The truth about dimmable ballasts....

[TweedReid]

:party1:Great Thread Guys, Learned A lot. I have an iPower 600w digi that has 100% 60% 40% and Im not sure what wattage those percentages put out. I am in early Veg stage so trying to pickup some tips from those with much more Experience and Knowledge than myself.

Cartoons on Nute Bottles for All! lol!

 

[MIMedGrower]

i have been seeing sooo much misinformation about digital ballasts i wanted to post this for everyone to see.

1. a 1k ballast set at 400 watts will only use 400 watts(regardless of bulb size)

2. a 1k bulb will work on the 400 and 600 watt setting. you do not have to buy the corresponding bulb.

3. the light spectrum does not change as the wattage is dialed down. a 1k bulb set at 400 watts has the same spectrum as @ 1k.(n if it does it is so negligible its not even a worry). this one is harder to explain but the best i can say is imagine holding a colored ballon over a flash light at full power. you would have a red aura projecting a certain distance. but if you only had half the power in the flashlight it would only project taht red aura half as far. thats the best i can do and i think tahts pretty good.

if you would like to test for yourself. go buy an ammeter and hook it around the live wire running to your subpanel and dial up and down the wattages and see how the reading changes. and since electricity is math and math doesn't lie. the formula for watts in AC power format is complex but the basic premise of watts being on one side of the equation and amps being on the other dictates that it one changes the other must as well. kinda like if you have 1+1=2 you couldn't have 1+1=3

i hope this clears up a lot of confusion about these new ballasts. we all came here to learn. lets learn the truth!

I can't agree with the point about spectrum not changing with lower wattages than a bulb is spec'd for. Hid bulbs require a certain voltage to be maintained to work properly to its specs. I.e. It's spectrum.

All 3 major bulb companies advised this is an absolute fact and the horticultural designed spectrum would be degraded.

I'm sure plants still grow dimmed as they transfer photosynthesis to the strongest wavelength when needed. But is the quality going to be as high? I rely on multiple. Luv types to complete the spectrum in my room. I don't want to alter it after spending so much time and getting results in potency and flavor.

And all the ballast companies except galaxy said that it was ok. Galaxy ballasts are dimmable and select a watt for hps and mh.

So I chose not to believe the marketing.

 

[fatawa]

huge difference would be apparent as you dimmed.

mine does change quiet significantly when i turn the knob..idk all the tech shit but its a huge differnce from 400w-super lumens..big differnce.i kno the plants def react differnt too.

 

[GrowGod]

I use my dimmers the last 2. Weeks to keep the temps down;)

 

[Pimples]

Old post but the beginning of this thread had alot of misinformation. Dimming a bulb down from its rated wattage and corresponding ballast wattage absolutley changes the plant spectrum. They are definitely not as efficient. It also taxes the bulb and gas bleed out occurs much more rapidly. The You dont see it..but your plants do. Run a 1000 watt hps dimmed to 60% and run a seperate setup with a true 600 watt ballast and hps bulb..you will see which has the more abundant and higher quality flower..everything else being equal. Gavita attempts to address this less efficient/plant spectrum quality in dimmed down 1000 watt de fixtures with the 6/750 flex hps de. But your still losing efficiency. Just very little of it. With single ended dimmed down...its way less efficient. And the spectrum suffers. Mainly the blues. Which in an hps lamp...you have little starting out to begin with. Blues are the first to go in older bulbs as well. Why your need for change outs often.

 

[HARDON]

iF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE DIMMING DOWN WATTAGE WILL F*&& YOUR PLANTS UP, PLACE ANY FRUIT PRODUCING PLANT UNDER THEA DIMMED HID AND THEN SCRATCHYOUR HEAD AND YOUR NUTS WONDERING WTF IN 10 DAYS.

 

[MIMedGrower]

iF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE DIMMING DOWN WATTAGE WILL F*&& YOUR PLANTS UP, PLACE ANY FRUIT PRODUCING PLANT UNDER THEA DIMMED HID AND THEN SCRATCHYOUR HEAD AND YOUR NUTS WONDERING WTF IN 10 DAYS.

