Has anyone put a higher watt MH bulb in their ballast?

[Gatorfreak]

I have a 150W ballast and there isn't much to choose from with 150W bulbs. Has anyone ever actually put a higher (or different) watt bulb in their MH ballast?

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

I haven't done it myself but if you do you run the risk of the bulb failing. At 100 bucks a bulb I wouldn't risk it. Look around there are lots of bulbs to choose from.

 

[MarineFlake]

A real no no..Neither the bulb mfg or the ballast mfg will warranty that configuration. You should always match bulbs with proper ballast if only to save on the 100 dollar bulb your going to waste..

 

[electrikat]

If you use a smaller wattage bulb the ballast will overdrive it and blow it. If you use a larger wattage bulb the ballast will not have enough juice to fully power it. Even if you could get it to spark off, it would not be a full wattage or strength and it will burn out faster from underdriving.

 

[Gatorfreak]

Thanks for the responses. I guess I gotta keep searching the internet for 150W mogul bulbs. So far I've only found them on MarineDepot.com and they only had 6500 and 20K. I want 10K-15K.

 

[Gatorfreak]

Well I'm an idiot. All this time I've had the tank I thought I had 150W bulbs. I just double-checked and they are 175W. I need to update my sig. Please note that it was given to me with no information on anything so it's not like I bought it and forgot what I bought. Still, I remember seeing 150W on something.

 

[loganj]

Will your ballast fire an HQI bulb? If so, that opens up lots of choices. Also, the 150w 6500k bulb on MD's site is an Iwasaki...I'm not sure it will work with a regular MH ballast. If I remember correctly, these bulbs are usually fired with a mercury vapor ballast. Check Dr Fosters...I'm thinking they had some small base 150 MH spots and floods in the 10k range? You might have to get a different socket, but those are fairly cheap. The bulbs I'm talking about would work best in a pendant type fixture.