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A question about ballast kits.
- Thread starter dmartin95
- Start date
B
Bud Bug
I've know people who ran 2x 430HPS on 1000w and a 600+400 on a 1000 HPS but thats as hockey as it gets. Now having said that I've never heard of a fire bing started this way but I would't do it.
The 100W put out 9500 lumens. 6x9500 thats only 57000 lumens compared to 90K given off my a 600HPS and 40-50K given off by a 600W HM conversion.
If I were you I'd just stick to a single 600W or if you must get a bigger foot print put in on a light rail and have it move just a foot or so in each direction.
Bud Bug - Thanks for the response. However, I'm not really looking for opinions (or even facts for that matter) on wether 6 would be more lumens, or better effeciency, etc etc...
I just want to know if it's possible, and if not, why.
I for one can't see any reason why it wouldn't work, but I don't know that much about how these HID lights work. As best I can tell, a ballast is the same thing as an un-regulated power supply and in the past I've daisy-chained multiple electronic devices to the same (unregulated) power supply and everything was smooth sailing....
However, one problem I can think of is that if one light went out, it could make make the rest not work.... Kind of like a strand of Christmas tree lights...
I just want to know if it's possible, and if not, why.
I for one can't see any reason why it wouldn't work, but I don't know that much about how these HID lights work. As best I can tell, a ballast is the same thing as an un-regulated power supply and in the past I've daisy-chained multiple electronic devices to the same (unregulated) power supply and everything was smooth sailing....
However, one problem I can think of is that if one light went out, it could make make the rest not work.... Kind of like a strand of Christmas tree lights...
Taken from here:
(High Intensity Discharge lamps) Principles of Operation, Circuits, Troubleshooting.. by I.M. Boggled
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=4763
hth
TokeItUp420
New member
You know, that MIGHT work but I wouldn't want to be the lab rat to try it. I think in order for it to work you would have to have the right size cap. My guess is you would have to INCREASE the capacitor size. I don't have any need to do this and I probably would never try this BUT I am interested just to know if it can be done and if I am right about increasing the cap size in order to make it work.
Peace...
Toke
Peace...
Toke
B
Bud Bug
I don't know about the capacitor size but I've seen fires started by ballasts with people changing 26uf caps for 32uf caps in 1000W HPS ballasts.
wonder how close the firing characteristics of 6 100w arc tubes are vs 1 1000w arc tube?
David762
Member
AFAIK, that's dependent upon the ballast used ...
AFAIK, that's dependent upon the ballast used ...
but you have to already know that replacing 1 x 600 Watt lamp with 6 x 100 Watt lamps is very inefficient regarding lumens per watt, AND the difference is not electrically equivalent regarding reactance (dynamic resistance). Ballasts are designed for specific bulbs as a matter of load (Watts) and reactance (Z). The reactance (Z) of the bulb changes due to heat, vaporization of metallic gases, and conduction.
The more efficient the manufacturer tries to make their ballast, the more likely that your 6 x 100 W MV | MH bulb combination will fall outside the Z parameters of the 1 x 600 W bulb, and either fail to start or fail to turn all the way on. IMHO, your best bet would be to stick with the original or improved traditional magnetic ballast.
The original magnetic ballast for MV and MH lamps uses a transformer and single capacitor. There is an improved magnetic ballast for MV and MH lamps which uses a different transformer and two capacitors, sometimes referred to as a "pulse start" ballast. It's not really any more efficient, except that it will restart the lamps more readily if power is interrupted. Neither ballast is suitable for HPS, which is currently the most cost-effective lighting solution. Electronic ballasts are supposed to be even more efficient for HPS or MH, but their reliability has come into question from time to time.
It would be interesting to hear about your experiments along this line. BTW, if it's a matter of having multiple bulbs covering a larger canopy, you would be better off investing in a light mover for that single 600 Watt bulb. Good luck.
AFAIK, that's dependent upon the ballast used ...
but you have to already know that replacing 1 x 600 Watt lamp with 6 x 100 Watt lamps is very inefficient regarding lumens per watt, AND the difference is not electrically equivalent regarding reactance (dynamic resistance). Ballasts are designed for specific bulbs as a matter of load (Watts) and reactance (Z). The reactance (Z) of the bulb changes due to heat, vaporization of metallic gases, and conduction.
The more efficient the manufacturer tries to make their ballast, the more likely that your 6 x 100 W MV | MH bulb combination will fall outside the Z parameters of the 1 x 600 W bulb, and either fail to start or fail to turn all the way on. IMHO, your best bet would be to stick with the original or improved traditional magnetic ballast.
The original magnetic ballast for MV and MH lamps uses a transformer and single capacitor. There is an improved magnetic ballast for MV and MH lamps which uses a different transformer and two capacitors, sometimes referred to as a "pulse start" ballast. It's not really any more efficient, except that it will restart the lamps more readily if power is interrupted. Neither ballast is suitable for HPS, which is currently the most cost-effective lighting solution. Electronic ballasts are supposed to be even more efficient for HPS or MH, but their reliability has come into question from time to time.
It would be interesting to hear about your experiments along this line. BTW, if it's a matter of having multiple bulbs covering a larger canopy, you would be better off investing in a light mover for that single 600 Watt bulb. Good luck.
TokeItUp420
New member
Great info.!!
