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

[HempKat]

HempKat...I never mind someone disputing anything I say as it really just helps me out. I'm not an electronic technician and prolly can't get enough info off the net to assemble an adequate response. Maybe these things are all just hype. Prollem I have is the ballasts went into a new 'open' system room I designed based on previous experience. The only comparison I have is against med friends who are growing the same strain, in open systems, in hydro (rockwool slabs), using the same nutes, living in the same general area, using the same water, similar temp/humidity control/ranges, etc. My results are statistically significant in the positive (yield). Flavor, fragrance, density, potency are all noticably better. The only real difference, unless I'm missing something, is the ballast/bulb combo. I got such an unbelievable deal with the set of Lumateks I couldn't resist going for it and so far am very pleased.

You make good points. One thing is clear after reading your comments. I'm just gonna call Lumatek directly and see if they can offer explanations and data to help this discussion out.

Ah, okay, so that's really a comparisson of your yield with someone else's then? Okay well given you have considered the variables such as water, temps, set up, geographic location, etc. there must be something that is different. By the way I wasn't disputing you I was really just expressing skepticism. There may be an actual improvement in PAR output (Par being how the plant percieves light, lumens is based on how we percieve light). I would suggest though there could be two other explainations. One, and this is least likely, would be if there's just something in your handling of the plants that makes a difference. I say that's unlikely because you probably would have noted that when making comparrisons. I'm talking things like, maybe you upcan during the grow to improve root developement and your friends don't, maybe you use a super cropping technique and your friends don't? Things like that. The other possibility could be your bulb is a better bulb, have you compared the bulb specs? The higher end bulbs like the hortilux I have a fuller spectrum closer to the sun amd I know dual spectrum growers report an improvement to their yields. Also, and this is an example and wouldn't necessarily apply to your case. I forget the name of it but there is a 400W Bulb that is actually like 430W. My understanding is it will burn like a normal 400W bulb if it is hooked up to a normal 400W ballast. However their are ballast that have the extra power and if you use one of those you get more lumens and a fuller spectrum. So in that case you could have a scenario of two grower with even the same bulb but if the ballasts were different so would the results be.

Anyway, I just wanted to explore the pros and cons of digital ballasts as I may one day be interested in one myself just for the circuit load aspects. Not because of brown outs but just to be safer, ultimately it's always best if you don't load a circuit too much. What really bugs me thoug is currently where my grow is, there are two circuits, both are shared with other circuits in other buildings, so when I'm running a grow and have those circuits loaded, I have to be very concious of what electrical items I run and where I run them or I might trip the breaker. I would like to be able to get things where that was less of a problem. :smile:

 

[HempKat]

The claim that digital ballast manufacturers make is that digiballasts actually do use the bulb differently from magnetic ballasts. A lit HID bulb looks like it is pouring out continuous light to our eyes, but it is actually "flickering" at a frequency that is higher than we can detect. Digital ballasts claim to give a much steadier, flicker-free light. (probably they just strobe at a much higher frequency than mag ballasts, but the point is the same)



Digital ballasts also start up the bulb at a lower voltage which prolongs bulb life. This is actually the reason why the Lumatek has problems with some bulbs. Some specialty bulbs need a little more juice to get them started, and the Lumatek's "soft start" feature sometimes gets in the way of firing up those bulbs. There is no inherent reason why a digiballast can't light any bulb on the market. It's all in how the startup is programmed. Apparently the Galaxy has been programmed to deal with these bulbs, and the Lumatek has not.

That being said, I can't see myself ever paying the $$$ for a solar max or growlux. A generic enhanced spectrum bulb will get you all the light you need. Personally, I've grown a lot of dank with nothing but standard, non-enhanced HPS bulbs.

