Magnetic vs Electronic ballast, pros and cons please

[Naycha]

From the reading I have done there still can be slight RF interference even with the sheilding...it was only very slight but reports were it was still there... that is my concern with buying one is that if in an apartment I couldnt use it ... still researching it though. On another point some have mentioned not to use an extension chord with it as being unshielded this has caused problems too...

 

Not sure if this is paranoid BS but have read elsewhere on the net that the magnetic ones "spike" at turn on which is an alert to power companies....at this stage of my research I take everything with a grain of salt but still look into possible weanesses of a set up for obvious stealth reasons.

 

can I ask you guys about the heat magnetic ones produce... is it something to worry about in terms of needing it to be ventilated or not.

 

I wouldn't recommend using an extension cord either.

 

Some digital ballasts (not sure if all) have soft start technology to avoid the 'spike' at startup. I don't believe magnetic ballasts will alert power companies by spiking.

 

All ballasts should be in a ventilated position as they all produce heat. My Solis Tek digital ballasts run much cooler than my magnetic ballasts and also quite a bit cooler than my Growlush digital ballasts.

 

Naycha

[Midget]

I wouldn't recommend using an extension cord either.

 

Some digital ballasts (not sure if all) have soft start technology to avoid the 'spike' at startup. I don't believe magnetic ballasts will alert power companies by spiking.

 

All ballasts should be in a ventilated position as they all produce heat. My Solis Tek digital ballasts run much cooler than my magnetic ballasts and also quite a bit cooler than my Growlush digital ballasts.

 

Naycha

Ive heard growlush are terrible,.

 

what is your experience with them.

 

 

If you arent able to respond to this question here thats fine but Ill ask anyway.

 

Are you using your digi in a house or apartment.

 

also is it far from your telly or wifi?

 

 

midg

[Train Wreck]

You get what you pay for, a good quality digital ballast will have sufficient rf shielding.

 

I'm not aware of reliability problems with digital ballasts.

 

Naycha

 

The majority of the time, you do get what you pay for.

I can't see any electronics outlasting a few pieces of iron and a heavy copper winding/the choke of ballast and a starter. That is the guts of a magnetic ballast.

 

Open up a digital ballast and see all of the electronic components with all that potential for failure.

Digital ballasts would still generate heat, not a lot less than magnetic as their basic function is still the same, to choke of/limit the amount of current available to the bulb

 

From looking at them online, the whole outer casing must act as a heat sink to help keep electronic components cool.

Apart from water, heat is electronics biggest nemesis

 

If you do go digital, it has its advantages, buy a quality ballast, don't cheap out and waste your money...........

[DoctorWho]

Power companies can't see what is using power only how its being used and lots of things draw tremendous amounts of power that make hydro setups look like nothing.  I'd be more concerned with the power companies being ordered to record timed power spikes as we all use timers to control our lights.  Using 600w of power to run a small system will use less power than a small room heater so isn't suspect in the slightest but the 12/12 light cycle is.  Day after day our power consumption repeats that suspect cycle of usage and that is an inescapable problem we face.  We can go 11/13 or whatever to try and get away from the 12/12 cycle but any constantly repeated pattern in energy usage will still be suspect. 

[Train Wreck]

Power companies can't see what is using power only how its being used and lots of things draw tremendous amounts of power that make hydro setups look like nothing.  I'd be more concerned with the power companies being ordered to record timed power spikes as we all use timers to control our lights.  Using 600w of power to run a small system will use less power than a small room heater so isn't suspect in the slightest but the 12/12 light cycle is.  Day after day our power consumption repeats that suspect cycle of usage and that is an inescapable problem we face.  We can go 11/13 or whatever to try and get away from the 12/12 cycle but any constantly repeated pattern in energy usage will still be suspect. 

Smart meters in a lot of home meter boxes now days, know the times and current draw of your house.

There are not too many appliances in domestic homes that draw 600w, there are some.

Heaters, air con, ovens, frying pans and not that many more.

