ALL 8 of my electronic/digital ballasts went out on me

[HellaFella]

You guys are TRIPPING!

WTF, do you work for SunSystem or sumpthing? Sounds like digital ballasts are gonna be cutting into your profits, so you in here spreadin bad juju about them!
I have 12 here, and 10 more at another place, and they are THE SHIT! They work SUPER GREAT!
NO SOUND, VERY LITTLE HEAT, UBER LIGHT-WEIGHT [they can go up with two little screws!] YOU BULBS ARE @ FULL TEMP IN SECONDS, THERE'S A COMPLETLY STEADY CURRENT OPPOSED TO TRANSFORMER BALLASTS SO YOUR BULS SUPPOSEDLY LAST LONGER. And, mebbe they even give some % of extra goodness!! Show me the down side! The one's I have say directly on the box, 100% Power Factor [or something similar] and I interperet that as efficient with 0% interference.....??!

 

[Frozenguy]

are you talking to me that I'M spreading bad juju or whatever about them?? all 8 of my ballasts died.. you dont think i'm gonna come on here and see why before i get the chance to talk to my hydro store?? i love them.. i was almost still thinking about keeping them till i found a good deal on something else.. i'll just wait till the tech is better.. you wanna buy 8 more ballasts to add to your awesome collection of digi ballasts? they uh.. work great!! or they will..

 

[Verite]

Unless the meters a pos then you can measure high voltages [ most meters dont measure freq or hertz ] most meters will autoselect range or tell you when its out of range. All you need to remember is to measure voltage across a components positve and negative sides [+/-] or power output+ and ground-. Assuming the flip/flop circuit is open enough to measure that would be the next item to get the meter on.

 

[stonewall]

even CAT III meters are only rated to 1000 volts. hps ignition voltage pulses are in the 2500-4000 VRMS range.


DO NOT ATTEMP TO MEASURE THE BALLAST OUTPUT WHILE POWER IS APPLIED.

 

[Frozenguy]

yeah.. i'm not doing anything else with them.. gonna let my hydro store take care of it tomorrow...

 

[BCboy]

My Hydro store guy said not to hook mine up to a flip box. Not sure why though.

 

[HellaFella]

I dunno what the physical reasons why are..... But my digiballasts have a big sticker on the box that says, "Do not use with generators, Will Void Warranty!"

 

[Frozenguy]

wierd.. dont use with generators?? this sucks cause i love my digis. and now i have this 40 pound SPACE HEATER of a dual 600watt ballast lol.. i can carry all 8 of my ballasts easier then lugging that 40 pound piece of crap everywhere lol.. and its loud.. and hot.. and smelly.. and noisy.. and takes forever to light up.. and whatever.... but it works =-)

 

[Chester]

It doesn't make sense to me, but I've had lots of shop light digital ballast failures in a high humidity environment (70-90% humidity). (Aquatics application) Just speculating, but it's possible that the silicon components in the ballast is not sealed well enough to prevent corrosion. Never had any problem with old-school magnetics in high humidity.

So, it's possible that you are seeing the same kind of problem. Keeping the ballasts out of the grow area, in a low humidity environment might be a good first step.

Really sucks because of the energy saving promise of the digital ballasts. Yet it might be cheaper to go old school, pay for more power, and not end-up replacing ballasts every 6 months.

Good Luck

 

[DOGIDOG]

Kis (keep it simple as posible)
God strain giwe you better yeild than digital balasts .
It is no.1 thing for big yeild (good pheno)and with 10000 w you want
good one i personaly spend more money on genetics than fancy equipment.
and i get 0.85 gpw with no problem and good potent stuf.....

 

[DOGIDOG]

Check this link and you will got the ansfer!!!!!!

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=529965#post529965

 

[DB2004]

Thats's funny, my hydro store knows me REALLY WELL and the ONE TIME I had problems with digi ballasts, I took it in there and they gave me two BRAND NEW ONE'S NO-QUESTIONS-ASKED, I even think it was *slightly* my-fault....but they still hoooked me up!

