Metal Halide question

[mhender]

I just purchased a used lighting system. It contains 3 10,000K bulbs. Can I put a 14,000K or 20,000K bulb in that fixture as long as it's 250 watts?

Thanks
Mark

[Reefland]

Yup.

[mhender]

Thanks for the help !!

[dragonladylea]

Just a thought on which one to use, the 20K will give you better color but slower growth. 10K gives you better growth but less color. IMO the 14K is the best of both worlds good growth and color.

[Ninong]

I just purchased a used lighting system. It contains 3 10,000K bulbs. Can I put a 14,000K or 20,000K bulb in that fixture as long as it's 250 watts?

Thanks
Mark

You can if the ballasts are compatible, which they probably are. What's the brand name of the fixture? Are the lamps double-ended or single-ended?

If the lamps are double-ended, then the ballasts are compatible. If the lamps are single-ended, it's possible that they could have used ballasts for the 10,000K lamps that would not be a good choice for certain 20,000K lamps. The so-called PFO HQI ballasts, for example, would run any of the 10,000K or 20,000K lamps but some 10,000K single-ended lamps can be run on regular magnetic ballasts whereas the 20,000K Radium lamps require HQI ballasts and most of the German manufactured 10,000K single-ended lamps do better on so-called HQI ballasts.

So, what fixture did you buy? Which brand and which model?

[mhender]

The fixture was put together with retro kits. 3 MH 250W and 4 VHO 72". I'll let you know more when I pick it up.

/mh