An appliance that draws 600w + for 12hrs everyday or night consistently for months, is an even rarer thing............

[Midget]

Power companies can't see what is using power only how its being used and lots of things draw tremendous amounts of power that make hydro setups look like nothing.  I'd be more concerned with the power companies being ordered to record timed power spikes as we all use timers to control our lights.  Using 600w of power to run a small system will use less power than a small room heater so isn't suspect in the slightest but the 12/12 light cycle is.  Day after day our power consumption repeats that suspect cycle of usage and that is an inescapable problem we face.  We can go 11/13 or whatever to try and get away from the 12/12 cycle but any constantly repeated pattern in energy usage will still be suspect. 

 

thats good to know. Having never done this I can only go off what I read and there is a lot of stuff with all sort of conflicting opnions...

 

Smart meters in a lot of home meter boxes now days, know the times and current draw of your house.

There are not too many appliances in domestic homes that draw 600w, there are some.

Heaters, air con, ovens, frying pans and not that many more.

An appliance that draws 600w + for 12hrs everyday or night consistently for months, is an even rarer thing............

Two grows a year... summer/winter.... freeze in the winter and roast in the summer   blame it on the air con and heater...

[louise]

I use a magnetic ballast... I might buy a digital if this one fails... granted the ballast I had previously was 20 yr old and still going strong when the piggies snaffled it up. Might be a long time before I buy another ballast.

 

Smart meters in a lot of home meter boxes now days, know the times and current draw of your house.

 

And that's why my light timer died I didn't go buy another one... lights go on/off manually and the actual time of day can vary between a few mintues to an hour or so... I only grow indoors during the cool weather and the excess heat from the grow warms my office and wet studio. If I wasn't growing I would have to heat those areas with an electric heater anyway.

[Dimmo]

Morning all,

 

This has turned into a very informative thread, thanks kindly for all the posts.

 

Seeing as though I'm looking at a planned suburban cupboard grow, it's seems it will be necessary to balance several problems: (I've added my thoughts in red text with regard to each problem, bearing in mind I've never done this before!)

 

- Stealth is critical (I don't want to have to shun visitors because of growing activity)

Leaning towards digital - quieter, cooler, more efficient? However suspected of producing RFI

 

- Keeping heat signatures to a minimum (due to the smallish enclosed space that will be used)

Leaning towards digital - Consensus is they run cooler?

 

and several new issues that have been raised by more recent posts;

 

- RFI produced by digital ballasts

Magnetic is the preference with regard to RFI

 

- The power usage signature of light controlling timers

Digital as it doesn't produce a spike on start up (whilst other domestic appliances draw similar and larger currents you can never be too careful)

 

- Build quality of complex electronics (jury still out re build quality) vs old school "hard wired" type gear (known to be reliable)

Am inclined to assume that older more basic technologies will have a longer working life but this is just a guesstimate based on personal experience and something I can cop on the chin if I have a breakdown and need to buy another one.

 

In summary it looks to me like the digital ballast is the more suited for my intended application. The main short falling that is apparent to me is the RFI problem. The first solution that popped into my mind was a shielded grow room. I'm pretty sure shielding paint is available, I think I remember hearing of it being used as shielding in electric musical instruments. Anyway this needs further investigation.

 

Once again thanks for your input, it certainly helped in arriving at the above conclusion!

 

Peace and stay happy

Dimmo

[Dimmo]

Just an afterthought, aluminium foil is used for shielding too

[Midget]

I use a magnetic ballast... I might buy a digital if this one fails... granted the ballast I had previously was 20 yr old and still going strong when the piggies snaffled it up. Might be a long time before I buy another ballast.

 

 

And that's why my light timer died I didn't go buy another one... lights go on/off manually and the actual time of day can vary between a few mintues to an hour or so... I only grow indoors during the cool weather and the excess heat from the grow warms my office and wet studio. If I wasn't growing I would have to heat those areas with an electric heater anyway.

Damn...