tell me about digital ballasts

[bdomina]

does it use the same cordset / socket as a magnetic ballast ?
are different bulbs needed ?
are they reliable?
I hear they have a little higher light output than your standard ballast..
whatever other usefull info might be needed in a decision..
thanks!

~BD~

 

[Dr Dog]

yes they use same cordset, this is pretty standard electrical gear

The same bulbs are used, although you can get specialty bulbs for digis that you cannot use in a standard magnetic ballast. ALA CMH and dual arc

"They claim" more efficiency with electricity, but essentially a lumen is a lumen

Are they reliable, depends who you ask, I hear 20 % fail and have experienced this too

 

[Hundred Gram Oz]

Dr Dog is right listen to him.

Some claim to have extra output but 600watts is still 600watts, I have 2 of them and I'm happy enough

 

[bdomina]

HGO ever had one fail? 20% falure sounds high. but i guess they all fail eventually just a mater of how soon

 

[solarz]

i would stay away from the quantum digi ballast. I recently got one of the dimmible quantums (the orange ones) and that this runs hot as shit!!! To the point of not even being able to handle it with the bare hand. And mind you, this is only a 600W ballast. I've been using another 600W that i got from HTG, and that this is like a fucking ice cube compared to the quantum. Also the HTG digi runs a lot quieter than the quantum. Those are just my $.02 when it comes to ballasts.

solarz

 

[Seismic]

I have good luck with my 1k digi galaxy so far, it is very quiet, and runs cooler than my 400w mag. It is also smaller, and lighter.

Dr. Dog is right though, there are many more reports on here of digital ballasts going out than magnetic ballasts. Although in regards to cmh bulbs, Dr. Dog got it mixed up, as cmh can only run in magnetic hps ballasts, and not digital ones.

If this is your first ballast, I would go with magnetic, as that would be the cheapest to start with, accept the widest range of bulbs (especially if you pick up a switchable magnetic ballast like the sun system 10), and is by far the most reliable.

Take care, and good luck with whatever choice you make.

 

[bdomina]

thanks gents. no i have a 400 w econo ballast from inside sun and it is right off a fu(#$ing gymnasium or something. capacitor went out and he is supposed to be sending me another but i have not heard back from him in a few days. grrr. plants are suffering under 50% orange light and i am like 2 weeks away. was really hoping to pack on some pistils and thicken up a few of these this last week.

 

[Amstel Light]

i would stay away from the quantum digi ballast. I recently got one of the dimmible quantums (the orange ones) and that this runs hot as shit!!! To the point of not even being able to handle it with the bare hand. And mind you, this is only a 600W ballast. I've been using another 600W that i got from HTG, and that this is like a fucking ice cube compared to the quantum. Also the HTG digi runs a lot quieter than the quantum. Those are just my $.02 when it comes to ballasts.

solarz

i will be getting one of those real soon...no complaints then? cheaper to i may add

 

[FirstTracks]

stay away from digital greehouse ballasts if you can. much problems with my 600w digi ballast that i won't go into, but its enough im going to downgrade to a 400 magnetic for reliability and cheaper bulbs for when they blow.
mine ran super cool, just broke at the most in-opportune time.......then when i got a new one it popped my bulb right away.......they're hit or miss and im not sure about long term reliability.

lumatek and all those upper level ones are probably much more dependable, much higher quality, but i have no experience with those.

 

[solarz]

yup...no complaints at all. I'm actually going to order another 1K ballas/bulb tonight! I just went back in there and did a feel test, and the results are...

quantum - HOT AS SHIT!!! and i have a 4in fan blowing directly on the fucker...
HTG - cool to the touch, and its right behind the quantum.

I'm solarz, and i approve this message!

 

[solarz]

Fast Tracks...that's odd that you've had those problems. I've been running mine for over 2 years, without a single hiccup. The only thing that i've ever noticed was my bulb flickering, but i replaced it and it seemed to have gone away.

 

[feltonmuggs]

I picked up an 600W XtraSun eballast about 1 month ago and am delighted with my purchase. It has dual voltage feature and powers HPS and MH. The store recommended specialty bulbs but they were normally priced too.
I had been running 2 400w (1 HPS & 1 MH) magnets and they made a ton of noise. The XtraSun runs nice and cool too, and has a full 5 year warranty, all the others I looked at had 3 year warrantes.

 

[Amstel Light]

Fast Tracks...that's odd that you've had those problems. I've been running mine for over 2 years, without a single hiccup. The only thing that i've ever noticed was my bulb flickering, but i replaced it and it seemed to have gone away.

yea that was my next question length of use.
Fast track i have a 400 for back-up just in case, did you ever get the problem resolved?

 

[smurfin'herb]

Ive bought and used well over 20 lumatek 600watt 240vlt ballasts and never had a problem. However i know some people that were having troubles with the 120's. I have also used the new digi ballasts by C.A.P. they are ok, but not flicker free as advertised imo.

 

[FirstTracks]

yea that was my next question length of use.
Fast track i have a 400 for back-up just in case, did you ever get the problem resolved?

a few months on the ballast and bulb. ballast 1 refused to fire the bulb, replacement ballast blew my bulb almost right away after starting it up the first time.

could have been my lack of a surge protector, but the power in my location is/was pretty solid and consistent.

 

[SweetBOG]

I have a close relative that works as an engineer for Phillips ballast division and she says that the digital ones have a much shorter lifespan than the old-fashioned magnetic ballasts. The old magnetic ones last forever essentially, but I like my digi's cause they are much smaller, are completely silent, and do not generate as much heat. Had mine for over a year and so far so good across a few different types of hps bulbs.

 

[bdomina]

good info here thanks!

 

[Pinball Wizard]

information overload...http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=111885

 

[wickedpete66]

I have 2 lumatek blue ballast and 2 md hydo digital ballasts. All work well, but they interfere with the radio frequency's, especially am. I had to switch back to magnetic ballast I was getting complaints from other tenants in the building.

 

[wickedpete66]

I have a close relative that works as an engineer for Phillips ballast division and she says that the digital ones have a much shorter lifespan than the old-fashioned magnetic ballasts. The old magnetic ones last forever essentially, but I like my digi's cause they are much smaller, are completely silent, and do not generate as much heat. Had mine for over a year and so far so good across a few different types of hps bulbs.

My hydrofarm xtrasun ballast run much cooler than my digital ones