Digital Ballasts - Quantum VS Phantom

[opt1c]

not a fan of the digital dimmer switch on phantoms; bought 3 awhile ago and one has a mind of its own; had to return it for a new one

 

[ttystikk]

I think some people are missing one of the main uses of dimmable ballasts. That would be to decrease the light toward the end of the grow. I use a 100w Phantom. I keep it at 1000w until week 7 on a 10 week strain. Then I reduce it to 750w for weeks 8 and 9, then down to 600w week 10. This prevents new pistils from forming and helps the plants finish properly and the buds stay dense.

Also Phantom specifically states in the manual that you can only use bulbs the same wattage as the undimmed ballast wattage. So if you have a 1000w ballast you need to use a 1000w bulb. The reason is because even if you have it dimmed to 600w when the ballast first comes fires up it comes on at 1000w for the first 10-15 minutes then goes down to your dimmed wattage selection. It does this to prolong bulb life. It is better for the bulb to be fired up at the rated wattage and then dimmed after properly warmed up.

That is a good use for dimming, but you're still killing your PAR/watt stat. An example: if you run your 1000w HPS bulb at a dimmed 600w, you're actually getting less than 50% of the original rated light from it. In other words, your efficiency is way down. This is in addition to the permanent lumen depreciation acceleration damage that such dimmed use causes the bulb. This permanent damage occurs whether the bulb has been 'preheated' or not. The testing was done and discussed in the attachment 'LAHID[1]' in my post above.

Therefore, rather than dimming the bulb itself, perhaps there is another way to skin this light reduction cat; options include running some of your lights as opposed to all of them, running lower wattage bulbs late in flower, possibly switching a metal halide bulb for the HPS, as these not only produce less light but also shift the spectrum up and emit more UVa and UVb light which apparently helps trichome production, or lastly, just raising the light you're currently using up higher and achieving the dimming effect that way. Raising a 1000w light up just one foot will produce dimming on the order of what you're looking for.

There is yet another way to reduce the total light on your girls in the last weeks of flower; shorten their day cycle. If you're in a 10 week cycle, you could start shortening the day length by 15 minutes a week at week 3 or so, until you've arrived at 10 hours on and 14 off at the 10th week. This also has the advantage of replicating the natural shortening of days at the end of the growing season.

 

[recreationaluse]

I think some people are missing one of the main uses of dimmable ballasts. That would be to decrease the light toward the end of the grow. I use a 100w Phantom. I keep it at 1000w until week 7 on a 10 week strain. Then I reduce it to 750w for weeks 8 and 9, then down to 600w week 10. This prevents new pistils from forming and helps the plants finish properly and the buds stay dense.

Also Phantom specifically states in the manual that you can only use bulbs the same wattage as the undimmed ballast wattage. So if you have a 1000w ballast you need to use a 1000w bulb. The reason is because even if you have it dimmed to 600w when the ballast first comes fires up it comes on at 1000w for the first 10-15 minutes then goes down to your dimmed wattage selection. It does this to prolong bulb life. It is better for the bulb to be fired up at the rated wattage and then dimmed after properly warmed up.

Interesting, you are the second person I run into that dims the last couple of weeks, have you done any side by sides to see how much yield is lost by doing this, in a side by side i ran, I used digi ballast at lowest setting for first 2 weeks, went up a setting weeks 3-4, 100% weeks 5-6, and overdrive till the end. my yield was at least 25-30%less than magnetic ballast at steady 1000 watts. this experiment hurt me just to watch the different progression rates, but i stayed true and didnt deviate from experiment thinking the plants would make up for it somehow while being overdriven. Bottom line: didnt work so I was wandering how reversing the process works for you compared to just steady light output. your theory on late pistil development is a very valid one, just wanted to know how much yields suffered if any

 

[opt1c]

what about dimming just for the fist week? would be interested to see the difference between this and say running full bore or mh for the first week

 

[Aerojoe]

Interesting, you are the second person I run into that dims the last couple of weeks, have you done any side by sides to see how much yield is lost by doing this, in a side by side i ran, I used digi ballast at lowest setting for first 2 weeks, went up a setting weeks 3-4, 100% weeks 5-6, and overdrive till the end. my yield was at least 25-30%less than magnetic ballast at steady 1000 watts. this experiment hurt me just to watch the different progression rates, but i stayed true and didnt deviate from experiment thinking the plants would make up for it somehow while being overdriven. Bottom line: didnt work so I was wandering how reversing the process works for you compared to just steady light output. your theory on late pistil development is a very valid one, just wanted to know how much yields suffered if any

what about dimming just for the fist week? would be interested to see the difference between this and say running full bore or mh for the first week

I'm also interested in this, So you lost out on yield compared to the other side that was same setup/strains but full blast the whole way? Glad you stayed true to it despite the yields, all in the quest for knowledge.
Do you still get a swell towards the end when you dim it opt1c? or is it already done by that time.

