The Ballast Blues

[suneday11]

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Edited April 27, 2015 by suneday11

[Restorium2]

I went back to magnetic. Sick of replacing electronic ballasts.

Edited December 6, 2014 by Restorium2

[suneday11]

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Edited April 27, 2015 by suneday11

[AbominableDro-Man]

I use Solis Tek digi ballasts currently, work well but I feel that a mag works just as well as a digi does when you couple it with a working timer.

[suneday11]

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Edited April 27, 2015 by suneday11

[semicaregiver]

Have a bunch of 5-8 year old Lumateks, but would not rec'c them currently.  Most recently bought a Solistek and a basic less than $100 (1K) magnetic.   Both seem fine although I am not sure about having all the controls that are built into the Solistek, seems like just an added reason for it to fail.  

[Kingdiamond]

Digital greenhouse 1000 watt from High tech garden had two go out over a 6 year period HTG overnighted me a replacement both times best company on the web for my money.

[trichcycler]

I decided on several Lumatek 400, 600, 1000 watters in 2008, and one  they didn't like generators, even though they say generator ready, Their power usage is not steady, like a flickering flouro, and they will require replacement, two at a time, in a couple few years in my experience. I replaced them with Badass and Quantum.

 

My final choice will most likely be Quantum, with BadAss bulbs always. They maintain the original par lighting according to my meter longer than any of the other brands I've used and they burn cooler.

I cant stand the noise of a magnetic, but replacement is cheap and easy, but they do not play nice with generators.

[suneday11]

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Edited April 27, 2015 by suneday11

[suneday11]

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Edited April 27, 2015 by suneday11

[Kingdiamond]

That's some customer service! I'd have to have a store owner smash my bulb or ballast in plain view with witnesses in order to admit that they are broken!

 

My nearest HTG is less than impressive for some reason. Maybe the management? Perhaps the online store is an option with service like that!

Go to the online store and call them directly ask for Tony dude is a hero to the medical community.

[Willy]

im a magnetic man myself, easy rebuilds and if you keep a couple igniter's, or caps.. 15 mins good as new...

[phaquetoo]

That's some customer service! I'd have to have a store owner smash my bulb or ballast in plain view with witnesses in order to admit that they are broken!

 

My nearest HTG is less than impressive for some reason. Maybe the management? Perhaps the online store is an option with service like that!

I have ordered just about everything I have online thru htg!  I found them to be very reliable and had no problem returning items and getting a replacement or a refund, online customer service cant be beat as far as im concerned with htg, plus I like the lighters and stickers they send me with ever oder oh yea and the  magazine for reordering, I think I found them on ebay when I made my first order, but used the mag once I got the 1st delivery, I purchased a few diff size tents with all components that is needed for a grow, lights, fans, nutes, buckets, inline fans (cheap llil ones)  I have a digibox electronic ballsat modle dp-eb 600/400 hps and mh I have burned out two hps 600w hps bulbs in less than a yr,  does any one have that model and have you had you hps bulbs burn out to fast?

 

GM what kind of generator do you have, is it an inverter?

 

Peace

[Restorium2]

I have ordered just about everything I have online thru htg!  I found them to be very reliable and had no problem returning items and getting a replacement or a refund, online customer service cant be beat as far as im concerned with htg, plus I like the lighters and stickers they send me with ever oder oh yea and the  magazine for reordering, I think I found them on ebay when I made my first order, but used the mag once I got the 1st delivery, I purchased a few diff size tents with all components that is needed for a grow, lights, fans, nutes, buckets, inline fans (cheap llil ones)  I have a digibox electronic ballsat modle dp-eb 600/400 hps and mh I have burned out two hps 600w hps bulbs in less than a yr,  does any one have that model and have you had you hps bulbs burn out to fast?

 

GM what kind of generator do you have, is it an inverter?

 

Peace

One of the common modes of failure for an electronic ballast is to ruin bulbs. Keep an eye on your lights, they could be going on and off 50 times a day with an electronic ballast. That will ruin bulbs.

[trichcycler]

GM what kind of generator do you have, is it an inverter?

 

Peace

Honda Motor, Troy Bilt unit, 10k x 2. One for the house and one for the grow room. They make 220 and 120 power. I don't know what an inverter for a generator is? you could tell me and I can check.

I'll be selling at least one of them in summer time maybe. changing to a whole house/grow propane auto system(hopefully)

 

my grow room calls me when probs happen. like a power outage/line/breaker issue, but running home and dragging out two gens in the middle of a -wedding- party- etc is a real pain in the azz for me. auto gens, auto calls, auto fire suppression, auto watering, ...now all I need is an auto harvester/trimmer ! lol maybe I can squeeze a three day vacation next year!

 

I have solar panels with inverters but those are not part of the grow room, or generator operation. I use the panels to study hydrogen gas from water but do not supplement the battery charging with the panels.

[suneday11]

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Edited April 27, 2015 by suneday11

[MrShpongle]

I haven't heard good news on the Lumatek air-cooled units.  My grow store has a much higher return rate on them than the old-style (no fan) units.  I'm running 4 of the "classic" blue Lumateks and they've been bullet-proof, including one which was dropped 5 feet onto a cement floor and still runs.

[imiubu]

Good info here everyone, thanks!

[williams2311]

Yea i hear bad things about the new lumateks i have 3 digital greenhouse 600s and one 1000 watt no problems at all been using for little over 2 years

[phaquetoo]

Honda Motor, Troy Bilt unit, 10k x 2. One for the house and one for the grow room. They make 220 and 120 power. I don't know what an inverter for a generator is? you could tell me and I can check.

