DIGITAL BALLAST INTERFERENCE SUCKS

[St3ve]

I had a similar issue with my cable company. I went out and bought the line filter/conditioner type surge protecter that also has a plug in for the cable. I use one of these everywhere I have a cable box and I plug the box, the cable, and the model all into it.

I have not had a knock at the door since. (knock wood)((pun))

 

[Megas]

Is this still an issue with brands or have they gotten their shit together?
Are any brands worse than others for this?

 

[overbudjet]

I have 8 600w.Quantum and they all emit RF,for me it was a big NO-NO,the RF disable my room control system(growtronix) only solution i've found is no hood cord at all,ballast sit directly on hood and hardwire to them.NO CORD(antenna)no RF.

 

[go4broke]

Check your lamp cords for any pinholes/cuts and replace them if you find any damage. One of my cats bit up an airline (just inches away from the lamp cord) so bad the bucket stopped bubbling. Don't use use adapter plugs or multi-outlet strips that eliminate the ground prong. You can check your wall outlets ground with a plug-in tester available at any hardware store-cheap and easy to use. I don't like the ballast end of the power cord on my lumateks they move up and down and i'm always checking them if i work around them, I haven't had any RF problems. Hope any of this helps. go4broke

 

[hush]

I use an iPonic 400 digital, and never had a problem with any interference. My cable modem is less than 4 feet from my ballast.

 

[farmari]

I checked my Quantum 600w ballast for RF interference when I first got it... was really paranoid about that... but didn't notice any cable tv/internet interference, nor AM radio interference from a radio 30-40ft away.

I retested with multiple Quantum 600s after this with an AM radio up close and it does produce a lot, though diminishes greatly when outside of the grow room. I was having daily internet connection problems for weeks and when the company said they couldn't read a problem on their end, that they'd have to have someone check the lines, I thought rf interference. I bought some ferrite clamps, one on each end of the lamp cord, and maybe coincidentally the internet problem stopped. Still have AM interference in the grow room.

Harry Gypsna's suggestion of a shielded cable might be the best option from what I had read. Also just reduce the lamp cord length if possible as overbudjet said.

 

[DeceiverZ]

I was having problems with my Growtronix system due to Digital Ballast EMI noise on the circuit.

The easiest solution for me was to buy a noise filter device such as (http://www.smarthome.com/1626-10/FilterLinc-10-Amp-Plug-In-Noise-Filter/p.aspx)

Once placed between the GT outlet and EMI emitting digital ballast, the system no longer had issues communicating with the rest of the GT network.

IMO, This is a much better solution than building faraday cages, removing lamp cords, etc.,

If you are concerned about running digital ballasts with GrowTronix, just pick up a few of these and you'll be glad you did.

 

[smog]

when your talking about shielded cable. do you mean the short cable coming from the ballast the lamp cable connects to? or the whole lamp cable to the hood, i haven't seen any shielded lamp cords available? and would you need to wire a ground from it to your outlet, does wrapping foil on the lamp cord do anything? my house if from the 1930s and don't have ground wires somehow the ground is in the neutral white wire and inst needed i had read, i dont think its my problem but any way i started using the free digital tv and noticed most channels don't work with the lights on , when i bring the ballasts closer to the tv it makes it worse the hood placement doesn't effect it
heres the ballasts i tested nextgen 1000 -the worst knocks out most all channels put anywhere in the room
galaxy old ones and selectawatt 600- little bit, can still see show, but go's clear when unplugged if hung up high it gets better
galaxy grow amp, claims lowest rf, false almost as bad as nextgen but when moved far away is watchable
phantom 1000 watt -built in rf something? nothing no effect
cheap ebay quantum knock off 1000, nothing
also ive had 3 out of 5 galaxys 600 break right about 4 runs and they fill the house with a nasty sulfur smell and the built in breaker never tripped i had a 250 watt one shooting sparks out the corner and melting the case too ,lucky i happened to be working in the grow all 4 times

 

[Drek]

Hummmppphhh...ahhhh.

