to the light, so a 400 watt at say 50% power, would only in actuality be say a 200 watt bulb, and that you would just keep the 400 watt bulb in for each dimmable setting, it would only just not get the full 400 watts of power at the lower settings.. and from watt i've read, i don't really think that the turbo setting or what ever name it maybe called is that good to use as your pushing the bulb much harder than what it was meant to be used for, and there fore will burn it out much quicker..

you dont change the bulb just the amount of power going to the bulb. It your bulb is burning out and only 900 watts thats all it is gonna draw from the ballast. You just dim X amount of power going to the bulb.

TheStainster said:

I just got a new lumatek 1000w ballast. My question is can it be used in 400w mode with my 400w MH bulb? Or is it only to be used with my 1000w MH and HPS bulbs in 400w mode? I tried to search but there has been conflicting info on the subject and some people even said it uses the same power (1000w+) in the lower wattage modes. There also has been several generations. This is the newest one. The thing is that my 1000w mh and hps bulbs are new EYES and I don't want to use them in dim mode. I was planning to go 400mh>1000wMH>1000wHPS. Thanks!

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You can either put the higher wattage bulb in there and put it on a dimmer setting or put the lower wattage bulb in there on the correct setting. I have 400w dimmable balast and have run 250 MH bulbs on the dimmer setting.

I have a 600w lumatek and I can run a 1kW bulb at 600w, 660w (super lumen), and 450w. I can run a 600w bulb at 660, 600, 450, and 300. I can run a 400w bulb at 450 and 300 but the 450 has a higher chance of busting the bulb.

You really just don't want to run a bulb at higher than the rating. You can dim a 600w down to 300w but you should never run a 400w at 600w.

The closer the bulb rating is to the actual wattage being produced the more efficient the bulb runs (lumen/w). A 1kW bulb running at 600w puts out less lumen than a 600w bulb at 600w.