430W Son Agro bulb in a 400W ballast

I'm not an electrician and have heard arguments for both sides of this dilemma. 400W ballasts are in great supply. 430W ballasts are rare.

1) Is it safe to use a 430W Son Agro bulb in a 400W ballast?
2) Can the bulb draw any more than 400W of power?
3) Would either of the peak frequencies (lumens around 500nm and 600nm - correct me if I'm wrong) be compromised?
4) What is done in the real world with Son Agro?

Well, the way I see it is that a 400 Watt HPS bulb is not extremely expensive to buy, and is definitely going to be a safer article to operate.
400 HOS lamp on a 400W HPS ballast will provide an excess of 45,000 lumens, a sum that I doubt will be elevated significantly by a bulb with 30 Watt higher rating.
Also, seeing as your ballast would be 400 Watts, The Son Agro lamp would only have this 400 W to pull for its supply, so the 30 Watts will go unused.


Son Agro lights are generally run in a 400 W ballast with no adverse drawbacks.

If this is the only option available to you, It will work just fine.

You can buy 430 Watt ballasts too, but these are not worth the extra cost, and can be hard to find.

I suggest sticking to a regular HPS bulb, maybe even consider a 600 Watter for highest efficiency levels.

Cheers!

Thanks, dyzel. I take it you don't believe in the hoopla surrounding the dual spectrum spikes in the Son Agro?

If its a magnetic hps ballast. I would go with a Ceramic Metal Halide. One bulb start to finish.

I think I might need a fact check on the Son Agro. I thought the philosophy was to provide a 30+W bump in the 500nm range of blue to stoke the brief indoor vegetative state while maintaining a strong 600-650nm orangish luminosity to facilitate subsequent flowering.

Can anyone point me to a spectral map of the 430W Phillips Son Agro bulb?

Do they work better than switching MH to HPS or simply going HPS all the way? I'm getting confused by a lot of good opinions.

I still cannot find a 430W ballast which confuses me.

You need to check out the FAQ tab at the top of the page. That will answer many of your first questions.

Cowboylogic, thanks. You were right - the FAQ did help. I still can't find a kit with 430W Phillips Son Agro bulb(s), 430W ballast, and reflective unit with some way to suspend and raise the unit.

SirTitanium said:

Cowboylogic, thanks. You were right - the FAQ did help. I still can't find a kit with 430W Phillips Son Agro bulb(s), 430W ballast, and reflective unit with some way to suspend and raise the unit.

Click to expand...

If you are set on the sunagro, which is a very solid bulb choice, just look for a 400 watt setup with the hood you like. Then just upgrade to the 430 bulb. A 430 bulb in a 400 watt ballast. Or a 400 watt bulb in a 430 watt ballast. Its a moog point. They will each interchange. If your looking for full spectrum. Get the 400 watt ceramic metal halide bulb www.growlightexpress.com/ceramic-metal-halide-bulbs-9/mastercolor-ceramic-metal-halide-400-watt-79.html and a magnetic hps ballast with the hood of your choice. You cant go wrong. Like I said, one bulb start to finish. Edit: vegged under sunlight. 3 weeks into 12/12 under a 400 watt CMH. Even though I have yet to actually veg a plant with this bulb. There is no doubt in my mind. It will veg a plant just fine.

lumatek 400w digital ballasts have what is called a super lumen feature which gives 20-30% increased lumens...u can dial in either 250, 275, 400w or choose the super lumen feature which would use the extra 30w in the son agro bulb...i have both the bulb and the ballast and they're working great...

scionide, thanks for the tip. Please don't take offense, but does the "super lumen" feature actually boost the wattage to 430W? You can increase luminosity by futzing around with the spectrum and highlighting portions of the spectra more visible to the eye. Is this the lumatek model:

http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=54364

Again, thanks.

In terms of ballast build quality, can anyone compare lumatek with Powerhouse?

I am a big believer in the Lumatek ballasts, I just love mine. But the magnetics do have there beneifits. Mostly you can repair them yourself. But the Lumatek comes with a 3 yr full plus 2 more years prorated warranty. If ou buy your ballast fro HTG and it goes bad. Once you have the defective ballast shipped and can give them a tracking number. They will ship the replacement. So effectively they cross paths in route. That way you are only a few days without a ballast. And as far as I know. The Powerhouse ballasts have a really good rep.

not too sure how the super lumen feature works, but as it is the same knob as the wattage selector, i would guess that is does boost the wattage...

scionide, thanks again for the information. Would anyone happen to know if the "super lumen" feature actually boosts the Wattage to 430W? There is the definite logic as it's on the same dial as the Watt switch, but I ask because it is very important: luminosity can be increased by shifting peak wavelengths to regions more perceptible to the eye, and they call it the "super lumen" feature. The Wattage could be identical but appear brighter. The lumen is a measure of the power of light perceived by the human eye.

Putting a 430W bulb in a 400W ballast would be a fire hazard, albeit a minor one.

I called HTG but caught their Sunday off-hours. I found lumatek's website but cannot find any reference to this feature.

i see this thread is a little old but u can get a 400w lumatek switch model for 132 shipped from thebigtomato.com and go to dchydro.com for sunagro bulbs and cheap ballast.i have a lumatek 400 and im gonna try the sun agro with my super lumens on.hopefully it works out.

Of course you can use it, I have used it many times before. A 300 Watt ballast is actually capable of operating at close to 600 watts, it will just get real hot as the amps load. The 430 watt Son Agro is the 2nd best bulb next to a Ceramic Meta hallide. the 430 watt is made for the 400 watt ballasts