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Switchable Ballast Suggestion

crzygirl

Member
Am looking into upgrading from two magnetic ballasts to one electronic ballast. Any suggestions on 600w switchable electronic ballasts? Am looking mainly for a site that sells them in a package (ballast, cords, reflector, bulbs)
 
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i think 600's are the only ones that cant go switchable. they dont make 600's in mh. ive only seen 2 conversion bulbs in 600 made by solarmax and sunmaster. its better than nothing. good luck :rasta:
 

gregor_mendel

Active member
Although an electronic ballast would run either if you had them, no one makes a 600W metal halide. There are conversion bulbs, but that's not the same thing.

Sunlight Supply sells the Galaxy

Hydrofarm sells the Lumatek

Anyone who sells the ballast will have bulbs. The power cord comes with the ballast, the lamp cord comes with the hood.
 

crzygirl

Member
So, any hood I buy with its own lamp socket and cord, will plug into any purchased ballast?
As for a switchable 600w, i'm not finding any of them on the market lol so i've been looking at the 1Kwatters.
 
http://www.hydroponics.net/

has sum of the cheapest qulity units iv seen and you can build you own custom one and get discounts they dont have switchable 600w but they have both mh and hps 600 they also have switchable 1000w and anything else youd like i hope it helps sum
 

crzygirl

Member
VenturaHwy: That ballast discription sounds friggen great! I hope they have them available when I order.

HippieHill: Thank you for the, link. Often i'm searching for hydro stores online. =-)

I did a my wattage per square foot calculation and its at 51w/Sq.Ft.
We were shooting for 100w/Sq.Ft. with this next ballast, lamp, and air cooled hood purchase, a 1000 watter would get us at 121.
 

eyes

Active member
Veteran
any electronic ballast will run mh or hps.Some have probs with different bulbs and rf interference.read all you can and talk to some members who own em for awhile.i have my eye on the quantum or galaxys recommended by people here who own em.
 

iGro4Me

The Hopeful Protagonist
Veteran
Although an electronic ballast would run either if you had them, no one makes a 600W metal halide. There are conversion bulbs, but that's not the same thing.

Sunlight Supply sells the Galaxy

Hydrofarm sells the Lumatek

Anyone who sells the ballast will have bulbs. The power cord comes with the ballast, the lamp cord comes with the hood.

I realize this thread is a bit old, but I was hoping for a bit of clarification.

If MH conversion bulbs are not the way to go, is there a ballast/setup that can handle both bulbs for the appropriate times in the grow ?

TIA for any and all info

Peace,

iGro
 

BeeBee

Member
Digital ballasts can run either HPS or MH bulbs. But--no one makes a 600 watt MH bulb. You can buy conversion bulbs. These are MH bulbs that are designed to work in HPS fixtures, with HPS ballasts.
Therefore, all you need to buy is one (or more) of these conversion bulbs. They will work with the ballasts you already own. The downside of these bulbs is that you lose a little light output, about 10%. However, since you are using them in the grow cycle, that should be acceptable. You'll be switching to the brighter HPS lamps at the point when you need the additional lumens and light penetration.
For my money, I wouldn't bother with MH at all. But I only grow Indica or Indica-dominant hybrids; I don't find that the HPS bulbs cause any problems, with internodal length or anything else, in the very short (9 day) HID grow cycle.
By the way, I have friend who switched to digital ballasts, and he do not get ANY increase in yield or quality, nor did his power bills decrease. The conversion cost him a lot of money, particularly since he converted early (about 2 years ago), and had to replace his digital ballasts twice: once when he realized his "Chinese street-lights" put out so much radio-frequency noise that his TDS/pH meters and thermostats wouldn't work, and once when his expensive Lumateks failed after one leg of the 240 line went dead in a power outage (Lumatek has since added a second line-fuse to their 240-volt ballasts to prevent this, but they didn't warranty his 5-month old-ballasts).

If any of you are like me and prefer magnetic ballasts, here's a little known fact:

THE CAPACITOR(S) IN A MAGNETIC BALLAST SHOULD BE REPLACED AFTER FOUR YEARS OF DAILY USE!

Unlike the core, which works until it dies (but gets noisier as it ages), and the ignitor, which either works or doesn't, the capacitors get weaker over time. A weak capacitor reduces the lumen output. You may not notice the difference as your system ages, particularly if all your ballasts are the same age and are aging together, but you will notice an improvement, as much as 25%, in yield, if you replace your old capacitors. They are easy to replace and cost $25 to $40, depending where you get them.
 

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