Can I fire a CMH lamp on this convertable 400W ballast?

[SativaMe@420]

Before I click "Buy Now" on this 400w Phillips MasterColor Ceramic Metal Halide Bulb can someone please tell me if this ballast will even fire the thing? It is ANSI S51 but Ive heard you can't use switchable ballasts with CMH, is this true? From what Ive heard the 400W MasterColor CMH bulbs put out an excellent spectrum very similar to the summer sun and produce very pretty, very potent bud, this is what I'm hearing any way and I would like to find out for my self if this ballast will fire the dam thing, lol. So am I safe to click Buy Now or will I just have a very short, very expen$ive pyrotechnics show?

 

[SativaMe@420]

Here are some facts that have me excited about---->Philips MasterColor CHMz<----) I just hope that ballast will work, here's a quote from the CMH link,
"NO DIGITAL BALLASTS - you will destroy the bulb. ONLY use a standard coil and core HPS ballast (dont let the name confuse you). CMH bulbs cannot handle the frequencies of digital ballasts. Of course there are exceptions to this rule as there is at least one digital ballast that is designed to work with CMH lamps. They are fairly expensive and unless you know you have one of these you don't so don't try"

It says "ONLY use a standard HPS ballast", dose the ballast in my OP fall under that category?

 

[SativaMe@420]

My God, WTF happen to helping your fellow man, I see people ask some of the stupidest questions and get answers ALL THE TIME! Can SOMEONE PLEASE answer my question so I can get cracking, PRETTY PLEASE, WITH A F-ING CHERRY ON TOP FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

Thank you.

 

[SativaMe@420]

Come on, can someone please chime in here????

 

[Dirty Harry]

I did a little googling as I know of, but am not failure with CMH.
It is my humble opinion if your ballast is a boat anchor type (Big and heavy, not small and light as in digital), of matching watts, and the select switch is set for the correct bulb it should work fine.
It seems the ceramic parts to hold the extra heat is the only difference between it and a normal MH...Other than the CMH can not handle the high freq voltage from a digital.

 

[SativaMe@420]

I did a little googling as I know of, but am not failure with CMH.
It is my humble opinion if your ballast is a boat anchor type (Big and heavy, not small and light as in digital), of matching watts, and the select switch is set for the correct bulb it should work fine.
It seems the ceramic parts to hold the extra heat is the only difference between it and a normal MH...Other than the CMH can not handle the high freq voltage from a digital.

Thank you VERY much, that's along the lines of what I was thinking and yes this ballast is heavy as hell, dam thing is like 30lbs. Its just the convertible/switchable part that has me worried as I heard somewhere that they won't work with CMH. I guess to be absolutely sure I could email or call the manufacturer of the bulb and ask them directly, yea if nobody has a definitive answer for me by tomorrow that's what I'll do. Thanks for the response.

 

[Dirty Harry]

... Its just the convertible/switchable part that has me worried as I heard somewhere that they won't work with CMH. I guess to be absolutely sure I could email or call the manufacturer of the bulb and ask them directly, yea if nobody has a definitive answer for me by tomorrow that's what I'll do. Thanks for the response.

The difference between MH and HPS bulbs is the MH bulb has a built in ignitor. A HPS bulb does not.
A MH ballast does not have an internal ignitor, so the bulb ignites it self. Put in a matched HPS bulb, it will not ignite due to no ignitor.
HPS Ballasts have a built in ignitor and can fire a HPS bulb that does not have one. It can also fire a MH bulb as two ignitors will work as one, BUT THAT IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
The select switch simply enables or disables the internal ignitor depending on the bulb you select.

 

[SativaMe@420]

The difference between MH and HPS bulbs is the MH bulb has a built in ignitor. A HPS bulb does not.
A MH ballast does not have an internal ignitor, so the bulb ignites it self. Put in a matched HPS bulb, it will not ignite due to no ignitor.
HPS Ballasts have a built in ignitor and can fire a HPS bulb that does not have one. It can also fire a MH bulb as two ignitors will work as one, BUT THAT IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
The select switch simply enables or disables the internal ignitor depending on the bulb you select.

