Dimmable ballast has overdrive setting, is it good?

[dallas butter]

I'm still deciding who and what I'm ordering..i have a dimmable ballast it has 400,600,1000 and overdrive settings...didnt notice overdrive when I bought it...what is overdrive and is it good?

[berrypilot]

I think it pushes your bulbs so you get a little extra light out of them, but the bulbs need to be replaced more often since its not good for them.

[kingfish]

Has any body ever used the dimmer on a dimmable ballast? Wouldn't that mess up your light bulb? Also why would you dim it?

[NebulaHaze]

I've used the dimmer on a 600W ballast a few times. I think it has a 40%, 60% and 80% setting. I've put it down to 40% when it gets really hot. It seems to work well enough and is definitely a really nice option to bring the heat way down for a few days, while still giving your plants plenty of light. It can hurt bulb life but we regularly check bulbs with a lux meter and always change the bulbs every other grow just to be safe.