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Has Anyone Used This Brand Of Ballast?

grateful411

By grateful411
in The Grow Room

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GrowGreenerGuru

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Hello Darren,

I personally have not used this type of ballast before.. but I would be VERY weary of it. I checked it out, and the price is just way too good to be true. It reminds me of the Apollo digital ballasts - which I can tell you, are absolute garbage. I work at a grow store and I've seen lots of ballasts come and go.. There are a lot of fly-by-night companies that use cheap, and even USED parts in there ballasts. I know it sucks, but in this industry - more times than not - you get what you pay for. I would not cheap out on a ballast or light bulb. The things you can cheap out on are nutrients and pesticides.. Most nutrients are pretty much the same, and you can make your own organic pesticides for pennies on the dollar. Light bulbs and ballasts however, you truly get what you pay for. I've heard nothing but bad things from cheap ballasts.. I've heard of people buying 10 Apollo ballasts and they lost 8 of them the first week of use.. right out of the box. 

 

If you want a ballast that will last, I recommend going with Galaxy, Phantom II or Nanolux.. they all stand behind their products, honor their warranties, and will quickly RMA ya and get you a new ballast if need be. Lots of companies come and go to make a quick buck, and don't give 2 defecates about what they are selling. LED lighting companies are heavily known for this type of behavior. It may suck spending twice as much for a good ballast than going with a cheap one, but in the end you save yourself A LOT of trouble. 

 

Hope this helps!
Keep it Green!

-Dr. B

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motorcitymeds Advanced Member

motorcitymeds

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I was looking to upgrade one of my lights and came across Lumepower ballast. I was wondering if anyone has used these?

I just bought a Digital Lume Power S for 121.99 It shipped 2 days before estimated arrival and I hooked it up right away to see if the fuxer would even work.  it works.  i spoke with Chris one of the partners at Lume Power.  Ihave his cell phone if anything goes wrong.  I explained to him what I do up here and he was more than confident in his product.  In fact he taught me several things about digi's.

 

Buy it even if it fails in 6 months for 121.99 who cares.  I have LUmateks, nanolux, Next Gens. Quantums, Old mags, etc.  The only failure was 1 Lumatek just last week.  I would never buy a Next Gen again.  well CAP is out of biz...go figure.  There shiiyat suxs.

 

 

But give LumePower a try.  They just are direct so they have no chain marketer stateside or what not.  Is it as pretty as my Nano Lux..?  NO it is just a wee bit bigger than my Nanolux's.  BTW...if you own a nanolux there is a teeny tiny power screw inthe back of them...and can be turned up.  Chris at Lume Power told me this.

 

 

BTW..I have bought the cheapest bulbs I can buy and prodeuce some of the dankest meds around.  Its your skills and Genetics that make up the buds.

Good Luck,

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motorcitymeds Advanced Member

motorcitymeds

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Posted (edited)

Hello Darren,

I personally have not used this type of ballast before.. but I would be VERY weary of it. I checked it out, and the price is just way too good to be true. It reminds me of the Apollo digital ballasts - which I can tell you, are absolute garbage. I work at a grow store and I've seen lots of ballasts come and go.. There are a lot of fly-by-night companies that use cheap, and even USED parts in there ballasts. I know it sucks, but in this industry - more times than not - you get what you pay for. I would not cheap out on a ballast or light bulb. The things you can cheap out on are nutrients and pesticides.. Most nutrients are pretty much the same, and you can make your own organic pesticides for pennies on the dollar. Light bulbs and ballasts however, you truly get what you pay for. I've heard nothing but bad things from cheap ballasts.. I've heard of people buying 10 Apollo ballasts and they lost 8 of them the first week of use.. right out of the box. 

 

If you want a ballast that will last, I recommend going with Galaxy, Phantom II or Nanolux.. they all stand behind their products, honor their warranties, and will quickly RMA ya and get you a new ballast if need be. Lots of companies come and go to make a quick buck, and don't give 2 defecates about what they are selling. LED lighting companies are heavily known for this type of behavior. It may suck spending twice as much for a good ballast than going with a cheap one, but in the end you save yourself A LOT of trouble. 

 

Hope this helps!

Keep it Green!

-Dr. B

Sir I disagree....your point of view of from a guy selling as a income source.  IS LUMEPOWER cheaper ..?  yes.  But are they worse than Quantum or LUmatek..?  NO...they all sux these days everything coming out of CHINA is garbage but sadly we have no choice over electronics anymore.  It all come from CHINA. Nothing is made in the USA. Lume POWER just does not have to take a hair cut to any distributors. zThey sell direct to the consumer via E-bay, Amazon etc. You as a grow shop employee know the game you buy from BWGS, HydroFARM, SUN SYSTEM etc....Now if they were failing about as much as NEXTGENS did then I would shut my trap right now.  But the failure rates is between 2-3%.  And this is the same rates that all the big boys are at.  Lumatek, Quantum, Sun system, etc.  CAP is the one TRUE PIECE OF Shiiyat that entered the game.

 

But to dog LumePOWER simply off price is wrong.  Give them time.  If the failure rates is above 5% then yes dog them.  I will continue to buy the cheapest of everything i can find.  

