Magnetic vs Electronic ballast, pros and cons please

[Train Wreck]

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

 

I don't know if digital is quieter than magnetic ? My magnetic ballasts are pretty quiet, only really make any sound at start up.

If you are concerned about RF, run around your house testing for it when you get your ballast. If it does not meet your expectations, return it.

Fridges, freezers, air con, compressors ect, all cause a spike at start up.

There is fair bit of a price jump from magnetic to digital.........

[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

 

My Growlush ballasts worked for years and still do, all of my completed grows here have been with Growlush ballasts. I feel they are of a lower quality than some more well known brands. However they did serve me reliably for years. If you simply cannot afford a better quality ballast at least use a good quality globe with them ie. not a growlush globe.

 

I use my ballasts in a house, they do not interfere with anything in my house.

 

When I was using my Growlush ballasts they interfered with my neighbours tv reception. He recounted over the fence to me one day that at a certain time of the evening his tv reception went to shit for the rest of the night and came good again in the day, which happened to coincide with my lights on and off times

 

Naycha

[Midget]

I don't know if digital is quieter than magnetic ? My magnetic ballasts are pretty quiet, only really make any sound at start up.

If you are concerned about RF, run around your house testing for it when you get your ballast. If it does not meet your expectations, return it.

Fridges, freezers, air con, compressors ect, all cause a spike at start up.

There is fair bit of a price jump from magnetic to digital.........

 

Whats the best way to test it mate... I have heard and AM radio is good but any other ideas are welcome

My Growlush ballasts worked for years and still do, all of my completed grows here have been with Growlush ballasts. I feel they are of a lower quality than some more well known brands. However they did serve me reliably for years. If you simply cannot afford a better quality ballast at least use a good quality globe with them ie. not a growlush globe.

 

I use my ballasts in a house, they do not interfere with anything in my house.

 

When I was using my Growlush ballasts they interfered with my neighbours tv reception. He recounted over the fence to me one day that at a certain time of the evening his tv reception went to shit for the rest of the night and came good again in the day, which happened to coincide with my lights on and off times

 

Naycha

Damn mate lucky you got told.. Im have heard of stories online where TV cable providers have turned up to peoples houses seeing there is an intereference inside

 

 

where you using a shielded ballast and how did you rectifiy the problem with your neighbour

[Naycha]

They were advertised as shielded I believe but that's growlush for you.

 

I never watched tv at my neighbours house so I didn't worry about it

 

Naycha

[obliterated]

I have a lot of ballasts both digital and magentic.

Digital ballasts are superior due to power efficiency and ignition type.

Lumatek was the first digital ballast, but turned out to be lemons in most cases due to the fact they ran a fan type heatsink which would become prone to failure as it has...

Sunpulse was the digital bulb manufacturer that made bulbs that could match with the high frequency electronic ballasts.

Lumatek had lots of failures which is why it gave people the impression that digital ballasts were not as reliable as magnetics.

Sunpulse started making their own fanless digital ballasts and rebranded as Solis Tek.

Now Solis Tek and Solis Tek bulbs are the #1 in HID digital lighting (only behind Gavita) and have an excellent record so far in reliability and performance.

Most digital ballasts also offer dimming functions which means from the same ballast you can run lower wattage bulbs if required.
ie. A Solis Tek 1000w can run 1000w, 600w and 400w. The 600w ballast can run 600w and 400w. HPS or MH in both.

While magnetic core and coil ballasts do last forever, they run much warmer, use more power than they produce, most create RF issues and also have that lovely amp spike upon igniting unlike digital ballasts that start softly and reach full power/brightness within 25 mins.

If you do run multiple 1000w magnetic ballasts, yes it will show up quite clearly on you power bill that there is for some reason a massive spike at say 5am every morning..... 3000w for 12 hours and then drops at 5pm every night like clockwork.

If.... somebody is looking for something suspicious in your power usage, then yes it is very obvious what is happening.

The only reason I ever use a 1000w magnetic is to light 2x 600w bulbs via a Sunpulse splitter.

Magnetic ballasts use close to 1100w of power but using a 1000w bulb... only give 1000w (thus why digital is more efficient)

This was actually good when using a splitter as I also used a 12/12 flip box which could flip and keep the ballast on 24/7 without skipping a beat, meaning no amp spike at all... constant running 1000w.

With digital ballasts if you "hardflip" your lights with a 12/12 flip box it causes error sensing and will not ignite after flip unless the ballast is turned off with a timer for a few minutes prior to flip and then on again after flip.

Fortunately and unfortunately, newer technology magnetic ballasts (Growlush) are now 'energy smart' and use only 1000w instead of older models that used 1100w... which is good news for magnetic users, but not good for splitters as it does not have enough power to ignite the bulbs.

With Solis Tek 1000w digital ballasts I found out from the rep that if you use "Solis Boost" making it 1050w,  you can ignite 2x 600w bulbs no problem.

So now I dont have to use magnetics anymore, just a 1000w Solis Tek ballast and a flip box and I can run 4x 600w HPS bulbs at 525w over a 24hr period

So even if you are a magnetic die hard, at $345 for a Solis Tek 1000w and $265 for a Solis Tek 600w ballast, it would be worth considering next time one of your old ballasts dies

Peace!
 

Edited March 21, 2014 by obliterated