Why are you yelling?

I agree.

The link i posted a year and a half ago shows dimming damages the spectrum.

 

[MrT1983]

When I run a 1000w bulb dimmed to 600w on my galaxy it is visibly more orange color. But when its full blast it is a clearly more white. Which is weird because the kelvin rating for the bulb shouldn't change. Why does it look like the visible color spectrum changes atleast to the naked eye?

 

[MrT1983]

I also noticed that the visible color spectrum seems to change with different ballasts but same bulb and hood. Why is this?

 

[MIMedGrower]

When I run a 1000w bulb dimmed to 600w on my galaxy it is visibly more orange color. But when its full blast it is a clearly more white. Which is weird because the kelvin rating for the bulb shouldn't change. Why does it look like the visible color spectrum changes atleast to the naked eye?

I also noticed that the visible color spectrum seems to change with different ballasts but same bulb and hood. Why is this?

Because the gas mixture inside the bulb need the full wattage to get to proper temperature to fill the spectrum it was designed for.

And all ballasts are not created equally or specced properly.

My new solis tech ballasts have more output than my old galaxy according to growers house testing. The color of the hortilux super hps i run looks more natural and less red with the solis tech. Hortilux also shows this with their branded ballast and boasts of proper output.

 

[Beachwalker]

The direction sheet that came with my dimmable ballasts say that if turned to the highest setting for 6 seconds it can then be turned down without affecting the spectrum?

 

[MIMedGrower]

The direction sheet that came with my dimmable ballasts say that if turned to the highest setting for 6 seconds it can then be turned down without affecting the spectrum?

Does it require a digilux bulb?

 

[Beachwalker]

Does it require a digilux bulb?

No basic generic

Actually after re-reading that, that might not say exactly what I thought it did?

 

[MIMedGrower]

No basic generic
View attachment 964481


Actually after re-reading that, that might not say exactly what I thought it did?

Yeah it doesnt mention the spectrum.

And i damaged a 315 cmh not following that advice. Now i know why.

 

[Zelkova12]

almost

You're on the right track, but Ohm's Law says nothing about watts.
Ohm's Law states the relationship between Resistance, Current, and Voltage.
Current=Voltage/Resistance.
Watts=Current*Voltage.
While being derived from Ohm's Law, Ohm's Law states nothing about watts.
And the Big Kicker.......OHM'S LAW ONLY APPLIES FOR DC VOLTAGE!!!!!! Ohm's Law goes out the window with AC electricity.
You have frequency, wavelenth, impedance, inductive reactance,etc. All of those things come into play when you are messing with AC voltage. It's not as simple as DC current.Way more variables that change when current goes down or up.

While I agree your color will not change from dimming the ballast, I'm quite sure It's due to the gas the bulb burns rather than the ballast.

I realize this is like a mini years later but I do have a question I’m running the sun system to dimmable ballast. 1000w HyperCard bulb that hanldles 1100 turbo. My question is can I dim it to 750. I have no more height left and see a bit of bleaching. Unless it’s the over producing of trichomes. Considering the lower buds are turning white Just the tips

 

[3 balls]

I realize this is like a mini years later but I do have a question I’m running the sun system to dimmable ballast. 1000w HyperCard bulb that hanldles 1100 turbo. My question is can I dim it to 750. I have no more height left and see a bit of bleaching. Unless it’s the over producing of trichomes. Considering the lower buds are turning white Just the tips

I have been there. I believe there is something to the spectrum being altered but when choosing between that and burning your shit it's a no brainer. I have had to do it many times with great results.

 

[Zelkova12]

I have been there. I believe there is something to the spectrum being altered but when choosing between that and burning your shit it's a no brainer. I have had to do it many times with great results.

I’ve got it at 1000vs 1100. The big one has zero white and is closer to the light. That’s why I’m lost on this. All plants sour d same ballast same bulbs the one showing white is even 2” higher than the other but yet in reality about 6-8” difference