Okay well I understand electronics somewhat, more in terms with computers but the thing about the frequency would be about the only way I could imagine it happening. Digital in it's pure state simple means on or off, there's no inbetween, the name then would apply that when you turn it on or off it's fully in that state. Typical HIDs as everyone knows, take a while to fully power up or to cool down. Now they run on AC or alternating current which means it runs from fully positive current/voltage to fully negative current/voltage in a repeating wave pattern, one full cycle is represented in frequency as a hertz which I believe is one cycle per second. If I remember correctly the frequency for current is 50Hz in europe or 50 cycles per second and in the US it's 60 cycles per second. This is the frequency at which circuits appear to us to run uninterupted. There is technically a fraction of a moment in time where the circuit isn't working to maintain a steady output and this does in fact cause a flicker although like you said the human eye doesn't really see it. Now DC or direct current means there is a constant level of power and on the same device (oscilliscope) you would see a waveform with AC and a straight line with DC, so if you could supply a more direct flow of current then the light in theory shouldn't have that flicker. I'm guessing though it's really still AC they just cleaned the waveform up to look more like a digital signal which would be half a second fully positive and half a second fully negative for one hertz. That should produce less of a flicker so if nothing else the theory the manufacturers put forth is sound. I guess the real question would be, has anyone been able to measure the PAR output digital vs magnetic to see if there is a measurable difference?

Anyway, thank you all for your input. I guess in the end the wallet is still the final factor. If you can afford it you'll likely get it but if it's too expensive to you you'll only get it if you're confident of an improved yield. I have noted out of all this there appears to be some compatability issues between bulbs and ballasts and that's a big draw back when the ballast has a premium price. Then it becomes, "Oh well, maybe some day if I hit the lottery"

 

[Guest]

Ah, okay, so that's really a comparisson of your yield with someone else's then? there must be something that is different. By the way I wasn't disputing you I was really just expressing skepticism. The other possibility could be your bulb is a better bulb, have you compared the bulb specs? So in that case you could have a scenario of two grower with even the same bulb but if the ballasts were different so would the results be.

OK...It's not just yield but every aspect. The only thing different are the ballasts/bulbs...that's it. I've really checked it out and there's nothing different except that. No supercropping, root enchancement techniques, etc. All my friends use various 'high end' bulbs including Hortilux. I don't know that the GE bulb is any better and if it was just about everybody growing would be using them instead of Hortilux (which is the most popular from what I understand). The GE bulb recommendation came from the distributor as a good fit with the Luma's. They mentioned another bulb but forgot which one. Calls made to Lumatek were not answered (machine) but I will do more research to understand things better.

Skepticism is fine, disputing things is understandable, debating is healthy. As long as the subject of discussion is the idea, thought, information or opinion, and you're not attacking the person, it's all cool.

 

[cobo]

They say you get 30% extra lumes with digital ballast. ?

 

[pico]

I used some HIDHUT ballasts for a few months and they worked great. I was running 600 watters at 240.

plus hidhut ballasts are FCC tested and certified to produce NO RF interference, eliminating the need for shielded cables. They are CE certified for safety, using all UL certified components.


can't beat the price

pico

 

[jcsmooth]

You can't beat there price, you're right.
But you can beat up your plants if your ballast dies and your crop gets ruined because of dysfunctional circuitry.

I'm excited to try out a digi. ballast, but the little problems people seem to be having sound like a mess.

JC

 

[pico]

like I said, I didn't have any problems. Started every time, were quiet, and didn't get too hot.

i did only use them for 3 months though so I don't know about long term.

 

[Guest]

Over 13,000 total hours of run time on my ballasts so far. Just watch...I'm shooting my mouth off and now I'll have problems :.

 

[jcsmooth]

I'll tell you, the thought of having 400 watts of metal halide power, something that can penetrate the canopy unlike my 150 watts of cfl, gets me excited.
I keep my plants as close as possible to my cfl's (a few inches tops), but because they grow so much, I have to keep a constant eye on them before they touch the bulb and start to burn (or worse yet, burn down my apartment).

Keep the digi. ballast reviews coming boys. We need the good and bad word to keep the technology to improve

JC

 

[HempKat]

OK...It's not just yield but every aspect. The only thing different are the ballasts/bulbs...that's it. I've really checked it out and there's nothing different except that. No supercropping, root enchancement techniques, etc. All my friends use various 'high end' bulbs including Hortilux. I don't know that the GE bulb is any better and if it was just about everybody growing would be using them instead of Hortilux (which is the most popular from what I understand). The GE bulb recommendation came from the distributor as a good fit with the Luma's. They mentioned another bulb but forgot which one. Calls made to Lumatek were not answered (machine) but I will do more research to understand things better.

Skepticism is fine, disputing things is understandable, debating is healthy. As long as the subject of discussion is the idea, thought, information or opinion, and you're not attacking the person, it's all cool.

