digital ballast and hotilux bulbs THE TRUTH!

[Mr_SLaTe]

the only bulbs i have had problems with blowing is ventura's...when there is a power surge/outage...they will shit the bed every time in my next gens and lumatex....i'v had no problems with hortilux...

 

[Papa]

Papa, the problem isnt with the bulbs, its with the ballast...

Ofcourse they're going to tell you it works...or else they wouldnt sell....that makes sense, right?


You should call Lumatek and get there opinion. I know I have...

HM, i've heard several experienced growers on both sides of the electronic ballast/lamp issue. i haven't tested the various combinations myself, so i haven't spoken to that issue.

from what i have read about it, the problems lay with not having generally recognized standards for the specifications that electronic ballasts should be designed and manufactured under. i understand that these are being developed and when they are it will be easier to match lamps and electronic ballasts for consistent results, just as it is now with magnetic ballasts.

what i find to be a pia is someone making wild unsupported statements that are just crap.

that's just a waste of everyone's time and results and a degradation of the farm.

choke trolls.










Papa

 

[stonedmaniac]

Most electronic ballasts do not comply with ANSI ratings. This means that each e.ballast brand can be different. Compound this with actual variations in the production runs from the same manufacturer/brand and you can see why system dependability is easily compromised. These are clearly NOT lamp issues but ballast challenges to be improved upon. If you chose to operate our lamp on a ballast that does not meet these ANSI specifications, lamp life and performance MAY be dramatically reduced. Since the quality of artificial light is paramount to successful plant photosynthesis and optimum growth, it would seem ill-advised to compromise lamp performance in favor of unproven ballast technology. THIS IS FROM THE HORTILUX WEB SITE.ASSHOLE AND IF YOU OR ANYONE ELSE CANT READ BETWEEN THE LINES THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD LAY OFF THE SHIT AND LET YOUR BRAIN GET ALITTLE TIME SO YOU CAN THINK BETTER.horilux is obviously trying to put the blame on the digital ballast industrie well i may not be a genious but doesn`t take one to figure out that if my ballast is working then the FUCKIN PROBLEM IS THE BULB DUMB ASS SO FUCK OFF

 

[motta-tokka]

This forum has the reputation feature? Perfect time to use it when people post threads that are bullshit. There is enough misinformation out in the world ;)

 

[CelticEBE]

I'm running 1k Hortilux on Lumateks with zero problems at all. I even tested out the super lumen feature with one ballast on and the other off.....noticeable difference. I even had some older lumateks that I was running on the 1k Hortilux.....with no problems.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

Taken from eye's website
FAQ's
Q: Do HORTILUX lamps work on electronic/digital ballasts?
A: HORTILUX lamps work equally well as any competitive brand on electronic ballasts. Performance really depends on the quality of the electronic ballast and the ability of the ballast manufacture to produce consistently good products.

Magnetic, core and coil ballasts are made to conform to ANSI Standards. ANSI is the American National Standards Institute that establishes specifications on how specific HID lamps are to perform electrically. This designation ensures that all lamp brands work interchangeably on the ANSI compatible ballasts. For example, all major brand LU1000 lamps comply with ANSI S52, and when matched with a ballast designated ANSI S52, the consumer is assured the lamp and ballast are matched correctly. All major lamp brands currently comply with these ANSI standards, and have for decades.

Most electronic ballasts do not comply with ANSI ratings. This means that each e.ballast brand can be different. Compound this with actual variations in the production runs from the same manufacturer/brand and you can see why system dependability is easily compromised. These are clearly NOT lamp issues but ballast challenges to be improved upon. If you chose to operate our lamp on a ballast that does not meet these ANSI specifications, lamp life and performance MAY be dramatically reduced. Since the quality of artificial light is paramount to successful plant photosynthesis and optimum growth, it would seem ill-advised to compromise lamp performance in favor of unproven ballast technology.

 

[ent]

If anybody has access to ANSI documents, please post up ANSI C78.1352; which covers this issue.

Basically we have lumatek and eye/horti both saying the others product is out of standards. I have no way to tell.

 

[JAHGYDI]

my hortilux 600 is giving me problems on my lumatek

 

[Xceptional]

i got two horti's in lumatek 1k's and they work just fine even when dimmed or on super lumen....

 

[Mmmmasonite]

Try Sunmaster bulbs wth Global Greenhouse ballasts....Bright as all hell! I have tried side by sides with HX vs. Sunmaster on Global Greenhouse Ballasts and the sunmasters were brighter....Plus Global Greenhouse ballasts have a same day trade out policy with the shops so you are never without light for 3 years.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Quantums and horti 1ks never had a problem here.

