new ballast, lights produce less heat. why?

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hueylewis

New Member
Hi rollitup community! Long time lurker here.

I just got a new 600 watt lumatek digital ballast to replace a magnetic one that died on me. the same hps light now seems to produce less heat now which i don't understand. Happy with it being easier to keep cool, but are the plants losing out on less lumens being produced?
It seems cooler than a 400 watt i was running for a couple days before i could replace three 600w ballast.
Any grow vets have any insight? thanks in advance :D
 
J

joe macclennan

Well-Known Member
I know for a fact the ballast produces less heat. due to higher efficiency.

don't know about the bulb though...I kinda doubt there is much diff there.
 
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hueylewis

New Member
Thanks for the responses so far. :)

To clarify, it is the hps bulb that is running much cooler. Yes, the new ballast is cooler as well and has a neat little internal fan blowing to help. It had a knob you can adjust the wattage with. I have it set to 600w for obvious reasons, but I'm wondering if my old 1000w ballast was pushing more power to the bulb or something?
Even if that was the case i feel like that still wouldn't explain why my 400w bulb still seemed to run hotter than this new ballast is running my 600w bulb that was previously being powered by the magnetic ballast before dying.

Edit: the 400w hps was being pushed by a 400 phantom ballast. My 600w bulb was originally being pushed by a 1000w magnetic ballast and now the new lumatek digital ballast. The same 600w bulb seems to produce less heat now with the new ballast, seemingly even less heat than the 400w bulb was creating.
So weird
 
Slipon

Slipon

Well-Known Member
if I get this right I don't think there is anything weird, you did run it on a 1000W ballast before, now you run it on a 600W (also might be the reason why it broke ?)
 
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joe macclennan

Well-Known Member
hueylewis said:
Thanks for the responses so far. :)

To clarify, it is the hps bulb that is running much cooler. Yes, the new ballast is cooler as well and has a neat little internal fan blowing to help. It had a knob you can adjust the wattage with. I have it set to 600w for obvious reasons, but I'm wondering if my old 1000w ballast was pushing more power to the bulb or something?
Even if that was the case i feel like that still wouldn't explain why my 400w bulb still seemed to run hotter than this new ballast is running my 600w bulb that was previously being powered by the magnetic ballast before dying.

Edit: the 400w hps was being pushed by a 400 phantom ballast. My 600w bulb was originally being pushed by a 1000w magnetic ballast and now the new lumatek digital ballast. The same 600w bulb seems to produce less heat now with the new ballast, seemingly even less heat than the 400w bulb was creating.
So weird
Click to expand...

waaaaaait a minute! you were running a 600w bulb on a 1000w ballast????
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
hueylewis said:
Thanks for the responses so far. :)

To clarify, it is the hps bulb that is running much cooler. Yes, the new ballast is cooler as well and has a neat little internal fan blowing to help. It had a knob you can adjust the wattage with. I have it set to 600w for obvious reasons, but I'm wondering if my old 1000w ballast was pushing more power to the bulb or something?
Even if that was the case i feel like that still wouldn't explain why my 400w bulb still seemed to run hotter than this new ballast is running my 600w bulb that was previously being powered by the magnetic ballast before dying.

Edit: the 400w hps was being pushed by a 400 phantom ballast. My 600w bulb was originally being pushed by a 1000w magnetic ballast and now the new lumatek digital ballast. The same 600w bulb seems to produce less heat now with the new ballast, seemingly even less heat than the 400w bulb was creating.
So weird
Click to expand...
Sounds very much like you've been over powering your bulbs.

If the 600w bulb is the same one you were using in the 1000w ballast then its time to get a new bulb amigo.




J
 
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