Another Lumatek bites the dust..

[Time]

I'm sorry to hear about yer ballast d.

Dealing with shipping back and fourth and the down time is real drag.

 

[purpleberry]

I dont know how lumatek sells there junk. I had one melt down and the replacement one burns bulbs up and my yeild has gone down, seem the buds dont want to dense up, I have a feeling its the ballast. The other one make static on my TV. Im ditching both of them asap. Dont buy lumatek......

 

[JACKMAYOFFER]

I really like my Quantum's super quiet and almost no heat and the dimming feature really helps when you are introducing new plants beats the hell out of raising 8 lights ...JACK

 

[buffbuds]

huh... got 2 lumetek 600s 3 weeks ago. one fried today. F my life

 

[Dubsta]

I ordered 4 600w Digital Green House Ballast Kits w/ hood bulbs and everything from HTGSupply for like $300 each and 1 of the digital ballast burnt out after 1 1/2 flower cycles the rest were still going till the cops took them down. My lawyer is pretty sure im gonna get all my equipment back so we will see, cops hate me it seems. I wonder if they will have to replace any of my weed the cut down, i was like 2-4weeks away from harvest. 20 of the mature plants were 2 weeks away. sucks.

I'm pretty sure the Lumatek ballast's come with a warranty also so u might be fine beside waiting for all that bullshit. Good luck bro.

 

[swervin]

I've had my 400 lumatek 4 over a year. Never had any problems. i keep it outside my room. never has it got to hot that you couldn't touch it. i would't buy anything but. and the light is brighter than my old magnetics. As for bulbs burning out, never had a problem there either. there's more light output and that why it goes threw bubls faster than a magnetic!

 

[Rolln J]

lol NO it goes through more bulbs because the bulbs are not designed for the ballasts!

they claim though that digital ballasts are easier on the bulbs, which is false...

 

[frogeye]

i cant even believe people can say their luma puts off so much more heat then a magnetic bal.and as far as the interference im not buying into that either cuz the luma have the rf shield to prevent it.been runnin em for bout 4 years now and u couldnt give me a mag for free to run.all ballasts go bad.next time u buy a ballast compare the light output with a meter on both then run as normal then try again 6 months later nuff said.not dissin any1 on here for their opinions just sayin im not cookin a turkey so why do i want a magnetic oven .lol at the end of the day its all what works for us and what were comfortable using.

 

[cemchris]

IMHO, the digital ballasts aren't quite dialed in yet. I know growers who love and swear by them, and I know growers who hate and swear AT them. I had a buddy swap his 4 old ballasts for 4 new digis, and they run interference on his television. I guess they do emit some kind of radio activity. Your ballasts, as well as ANY electrical equipment, will run more efficiently if they're kept cool. This includes your cords. I keep my ballasts outside my grow room if at all possible, and I ALWAYS put a fan on them. The extra electricity for the fan is balanced by the brighter light (more, better buds) and you'll pull less amperage form the grid. I am sticking with my Sun Harvest Pros.

Are you trying to say by having a fan blowing on my digi's I'm going to save electricity?

 

[greengooroo]

try P.L.lighting systems, there old school, but work problem free.

 

[dlovejah]

Well this thread has turned into a monster..lol.. Well Im running another Lumatek 600 and its doing ok so far.. But really guys you shouldnt have to run a fan on your ballasts and you shouldnt have to keep them outside your grow area because there fire hot.. None of my magnetic coil ballasts need that and Ive been running most of them for 4 years or better.This MF:banana1sv6: runs hotter than shit and you must cool it if its inside your room.. Bottom Line is they havnt got this ballast dialed in or you wouldnt here so many complaints.. Do you hear people complaining about there Powerhouse 600's..No You dont... We will see.. d

 

[Grass Roots]

Hey there PB...same issue on my end with the Lumatek...first I noticed the buds on the ladies were not swelling up like I know they should be doing...inspected the bulb (eye - hortilux) and noticed there was a dark haze inside the globe...the bulb lasted for two months and that was the worst freaking harvest I've had...normally pull a P and this run was 7 zips of the worst looking nuggs...potency was there and the flavor and smell...but no weight...

Moved the ballast to the veg side with a new bulb, after about a month the ballast would not kick on...had to unplug the bitch and plug back in several times to get it to work. decided to pull it and replace it with a Sunsytem1 600...reason I decided on the SS1, I have two 1000w MH SunSytem ballasts and they are still going strong today after 10 years of use. The POS Lumatek now sits in the closet collecting dust...for me, I'll stick with what work and that is the SS1...


Peace
GR:character0025:

I dont know how lumatek sells there junk. I had one melt down and the replacement one burns bulbs up and my yeild has gone down, seem the buds dont want to dense up, I have a feeling its the ballast. The other one make static on my TV. Im ditching both of them asap. Dont buy lumatek......

 

[ehole]

how many times is it gonna have to be posted... the eye hortilux bulbs do not like the 60 Hz range that most digital ballasts operate on

 

[mountaindank]

Except only magnetic ballasts run at 60hz. ;) Anyway I've got a LumaTek 250W that I use a standard Phillips MH and a Son Agro Super HPS, and everything's fine so far.

 

[LEBDOG]

I just want to post that I have had perfect operation out of my Lukatek Adjustable+Boost 400 Ballast with a Hortilux Eye 400MH. This Lumatek is actually cooler than my fan cooled Quantum 600's...

 

[TortureKill]

Im planning on buying atleast 1 600w lumatek in the next couple weeks.. Reading all the reviews about ppl getting back Lumas makes me weary of them.. From what I have read, as long as u use a regular phillips or GE bulb, u wont have issues.. Should I be alright? I figured I would pick up two incase one does go, my plants arent left in the dark. Plus im gonna need 1200 watts for what Im runnin

 

[sky high]

I've had great luck with the 600's for 3 years+. (bought 4...then a year later bought 2 more) However, I lost one (still inside the 3 year warranty) 2 weeks ago and tonight I'm seeing another unlit lamp....so may have lost another one. #2 is one of the first one's I purchased and is outside the 3 year timeframe.

In the interim I've purchased 4 Quantums and have also been running those.

My plan from here on out is to replace any Lumies that aren't fully warrantied with Quantums.

I'm also looking at switching to Ushio lamps from hortilux (which have performed well but are more expensive to replace) Thoughts?

good luck all

s h

 

[cemchris]

Again Lumateks and Hortiluxs do not mix. You ballast/bulbs will fail. Tried and true. If you dont want that to happen dont use a hortilux.

 

[LEBDOG]

Again Lumateks and Hortiluxs do not mix. You ballast/bulbs will fail. Tried and true. If you dont want that to happen dont use a hortilux.

To be very clear, this issue effects 600-1000 Ballasts with the Eye combination. The 400's with this combination do just fine.

I can't believe how long this has gone on also. I will unsubscribe from this thread.

 

[LEBDOG]

To be very clear, this issue effects 600-1000 Ballasts with the Eye combination. The 400's with this combination do just fine.

I can't believe how long this has gone on also. I will unsubscribe from this thread.

I am almost certain I jinx'd myself! Serves me right doesn't it! I was trying to give LUMATEK my attempt at being fair, and you know it, FAILED!

Basically, I turned on my 400 accidentally, so after a few seconds (rather than a full warm up), I shut it off. Now it only flashes and dead! That's it for Hortilux for me, not LUMATEK, the ballast is still cooler than my quantum's without the fan.