digital ballast?

[bullseye]

just wondering if the price difference is worth paying for a digital ballast, or if the old reliables are best. the only way i can see them being of benefit is it they save money on power? does anyone know if they do or does any wanna give pro's and cons of either ballast? cheers!

[evilboof13]

from personal experience and from others telling aswell,, digital ballasts arnt worth the couple of extra hundred

 

ive ran both and ive seen no difference in my power bill

[SukonmiSkunk]

i think the biggest difference with the dig ballasts is the initial start up amps.. with the normal ballast they start up with higher amps for about 15mins.. so a ballast that runs constantly on say 4 amps.. the start up will be around 12amps.. slowly dropping over the 15mins to running amps at 4..

 

with the digi ballast.. my 600's run constantly at around 2.8 amps.. which is a little less than a normal ballast.. but the start up amps are around 1.3 or something building up to the running amps of around 2.8...

 

so really .. the only cost saved is in the start up.. sure youll save a little through the running time.. but not as much as the start up.. i guess if youre using multiple lights then it will be better for you to go digital because of the lower start up amps.. less chance of blowing a fuse

[Naycha]

People are always complaining about the price of digital ballasts.

 

I just got a new digital 600 with reflector and globe for $250, sure the reflector isn't the best on the market but is $250 really that expensive?

[hashbean]

thay give out 30% more lumens and i get up to an extra year out of my globes useing digital. thay cycle 1000s of times faster than old balasts so your plants get a constant light not the flicker (you cant see it but your plants can and on video you can

thay are much safer to use than the old style ballast with built in circut brakers ,old balasts have glass or ceramic cricut bulbs that blow when there past there usedate..

digi balasts are very quite.

lumatek brand is the best out there, other brands have been knowen to overheat and leak resain .

my power bills are only a few dollars more with 600watt digital than thay were with my old 400watt ballast.

lumatek brand also has a super lume buttom that will give you an extra 10% lumes with MH globes .

i think if you have the extra $$'s go digital , old tecnolagy will do the job and its getting cheaper all the time but i dont like to going backwards when the future is so bright...

THEBEAN..

Edited March 17, 2009 by hashbean

[stinky]

ya got a bargen there naycha i went and seen a bloke about a 600 digital ballest and he wants $400 and that is just the ballest. where did you get yours from if you dont mind me asking? and what brand is it?

 

thanks stinky

[Naycha]

ya got a bargen there naycha i went and seen a bloke about a 600 digital ballest and he wants $400 and that is just the ballest. where did you get yours from if you dont mind me asking? and what brand is it?

 

thanks stinky

 

Yeah he's definitely trying to rip you off.

 

Ordered from Aussieponics, Growlush brand, Here's the link

 

These guys are a bit sneaky too, the ballast on it's own is $250 so you might as well get the combo.

Edited March 18, 2009 by Naycha

[bullseye]

so glad i asked the question hey, i'd checked out some other guys ebay page and he does lumatek, but this growlush seems awesome and for the price it can't be beaten=) cheers naycha, looking at it all now

[muckster]

Hi guys, i have LUMATEKS . can get the 600 Watter for $325 at moment from Discount Hydroponics online ,

They have a good website , and from what i have read the Best in the Industry ??.

Reliable and guaranteed .. I have 2 1000 and a 600watter , best i have had in ballasts.

Cheers

Muckster

[HashMakerOilProducts]

My 1000W HM ballast gave up the gost after a four year stint. priced switching to 1000W digital. 420$$ vs 250$$ I think I will stick with the good ol way for now.