WARNING Sun Systems GroPro dual 600

[Guest]

Thanks for posting your test results, Pico.

I bought a few of these used a few months back, and the next day I heard they were recalled. I contacted sunlight supply immediately.

They said that the ballast was never officially "recalled"... Though there were some "design issues" with the first release.

They offered to remove the switch that was causing the ballast failure. They sent me pre-paid shipping, and the turn-around time was fast. I got my ballasts back a week after shipping them. The service dept. was professional.

Having said all of that, I wasn't all that suprised to hear about lumen loss with these things. I should have done more homework before I bought them, but I've been running sunlight supply ballasts for many years without an issue, and so I assumed I'd be getting the same quality.

I was surprised at what a good deal I got on these, but I guess the saying holds true: You get what you pay for.

 

[Guest]

Hey Pico,

Did you ever look at these units. I forgot about them and they look pretty nice. All units are 240 though. Was wondering if you hear any info on them? "EuroSystems Ballast" Twin 600HP

I hope all is well.
Take care,
BG

 

[RamCTD1027]

Pico-

Thanks for the info. I was going to buy a few of these but i went with the digi ballasts instead, which looks like it was a good idea. Have you heard anything back from sunsystems on these yet?

RamCTD

 

[Guest]

mariodelamota just for your info.,sunlight supply and sun systems are two different companies.I love the sun systems dual HID fixtures

 

[pico]

GDW- never did hear anything on the Eurosystems. My hydro shop said that sunleaves might be putting out a dual 600. At this point I am a little turned off by the idea because of being burned.

RamCTD- Never did hear back from sunsytems. I talked to someone there a number of times and he was a nice guy, but never got back to me. I stopped calling them as it was a waste of my time. He did say they had been recieving similar reports and were doing some in house testing.

 

[Guest]

Hey Pico,
Thanks for the reply. Its all good and all. I'm just going to go with the single units. I'm going to build my own units. All 240 volt units with mutli-tap ballast. I can built a unit for 180 with all the best parts. Thanks again for all your work and help.
Take care,
BG

 

[MedResearcher]

Wanted to bump this thread, to help warn people.

Recently I bought 3x Gro-Pro Dual 600w ballasts. I used them for 3 months, during this 3 months the ballasts would randomly not fire, or turn off half way through a day cycle. Also each ballast would light 1 of the Bulbs extremely bright and the other bulb extremely dim. There was enough light difference where they almost looked different colors.

So for 3 months I stressed and stressed and tried to figure out what the problem was. I couldn't understand my entire system, timer board, ballasts, bulbs, hoods, electrical was all brand new and top of the line. I was just about to hire an electrician to come in and inspect the main circuit box when I stumbled on this thread.

After reading this thread, I noticed Picos problems were identical to mine so I went straight to the grow store and requested the ballasts be returned and replaced with normal 600w ballasts. Luckily the grow store I go to does great business, and got the manufacturer to take back the ballasts.

I am now using Gro-Pro single 600w ballasts, and I have no more problems at all. They fire instantly 100% of the time and all the light is even. My problems were 100% coming for the Gro-Pro Dual 600ws ballasts.

Tks Pico for this thread you saved me a ton of stress and saved my grow room.

To everyone else, DO NOT buy Gro-Pro Dual 600w ballasts. They should be removed from the market all together. I cant believe they are actually still selling them

 

[texasluv]

I'm glad I found this thread. I also have a dual grow pro 600 and it does the same thing being described in this thread. I haven't had issues with one bulb brighter than the other, but I do have a problem with the ballast not firing the bulbs about once a month. I walk into the room and the ballast is making some god-awful noise trying to fire the bulbs. I unplug it and 10 minutes later all is well.

I am taking mine back to the store this week as I bought it less than a year ago. I love their 1 year, no questions asked warranty.

 

[pineappaloupe]

OK, the verdict from me is in.

to hell with the gropro dual 600.

the ballast just took a crap on me. it fired up normally after a few months rest, ran for a few hours, then tripped the breaker (only load on the circuit was the gropro). a few hours later i go in to check the temps... ballast is buzzing like a bug zapper, bulbs flickering. let it rest, went ot fire it again 20 mins later, instantly flipped the breaker.

