# 35w with 55w's



## FRITZHID (Mar 11, 2012)

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


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## BVH (Mar 11, 2012)

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


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## TEEJ (Mar 11, 2012)

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


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## BVH (Mar 11, 2012)

TEEJ said:


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



Increases brightness significantly.


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## FRITZHID (Mar 11, 2012)

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?


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## BVH (Mar 11, 2012)

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.


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## FRITZHID (Mar 11, 2012)

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


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## rjd (Mar 20, 2012)

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?


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