 

[smartcalyx]

I recently switched from mags, couldnt decide to go with, and didnt wanna get these cheap ebay knockoffs. couldnt decide what brand to go with, and couldnt bring myself to spend top dollar on solis tek. so i grabbed a couple lumateks, 1 used 1000 w/o the fan that immediately crapped on me. two 6oos that seem to be running really well. a galaxy 150, 600, and dual 250, they all run really well. also grabbed 2 phantom 1000s, and realized i was ballast happy so now im stuck with em and aint even gonna use em. to be honest other than the galaxys that are a nice size and weight, mags arent that much heavier. maybe a little bulkier. all the digis ive encountered arent that much hotter than a not ragged mag imho

 

[NebulasINbloom]

Yes it is.

They do remote versions of the pro el 400 v range and coming with the new air cooled will be a single ended 1000 allowing for virticle positioning if one wishes.

Happy times for all.

Where did you see info on the air-cooled HPS lights? I have the remote 1150's and was about to do a vert grow with a diff brand, but if they are coming out with somehting like you mentioned, I'll wait! Hands down, the best light you can buy!

Thanks,
Neb

 

[theherbalizor]

I think they will be released late q3 early q4 of this year.

 

[Olyver]

Would you buy an electronic ballast if it was assembled in North America. There is NO REASON why the same ballasts can't have pcbs etched and hand solder 90% of the components. Only pcb with smt components is the dimming module, and that can be pre-made, that module doesn't affect a electronic ballasts failure. Labor would be expensive, wouldn't take more than 2 hours to hand mount and solder components. The enclosures are already machined, it's all hand work after. Hire some assemblers, $15/hr and parts are not going to cost more than $100. That's any triacs, resistors, diodes, capacitors, receptacle, lampcord, fuse, etc, etc. Buying in bulk, 1000 or more of each components. The pcbs can also he done inshop. There is no two-sided etching on the electronic ballasts from what I can tell. The resin is not needed, it's to keep all the components covered so no one can try and reverse engineer. Already did that, got 99% of all the epoxy resin off, and can make out markings and values on the components

Just wondering if people would be more apt to buy a ballast built in US and/or Canada that can be serviced if it fails or becomes faulty. Not sure what the return rate is on Quantums, Phantoms, Solis-tek, Nextgen, or any of the other dozen or so Chinese built ballasts. One of the main issues with components, is buying all quality parts like resistors, caps, etc.

Seen at least 20 electronic/digital ballasts fail or burn out in the last few months and knowing they could have been fixed, instead of returned and scrapped or recycled. Only sad part is it takes $$$$$ to get them built, but seeing made in US or Canada on the ballast would be kewl, jmho.

 

[highdesertgardener]

those solis-tek ballasts look badass :)

I'm a rep for Solis Tek...we are doing a big marketing push currently....we need to get the word out on these. I am currently working Southern Cali territory and working my way up north. If you have any questions on these ballasts shoot me an email and I will be more than happy to answer any questions. Just to clear up a few little details...the remote on the Matrix version is optional. It retails at $19.99 but saves a grower $150+ out the gate on a Master lighting Controller and a timer. The remote has a built in timer and theoretically can control 1000 ballasts with one remote. The remote is only actually involved with the ballast during ignition and shut down. You can choose and program and one of the preset grow cycles i.e. 12/12, 18/6,23/1, on the LCD screen. This ballast is 1000w,600w,400w. You can use any wattage bulb in the ballast. All bulbs will fire with this ballast. We also have Solis Boost. This gives an additional 5% overdrive on the wattage..i.e. 1000w=1040w, 600w=630w, 400w=420w:cool: Solis Tek did testing and we found out that 5-7% is a safe threshold for "boost". Above 7%, life of the bulbs deteriorate faster. It's the only ballast like it in the world....check us out at www.solis-tek.com. Look us up on Facebook.