Are DIY Ballast kits legit?

[wad1224]

I was wondering what the deal is with do it yourself ballast kits. I'm very low on excess funds right now and I'd like to swap out my 400 hps for a smaller 250 watt light but I own a budget ballast that isn't adjustable. I'm nervous that the size of my grow box at 2 x 2 x 4 is too small for my 400 hps, even with the homemade one-sided cool tube and the 300+ cfm shared between the cool tube exhaust and the exhaust fan for the cab. Are they easy to put together?, and are they realiable?

I was wondering about the possibility of even rebuilding my existing ballast with 250 watt components and saving the others for a later date. Is that doable?

 

[sedate]

I have some experience with this sort of stuff.

Can you link to the ballast rebuild kit you are thinking of?

IIRC it really shouldn't take more than a different ignitor if your talking about a simple core/ignitor/bulb combination . . . the 400w core should work with different regulation . . .

Eitherway - 250's are pretty week - and I've grown in a similar size with a 400 - if your decent at fabrication (or not, this would be easy) why not just drop a couple smallsuh 120v AC fan into the chamber:



Just a thought . . .

 

[weedfarm]

like this?



i have owned several of the 1000's for several years. 100% legit. only downside is the obvious lack of a case. Moving from op to op sucks, but that does not seem like an issue for you

 

[tomsawyer]

They are legit. But don't mix and match wattage unless you know what you're doing. I would run that 400 and pull the lights away and air cool.