do dimmable digital ballasts still pull thr full wattage running lower bulbs

[Hydrone]

Its all good bro.

I have a bunch of lumateks running and I was playing with them because my AC was having issues and so I dimmed them all to 750 and the total amp draw dropped a total of like 6-8 amps total, and the heat out put dropped because I was able to maintain temps.

I'm only speaking from the experience I have had with them.

Now I got the other AC installed and I'm back to 1k setting.

I'm done with lumatek and any new ballast I buy will be a solistek...

Cheers

solistek is a great ballast

 

[catdaddy]

quick question, am i suppose to switch to the exact wattage or is the ballast rated at percentages. the reason i ask is, because i down graded from a 1k bulb to a 600w bulb. and forgot to change the setting down to 600w, but notice that my bulb still worked.
once i noticed it was still on the 1k setting i turned it down to the 600w setting but started to wonder if it was the right thing to do or is the bulb running only at 60% of 600w.

 

[Hydrone]

quick question, am i suppose to switch to the exact wattage or is the ballast rated at percentages. the reason i ask is, because i down graded from a 1k bulb to a 600w bulb. and forgot to change the setting down to 600w, but notice that my bulb still worked.
once i noticed it was still on the 1k setting i turned it down to the 600w setting but started to wonder if it was the right thing to do or is the bulb running only at 60% of 600w.

did you see a difference in light when you turned 100% to 60%? my ballast outputs what ever the setting is on. 100% 1000w, 60% 600w. i think that’s the industrial standards

 

[catdaddy]

did you see a difference in light when you turned 100% to 60%? my ballast outputs what ever the setting is on. 100% 1000w, 60% 600w. i think that’s the industrial standards

yes i did.
from what you're saying is that, if i leave it on 600w for a 600 bulb, it's only using 60% of the 600w bulb?

 

[Hydrone]

yes i did.
from what you're saying is that, if i leave it on 600w for a 600 bulb, it's only using 60% of the 600w bulb?

I don’t think the ballast will know what bulb you have. it’s probably running 1000w from my experience. i gotta call my ballast guy in BJ to double check.

 

[catdaddy]

I don’t think the ballast will know what bulb you have. it’s probably running 1000w from my experience. i gotta call my ballast guy in BJ to double check.

thanks.

 

[caveman4.20]

If 1k dimmables still used 1130 watts or whatever when they were dimmed down, the extra energy would have to go somewhere. Like in the form of extra heat from your ballast.
My lumateks at least do not pull full wattage when dimmed. My room, which also contains my ballast, would run just as hot. Electricity in this case must be converted to light or heat.

yup^^^^^^i agree the electricity is going somewhere.....and i havent read the whole thread but has anyone used Car music systems as a metaphor, amp is ballast reflector is box and speaker is BULB peace

 

[caveman4.20]

the ballast does kno the bulb thats why it fires both MH and HPS one has an ignitor and one does not....and industry folk told me if you run a big bulb on a lower setting its hotter than running the propper bulb for ex turning a 1000 watt bulb down to 600 watt will run hotter than then a 600 watt bulb on 600 watt setting

 

[catdaddy]

the ballast does kno the bulb thats why it fires both MH and HPS one has an ignitor and one does not....and industry folk told me if you run a big bulb on a lower setting its hotter than running the propper bulb for ex turning a 1000 watt bulb down to 600 watt will run hotter than then a 600 watt bulb on 600 watt setting

i'm running a 600w bulb on the 600 setting, is it running at 600w or only using 60% of the 6002 bulb?

 

[caveman4.20]

setting says 600 watts or 60%?

 

[catdaddy]

setting says 600 watts or 60%?

600w.

 

[altitudefarmer]

As far as I'm aware, the only ballast with an effective dim system is the galaxy, or an older next gen. They allow you to set dimmer to 400w, 600w, or 1000w. Use the cooresponding bulb, and you have a versatile ballast. I own quantums, and the dim feature is just basically a gimmick. Good ballast though! I even saw a "smart" ballast with a "sunrise/sunset" feature. Bad for bulbs, sadly. I like the idea.
The ballasts can do it, but bulbs can't.

 

[caveman4.20]

600w.

It's running proper right there. 100% @600

 

[catdaddy]

thanks, Caveman. now i can flip the switch on my ladies.

 

[caveman4.20]

Anytime Bro and you know me I'm not saying i know it all or I'm the best I'm just willing to share what I've learned and what I believe to be true or helpful to me.....peace and chicken greaze!

 

[PenguinSmoke]

Hey, homie. You may wanna do a little more research. All these ppl that are telling you a dimmed ballast only pulls what its dialed down to are misinforming you. Yes, if you ARE using a Quantum dimmable, you are only pulling what its dialed to..regardless of bulb. 1Quantum 1000 dialed to 50% is pulling 500. These other brands, ie Lumatek, Digital Greenhouse, etc, pull what the ballast is rated at, not what you have it dialed to. The people who said yes it draws what its dialed to are either using Quantums, misinformed themselves, or didnt see in your post that youre running a Lumatek. These other brands do not burn as bright when dimmed, but are still using their rated wattage. These were all considerations when buying my gear.

Ok can I ask for some more of your knowledge...? I have an iPower 600 watt digital ballast. I think it blew one side of my timer... but, what I want to know is.... with a 600 watt bulb, my ballast can be changed to 50/75/100 percent. If I run on 50 percent, I know my light quality dims to desired 300 watt range specs, but, are you saying I am still using 600 watts full energy when in 50-percent mode from outlet, too...? If yes, I might as well downgrade ballast to 250, as I dont need what I'm running... thanks!

 

[PenguinSmoke]

ur lamp should match ur ballast. Never put in a lower wattage bulb in a higher rated ballast. when dimming a lamp u are cutting the cost of running it, only watts drawed is what ur paying for.
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So are you saying on my 600 watt iPower digital ballast, of course using 600 watt bulb... I can set to 50 percent and it will not just burn at 300 watts, but also use only 300 watts of electricity? If I will get a smaller bill running at 50 percent, I wont have to buy new ballast....! Ack! Help! I hear two way-conflicting opinions on this lol!

Additionally, does setting 50-percent power lengthen life of bulb?

 

[Gooch]

Just my experience, i have 3 successful grows using 3 600w digital ballast and 600w Super HPS on 50%. I was having trouble with heat on 100% I pulled on average 100g/plant, this was just harvested