Best Brand of Digital Ballast?

[BaTMaN SKuNK]

Lumatek makes a dual 600 W ballast that seems pretty appealing, anyone have experience with this?

That's what I have. Cool and Quiet.

 

[calibob]

quantum, runs way cool, adjustable power (handy), internal fan. Had nothin but problems with lumatek. So many problems that the hydro store actually took all the lumateks back and gave me quantums as an even trade. The lumatek's would not strike high output lamps consistantly, one blew a lamp and was pulling 11 amps on a 600 watt supply!

 

[bg_nicko]

Using sonlight 600w ballast and Bulb, Have no problems with them.

But daaamn greenplanetguru, your ballast sounds awesome:anim_19:

 

[mrdizzle]

out of 6 lumatek dual 600wers i had 2 flop. so i sold the other four

what about those new xtrasun e-ballast. i trust hydrofarm but they are so new no real news out on them yet.

 

[Mindbender]

Lumatek 600 watt

Ive been running the Lumatek 600 for about 7 weeks now. While its doing the trick the thing really heats up. Also was a bit of a challenge hardening off my little ones.

In the future I think I will go with the Galaxy's. I dig that you can dim the light "extra help with the hardening off" and suspect that they will run cooler than the Lumatek because of the internal fan.

That's my 2 cents....

 

[JH420]

Yeah that would be nice. I would probably be one of the first people in line, but unfortunately they still don't make 600W MH bulbs.

Solarmax has a 600w mh.

 

[JH420]

go lumatek or galaxy, and use a bulb that is designed for use in a digital ballast. most problems with modern digitals are a result of bulb incompatibly issues. Digis run at a higher frequency and will likely burn out hortilux bulbs faster than usual. This setup will be superior to a magnetic ballast setup

Yeah but do any of the lamp manufacturers claim their bulbs to be compatible with digi's??

 

[GroHi]

JH, don't think a single one will actually go so far as to endorse a specific ballast, though a few claim "digi friendly", e.g., Ushio & Sun Pulse. People have scared me into running Ushio's...?

Resisted the digi's ever since they came out, until just recently... 1k's by Quantum. Fig the UL listing, addressing of output frequency & o/l endorsements gave it the edge. However, I still feel it is a gamble on my part to invest in these, or any digi for that matter.

Seems like the short of it is that you're hoping to not get the one ballasts that will not run properly as they are definitely out there... ya know what I mean? Maybe the Quantums are a 1 in 10 bum rate & the Lumateks are a 1 in 7... but the one is always out there... is it mine, or yours? When will it fail?

I don't worry on this with the c&c's... fig the ones i still have will run for another 5-10+ years w/o any issues, on any bulb. I open these & expect it to work. Open a digi & wonder if it will...

BTW, the one Quantum I have up & running now (other in a week or two) started out with a bit of fan noise that went away after 10 minutes of run time... hasn't returned. The case temp was 151F peak during the first start-up & went down to 144F by the end of the session. Since then, it has been between 137-143F, with ambient at 78F. If someone claims they are running "cool"... call them on it. Peace.

 

[TheMiracle]

I made a thread CFLS 2 HPS i need help with it speaks on my grow room space and other factors.. im aslo looking to buy the best possible HPS system to do 5 plants vege and flowering.. plz help me out

 

[yezmar420]

I never had a problem with my lumatek 600W, just picked up a new 1000W one, it has the dimmable feature on it also..must be a new model or something...

 

[TheMiracle]

hey yezmar how much did u pay for that 1000 watt system and where? I'm in the market

 

[Tripsick]

Check out Quantum

 

[Damen]

I didnt even know of digital until this thread. Thanks guys. There also a nice thread about digital vs magnetic i found that really explained alot. Nice thread

 

[TheMiracle]

still ain got a good suggestionon a 1000 watter vendor or place

 

[Michael_Eaton]

NextGen Ballasts are the future man... Worth every penny...

 

[dlovejah]

I really like my Lumatek 600 with the Dimmable Switch... Runs cool and Major Light when you hit that Super Lumen Switch.. Ive heard of a few problems with Lumy's in the past but I think they've nailed it now...Im going to get another One when my Magnetics Where out.... peace and good luck... d:damnhippie:

 

[Calimad]

nextgen been running a week, with more then pleased results.. it starts up so smooth. like a ps3

 

[bleuballz]

i have lumatek, and it is nice and quiet, and no problems so far, and i have had it 18 months. good luck

 

[TheMiracle]

Whats so special about next gen? Dimmable switch? good pricing? has a cooling fan i need more then just a name thrown out their ahahah pitch this shit 2 me.. this is the only way i can research HPS systems.. i would like to buy a ALL IN ONE.. and remember im looking for a 1000 watter go 2 my thread on general growing.. thx for the feedback guys

 

[Michael_Eaton]

ALL IN ONE - meaning: ballast, reflector, & bulb? If that's the case go to your local hydro store... They all work discounts on package deals...

The NextGen is the coolest (coldest running), most quiet, fastest starting, best warrantied ballast on the market...

The fast start (among other things) prolongs bulb life and pays for itself over the next few harvests...

Google it...