40k Light Controller Suggestions?

I'm about to go thru a full round of city inspections on a new setup using the Gavita 750's, I'll let y'all know how it goes and what they say

Good luck on the inspections, hope all works out.

Man this thread is dead. I don't dig the Gavitas EL1 and EL2. They charge way too much to power 40 lamps. POWERBOX has incredibly reliable controllers. 95% of their light controllers are ETL listed.
I also noticed that Autopilot Controllers recently released a controller called the PX1 for the Phantom DE ballasts with USB interface. Lots of info in their PX1 video.

Powerbox are NOT CEC or NEC certified, so if your location is going to have an ESA inspection, the powerbox controllers will not pass inspection, if they do then the inspector doesn't know his job. Get an electrician to build your lighting controller and be covered.

Olyver said:

Powerbox are NOT CEC or NEC certified, so if your location is going to have an ESA inspection, the powerbox controllers will not pass inspection, if they do then the inspector doesn't know his job. Get an electrician to build your lighting controller and be covered.

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Duly noted Olyver. Thanks for your knowledge. Do you know what states require the CEC or NEC certifications for light controllers? And why don't hydro companies make their controllers well enough to get them correctly certified? Doesn't make much sense...

GreenFox said:

Duly noted Olyver. Thanks for your knowledge. Do you know what states require the CEC or NEC certifications for light controllers? And why don't hydro companies make their controllers well enough to get them correctly certified? Doesn't make much sense...

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I was wondering same thing and why do so many controllers state the statement to make it sound certified. pending? " the DPC-24000 is currently pending ETL/UL/CAN/CSA Approvals"

I would love to see more of the info and restrictions even if its not in my state yet

GreenFox said:

Duly noted Olyver. Thanks for your knowledge. Do you know what states require the CEC or NEC certifications for light controllers? And why don't hydro companies make their controllers well enough to get them correctly certified? Doesn't make much sense...

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All states require NEC and all provinces require CEC. It costs more to make them correctly.

After using the Gavita and nanolux controller I don't know why you would use anything else. Even the el1/2 isn't priced bad. For the time they save they should cost three times as much and then there is nothing to inspect as far as a lighting controller. I agree with the other guys, all the hydro store controllers are shit box and the time and money it costs to make your own doesn't even compare. I am no electrician but I would bet I could get 40 gavitas hung and turned on faster then a electrician could build the controller. Before you even start running three miles of power cords and extensions to try and get just 24 lights to all plug in at the same spot. Oh yeah and you get overheat and dimming function. How much cost does that add to controller? We have built 4 controllers and done 2 rooms with gavita/nanolux controllers and I will never go backwards again

Burned Haze said:

I was wondering same thing and why do so many controllers state the statement to make it sound certified. pending? " the DPC-24000 is currently pending ETL/UL/CAN/CSA Approvals"

I would love to see more of the info and restrictions even if its not in my state yet

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They've been waiting a few years at least for the ETL/UL/CSA approvals, probably never get it.

As Cali Clouds indicated it is easier to install Gavitas and use the EL1/EL2 controllers, a PLC can be configured to replace the EL controllers and add more functions like smoke detectors, CO2 burner link to dim lights as burner is on and temp rises with heat from CO2 burner, even with hydroponics, the lights can be dimmed as plants are fed.

Here is a three-phase 225A Loadcenter Controller built for 30 x 1000W ballasts. Has PLC control, Ranco etc111000 high temp shutoffs, 3 Ammeters/Voltmeters, two smoke detectors, two Carbon Monoxide detectors, hot start delay, flipbox link, Bluetooth link with Siemens Comm module and more. Two three-phase air conditioners and other equipment will be powered and controlled from this unit. If anyone wants to know more, post your questions or send me a PM. This unit is CEC and NEC compliant.

After seeing that I am even happier I bought a nanolux controller for $80 and can run 999 lights from it with no wires. It definitely looks high quality I just don't understand why with the new controllers there is a need to have all that just to run 30 lights. the ammeters would be nice on my sub panels to see what the rooms are really using because we know we are using most of our useful load on the main panel. Anyhow nice work.

Thanx CC, the Nanolux ballasts do give off a little RFI, but nothing too extreme to cause major concerns. Contrary to what ballast manufacturers say, all digital ballasts will emit interference. It may be marginal in some cases, depending on the number of ballasts. Gavita stopped making the Digistar series, they were a nightmare, would cause digital timers and other electronic devices like CO2 controllers and TDS/PH/EC meters to have the LCDs give weird readings. I have a video clip of an AUBE digital timer, which are very reliable, start scrolling the time and days of week. Remote ballasts and shades are the worst culprits, there is flexible conduit that is encased in a mesh to reduce or eliminate any RFI or EMI. I have modified a few controllers from Agrowtek to communicate with Gavita and Nanolux ballasts, without using their controllers and siftware. The technology is OTS (off the shelf) that they both use to use a central controller similar to a PLC and send commands to power off/on, dim, etc.

With DMX, it would be easy to actually have individual control of each ballast or group them. The FCC and Industry Canada dictate what frequency bands a device can transmit and receive in and the wattage of the transceivers, usually in MilliWatts.

The need for controllers like the one pictured is price wise, mag ballasts or the digital ballasts without extra features can be controlled with the same features as the high-end ballasts. Gavita should build their ballasts with two RJ14 receptacles so you don't need to use the splitters. If you have to install a lot of the Gavitas, don't buy a whole bunch of the RJ14 cables, make your own to length. Need a pair of telcom crimps, flat cable, and the RJ14 connectors.