I had 6 Lumatek 600's, and a couple 1000s. Bulbs & ballasts burned out frequently, but I got free replacements, which is still a hassle. Ive given up on "hi tech" BS. Gone back to basics. Using cheapest magnetic switchables I can buy this time with no problems. Hmm...

I won't deal with HTG, but I've had a pair of Digital Greenhouse 600w ballasts that have served well, in continuous use, for nearly two years now.[/quote]

I like Digital Greenhouse, have two 600's, 5 yr warrranty, run quiet and cool to the touch. I also like HTG they have treated me good, even when I sent stuff back. Look at their E-Bay rating it is like 99.9% with like 50,000 sales. I don't buy everything there, but I like thier ballast and hoods.

solis tek or quantum!

I have mostly magnetic ballasts. They run within ANSI specifications including 60Hz operation, which is what most bulbs are built to as well. Guaranteed compatibility. One of these ballasts did fail, my local shop replaced the starter in it in 2 hours and I paid like $40 or so. Never popped a bulb with one.

I have a few digital ballasts, I am quite sure they don't give more lumens on the 100% setting. My main interest in a digi ballast is the 'overdrive' setting, where I can put a year old bulb in and get nearly new lumens for an extra 10% power. Great way to get the last good use out of a bulb before replacement. Never popped a bulb doing this, either. This one is a Lumatek, for whatever reason it only runs 240. I have another off-brand digi 1000, fully switchable MH/HPS, 120/240 but it doesn't dim. No issues here, either.

My problem with a lot of this is that when I hear about people actually putting a kill-a-watt on their digi ballasts, the things are pulling 1050-1100 watts! Where's the efficiency they promised?

I plan to put my setup on a flip someday, so I didn't want any hassles with digitals deciding a flip was a line fault and shutting down until I come n babysit.

I bought ALL my ballasts used. No warranty, but if parts are standardized and inexpensive (read magnetic) then it's not such a risk.

Maybe the digital ballasts are marginally better. They're just not worth the additional expense to me.

I have 2 phantom 6oos and have had 0 problems with them.

outwest

mag and coil all day 100$ or less new. never ever had a ballast failure with mag n coil, ever. they are alot heavier but who cares im not carrying them around. and as stated by a few in this thread, i can fix them in minutes or take them apart and piece em out.

QUANTUM!!!! i got 2 1000 watters and im loving them one has been one for about a year only off for maybe 2 hours outta that year and no problems with it both stay super cool to the touch and are dimable from 1000-750-500 watts. only thing i dont like about them is that the cooling fan in them likes to suck up a lot of dust i imagine the mother board gets nice and coated. and the 399 price tag is pretty bogus to but they work so i will keep using them

hondapower420 said:

QUANTUM!!!! i got 2 1000 watters and im loving them one has been one for about a year only off for maybe 2 hours outta that year and no problems with it both stay super cool to the touch and are dimable from 1000-750-500 watts. only thing i dont like about them is that the cooling fan in them likes to suck up a lot of dust i imagine the mother board gets nice and coated. and the 399 price tag is pretty bogus to but they work so i will keep using them

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Let me help you bro,ehydroponics.com has the quantum 1ks for $249 and the solis tek 1ks for $215!And take a shop vac to that quantum and suck the dust out once in a while and it will last a looong time.

Solis-Teks, for about a yr almost, not a hiccup! And they fire up sequentially to boot!

+1 on the Solis Teks.

So here's an update on the Hypotek ballast that I bought more than a year ago. I thought one of them was going bad on me so I sent it back to the manufacture to test out. I received a call back from the company a few days later telling me the ballast runs perfect. They were nice enough to return the ballast back to me no charge, turns out the ballast was fine and it was a hortilux bulb that went bad on me turning off and on and throwing out a blue light spectrum from it. I might have to find a new brand of bulb now...

MAG!

fishwhistle said:

Let me help you bro,ehydroponics.com has the quantum 1ks for $249 and the solis tek 1ks for $215!And take a shop vac to that quantum and suck the dust out once in a while and it will last a looong time.

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Dude, take a look Quantum 1000's for $223 obo with free shipping brand new, already many have sold.
Actually, I could have swore I saw them for $199, but I couldnt find that price again. Anyway, this is sure a lot lower then the first guy who is buying them for $399??
http://www.ebay.com/itm/QUANTUM-100...249?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ae47d8639

Lumatek 1000's and dual 600's with digilux bulbs. Had several ballests fail earler in there production but all have been replaced at no charge. I have a couple of the older ones that have been running for over 5 years. Advantage. No coil degradation over time as with core and coil. A core and coil would have lost 20 percent of its efficency if it could even last that long without buzzing you out of the room. lol. Also running phantom 1000 watt in veg. Over 3 years not a problem. Dimable but not able to overdrive as with lumatek's. (super lumen's) Next gens are ok and have great warenty but fans are a weak point as is no surge protection. Digilux bulbs have been the shit'z Had one 1000 watt MH fail (early production) and almost stoped using them. The plants loved them up till that point that it blew up and started a fire. Took pieces to local shop and was given a new one. have ran 12 + digilux's for over 2 years now. ( I keep panda film and any other flamable stuff away from blast zone now. lol) Most run on super lumin's setting for there entire life with no problems or failures. Only other problem was a 1000 watt hps lamp would not start on super lumen setting after about 6 months. Not a big deal as I shoot for between 6 to 7 month lamp swap. Put new one in and have not had a problem since. 2nd choice lamp would be oshui There are many reasons to switch to digital balists over conventional core and coil besides the simple fact you will not experience light degradation from the balast. Others are better power factor. Simply stated they utilize power more efficenctly then the inductive load of a core and coil. This will equate to a small energy savings. Just do the research. The new Gavita hps's that use a 400 v lamp and loose only 5% of par light over a one year period sound promising and are not any more then any other lamp ballast and hood set up. With current 250v lamps a 10 percent loss of light is experienced in the first month. The hard part is finding one of them on this side of the pond. I personally will probibly never use a core and coil again unless there's no other option that is.. What ever you have decided to get I hope it has been working well for you. Peace

RELOADER212 said:

Dude, take a look Quantum 1000's for $223 obo with free shipping brand new, already many have sold.
Actually, I could have swore I saw them for $199, but I couldnt find that price again. Anyway, this is sure a lot lower then the first guy who is buying them for $399??
http://www.ebay.com/itm/QUANTUM-100...249?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ae47d8639

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im in canada both my local shops sell there 1k digital ballast for 399 quantum or lumatek. i wonder how much the duty and customs fees would be from the states? i think it would even out?

Soli Tek Matrix no more lighting control timers and relays. Best ballast hands down...

JACKMAYOFFER said:

Soli Tek Matrix no more lighting control timers and relays. Best ballast hands down...

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Wow. First digi ballast that looks worth buying.

Hmmm... this is the first time I've heard of coil degradation on a magnetic ballast. How does one test for that? What's the fix- and the cost?

If forced to go digital, I will admit that Solis Tek sure looks appealing, although so did Lumatek and Quantum when they first came out.

On some things, I'm excited about being an early adopter. But, when it comes to high power equipment- and in my little world that means anything much over 400 watts, lol- I suddenly want the most tried, true, reliable, proven gear I can lay my hands on, and this goes triple when I'm dealing with used parts.

wow solis teks for the win
straight bitchin

digital all the way, they run cooler are lighter, burn the bulbs brighter, have super boost, i'll only use lumateks and solis teks, those matrix ballast are sick, i think they have the possibility to have programable dimming and brightening, mimicking sun rise and set which make me excited, never any unsealed ballast like the quantoms