Lumatek sucks

[homegrowngreen]

I was about to purchase a few of lumatek's 1kW on ebay for a steal of a price, but luckily went to my hydrostore to double check their prices when the girl working there saved me from these potential headaches.
She said that a couple of their customers were having troubles with blown bulbs presumably from the inappropriate ingnition voltage for the bulbs, but most of the lumateks which had been returned there were due to really bad RFI - is this only happening with the 1000s?? (haven't heard of it in the smaller ones, but then again I don't really know anyone using the smaller ones).
I guess its been bad enough that the store had something like 15 or 20 ballasts left and they refused to sell them at all, just shippin them all back to lumatek and not placing any sort of new order for a long long time.

 

[TrichromeFan]

I got a 600 Lumatek with a Hortilux. Mine has a breaker instead of the fuse. Been running it for a few months with no problems. Running in super lumen mode now, and it's doing fine. Only time will tell...

 

[rockymtnbuds]

I've heard about the problems with the 1k and it seems to be isolated to this unit. I use a 600w and it is a great ballast. I've put about 5 different types of bulbs in it over the past few years and no problems with any of them. I also recommend the Quantam. I have 1 of each and can't pick a favorite.

 

[R. Face]

I recently bought (2) 1kW Dimamble Lumateks, both were working fine, until i pluggged one in, into an undedicated breaker, im assuming it shorted the fuse in the ballast. Regardless, the ballast was less than a year old, so I hit up the Lumatek Co.

I explained my sitch, the Co. sent me a brand new ballast, that is now working perfectly. Now both of my ballasts work fine, I actually love this units, super cool and make no real noise.

Ive had no problems using the Hortilux's EYE bulbs either, I just make usre everythings plugged in correctly, all lamps get 15 min to cool down before a re-start and only using them on dedicated 15amp breakers.

I plan on getting 2 more 1kw dimmable units from them in the future, bc although the first ballast shorting on me gave me a scare on why I chose Lumatek, but then their customer service kicks ass, and they dont beat around the bush. So as long as they can back up their word/5 yr warranty, then personally I think they are just as good as anything else out there.

Also FYI, i saw a post talking about cheap units, there has been faulty models being sold super cheap and under the table. Id only rec. getting one from a Hydrofarm dealer, and get a recipt just in case.


RF

 

[The Joker]

I've got an old model, almost 5 years old to be exact and it runs fine. Lumatek digital 600. Now I know it's reaching the end of it's life and i want another digital. Don't know.

 

[TheCoolestMan]

I have a new lumatek 600 w digital with boost im runing since 2 months and so far so good...The guy from luma told me to use powerplant bulb so i did...Mine dont have no fuse and the plug reach str8 inside the ballast.

 

[waayne]

I've been running Lumateks for about 9 months now,the only problems I've had are with the 1000's,fried 2 of those so far,got 20 of them burning right now will see how they hold up!

 

[R. Face]

I hear you Waayne, I was having this discussion with some friend last week. When I got my xbox 360, I literally went through 2 bad ones in a row before I got reimbursed for a model that has been working perfectly for 2-3yrs. But those first 2 units were Red rings right out the box.

I feel like its just new technology, Its bound to take a shit sometime, and not all units are going to be 100% perfect. Ive had homies that owned 12 of them and 2-3 took a shit. Doesnt matter to me tho, as long as its a legit problem I didnt cause, they will replace them if anything goes wrong, and if it were as fast like mine, we did the whole deal and shipping in 5 days total..

Not to mention that the gardens I have frequented, typically most of the farmers are using the Lumateks, if not then I see Quantums and NextGens alot. Ill stick with the Lumateks tho, gotta keep my equip matching lol..

 

[homegrowngreen]

It's good to hear about their customer service, not really risking too much if lumatek will replace it for you.
Does anyone know or have much experience (that might actually be a bad thing though) with quantum's or nextgen's customer service?

 

[webstar5]

I currently have 2x Dual 600w Lumatecs, and a 250w Lumatec. They have been running for a year on super lumens with no issues.

I also used to have the older model 600w Lumetec.

I was going to upgrade to 4 x 1k lumatecs, but you guys just got me super concerned!