430w Son Agro run with a 400w HPS ballast???

[Puffin Afatty]

I read in a grow book somewhere that it is ok to use the 400w(hps) ballast for the 430w (hps)Son Agro Lamp...then someone at a grow shop said it was not a good idea...then I got a schematic of the 430w (hps)designed for the 430w (hps)son agro and voila, lo and behold, they are identical to the 400w(hps)...same ignitor, capacitor, voltage, etc...

Any thoughts???

Also, I inherited this 400 watt HPS ballast, and it may be getting old...How long will it last and how do I know if it is working properly, other than the lamp lights up bright???

I noticed the old lamp decay and finally fail while in use by the previous user, so I feel confident knowing when a lamp is too old...

 

[pastor420]

Running a 430W bulb with a 400W ballast is what is called "over-clocking" in the computer world and elsewhere. Your ballast will run hotter and it puts additional stress on your other components as well. Being as heat can lead to FIRE my advice would be to err on the side of caution. An over-clocked computer won't burn your house down.

The ballast itself should last many years. There are probably folks on this board that have 20-30 year old ballasts. The big killers of ballasts, and any other transformer for that matter is heat.

 

[Stoney Bud]

It should also be emphasized that there are many different *qualities* of ballasts. Everything from low end ballasts that may burn out in a year to those that will last a very long time.

If you buy the least expensive ballast on the market, you'll also be replacing it sooner.

I work on a plant that uses several *million* ballasts. I've seen the results of the "cheap" ballasts. The more expensive ones last WAY longer. The digital ballasts are the best made. Again, even the digital ballasts have different quality.

I prefer the "Lumitek" digitals. They seem to be of great quality.

 

[Puffin Afatty]

I understand what you say about the "overclocking"...

Both of these ballasts are the earlier non-digital type...

how will I know when they are bad and need to be replaced???

neither get past slightly warm to the touch....and both seem to ignite the lamps...is there a way to objectively measure the ballast performance???

however, in both schematics of both ballasts and the requirements listed on the lamp container from phillips all parts and specs are identical, both use the same ignitor, capacitor, voltages and amperages...

I am still confused as to what is different with a 430 watt HPS ballast and a 400 watt ballast...the only difference seems to be the bulb and the addition of 30 watts of blue spectrum filament...

I dont mean to sound argumentative, as I am not arguing at all...I still use the 430 watt ballast with the 430 watt bulb and the 400 watt bulbs with the 400 watt ballast...it just seems to be odd to call one a 430 watt when in fact it is identical to a 400watt....