35w with 55w's

[FRITZHID]

does anyone have any hard facts on using a 55w ballast with a 35w bulb?
what are the pros/cons?
side effects?
startup issues?
bulblife?
and ultimitly is it worth it?
i'm looking at modding a 13" 130/100w spot lantern with HID but would like to know if the bennifits out weigh the cons when running a 35w on 55w's.
thanks guys 🙂

 

[BVH]

Yes. Most 55 Watt Ebay ballasts output btw 42 and 44 Watts to the bulb. Two of my lights power original Costco 35-Watt HID bulbs (6000K) with 46 and 54 Watts respectively. They will see a decreased life of maybe 50% (guess) but a reduction from 2,000 to 1000 hours is inconsequential. I'll never use these lights for a thousand hours. If one blows, I'll replace it for cheap. I love these lights because the overdrive effect is to reduce the 6000K color to somewhere between 5000 and 5500 which is just gorgeous to my eyes.

Side effects - already covered in bulb life above
No start up issues - warm up is a bit faster
Bulb life - already covered
Yes, worth it to me
Definitely do it in the 13" - get a 6000K bulb

 

[TEEJ]

Does it increase the output, or just shift it to a warmer tint/speed up warm-up times?

 

[BVH]

Does it increase the output, or just shift it to a warmer tint/speed up warm-up times?

Increases brightness significantly.

 

[FRITZHID]

tnx Bob, i'll have to look into that then.
6000K bulb huh? what would happen with a 5000K or 4300K?
i know that the people intrested in buying these light don't what the bluer colors, they loved the 4300K color rendition on 55w kits, would a 5000K bulb be closer to the 4300K with being over driven?

 

[BVH]

Yeah, my guess is that most would be happier with the 5000K overdriven vrs the 6000K. The 5000K would definitely end up closer to 4300 than starting with the 6000K. Overdriving a 4300K, to me, would end up with too much yellow.

 

[FRITZHID]

great bob, thanks for the input! 😀
i'll let everyone know how this project turns out.

 

[rjd]

BVH,

You say "significantly brighter", is it brighter then using a 55w globe on a 55w ballast or just brighter the a standard 35w ballast/globe setup?