I MAY BE REtARDED, PLEASE TELL ME

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cannabillion7

Well-Known Member
ok so i was just in my grow room (4 weeks into flower) when i noticed the switch on the ballast was switched to MH instead of HPS (the type of bulb that i am now using) and when i switched it over it got slightly brighter. what is the difference between the ballast being on MH and hps? have i been losing significant amounts of light due to this mistake? any response would be great
 
blackcoupe01

blackcoupe01

Well-Known Member
I would say your retarded.

I could see myself doing the same though if my ballast was switchable like yours, especially since I never see my ballast, its mounted in the attic. Im sure the plants are liking the extra light.
 
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cannabillion7

Well-Known Member
does anyone who knows about electronic ballasts have any idea of the difference in output between the MH and HPs settings
 
blackcoupe01

blackcoupe01

Well-Known Member
It should say it on the ballast or in the service manual, impossible to answer that question without knowing exactly what ballast you have
 
BobVila

BobVila

Active Member
You can cause a fire even. That is rediculous, I would be taping that thing or something. The switch by-passes a capictor that is required I think for the HPS so if you had it on MH you probably had no capacitor to regulate the HPS.

Be careful, when ever you are doing this, pay attention because you could end up burning your grow room or house or whatever down or attracting unwanted attention.
 
stunned

stunned

Green Thumb of God
It doesn't really matter this time because nothing bad happened. Be careful about that in the future because you are very lucky you didn't have a house fire. It probably won' effect your plant too negatively because most of the bud packs on in the last month of flowering anyway.
 
gogrow

gogrow

confused
if im not mistaken; the hps on a switchable ballast runs about 40watts lower than the mh...probly why it got brighter when you switched it over; it put a little more juice to the light....dont know about the safety of it all though
 
speedhabit

speedhabit

Well-Known Member
Obviously the difference is negligable. No heat or smoke? was not gonna cause a fire. Prob ran cooler too.

Bad for the bulb? Thats all im thinking and no evidence of that. Maybe because it was dimmer it was acting below capacity and he was not only preserving bulb life but saving electricity and carbon credits and little baby jesuss


And all the retard stuff? When was the last time you left a switch in the wrong postition? We grow remember?
 
blackcoupe01

blackcoupe01

Well-Known Member
He's being called a retard because he asked for it (read the thread topic). Not because we are a bunch of dicks looking for someone to flame.
 
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cannabillion7

Well-Known Member
so now that i have switched to hps, is there a chance that the ballas is going to be damaged and i have to worry about replacing it or since nothing happened before i caught it it should be okay. i am just really worried about it shitting out on me. any input would be great
 
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