Sure feels nice to be chillin with my old fashioned, reliable mag ballast, with it's low heat(400), low emi, high reliablity, lack of moving parts...like fans and lack of junky electronic components. And I got it for $50.

What were you guys talking about again? Oh, electronic ballasts.

 

[hush]

It's too bad that your loud ballast is drawing more than 400 watts though, on a regular basis.

 

[Selvaticus]

Maybe a filter like (between the line and the ballast, near the ballast if possible) these could solve:

http://schaffner.com/en/products/em...oducts/emcemi/category/iec-inlet-filters.html

I'm not an expert but I know hi-fi enthusiasts use them to isolate source/amplifier from noise coming from other electrical device (refrigerator, air conditioner, lights also...).

Just my two cents...

 

[smog]

if we could learn how the the phantom does the internal rf protection?
i also had a 1000 watt grow amp never tested,and it had a ferrite clamp on the lamp wire the first ones didnt. but i read it only helps incomeing rf not out going along with the ferrad cages
im not sure if im testing am radio corrctly but seems all gallxys 250 400 600 1000 have allot of rf

 

[Harry Gypsna]

It's too bad that your loud ballast is drawing more than 400 watts though, on a regular basis.

Slightly higher power bill, or possiblility of attracting attention by knocking all the neighbour's wifi out?

I know which I'd choose.


I thought all this interference shit had been fixed years ago.. Are shops still selling the shonky old digi ballasts?

 

[komboloi]

I was in the market for a new 1000w HPS ballast this year, and it had been a long time since I'd had to buy a new ballast. So I researched the digitals and heard about this interference issue. Some people complain it's a problem; others say it's not if your have shielded cables. I thought, "Hmm, magnetic ballasts have always been fine for me, so why go digital and wonder about interference?"

So down to the local hydro store, and I tell the guy I want a magnetic 1000w HPS ballast and ask about brands they carry. We're chatting, and I told him I thought about going digital, but I didn't want to worry about interference problems. He said, "That's fine, but there are no interference problems," and he sold me a nice solid magnetic ballast for a good price. I know this guy and trust him.

But here's where I landed: I don't want to wonder. I don't want to wonder if my neighbor's TV or internet or shortwave or favorite AM station is going to be messed up resulting in an inquiry at my grow place. And if the magnetic ballast does the job just fine with no such wondering, I'll stick with that and sleep better at night.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

I was in the market for a new 1000w HPS ballast this year, and it had been a long time since I'd had to buy a new ballast. So I researched the digitals and heard about this interference issue. Some people complain it's a problem; others say it's not if your have shielded cables. I thought, "Hmm, magnetic ballasts have always been fine for me, so why go digital and wonder about interference?"

So down to the local hydro store, and I tell the guy I want a magnetic 1000w HPS ballast and ask about brands they carry. We're chatting, and I told him I thought about going digital, but I didn't want to worry about interference problems. He said, "That's fine, but there are no interference problems," and he sold me a nice solid magnetic ballast for a good price. I know this guy and trust him.

But here's where I landed: I don't want to wonder. I don't want to wonder if my neighbor's TV or internet or shortwave or favorite AM station is going to be messed up resulting in an inquiry at my grow place. And if the magnetic ballast does the job just fine with no such wondering, I'll stick with that and sleep better at night.

You wouldn't have to wonder for very long, because when the neighbour's wifi goes down, they will call their service [provider, who will send out an engineer, who will in turn take about 30 seconds using a piece of hand-held equipment to trace the source of the interference to your door. He'll even be able to tell you exactly what frequency it is putting out.

 

[Adze]

Digital ballasts operate at high frequencies unlike magnetic ballasts that operate at 60 cycles per second. These higher frequencies radiate much more easily than 60 cycle current. It's very unlikely that your magnetic ballast will cause any interference of note.

 

[noyd666]

don't hear any interference from my gavita but makes my intercom go dead until light turn's off, then straight back on, was ok with dig and mag.