switching from 250W to 400W?

well ive been using a 250 watt high pressure sodium lamp for the budding stage but we are starting from veg again soon and i we thought about upgrading. so we have the ballast or whatever it is called that holds the bulb and reflects light for our 250 watt bulb.


my question is can i just simply put a 400 watt bulb in the ballast i already have or do i need a whole new set up to handle something like that?

and secondly i see some cheaper 400 watt bulbs and some more expensive 400 watt bulbs what is the difference? or is there any?

 

you cant put a 400 in a 200 ballast. Each ballast is designed for the wattage of the bulbs..

The only difference would be if you had a 400 watt MH ballast. you can get conversion hps lamps at I think 370 watt hps bulb. the wattage drops because he compasitor was made for the MH bulbs..

Youll have to buy a 400 watt light system. ALso you can not put lower wattage bulbs in higher output ballasts. Really nothing will happen, the bulbs will not start at all.
so if you had a 1000 watt ballast it couldnt start a 400 watt bulb, they have to match..

 

ok great thats what i wanted to know. BUT i found a 400 watt hps set up on ebay for like 140. how much more bud can i get from this 400 watt compared to my old 250 watt? can i maybe get an estimation?

 

Im not a pot grower, Im a electrician.. sorry I cant help with that? But youll double the Lumen output/ rather the light the plants absorb to grow, so I would think double
the plant growth. 400 watts will also give off more heat than 200. fans will help for that...

Id be careful buying used bulbs over the internet from strangers. But the parts for a 400 watt set up. mogal base, ballast, compasitor, could all be bought at a electrical supply store for about 140 dollars also. new bulbs are 30 some dollars, so the whole shmeal can only cost 170 or less. I dont know where you live but some places have outlets for used construction material and warehouses full of lighting fixtures from chandeliers to mh/hps outdoor light. That would help you save money,, ooops your in Cali. There should be all kinds of theses places out there. Look in your phone book under, "Builder recycling supplys centers" They might be connect to your waste management since thats the idea of keeping useable construction material from land fills. Sorry if I thats to much information you otherwise didnt need..

 

so i tryed searching that and i didnt find much. im actually in northern caifornia right now. is there something more specific i can search?

 

hummm? Well electrical supply places are the only other stores that sell growing lights other than grow stores themselfs.. Lowes and Home depot dont carry these types of lights since they are generally used in commercial applications. Im over on the East coast so I really cant say to much else wheres theres places to purchase where your at. Though I grew marijuana years ago Its to time consuming for me now, And theres never been a drought in my area so I stick to just buying it.

 

Look for a 400 watt hps/mh light at Home Depot. You can even remote mount the ballast if you want. I think the lights are called a highboy or bay light.

The more expensive bulbs usually have a higher blue spectrum (for hps) and are 430 Watts.

The difference in growth between a 400 and a 250 will be noticable. How much more bud? Who knows, it depends on how good a grower you are.

 

so lets say i kept the 250, what would happen if i started using metal halide lights during veg instead of flourescent?

 

They would grow faster and larger

 

Ive never seen these in home depot, But of course I rearly go there, But these high bay lights are like Full of unnecessary hardware, such as the Casing that supports the lamps and all the glass shields and shit I believe youll really just throw away, And I think they are so so over priced in home depot, but if thats the only place you can shop I guess thats all you really can do..

 

Check craigslist.com. I picked up a nice used system 400W HPS for 100 bucks. I replaced the bulb and the whole thing cost about 130.

Also, ebau has some 400w systems that go for about 150 shipped. I don't have any experience with them, but the shop has over 10000 positive feedbacks, so they can't be crap.

Cheers

 

I agree, But I was sort of saying without saying, that anybody can keep their burned out bulbs and sell em to unwitted people, since theres no way to check for Continuity of bulbs, Other than that, The hardware that makes the bulbs glow is more difficult to break, and Id buy used stuff like that, if bulbs is all you need to replace your getting ok deals..