**** this piece of trash. save yourself the migrane/drinking problem/ulcer/or worse ost crop, get 2 separate 600s.....

 

[pineappaloupe]

so i got my ballast back. there was another dual 600 in the shop that came back as well and both had the writing "12/07 retrofit" on them. to me that means sun system has made some attempt to fix the problem.
i just fired it up 30 minutes ago, with 1 brand new bulb and one older one that wasnt fried from earlier. unlike the previous times, both bulbs have very similar color temperatures. obviously the brand new bulb is a little different.
the ballast also seems to be a little quiter, ill keep checking on it as it gets hot.

more updates to come

 

[pineappaloupe]

So, 5 days later and the ballast seems fine.
the difference in the color temp of the bulbs is still minimal and can be attributed to bulb age.
the ballast still seems quiter, though it is louder than one of those economy 1000W MH ballasts.

if i could do it over i wouldve spent the extra cash on 2 600s, but if you relly wants a dual 600 make sure it has been retrofitted.

 

[pineappaloupe]

OK well....


sunsystem needs to issue a recall. these ballast are fucked. the gropro dual 600 is going back to them for the THIRD FUCKING TIME. the problem isnt with me, i know how to not fuck up a ballast.

i highly doubt susnsystem will send me even 1 single 600 ballast to replace this fucking waste of metal.... if anyone has an idea how i can not get completely fucked over from SS im all ears.

 

[pico]

I gave up soon after I started this thread. I was in contact with the people there and at the time they did not know, or would not admit there was a problem. I ended up buying 4 sunleaves pulsar 600w ballasts for right about $200 a pop new. I wish I would have just done that in the first place. I really liked the idea of having 2 ballasts on 1 plug though. Reduced some of the electrical wiring I had to do.

Sorry to hear you getting the run around from these guys.

 

[bards840]

i have one of these dual 600 no troubles yet , mines a year old, shuts off when gets to hot , and have to have both bulbs going or wont lite up one, the lady at the hydro store said thats how they had fix a problem they had with them not firing right, now i read this and done a bit of shopping around , found i could of bought two 600 digs with nice air cooled hoods at htg supply, i bought two 1000 dig from htg work great with 3 war, not even the big name dig makers dont offer 3 yr war. must offer 1 on any 1000dig , but anyway , could of bought two 600dig for about 80 to 100 bucks cheaper and then could run one at a time , oh well sounds like i screwed up , i get another yr outta this dual 600, i use it as boat achor when it goes way it sounds

 

[pico]

Kinda funny how you say there is no troubles.....then say it shuts off when it gets hot. That is definitely not how ballast should work. There should be no shutting off at all.

 

[Guest]

I have the sunsystems 400/400 combo going strong over 5 years now,looking forward to the 600/400 if it ever dies

 

[pico]

I also have a sunsystems 400/400 that has been going strong about the same ammount of time. The dual 400 is actually just 2 seperate ballasts in 1 box so they should have no problems. The dual 600 is actually just 1 transformer that powers both lights and i guess there is a problem there. One of the last times I talked to sunsystems they mentioned that the thought the supplier in Asia was not making the transformer as big as it should be and was shorting them. Hard to say but it is possible.

 

[eLiguL]

I also have a sunsystems 400/400 that has been going strong about the same ammount of time. The dual 400 is actually just 2 seperate ballasts in 1 box so they should have no problems. The dual 600 is actually just 1 transformer that powers both lights and i guess there is a problem there. One of the last times I talked to sunsystems they mentioned that the thought the supplier in Asia was not making the transformer as big as it should be and was shorting them. Hard to say but it is possible.

Thats a load of crap. They should have specified exactly what they wanted and inspected the product far before it ever touches the end users hands. The problem lies with Sunsystems for allowing a shoddy product to be put out.

 

[pico]

Well on the other hand the manufacturer in asia could have started out giving them the correct transformer, then as time went on they could have cut down the amount of copper coiled up in there to make a little extra money. It is possible that sunsystems never knew until they started having problems.

Who knows. Either way they should be taking care of the problem.

 

[cocktail frank]

i started to notice that one bulb was significantly less brighter than the other one.
always the second bulb.
after a while of using em, i started to have problems.
one wouldnt fire, then both wouldnt.
light would shut off and the ignitor would hum loud as hell .
had to unplug the ballast to let it cool down for an hour, then plug it back in.
went and ordered 4 ballast kits and made em myself.
much better and cheaper.
live and learn i guess.
only thing they would be good for now is one 600w bulb, fuck the dual.