Need feedback on 600w and 1000w digital balasts

[TheTreeBoundRat]

Hi im purchasing some hps gear in the next couple of days and was going to order digital ballasts until reading some threads with people reporting shorter bulb life. The guy at hydro center reckons the 1000w lumatek ballasts can only use the lucagrow bulbs or they'l blow up . So im holding back my purchase on them ftm. I'm getting a consensus that the 600w digis are more forgiving on bulbs.

 

Heat issues aren't important too me as i keep ballasts outside the growroom.

 

Can you turn digital ballasts all on at once unlike magnetic which you have to stagger because of the spike in power on startup?

 

Anyway Id really appreciate some long term reviews . Are they worth the xtra money?

 

Have to say im leaning towards magnetic atm for value..

 

chow

 

[Naycha]

I've been running a 600W digital growlush ballast for a while and have had no probs.

 

I usually only use one ballast so not sure about staggering.

[OrbitTime]

Hi im purchasing some hps gear in the next couple of days and was going to order digital ballasts until reading some threads with people reporting shorter bulb life. The guy at hydro center reckons the 1000w lumatek ballasts can only use the lucagrow bulbs or they'l blow up . So im holding back my purchase on them ftm. I'm getting a consensus that the 600w digis are more forgiving on bulbs.

 

Heat issues aren't important too me as i keep ballasts outside the growroom.

 

Can you turn digital ballasts all on at once unlike magnetic which you have to stagger because of the spike in power on startup?

 

Anyway Id really appreciate some long term reviews . Are they worth the xtra money?

 

Have to say im leaning towards magnetic atm for value..

 

chow

 

 

 

I have three 1000w lumatek digital ballasts.

 

 

They can all switch on at the same time as there's no spike. They can run lucragrow 1000w HPS lamps or 1000w small jacket Sun Master lamps. That's the configuration I use as I like a 2:1 ratio of HPS to MH (and I like the small jacket as they're more efficient than the large football sized MH lamps as there's less glass). To the chase, lumatek will take any 1000w HPS or 1000w MH type lamp - they're interchangable. If the hydro shop hasn't got them displayed with various lamps then they're trying to sell you a particular lamp. Mind you, 1000w HPS lucragrow lamps are excellent.

 

Are digital ballasts worth the extra money? YES!!

 

Bigger yield/output on the grow which means more efficiency on the electricity you use. Dead quiet ballasts so security is enhanced (that's a BIG feature for why I like them). There's no hum and rattle like the old ballasts. Cooler ballasts - so much so you can put your hand on them in mid-summer and it's not unbearable like the old 1000w ballasts. They're also a third the weight of the old ballasts, so shelving and moving them is easier. At risk of repeating, they're interchangable to either HPS or MH. No more worrying about plugging in the wrong lamp.

 

You should read this:

http://www.urbangardenershop.com.au/product/689/default.asp

 

And when buying, pay cash and haggle. Don't get stung at $500 or more per 1000w digital lumatek (like many sites sell). I paid $1300 in cash and got the three with 2 year warranty.

Edited October 25, 2009 by OrbitTime

[TD.]

I have a 600w Lumatek digital ballast........orbit time pretty much covered every good point about the digital ballasts. one bad point is some cheaper brand ballasts have been known to leak there internal resin...not a good thing.....at the end of the day you get exactly what you pay for, go cheap and u get cheap...and possibly a fire in your growing space

[newchum69]

do the digital use the same amount of power as the old ones?

 

and does anyone know if there's low wattage new technology coming up? I saw something on an o/seas thread where the lights were only about 20W as they targetted just a small part of the light spectrum

 

hope so as power bills will keep going up

 

cheers

[OrbitTime]

do the digital use the same amount of power as the old ones?

 

and does anyone know if there's low wattage new technology coming up? I saw something on an o/seas thread where the lights were only about 20W as they targetted just a small part of the light spectrum

 

hope so as power bills will keep going up

 

cheers

 

I don't know about "low wattage technology", but the digital ballasts in the 400w and 600w range use less electricity than the old 400w and 600w ballasts because they were not consant wattage. Factor in too that there's up to a 30% gain in output of par watts and there's a lot to gain over the old 400w ands 600w ballasts.

 

If though you're upgrading from the old 1000w ballasts to the digital 1000w ballasts, you will not see the electrical savings because the old 1000w ballasts were constant wattage. But you still gain on the greater output of par watts.

[gitm69]

Hi, i bought a lumatek 600w and a nextgen 600w and ran them side by side same results with same luman output i went with the Nextgen since it can also run 400w (and the price was a lot cheaper from the lumatek 600w trough an online shop)

The main benifit from running a digital ballast an its the quality ones not the ones that come from china is that you can use a 600w hps digital insted of a 1000w magnetic and keep the same yield.

 

Weed in late flowring needs around 107000 lumans for optimal growth and by using a 600w digital you get 91000 lumen times 1.3 the extra lumens from the ballast so you are covering that range (and you can place them closer to the canopy) , somthing that could only be achived by using a 1000w magnetic up to 5 years ago when the first batch of Digi came out.

 

Either way i want with the Nextgen for my grow - same results as 1000w magneting and much more fun to work with

 

take care

[falconcobra]

I think its more a matter of opinion and less "science".

My magnetic doesnt hum.