 

However I recently bought a dozen Digilux's and a half dozen Hortilux Super HPS from Amazon.  The Digilux's were 62.00 shipped per bulb.  THe Hortilux were 66 shipped.  I usually buy the cheap bulbs for like 28-38 range.  But went out my normal zone just to spice things up. 

 

Try Amazon they have cheap stuff if you look hard.  Never ship to your grow....EVER.  I have a safe house to send equipment to.

 

 

Good Luck.

Edited by motorcitymeds
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motorcitymeds Advanced Member

motorcitymeds

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Thanks for the advice, I think I'll try one. I grow for myself so were only talking one ballast so I'm gona go cheap plus I have a smaller one for back up. Thanks

I use the E-Marketing bulbs, Ultra Sun..but the 10k Ultra Suns are crap but their HPS 1k is ok., Plant max, whatever is cheap.  I swap em out after 6 months so who cares..

 

The ballasts none have failed except Caps Next Gens.  But otherwise its all about your bottom line.  When you running a full load you have to watch your bank account.  The hydro guys have a vested ,interest in what they sell.  And nutes soil are lower margins and they do loss leads often.  They make the most on Bulbs and ballasts.  Bulbs have cheaper shipping and higher profit same with electronics.  They make money off bulbs, fans, ballasts, etc.  All electronics have huge profit.  When you have to eat huge amounts of money on shipping you can only mark up so much.  Think about it.  Do you think HTG, SGS or Cultivation station want you buying  direct..????  UMM NO.  that is a direct hit to their profit n loss. 

 

I am super frugal wherever I buy you have to be in order to run a stay in the black not red.  Also buy in bulk..if you stroll thru a dro store and try and beat em up on a bottle of nutes you have no clout and are just being cheap.  But if you go buy 1k in equipment/supplies they can work with you.

 

Good Luck.   Stay cheap...LOL

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motorcitymeds Advanced Member

motorcitymeds

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I use Solis Tek ballasts. Personally,  I don't think I'll ever use another brand.

i WILL NEVER use SOLISTEK...they have the highest frequency out put and if your running say 24 ...LOL..like my buddy was he blew out both Comcast and AT&T in his block.  They were out there for a few weeks straight until they pretty much figured out it was his house and wanted to talk to him.  He that day went and bought all BUDGET GROW Magnetics...LOL

 

To each his own.  I run all diff types of ballasts.  And since turning Legal I have only had 1 blow besides Shiiayaty NEXT GENS.  Just last week my first digital blew....after 5 yrs...lol..a 1k Lumatek non-air cooled.  If your rooms are between 77-84 the ballasts should be running at peak temps.  Above 85 is when everything electronic is going to be getting pushed.  Either way above 85 your not gonna be growing long cuz your product will be super POOP.<<!!

 

 

So everyone can say what they want but I go off what works.  So far its a level playing field. 

 

BUY CHEAP...Hydro stores sell to sell....Truth be told there is not much difference between a Hortilux and off brand...its just the amount of time that the bulbs stay brighter.  and last longer mainly.  Ballasts ....they all are pretty good.  If my Lume Power S blows in under 6 months then yes I will not be buying more.  But So far no complaints...knock on wood.

 

I have NO Affiliations with any dro store or manufacturer.

 

Stay Lifted.!!

Edited by motorcitymeds
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motorcitymeds Advanced Member

motorcitymeds

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Gotcha, I only paid 200 for my 1k Solis Tek though. Not sure about frequencies and the like, but I only run one ballast as I only grow with one 1000watt light currently, with a T5 for veg. The Solis only runs for 12 hours a day. My three outside ladies have the benefit of free lighting, skip the ballast haha

My buddy was running 24 Solitek 600 watters.  I told him not to run that many Digi's and split it up with atleast different Digi's because of the frequency emission.  Or half Mags....he did not listen and Comast gave him a quick wake up call...LOL...SOLITEKS emit the highest hertz ...like its off the charts..!!

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Highlander Advanced Member

Highlander

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I have a hard time supporting any digital ballast. I have a few mags that have served for 10 or more years without fail. Sure, they generate more heat. So put em outside in a doghouse. But if/when they fail you can usually just replace a capacitor or igniter for 20 bucks and be up and running again. I had a digital name-brand 600 watter a few years ago. When it failed and I opened up the case I found a circuit board completely covered in epoxy, the obvious intent being to to render it unserviceable. If you're a little bit handy and can understand the most basic of wiring diagrams, you can repair just about any magnetic ballast for minimal cost. You can even convert a standard warehouse metal halide to run HPS with some basic rewiring and and ignighter and convert it from a 277 volt metal halide to a 110 volt or 220 HPS. Warehouses and industrial facilities all over Michigan are converting from HIDs to T5s. Inmost cases, these folks are actually paying for recyclers to scarp the old ballasts. This represents a huge opportunity for the handy and initiated grower

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motorcitymeds Advanced Member

motorcitymeds

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also bought a bunch of these 1k HPS bulbs from I-marketing or was it E-marketing..?  not sure 26 a pop and they look and feel that same as the Hortilux and Digilux I have in my rooms.

 

Also swooped up a bunch of Hortilux bulbs for 62.00 but ended up paying 6.95 shipping.

Edited by motorcitymeds
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