So as long as I have the ballast pictured in my OP set to HPS, and I keep it there, the internal ignitor will be active and it will fire a ceramic metal halide just fine? Forgive my ignorance as all this stuff is very new to me. Thanks for the help.

 

[darkdestruction420]

NO, cmh will not work in digital ballasts. it says so right on them. you need to find one that specifically says you can use it in a digital ballast.

 

[SativaMe@420]

NO, cmh will not work in digital ballasts. it says so right on them. you need to find one that specifically says you can use it in a digital ballast.

As I outlined in post #2 I'm clearly aware of that but thanks for the heads up though. I'm almost positive that the ballast I pictured in my OP is magnetic, not digital as its a dam 30lb boat anchor, I don't think they make digital ones like that, kinda defeats the purpose. Yea I'm 90% sure that as long as I keep it set to HPS it should fire a CMH just fine, however I'm not going to buy one until I know for sure.

 

[Dirty Harry]

So as long as I have the ballast pictured in my OP set to HPS, and I keep it there, the internal ignitor will be active and it will fire a ceramic metal halide just fine? Forgive my ignorance as all this stuff is very new to me. Thanks for the help.

Again, I know of CMH but never used one. I am going to assume it has an internal ignitor like a plain MH bulb has.
I would have your switch set to MH when using the CMH. The ballast ignitor will be off but the bulbs ignitor will fire. Some say a HPS ballast will fire MH and HPS, and there is truth to that...But there is a reason they put that switch in. MH and HPS bulbs do ignite at different voltages and I think the switch also takes that into account.
If your using an expensive bulb, you want to select the proper setting so you don't damage the bulb.

 

[AndyK]

I own a 400 watt switchable magnetic ballast and it is running a phillips retro white cmh as we speak, on the hps setting.

 

[Dirty Harry]

I own a 400 watt switchable magnetic ballast and it is running a phillips retro white cmh as we speak, on the hps setting.

Will it ignite in the MH setting? If not, then the bulb does not have an internal ignitor and using the HPS setting makes sense.
If your going to test that, make sure you allow the bulb to cool down with the ballast unplugged and allow at least 30 seconds of power off when you change the switch and bulb. There is a capacitor that needs to bleed off when you switch settings for a bulb change...at least that is what my ballast says on it...allow 30 seconds after switching before applying power.

 

[SativaMe@420]

i own a 400 watt switchable magnetic ballast and it is running a phillips retro white cmh as we speak, on the hps setting.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!!! That's all I needed to hear, I'm buying one immediately, however can someone please point me to the best/cheapest place to get one? Would a local hardware store carry them or is an online retailer going to be the cheapest? This is about the cheapest Ive found so far: (50$ + 6$ shipping) (---->CLICK HERE<----) Thanks again for the help, I truly appreciate it.

 

[AndyK]

You should never hot start a ballast. Mine takes way longer than 30 seconds, I usually wait like 15 minutes. Once I tried hot starting and it hummed but didn't ignite, and I immediately turned it off. It will not work on the metal halide setting. And you're welcome Sativa, I had a bit of trouble doing research on cmhs too. You should really look into some of riddleme's work, on this and on his site.

 

[alotaball]

I run CMH on ballast just like yours.. only fire it in hps mode.. its confusing because its a mh.. but its designed to work on hps .. SO put the ballast on hps and forget about it ...

PS .. bulbs are wonderful.. just be careful not to stare at the bulb directly .. the spectrum will fuck up your eyes.. One of these bulbs next to a 600 or 1000 watt hps is GREAT! They are a little light on the lumen count .. so either use them in a small area.. or use them WITH a HPS.

 

[Dirty Harry]

Thank you for the info on the HPS/MH setting for a CMH. I learned something new.

 

[SativaMe@420]

Yea thanks again, this has been very informative however I'm confused about the "hot start" thing, what dose that mean? Dose it pertain to CMH? Oh and AndyK can you please post a link to some of riddleme's work you mentioned, thanks.

 

[Dirty Harry]

Hot start means powering up a warm/hot ballast and/or a warm/hot bulb. That causes stress and extra wear and tear. Everything cool is a cold or soft start.

 

[alotaball]

Ya hot starts are bad for standard bulbs as well.. anytime your lights are cycled off .. give em 15 mins or so before you attempt to refire.