I couldn't find this information anywhere online so i called the lumatek company to ask. just so you guys know you CAN dimm the lumatek ballasts while they are on. you don't have to switch the wattage settings while the bulb is off. its totally ok to switch from 400w to 1000w for example while its on, the bulb is already warm so its totally fine. cheers.
Just for the record, in the instuctions with mine, they say you should wait 15 mins. between each power level change, and move it only one step at a time. (not going from the highest setting to the lowest setting for example)
thats werid. the guy on the phone told me differently but then again he might have been wrong. for what it's worth, i've owned the ballast for a long while now and i've switched it between wattage settings a ton of times while its on and I still have the same bulb (changing the brightness hasn't had an effect on the bulb as much as i can tell)
Yeah, as far as the actual ballast, no prob.. They just said it could wear the bulb out faster, if it was switched quickly (up and down). Always do it like they say, because I hear the bulb should be changed every second grow, and just trying to make it last as long as it can before then..........(crash of '07 has me on a super-tight depression-budget.....................lol) that and being laid-off since '07...