600w ballast with two 250w bulbs? Thoughts?

After a few grows at a friends house, its time to setup my own.

Im looking to buy the 600 Watt Lumatek Electronic Ballast, but instead of a tent I was going to build a custom (sealed) area within some built in wardrobes...just incase anybody comes over its hidden (kinda).

Now, the area is deep enough for two 11litre square pots but i can put in 6 longways (12 in total). This funny size doesnt really suite a 600w (or would it be ok?) i was thinking two 250w hps?

Now my question, would the two 250w hps bulbs run off a single 600w lumatek ballast (via a splitter cable found on a pc+monito) ok...would it burn out the ballast/bulbs? I dont want to start fires (if anybody could clarify this...it would be appreciated)

Looking forward to your thoughts on this guys!

Cheers!

...on the other hand i feel i will loose out if i dont go with a 600w hps.

would 2 250w bulbs give me a nice return? 10oz+?

does my questions make sense to anybody lol

i dont want to buy two 250w ballasts if i could use one 600w ballast and run 2 from it

but i dont know if it would burn shit up/cause fires etc

That is almost my exact setup.

The only difference is that I hang several 100 watt cfl's mixed with UV-B reptile bulbs instead of the 250 watt bulbs, which are just fine as well.

I have tried a few different setups and found this is by far the best.

The combination creates plenty of light and great spectrum fairly close to sunlight.

The heat that this setup produces is also very manageable.

Yeah, don't use anything but the correct bulbs for the ballast or you'll just be setting yourself of for failure.

hey man, thanks for taking time to reply.

did you go from hps to cfl? do you need to keep your plants smallish (quick veg) cause the intensity from the bulbs doesnt reach very far?

so you think 2x250w bulbs in a 600w ballast is a bad idea?

anybodyd else think/know otherwise?

The ballast will only fire one bulb. Your idea not only won't work but is a recipe for a nasty fire. I've seen instructions on this site for how to make a ballast ignite two bulbs but you are still facing the problem of running 500w of bulbs off a 600w ballast. Not something I'd want to fuck around with.

SickSadLittleWorld said:

The ballast will only fire one bulb. Your idea not only won't work but is a recipe for a nasty fire. I've seen instructions on this site for how to make a ballast ignite two bulbs but you are still facing the problem of running 500w of bulbs off a 600w ballast. Not something I'd want to fuck around with.

Click to expand...

thanks for your input...I guess i will need to think of something else. i have area for say 2*8 square pot formation...but really wanted to go hps.

i try searching for ignite two bulb thanks! need to know if its safe or defo not worth even risking

cheers again!

Go with the 600 you wont regret it.

possibly take it back. get a digital one and turn the power output to 75% instead of 100% or "Super Lumens".

There is nothing wrong with running a smaller bulb than what the ballast is rated for, I don't understand why people would think there would be an issue with that. Most sockets in your home are rated much higher than the bulbs you're running in them, I guarantee you that. Like dude's example of 500watts from a 600watt ballast. The rating of a ballast is a MAXIMUM rating and you can run anything UP TO that rating. It won't make your bulb explode or wear out your ballast or even shorten the life of your bulb. I'm not saying the people that had bad experiences are lying but that they just weren't aware of their actual problem (short, loose connection, poor power supply, etc.).

The only problem you face is lighting 2 bulbs from one ignitor which is inside the ballast, possible but not the safest idea. Basically just don't try the 2 bulb deal if you're not an experienced electrician.

If you get a 600w bulb and you have too much heat, get 1 smaller bulb (400w) or something like it since it will create less heat and mount your ballast on the outside of your box. The ballast will be making it's own heat so you want it out of the grow area if possible, like mounted to the back or something if you want to hide it.

HAHA!!!
Just realized this thread is a couple months old. Sorry buddy, guess I'm a little late, lol.

I love u, u love me

Lets get together and start a fam-I-ly!