E-Ballast Poll

[dedust]

Which e-ballast do you use?

Galaxy
Lumatek
NextGen
Quantum

 

[Green Supreme]

Nutrilife. Peace GS

 

[PoopyCoopy]

has anybody used those ge digital cmh ballasts?

 

[crom]

Quantum

 

[cymbaline]

cheap chinese knockoffs for 1/3rd of the price.

 

[crom]

cheap chinese knockoffs for 1/3rd of the price.

No sarcasm, how are those working for you? I mean are you happy with them? I'm curious because heck everyone wants to save money.

Cheers,
Crom

 

[cymbaline]

they seem to be working great.
I can't speak on how they hold up over the long run. But a year and no smoke yet..
I can't even compare them to any of the ones listed since I have never used any
but these chinese ones. I figure they all are made at the same factory anyway and/or
the parts get sourced from the same suppliers..

 

[motherlode]

I have 2 htg supply digis (which Im sure are made in china) - about 3 years old now and they are working just fine

I have seen nextgens from china on alibaba

lots of hydro suppliers have their shit made in china

 

[Seamaiden]

I can attest to the durability of the Quantum. I can speak to the fact that they can take a fall from a pretty good height and not miss a beat (even if the mounting bracket got bent). I will not say how I know.

 

[Billygoat]

Lumatek newest generation. I always said I would never use a digital, but I'm liking them. Running 4x600 240volts and not one issue. My room temp's dropped so much over the old ones. OH! no loud buzzing either.
Take care,
BG

 

[HeadGrow]

I can attest to the durability of the Quantum. I can speak to the fact that they can take a fall from a pretty good height and not miss a beat (even if the mounting bracket got bent). I will not say how I know.

haha, suuuure Seamaiden. Are you a butter fingers? juuust kidding.

I started using phantoms about a year ago and I'm loving them. They turn on every time, run cool, have the dim-able feature (even though I don't use it), and mount easy. You can even stack them if you wanted.

I also have one lumatek that I've been running for 3 years now and it's still working fine.

 

[deacon1503]

Almost all electronic/digi ballasts are made in China.

Anyone check these out yet?

Solis-tek:

Maverick Sun: http://www.mavericksun.com/whatsnew.asp

They both have open circuit protection as well as internal staggered starts.

 

[xX Kid Twist Xx]

i have quantums about 2 years now running almost none stop dimming undimming they work perfect dont get hot and all my bulbs are still good. i just changed them out after a year, i used hortilux. i have the lumeteks for veg 3 400's and and a single 400 runs hotter then a 1k quantum.

 

[Seamaiden]

haha, suuuure Seamaiden. Are you a butter fingers? juuust kidding.

I swear to GOD, it was an accident! (It's always an accident, I swear.) Pulled it off a shelf that was above my head. Do we have an embarrassed smilie guy? No facepalm, so I'll give you this, should take your mind off me dropping ballasts. Hopefully.

 

[dedust]

Almost all electronic/digi ballasts are made in China.

Anyone check these out yet?

Solis-tek:

Maverick Sun: http://www.mavericksun.com/whatsnew.asp

They both have open circuit protection as well as internal staggered starts.

I thought Lumatek and Quantums were made in the US :thinking:thinking

 

[dedust]

I can attest to the durability of the Quantum. I can speak to the fact that they can take a fall from a pretty good height and not miss a beat (even if the mounting bracket got bent). I will not say how I know.

haha...lol...

that's funny seamaiden. how long have you been running the quantums for. my friends keep steering me to the lumateks. decisions decisions...

 

[cymbaline]

I thought Lumatek and Quantums were made in the US :thinking:thinking

they might be manufactured in the USA but where did the majority of their components come from? I know some use capacitors made in the states.
Also I believe something can be labeled as made in the USA yet still be made upwards of X%(?) of foreign manufactured components.
http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/lumatek-ballast.html
http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/quantum-ballast.html

 

[dedust]

they might be manufactured in the USA but where did the majority of their components come from? I know some use capacitors made in the states.
Also I believe something can be labeled as made in the USA yet still be made upwards of X%(?) of foreign manufactured components.
http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/lumatek-ballast.html
http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/quantum-ballast.html

yeah, that makes sense. what is that alibaba site though? do they sell retail or are they just distributors? are those knock-offs? run offs? thanks...

 

[motherlode]

some of it is knockoffs and some of it is where these distributors get the shit

if you buy anything in enough quanity they will put whatever name on it you want

 

[xX Kid Twist Xx]

china makes alot of the little components company's use to make the bigger components, if that makes sense. the export the most earth minerals in the world that are used to make all the electrical parts for almost everything. and next year prices will rise because they announced this week they will be exporting 10% less.