I'll be selling at least one of them in summer time maybe. changing to a whole house/grow propane auto system(hopefully)

 

my grow room calls me when probs happen. like a power outage/line/breaker issue, but running home and dragging out two gens in the middle of a -wedding- party- etc is a real pain in the azz for me. auto gens, auto calls, auto fire suppression, auto watering, ...now all I need is an auto harvester/trimmer ! lol maybe I can squeeze a three day vacation next year!

 

I have solar panels with inverters but those are not part of the grow room, or generator operation. I use the panels to study hydrogen gas from water but do not supplement the battery charging with the panels.

I have a honda generator/invertor 3500,,,it is the quietest one out there, Im not real sure what the invertor is, I beleive it is to distribute the power from 12 volt to 120 or 220 and it dont create a hestitation that may blow up your p.c's or other important equipment it is operating!

 

look it up lol your better at that than me lol!

 

Im looking for a whole home generator, they are realy pricey so it may take me a while before I have one, I have run my room on my generator along with a few other needed things in the house when the power runs out!  But I only have 2 tents and most likely no where near the equip most people use.

 

Peace

 

edit= I paid 2k for my honda, it works awsome on my r.v so when im out in the woods I have all the comforts of home including a.c lol

Edited December 9, 2014 by phaquetoo

[trichcycler]

I used some calculator to figure out how much power I wanted to provide in an outage. The grow room doesn't suffer a bit, with heat or ac and the other equip full on. but the house could use a little more I think. The gen has a digital/removable/gang display to bring into your home for monitoring the generator. It reminds of oil changes and other maintenance, counts hours, and lets you know in real time the amount of power being used to relative to the amount the generator can produce. I'll sell one or both after I get that whole house one. the whole house ones are expensive. I've never heard of someone regretting the purchase though. If I hit the lotto I'll hook you up bro!

[Highlander]

im a magnetic man myself, easy rebuilds and if you keep a couple igniter's, or caps.. 15 mins good as new...

 

Two thumbs up on this.  I have a Sunmaster 1K HPS ballast I bought probably 15 years ago.  It seems to be the Clydesdale of ballasts and just keeps going.  When I ramped-up my grow in 2009, I bought a few used/old magnetic ballasts.  I read-up on how to maintain them and found that most failures are due to a bad capacitor or ignitor.  You can find instructions on-line on how to diagnose (using a $15 multi-meter)  a magnetic ballast failure and how to replace the capacitor or ignitor.  It's easy for a handy person.  Like you said - about 15 minutes of work..and maybe $15-$20 in parts.  The core rarely fails.  The only other problem I've encountered with magnetic ballasts was wiring that got crispy due to the heat...but they were used units - probably close to 20 years old.

 

I have even bought used 1,000 metal halide lights (removed from factories/warehouses) and converted them to HPS for about 20 bucks...but this isn't a good idea for people who aren't handy.

 

A few years ago, I bought a 600W digital ballast from a guy who just needed some cash.  I really didn't have a need for a 600w unit but bought it more or less to help him out.  It worked well for a few months before it failed.  I opened up the case and found the entire circuit board encased in a thick, black epoxy.  It was not serviceable at all.  So I scrapped it. 

 

My conclusion is that if you're at least kinda handy, you can keep a magnetic ballast running for years with maybe a $15-$20 fix here and there.  If you go digital, you can pretty much expect to trash the ballast when it fails.

 

So, for people trying to decide what ballast to use, please consider this:

 

Magnetic:

- generates more heat

- easy to fix if you're somewhat handy

- lower cost to purchase

- longer lifespan

 

Digital:

- Limited heat

- Not easy (maybe impossible) to fix even for a knowledgeable person

- Higher purchase cost

- shorter lifespan

 

In my own situation, I see so good reason to go digital.  If needed, I can put my magnetics in a "doghouse" outside to avoid the heat issue.  But I can see where digital is the better choice for other people.

[semicaregiver]

 

....A few years ago, I bought a 600W digital ballast from a guy who just needed some cash.  I really didn't have a need for a 600w unit but bought it more or less to help him out.  It worked well for a few months before it failed.  I opened up the case and found the entire circuit board encased in a thick, black epoxy.  It was not serviceable at all.  So I scrapped it. .....

 

 

I have seen several digital ballast suppliers encase the circuit board in potting epoxy.   When I came across this problem I had one ballast that would fail, but then after resting afew days outside the bloom room, it would be ok.    I am guessing they do this for moisture issues.  When you shut the lights down humidity can shoot way up for a short time period as the room cools.  I would think this could play havoc with an electronic circuit board.

 

The problem ballast did not have the epoxy coating.

Edited December 9, 2014 by semicaregiver

[MrShpongle]

Not taking sides on the mag vs. digi debate, but one important plus to throw in for the digitals is the ability to change your wattage.  When summer is rockin, I often need to turn down my 1000s to 750 or even 600 because of heat issues.  In winter I kick them up to the "super lumens" setting which is around 1150.  When I ran magnetics, I had to completely turn off one or more lights in the room.

[trichcycler]

no sides here either. I've experience with both, would have stuck with mags, but.....

 

magnetics are noisier,

magnetic ballasts do not play nice with generators.

 

digi's run both hps and mh

digi's have a hot spark protector, like a built in delay.

 

I've never seen a burned digi ballast, but have seen crispy black mag ballasts.

 

both are dirt cheap, some have a 5 yr warranty.