 

[Seamaiden]

Old thread, but I figure I'll post up that I cannot run the Lumatek bulbs on my digital ballast (Quantum), they just won't fire up right, sometimes not at all and do this really cool Tesla-coil kind of thing. Fun to watch, not so good for the girls. I went to a hydro shop out in Carmichael and lo and behold, it's a known problem! Lumatek is not a brand I'll be putting any more money into, not for bulbs, not for ballasts. I also flat out refuse to drop as much money as an entire new light rig costs on a single fucking bulb--Hortilux. Not without proper side-by-sides, not without verifiable PAR/PUR comparisons, not without knowing factually that it will indeed give me that much more bang for my buck. $40 for a bulb is outrageous to me, let alone $140.

 

[500lbs Guerilla]

Old thread, but I figure I'll post up that I cannot run the Lumatek bulbs on my digital ballast (Quantum), they just won't fire up right, sometimes not at all and do this really cool Tesla-coil kind of thing. Fun to watch, not so good for the girls. I went to a hydro shop out in Carmichael and lo and behold, it's a known problem! Lumatek is not a brand I'll be putting any more money into, not for bulbs, not for ballasts. I also flat out refuse to drop as much money as an entire new light rig costs on a single fucking bulb--Hortilux. Not without proper side-by-sides, not without verifiable PAR/PUR comparisons, not without knowing factually that it will indeed give me that much more bang for my buck. $40 for a bulb is outrageous to me, let alone $140.

I noticed newer hortilux bulbs will have a label on the box that says its been redesigned for digital ballasts. Maybe you'll have better luck with these? I've only seen these in a couple shops. Either way though, I've heard plenty of horror stories about lumateks.

 

[TheIronLung317]

I have both 1000w and 600w Nextgen digital ballasts running hortilux super hps bulbs respectively with no problem. Im also using 600w hortilux super hps bulbs with my sunsystems magnetic ballasts that plug in 2 600w lights per ballasts with no problem at all. Just thought i would add my experiences.

 

[Seamaiden]

I noticed newer hortilux bulbs will have a label on the box that says its been redesigned for digital ballasts. Maybe you'll have better luck with these? I've only seen these in a couple shops. Either way though, I've heard plenty of horror stories about lumateks.

Same here, and add to that the horror stories about Hortilux coupled with their pricing structure? No way I'm gonna drop $$$ for a light, especially when it's not even designed to work with the fixtures more and more people are moving toward using.

I find myself wondering about how often this is happening in the reefkeeping world. Gotta do some checking.

 

[CalcioErba2004]

Ran a 600 horti on my ggl digi no problem. I still prefer mag ballasts for my 1000s. My 400w ggl digi did blow out a horti mh bulb really quick, id say 2 months. Switched to an agrosun bulb and haven't had a problem since. I really like horti bulbs and have had the best results with them. Even when they get old as dirt they still seem to do better than the cheap bulbs at brand new.

 

[smokestack23]

Welll..there's an article in HT about this. It turns out that there are almost no bulbs designed to run with e ballasts. They're designed for the mag ballasts which run at 60Hz. the e ballasts run on 20,000Hz. this causes the gas in the arctube to be unstable and will usually fuck-up...eventually...sometimes...sooner than normal...blah blah..

They say that the only bulb currently designed to run with e ballasts is the Sun Pulse.

I personally have LUMA e ballasts and am running whatever brand of bulbs came with (plain white boxes). They are working fine. I also have a 1K HPS mag ballast in the room. Don't know why...maybe just a different brand?..but all my lights on e ballasts (1K and 600) look to be a bit more red than the mag one.

For the price of the Luma systems ($200ish shipped with MH and HPS bulbs, cooltube, yo-yos, timer) you can almost afford to replace the whole unit (lamp and ballast) each turn around.

 

[RockPhosphate]

I was running Eye SuperHPS on my Lumatek's prior and had a couple issues here and there.

I'm on my second round with the new DigiLux bulbs from CAP. There bitches are BRIGHT! I started to notice some light toxicity from a 600 on a Bubba bush. That was never an issue with the horti's...

Needless to say, these bulbs work really well with the Lumatek's that I'm running. Bulb technology seems to be improving for the better.

 

[IndicacannaJone]

Welll..there's an article in HT about this. It turns out that there are almost no bulbs designed to run with e ballasts. They're designed for the mag ballasts which run at 60Hz. the e ballasts run on 20,000Hz. this causes the gas in the arctube to be unstable and will usually fuck-up...eventually...sometimes...sooner than normal...blah blah..

They say that the only bulb currently designed to run with e ballasts is the Sun Pulse.

I suspect this is either an old article, or just not correct. I just ordered a Digilux bulb, claiming to be specifically designed for e-ballasts.

I'd heard some good things about the bulb, coupled with statistical claims by the company, and a more comprehensive/higher lumen output blue and red light spectrums. I hope they work out well.

 

[RockPhosphate]

Here is a pic of a finished Oldschool Roadkill Skunk that was flowered under a DigiLux 600. :harvest: