What's the best 600W Digital Balast on the market?

[george j warner]

anyway i thought the blue ones where the newest ... lumatek home website have blue ones ...

 

[george j warner]

google


search for

lumatek digital ballasts usa
lumatek blue
lumatek purple
lumatek ballasts
new lumatek
purple lumatek
blue lumatek
2007 lumatek
lumatek 2007

etc

dont just type in lumatek ... computers dont think for them selves lol

 

[Tha-GOD]

Lumateks are the worst digital ballasts out. Digital Greenhouse has a very nice 400 and 600W that is UL listed and FCC compliant. They are trying to work the 1Ks so that they can get em UL listed and FCC compliant but no company has done that yet and believe they'll be the first. I wouldn't recommend anything that is not the shit, but if you want a top notch ballast and are willing to splurge go for a CoolStar magnetic. 5 year warranty and they are as sick if not sicker than digital ballasts. One

 

[rsrastaman]

humbolt wholesale have really good digital ballast find the at any family hydroponics
find your nears one at familyhydroponics.com

 

[HeadyPete]

Okay, I purchased the Galaxy 600W ballast with an Osram Plantastar bulb. When this is up and running and I see some results I will update here. The lady at the shop told me there has been no probs and no returns of these ballasts, and they have a 3 year warranty.

 

[Guest 18340]

This is my second grow with my Galaxy 600w digi and no problems whatsoever. Im using a Hortlux eye (hps) and a Sunmaster (mh) and the Galaxy lights them off flawlessly. Im saving up to by another one.

 

[HeadyPete]

Good to hear, evlme2!

 

[icdog]

Have had the silver lumatek 600w for almost a year now and was wondering if anybody else has experienced this.
Because the bulb is bright or more intense it seems to be throwing out too much light for the plants that are directly under and to the sides of the bulb, the plants seem like they have too much light and it seems to be damaging them somewhat.
The plants are on a 4x4 table, I dont think I had this problem with a magnetic 600w or a 1000w in the same configuration.

 

[HeadyPete]

Yes icdog, because it does produce more lumen and heat you need to back it off from the tops of your plants more. Use an aircooled hood with glass if you don't already.

 

[clowntown]

Here's some info that might be helpful...

No digital ballast is completely RFI/EMI-free, but the Lumateks appear to have the best shielding available. Older digital ballasts (including some of the older model Lumateks) actually interfered with cable, satellite and AM radios. The new Lumateks (1000W included) generate hardly (if any) interference outside of 10’. In fact, the RF interference shouldn’t even be strong enough to pass through a bedroom wall, even at distances under 10’.

How does the RFI on the 1000w/120v compare to the 600w/120v? Are there any proven / tested methods of things the user can do to help decrease the range, that you are aware of? Things like perhaps enclosing the device inside traditional RFI-shielding materials such as copper mesh, for instance. Or are those things effective on the low-power devices such as communication cables and such?

Here is the answer I just received from Lumatek:

Your answer was correct; there will be minimal interference (within 10ft) with the 1000 watt 120v while we currently experience NO detectable interference with the current (blue or purple) 600w 120v. Copper mesh and other traditional shielding methods are not much help as they are used as the customer noted on primarily lower wattage fixtures.

 

[Guest]

Has anyone got one of theses lights, seem to be very reasonable ????​

​

COMPLETE 600W GROWLIGHT WITH DIGITAL BALLAST AND SYLVANIA GROLUX LAMP

COMPLETE 600W DIGITAL BALLAST GROWLIGHT WITH LAMP AND MAINS LEAD-PLUG AND GROW
The digital revolution starts here!!
'Plug and grow'
Complete 600w digital grow light with 'grolux' lamp
Brand new stock direct from Holland
This is a dutch 600w growlight-it has a 600w digital ballast, and the reflector is attached to the ballast. It comes supplied with a UK mains lead and plug. And is supplied with a 600w sylvania brand 'grolux' lamp ( which is the best performing horticultural lamp there is )
Digital ballast are cutting edge technology and have several advantages over magnetic/wire wound ballasts
low power consumption 2.74a
low heat emission
higher efficiency ( grolux lamps should produce 90000 lumens-when run through traditional wire wound ballast they do not-and if you tour the growing forums and speak to growers-they'll tell you the digital ballast actually increase the lumen output of the lamp )
The ballasts are IEC approved
The sylvania 'grolux is our best selling horticultural lamp by far- a dual spectrum lamp packing a powerful 90000 lumens
The complete fitting is 800mm long
Feel free to contact the office for further details!​

I was thinking of ordering one of these. havnt heard mutch bad or good about them. What i did hear was that it is designed to be used in greenhouses and when the plant gets 1meter+ tall the reflector gets problems spreading the light.

 

[Ram Beau]

I would not buy a ballast online or from a place i do not plan on going back to. Ballast go bad alot.... don't let the shop owners fool you. I suggest finding a retailer that has a good return policy. My local shop has replaced countless number of bulbs and ballasts for me on the spot no questions. He just packs it up and sents it back to the manufacturer. LUCKLY FOR EVERY ONE. My local hydro store is apart of a VERY LARGE FAMILY OWNED chain thers a GRIP of stores and they all have VERY VERY good policys on returens and stuff. Here is a place to see if they have a store neer you.

http://www.familyhydroponics.com/store_locator.php

Also Ballast... lumiteks are ok but i have had a few blue ones go bad, without evean poping the fuse... Galaxies are ok but stay away from a 400 watt becuase i have never had a galaxi 400 last more then 3 months, i have had a few. Sunsystem coil balast SUCK BALLS every one i have purchesed 4 tottal have cought fire, all at diffrent times and some @ diffrent locations. But there is LIGHT at the end of the tunnel. There are these new ballast very hard to find. there digital 120/240 ballast. called Global Greenhouse Humbolt Holesale i think is the distributor. I think all the family hydroponics stores carry these ballast. I have never had a problume with any of these ballast. i am comming up on a year with my first set of 6 on the 12 of april =) time for new bulbs. Very soft start nevery had to reeplace a bulb in 12 months of opperation. QUALITY i have ran them on both 120 and 240 with no issues =) best ballast i have ever used, also no emi I use my cell phone in my grows all the time and we got fm radio going in there most of the time to. it sits on the tops of the cold ballast. frezzeing cold.

i think i found a family hudroponics ebay page and they sell the ballast from there. I wouls still go to the local store to get a ballast.

http://cgi.ebay.com/GLOBAL-GREENHOU...AST-1-600_W0QQitemZ160100763861QQcmdZViewItem

Anyone else using GGL Ballasts? I hear they are the best. Northcoast Horticulture can't shutup about them... I htink I'm sold. I hear they can be run on a generator too.

 

[Ram Beau]

humbolt wholesale have really good digital ballast find the at any family hydroponics
find your nears one at familyhydroponics.com

THis is the GGL (Global Greenhouse Lighting) Ballast that they are selling at Northcoast Horticulture. I am very surprised that there is so little info on them on this forum. The store says they have tested them and they are hands down better than the Lumateks. Not always is the best product used by the most people.
Of course I have no experience at all so wtfdIk?

 

[Guest]

I looked into the Humboldt ballast, I read about them here and emailed the poster. They sound terrific but the posters advice was to go with the Galaxy I could get within driving distance for quick follow up if needed. I took that good advice and got the Galaxy 600 that I run on a 240 line. I'm starting my second grow and it works great.

Can I ask, how long should I expect before having to replace the bulb? It runs 12/12 cycle. Anyone have experience with the Galaxy that could say which bulbs they prefer?

 

[HeadyPete]

Apparently the Galaxy is good with all gro bulbs. I have a 600 on 120V running the Osram Plantastar hps bulb and it performed great during my test run, although I have not yet used it to flower a crop. Soon, though, very soon now....

The groshop I got it from reported no returns or problems at all on the Galaxys.

I am very happy.

 

[Bulénath]

Whats up everyone.

...Just read through the entire thread very slowly. I am still a little stuck on what ballast I should buy. Very soon I will be moving into my own place, for the first time ever. I plan on growing with two 600HPS flower chambers. I am still not sure if I will flip/flop the lights and run only one ballast 24/7, or just run two ballasts.
Well my livelyhood rests on the success on my 600HPS grows, and I want to make sure the first 600HPS ballasts I buy are also the last.
After reading the entire thread I am leaning toward the Purple Lumatek Ballasts (with GE bulb)....
I am also concerned about brownouts. This is because I currently run rwo 150HPS ballasts in seperate chambers (seperate maufactures, one a Floralux mini bought from BGH with no problems), and the ambient temperatres are kept stable with a 500watt AirCondition sitting out my window. Well everytime the AirCondition starts running its cycle, the power draw causes my Magnetic 150HPS Ballast's lights to dim for a split second. This happens over and over, hundreds of times a day it seems. Though this supposed brownout (if it is indeed a "brownout") dosent seem to affect my magnetic 150HPS ballasts/light bulbs, but perhaps it can affect a 600HPS digital ballast like the Lumatek. After all, I think I remember reading in the thread that Lumatek 600HPS ballasts may be sensitive to brownouts.... What about the new Purple Lumateks?...

..any advice or feedback is appreciated. This thread I had bookmarked for a long time, its sad to see it dead for almost 2 months now....

 

[Raoul]

I have been running digital greenhouse 600s for almost two years now. The only issue I ever had was their inexpensive bulb went out after a month of use. Have run, philips, hortilux and sunmaster with no issues at all. I have a friend with a galaxy 600 that has run perfect for over a year now also.

 

[SweetNightmare]

Why would you bump a year old thread when there's been 20 others about digitals and RF and everything...

 

[BORNaSMOKER]

sorry for dragging up an old thread but I want to know if there's any advances in this question. I've learned recently thet they all operate at high frequencys that can affect the bulbs life. I know that a new range of bulbs is being developed specifically for this reason, some next gen bulbs for electronic ballasts?? anyone know more