Digital Ballasts

[TD.]

Recently i have been snooping around the ballast market comparing prices and reading propaganda in the hopes of coming to a definite conclusion. so i thort it would be fitting to post the questions i cant find answers to here.

 

Does a digital ballast run significantly cooler compared to the standard ballasts ?

Do the digital ballasts work with all bulbs ? yes i know it can be used for a MH or HPS due to microprocessors, im referring to the bulbs life span and start up strike. ( cheap ones vs expensive ones)

 

Currently im using fluros but i want to get myself a MH and an HPS and when i heard that a digital ballast can run both bulbs i thort well heres a winner.......till i seen the prices between the older non digital ones and the digital ones. so for the extra price am i getting jipped ? or is it actually worth it ? does anyone own one ???

 

-TD

[ConvexConepiece]

I have a digital 400w ballast, I can tell you that after 18hrs of operation I can put my hand on its casing and it feels 'warm'. I have my exhaust fan blowing over it which now keeps it even cooler. If not growing in a whole room, youd wanna keep the ballasts separate to grow area anyway so just make sure it gets some airflow around it and she be right.

 

AFAIK mine can work with 'all' bulbs, ie. 400w hps and mh....

 

Extra price is worth it to you to be able to use both bulb types, slightly less elec i think, and have it run slightly cooler....

[TD.]

well the part that is convincing to me is the fact that there is less heat. and im not using an entire room.....not in the next few years so a grow box or 2 will be the main area and i would always have the ballast on the outside of the box. how much of a temp difference is there really ? and they all say that there is power savings, but have u really noticed it on your bill ? im not sure how realistic these savings are.

[nimrod13]

Gibbos dead right,digital ballast`s are brillant.Like you i was sceptical at first but i would never go back to a conventional ballast again now.I sometimes run 5 ballasts at once in the same room and after changing to digital ballasts i noticed a singificant drop in room temprature.Being able to go from MH to HPS with the flick of a switch is so convenient.They are well worth the extra cost.

[RobbieGanjaSeed]

Seeing as so many ballast experts are in the same room at once (and I mean that with the best of intentions), I'd love to know what the deal is with this "dual ballast" I have. It says it runs MH and HPS, but it has no switch as in a "switchable ballast". It's not digital I assume (it's heavy as two ballasts almost, so I assume it's magnetic).

I put a standard 1000 watt ballast next to it for comparrison, it;s not quiet twice as large. And not quiet twice as heavy, but feels like it's getting toward twice as heavy. it puts my back out to move it and I'm not kidding.

 

I've run 1k watt HPS on it, but I'm wondering when I want to run a MH on it, do I have to do anything weird, like open it up? I used to have a switchable one, which of course required throwing a switch. this has nothing. Just the usual inlet and outlet leads and socket.

 

Anyone had any experience with it? I bought it second hand. And it hasn't been tampered with, it's in very good nik, no place a switch has been removed from, or any such thing.

 

It has me beat. Just change bulbs, and viola? not sure if I'm game.

 

cheers

rob

[TD.]

well im sold. im going to get a 600watt ballast off ebay

[grok]

i plan on buying a 600watt lumatek digital ballast ($300) when i have the money...meanwhile maybe a cheap second hand magnetic one

[nimrod13]

Thats a strange one Rob.Most dual ballasts have a switch or a lever or something to change it from MH to HPS.I doubt you would have to remove the ballast cover to do this.The instructions strongly advise you not to run the wrong bulb.I assume it could blow the bulb or ballast.Can your ballast automatically tell what bulb is on the end of the lamp cable?Are you prepared to sacrifice a bulb to find out?

[RobbieGanjaSeed]

I'm almost prepared to sacarfice an old bulb, but I don't want to sacrafice the hous one night. Maybe things will run fine for ages.. then burn down?

 

All I can think of is to send an email to the albite and ask them what the go is. The part number is clear as a bell, so no question what ballast I'll be discussing witht hem. I just thought I'd run it past you guys first. I knpw the switchable ones, I used to have one. I gave it away. That's why this is so weird to me. Nothing at all on any side, not even underneath. weird huh?

 

thanks heaps.

rob

[TD.]

sounds sketchy.....houses burning down and all of that......fuck it, sell it, get a digital one