can i use my 120V power cord to power my 1000watt ballast witch power my 1000 watthps

Do i have to use a 240v power cord with my 1000watt digital ballast to power my 1000watt HPS bulb or would the 120 cord work also? also when i ordered my ballast it only came with the one 120v cord. help appreciated

i checked the cord iss actual 125v if that makes a difference

if you have a digital ballast, it can tell what voltage you plugged it into. Do you plan on running 230v, or 120v?

You CAN use the 120v cord on 230v, but you better know what you are doing.

What make and model is the ballast. If the cord is for the ballast it will most "likely" be enough to run the 240vac. At 240vac the cord will only have to handle half the amperage as it does at 120vac.
But "like" Chuck said you better know what you're doing. Post some more info so we can be sure.

4.333 times 240 divided by 1000 =0.999KW AND
8.333 times 120 divided by 1000 =0.999kw
said it before and I'll say it again, HOW does this math add up if it is only using half the amps?

Because it uses half the amps per hot leg.

chuck estevez said:

4.333 times 240 divided by 1000 =0.999KW AND
8.333 times 120 divided by 1000 =0.999kw
said it before and I'll say it again, HOW does this math add up if it is only using half the amps?

Because it uses half the amps per hot leg.

Click to expand...

No. Because of increased voltage. Watts = Volts x Amps.

SnapsProvolone said:

No. Because of increased voltage. Watts = Volts x Amps.

Click to expand...

and how do you increase voltage? You add another hot leg, so you have 2 120v hot legs. each 1 carries half the amps of SINGLE 120v line. According to you guys, if you run 240 you are only using half the amps, so each leg only carries 2.166 amps per leg, and if that was the case, it would be half the cost to run a ballasts on 240v, WELL, that isn't true, look at my math above, we get charged by KW's and the math to achieve KW"S is amps x voltage / 1000= KW

Dude. Your amperage is the same on both legs. Voltage adds up because its frequency is phased 180 degrees between legs.

Yeah dude i don't know what math your doing but it isn't electrical math. It would be
wattage divided by volts equals amps, your putting in an extra step. Google power chart so you can get straight.

also back to the original question. no you can't. a 240 volt hps will need 240 volts to work properly. hps lamps have an ignitor which mh lamps do not. when you power it up there is a surge of power to help ignite the lamp. if your sending half the voltage you probably wont get anything but a dim bulb if its a magnetic ballast. a digital will know which cord is plugged in so you don't have to worry about it. The only thing you really want 240 volt for is if you want to run multiple ballasts/lamps on one circuit. your amperage will be cut in half so you can stack more on the circuit. remember that q circuit breaker is rated to only 80% of its capacity so a 20 amp circuit can only handle 16 amps before it starts tripping. when you start brushing up against that 80% number you half to be careful of things that have abbeginning surge voltage but that is another thread. Good luck.

My hps/mh ballast will work on 120vac, 240vac, 360vac. Most quality ballasts have multiple voltage inputs. If you're interested in the math look up power wheel under ohms law. all the equations nessesary will be there.

chuck estevez said:

4.333 times 240 divided by 1000 =0.999KW AND
8.333 times 120 divided by 1000 =0.999kw
said it before and I'll say it again, HOW does this math add up if it is only using half the amps?

Because it uses half the amps per hot leg.

Click to expand...

When it is known what the applied voltage is, the amperage through a circuit will be govern by the resistance (or impedance) of the load. While we all agree that wattage is defined as the power consumed, wattage can also be defined as the rate that electrical energy is transferred through a circuit. One watt of electrical energy is one joule per second. If it can be said that voltage is the force behind electrons flow, and that current is the volume of electrons flow through a circuit...Then it could also be said that if we increase the force (voltage), the volume of electrons flow (amps) will also increase, This would also result in an increase of power consumed (wattage). To counteract this increase of wattage, the impedance or resistance (ohms) of the internal circuitry inside the ballast must be increased, resulting in fewer amps to flow through the circuit.

that's great but knowing that this guy probably has no experience in the electrical field your comment will fall on deaf ears. It would be better to keep it as simple as possible

Thanks for all the help every one! The digital ballast I have can use both 120 and 240. My friend just told me not to use the 120 cord I got with the ballast because it waste a bunch of electricity or something and he said I only should use a 240v power cord for the ballast because it's better for electricity, but I don't have a lot of 240 outlets so would it be okay to use my 120v power cord to power my 1000 watt light or is that not a good idea.

The cord will definately handle the load but you'll need a 240vac plugin/adapter. At 120vac the 1kw ballast will pull 10 amps. At 240vac the 1kw ballast will pull 5 amps. Utilizing higher voltages will allow you to run the same load on a smaller wire than loads carried on lower voltages.