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Electronic ballast RF interference status
- Thread starter clowntown
- Start date
Bozo
Active member
1000 watt purple lumatek
Blew used eye hortilux bulb out was about a year old maybe I took a break and cant remember hours on it .As I was about to replace it I wont concider it a problem yet .New Hortilux bulb bout 7 weeks old no problems no flicker lights bulb every time
Cable -ok
cordless phone5.9 ghz-ok
Fm-ok
AM-destroyed for 15 feet through 2 walls and one wall is sheeted with 3/8 hardibacker both sides (try kickin that wall in LOL)
Wireless router -50 ft away unaffected but have not tried to conect anything close yet
Wireless mouse and keyboard -signal destroyed couldnt use them in same room seperated by that hardibacker wall 5 feet away from ballast
I like it so far but I will change my mind if that new bulb dies before I would replace it .I replace my bulbs after about 4 flower runs
If i can get 4 full flower runs outa a bulb with out it blowwing this things a winner for me
Ph meter hanna phep 98127-seems ok but belive you me I am watching it and if i have meter trouble i am getting rid of it Ph way more important
In all I am happy so far its pretty, purple, cooler,smaller(kinda long but sleek) and silent
Blew used eye hortilux bulb out was about a year old maybe I took a break and cant remember hours on it .As I was about to replace it I wont concider it a problem yet .New Hortilux bulb bout 7 weeks old no problems no flicker lights bulb every time
Cable -ok
cordless phone5.9 ghz-ok
Fm-ok
AM-destroyed for 15 feet through 2 walls and one wall is sheeted with 3/8 hardibacker both sides (try kickin that wall in LOL)
Wireless router -50 ft away unaffected but have not tried to conect anything close yet
Wireless mouse and keyboard -signal destroyed couldnt use them in same room seperated by that hardibacker wall 5 feet away from ballast
I like it so far but I will change my mind if that new bulb dies before I would replace it .I replace my bulbs after about 4 flower runs
If i can get 4 full flower runs outa a bulb with out it blowwing this things a winner for me
Ph meter hanna phep 98127-seems ok but belive you me I am watching it and if i have meter trouble i am getting rid of it Ph way more important
In all I am happy so far its pretty, purple, cooler,smaller(kinda long but sleek) and silent
i have a 600w electronic ballast from hidhut and so far no interference.And hidhuts service was the shit, it got here i think 2 or 3 days after i ordered it UPS ground(fast shipping always a plus) Its awsome,no louder than a wisper and stays really cool. the only thing i wonder about is the lumen output. hidhut says the 600 puts out almost as many lumens as a magnetic 1000.? has anyone tested this? if so could you post your results?
I'm using a purple 600w lumatek with the solorburst super HPS of ebay and it's running spot on,anyone run a MH on them yet??
stonedm said:
I downgraded so to speak from a 1000w coil & core to a 600w lumatek and there's not that much differance in brightness,obviously the 1000w is brighter but the 600w lumatek isn't far off.
Guayaki
Member
good to know that your 600 watt is doing good Mat! Was going to order 3 of them in the next 2 weeks and been reading up on the RF interference for well over a year. Did you buy the special hydrofarm shielded cord along with your unit to help the shielding or use the one you had with your 1000 watt? Those cords are about $25 and I have the regular cords on my other units but dont wanna buy the $25 special cords unless I have to.
Guayaki
Member
Just got 1 of the 600 watt lumatek digital ballasts today along with the hydrofarm cord set. Love it. I was using (2) 1000 watt magnetic ballasts and they are just to loud for me. Cant even have friends or family over without them asking what that buzzing noise is. Just got it all hooked up and its bright as can be. Just a tad less light than my 1000 watt magnetic right next to it. It is 240 volt the new purple one weighing 8-10 lbs. Going to pick up 2 more of these if it continues to go good and not blow bulbs like other peoples that i've read. I'm using an eye hortilux so we'll see how that works out. Using it along with a 30 amp timer box plugged into my dryer outlet to convert it to 240 volt.
* Wireless internet no problem even 3 inches right next to it never kicked out.
* Cable no problems.
* Local telephone line no problem. Don't have a cell phone to test.
* Believe it or not AM radio is crystal clear yet a foot away from it using a boom box I
have laying around. If I touch the ballast with it the boombox it gets a little static
can still hear it.
* FM radio does not come in 5 feet away from it which is funny because I always
thought the AM had the problems. But 5 feet away I cant complain about.
So everything so far is going great and am really happy with the product although its only been going for about 8 hours now. If I dont see any problems after I finish this grow I am getting rid of that other loud magnetic and getting 2 more of these digitals.
* Wireless internet no problem even 3 inches right next to it never kicked out.
* Cable no problems.
* Local telephone line no problem. Don't have a cell phone to test.
* Believe it or not AM radio is crystal clear yet a foot away from it using a boom box I
have laying around. If I touch the ballast with it the boombox it gets a little static
can still hear it.
* FM radio does not come in 5 feet away from it which is funny because I always
thought the AM had the problems. But 5 feet away I cant complain about.
So everything so far is going great and am really happy with the product although its only been going for about 8 hours now. If I dont see any problems after I finish this grow I am getting rid of that other loud magnetic and getting 2 more of these digitals.
Last edited:
Hawk
Member
I just got a 250w Lumatek digital. I have no other ballast experience to compare it to in terms of brightness.
250w Lumatek
120v
purple case
serial number: 07-10-XXXXX (made in November 2007 maybe?)
using Hydrofarm cord to adapt to my Sun System hood.
Cable TV: not affected
Cable Internet: not affected (cable modem in the same room)
Cordless phone: not affected (2.4Ghz Panasonic and 2.4Ghz Uniden)
FM radio: slight buzz if the radio is within 1 inch or touching the ballast, all other distances not affected
AM radio: buzz if the radio is within a few inches, at normal distances it is not affected. A 6" Ecofan produces more interference than the ballast.
Notes: In ambient temps of ~75F it does get warm/hot with no airflow whatsoever across it. I place a pc fan on the top of the ballast case and it brought the case temp down to room temperature quite easily. I have a feeling an even smaller cfm fan would perform that task well (the 120mm one I'm using has a fairly high cfm for a pc fan). With the fan sitting there you wouldn't know it generated any heat. I plan on keeping it air-cooled because I feel it can't hurt, can only help. The ballast itself makes zero noise.
Can't think of anything else. Overall I'm quite happy.
250w Lumatek
120v
purple case
serial number: 07-10-XXXXX (made in November 2007 maybe?)
using Hydrofarm cord to adapt to my Sun System hood.
Cable TV: not affected
Cable Internet: not affected (cable modem in the same room)
Cordless phone: not affected (2.4Ghz Panasonic and 2.4Ghz Uniden)
FM radio: slight buzz if the radio is within 1 inch or touching the ballast, all other distances not affected
AM radio: buzz if the radio is within a few inches, at normal distances it is not affected. A 6" Ecofan produces more interference than the ballast.
Notes: In ambient temps of ~75F it does get warm/hot with no airflow whatsoever across it. I place a pc fan on the top of the ballast case and it brought the case temp down to room temperature quite easily. I have a feeling an even smaller cfm fan would perform that task well (the 120mm one I'm using has a fairly high cfm for a pc fan). With the fan sitting there you wouldn't know it generated any heat. I plan on keeping it air-cooled because I feel it can't hurt, can only help. The ballast itself makes zero noise.
Can't think of anything else. Overall I'm quite happy.