Why, if your trying to go so "big" do you not just pony-up the real $$ to get ALL the ballasts you need? I have never seen one of those "flip/flop" devices work properly continusouly.....so matter how "reliable" your electrician is...!

Edit: ALSO, for 8 lamps, why dont you have a dedicated circut? running those @ 120V is RETARDED?? Go big, and do it RIGHT [and SAFE], or go home!

LMAO @ HAPS.... Percussive maintnance! Hit that shit with a stick!

Don't know where you've seen flip-flops working, but everyone I've built has worked flawlessly. You obviously have no experience with flips.

 

[DeadlyFoez]

Hey bro angels are sending you the mesage dont use them they

are dangerous 300 m from your home you will hear rf interference

6 of them will giwe huge rf inerference perhaps 500 m or more

Thats not true to all. I have a 400 watt digi that I bought off ebay. I have a growtronix computer system within 2 feet of my ballast inside my c24. And the grwotronix system is extremely sensitive to rf noise, not to also mention that my computer that I have running it (also inside my cab) is not effected.

I dont have anykind of a meter to test it, i have also checked by using pretty much every electronic device that I have that could pick it up, cordless and cell phones, radios and others

So i wouldn't make the claim of ALL, but I would agree on most.

 

[mrwags]

Well guys this thread has been very interesting to say the least. In my opinion digital ballast are the future BUT not right now. I wanted some so bad when I upgraded months back but the bugs were and are still in the system. They are (the makers) are blaming bulbs,sockets,radios...) but I have read and heard and seen to many storys of bad luck and broken hopes and dreams. Currently I'm on my third X-Box 360. It took the first two to realize in my cabinet I needed the add on fan to keep it cool or else it would fry.? Get my point? The 360 RIGHT NOW is the shit but is quirky as are the digi's. But time will kill the bugs but I currently have no need to be a beta tester for lighting in my garden. But in time you bet your ass I'm gonna switch.



Mr.Wags

 

[Frozenguy]

just to update people.... my hydro store sent one of my digis back to the manufac. and it turned out to have been caused by a power surge.. they said i could buy all the ballasts at thier cost (my hydro store) or the manufcaturere would send me back 8 BRAND SPAKIN NEW magnetic coil ballasts and refund me CASH the difference from mag to digi.. turns out to be like 200 bucks or so.. so i'll be gettin them back soon. my flip flop works fine.. it didn't effect the ballasts at all.. my cord had nothing to do with it either.. my wiring was fine..

 

[420ponics]

just to update people.... my hydro store sent one of my digis back to the manufac. and it turned out to have been caused by a power surge.. they said i could buy all the ballasts at thier cost (my hydro store) or the manufcaturere would send me back 8 BRAND SPAKIN NEW magnetic coil ballasts and refund me CASH the difference from mag to digi.. turns out to be like 200 bucks or so.. so i'll be gettin them back soon. my flip flop works fine.. it didn't effect the ballasts at all.. my cord had nothing to do with it either.. my wiring was fine..

Good to know especially after you spent all of that money for the electrical setup and everything else.

Ponics.

 

[NPK]

That's awesome...nice to see a happy ending here.

 

[Frozenguy]

yeah me too.. i was worried cause it seemed like nothing was gonna happen.. its taken like a month or so i think.. but ya know, someone was on vacation, then this person was, then it takes time to send it here, then there.. to call people.. blah blah.. oh well its all done and i should have them within a few days.. will be posting my grow room design for my new grow room soon.. just gotta finish designing it..

 

[somoz]

Nice to hear it all sorted out FG.......it can be kinda of nerveracking especially with that many ballasts but alls well that ends well..........took my shop almost 3months to refund me on 3 eco pumps.......what can ya do......just gotta wait it out.......look forward to your plans...........

somoz

 

[BlindDate]

I would have just fed-Exed the thing to the manufacture and got thier diagnosis, then fixed the rest my self.