Hmmm, well without knowing the specs of the bulb you have it's hard to be certain but if it's out performing a hortilux of the same wattage then there must be something to it. An interesting test would be if you could talk your buddy into letting you use his hortilux for a grow and then compare your results with his. Even without a test if it out performs a same watt hortilux noticably then it seems to me it's gotta be the ballast that is the explaination

 

[Guest]

If anybody's seriously interested you can contact Lumatek's US tech support at 415-233-4273 for questions. Hydrofarm also 'private labels' Lumatek ballasts so HF would also be good to call regarding the systems. I'd guess HF has pretty good technical support but I've never dealt with them.

Basically 'a Lumatek ballast lights the bulb in a more consistent way at a higher frequency'. I can understand that. I remember working on an LCD computer monitor all day then immediately switching to a conventional crt and I could easily see the monitor constantly flickering. While the refresh was easily noticable I don't know how that analogy applies to a lit HID bulb and 'flickering'.

 

[jcsmooth]

Budzad7...do you work for that company?
The site is under construction anyhow, and I was kind of looking more for reviews on various products.
Thanks though

JC

 

[clowntown]

Budzad7...do you work for that company?
The site is under construction anyhow, and I was kind of looking more for reviews on various products.

Yeah really. You posted this before:

Hi All ! There's a new ballast by Bloom Wright the Bloom Brite Plus it runs off of
generators, pretty kool....www.bloomwrite.com Peace!

$ nslookup www.bloomwrite.com
...
** server can't find www.bloomwrite.com: NXDOMAIN

$ whois bloomwrite.com
...
No match for "BLOOMWRITE.COM".

Now you post a different one that doesn't even have working links, etc. Your website sucks. Stop spamming. Unless you have some specific / particular information that's worth sharing, with a working link to a product description and such.

 

[admiralcornport]

Hi All! Bloom Bright HID is a new digi ballast.....

Please stop spamming a site that doesn't work.... not that I clicked on it.

 

[BudZad7]

Sorry Dudes!

Sorry Dudes!

Hi All! I read an article about these ballasts and just passed it along,and I to
tried there web site with no luck, Sorry if I pissed anyone off
Next time I will verify before posting!!! Peace!

 

[Pinner]

OK I am hoping you guys can clear some things up for me. I believe I know there are 3 types of ballasts on the market: magnetic, electronic and digital.

So here is my situation. I just decided to go with a 600W MH (yes I can get this where I am) and a 1000W HPS.

However, where I am nobody speaks english and I must decide on ballasts without any help from where they are being purchased.

So where I am I can get all 3 types for the 600W with digi going to 750W.

The electronic up to the 1000W but not name brands so maybe of concern.

For example:

Specifications:
1) EBTT/EB HPS 1,000W DF
2) Rated voltage: 220V
3) Frequency: 50/60Hz
4) Current power: 4.32A
5) Power factor: >0.99 (Tc<90)
6) Lumen coefficient: >0.95 (Tc<90)

Features of HID electronic ballast of high pressure sodium lamp series:
1) High power factor: >0.99
2) Low harmonic distortion: <10%
3) Low power waste: <10%
4) No stroboflash, no sound resonance, high optical effect
5) Constant power control (input alternating current voltage: 165 - 265V)
6) All-round energy conservation: 35%



Magnetic all types.

I know Magnetic are bottom of the scale right now and aparently digis still have some bugs that need working out.

So what should I get for my 600W MH?

I really don't understand the difference between digi and electronic.

What should I get for my 1000W HPS?

Also if the ballast is rated for 600W electronic should I go for a higher ballast like 750W for better performance? How does that work?

Really worried about the 1000W HPS though.

Not looking for brand names just which type and at what Watts

Thanks

Pinner

 

[Pinner]

Bump.

Could someone help me out here with the real world experience diffs between electronic and digi as well as the other questions posed in my post above.

Thanks Guys

Pinner

 

[Sauce]

Electronic ballast = digital ballast.

There are magnetic coil core or electronic/digital. Just 2 types.

 

[clowntown]

As you all know, a little money saved from an electric bill or a bit brighter light doesn't mean anything if it's going to get you in trouble.

If you either own an electronic ballast already or are considering purchasing one, please see the link in my signature. I'm attempting to compile a database of various electronic ballasts' RF interference status.

Thanks,

 

[2Lazy2GetHigh]

^ good idea good luck with that. i'm still tryin to decide whether to get a magnetic or digi.