which would be the perfect ballast? (400w MH)

[tan]

Would a electronic Lumatek be good? or should I go with magnetic? and if I go magnetic, which brand?

I want to go with 4 lights for better propagation,
(400w MH) x 4

does that mean I have to buy 4 ballasts?

And where on the net can I order ballasts and lights?
A place that is reputable.

And what voltage should I buy?

I live in north-america which means I need 120 volts, and it's europe which needs 240 volts. So why do I find info like this which confuses me even more:

"Lumatek ballasts are voltage specific and cannot be modified to change the input voltage. The 240v digital ballast is more efficient producing light while generating less heat than the 120v counterpart. Other electronic ballasts or dual input voltage digital ballasts are never able to achieve the same efficiency as a Lumatek dedicated 240v e-ballast."

So many options... I'm lost...

 

[Guest]

There is no perfect anything. Digital ballasts are great IMO but a lot of what you read is hype. They do generate less heat, are much smaller and waaaay lighter, there's no noise generation and Lumatek has improved the quality of their ballasts since their introduction. If you go digital I'd recommend Lumatek. With a magnetic you know it'll fire and properly run any bulb you put in there which can't be said for the electronic ballasts last I heard.

As for the voltage thing if you're gonna run 1600 watts I'd suggest you take a close look at the 240 version. 1600 watts on 120 will pull about 13.5 amps. Getting access to 240 in a house is a bit more difficult but you also have to consider all the support equipment like fans and such which must run on 120. The 240 electronic ballasts seem to be more stable.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

4 ballasts = 4 lights

You can run 220 in your house. Your dryer, oven, central AC, and hot water heater run on 220. Lots of articles here on it.

I would probably stick with magnetic ballasts. In magnetic, I believe any brand will do you fine.

 

[Guest]

You can run 220 in your house. Your dryer, oven, central AC, and hot water heater run on 220.

Very true then the issue becomes getting that power to the grow space. Best is off the dryer and just down run clothes when you're lights are on.

I agree there's lots of information here about this subject. Pretty basic questions.

 

[tan]

Best is off the dryer and just down run clothes when you're lights are on.

Sorry Mountain, but I didn't understand that phrase. What do you mean exactly?

 

[Guest]

You can piggy back off your dryer outlet and they are usually like what...30 or 40 amps 220? You can run a gazillion watts off that circuit no problem. If you got central AC in a place that's great to use that circuit in the Winter but what about the Summer? Does that circuit also run something like a heat pump in the Winter? If so you just can't use it. The oven circuit is great but the easiest to control use on is the dryer circuit. I mean like a load or two of clothes a week? Just don't dry clothes when the lights are on to make sure you're not overloading the circuit. You're usually flowering at night when it's cooler which is something like 9 PM to 9 AM. You'll be sucking a lot of juice in flower as you don't need much to maintain mothers or veg cuts and you can pull that juice off a 120 circuit. I maintain mothers with 6 4' fluoro tubes and kick on a 600 watt HID about 2 weeks before needing cuts. A 600 pulls like 4.75 amps on 120.

Problem is the type of structure you're in. You'd have to run a wire, 10 guage would be best but 12 would be fine for a smaller grow, from either the dryer breaker, you could always wire in a junction to tap off of, or directly from the outlet where the dryer plugs into.

Something like that...

Get the picture now?

 

[Guest]

Regarding your lights, go with 3- 600's (HPS), the performance is top end. Research the bulb performances here in the forums and you will see what I am referring to. Veg your ladies under a 1000-MH This assumes that you have a reasonably sized home grow. Or just veg and bloom with the 600's. Some of the 600 HPS have improved blue spectrum, HIDHUT.com has such an animal, I use them and am happy with the results.

Check the local grow store for new and used ballasts and search the forums on magnetic vs. digital. There are a lot of pros and cons, the final choice will be yours..

happy growing and peace

 

[Guest]

Veg your ladies under a 1000-MH

I guess this is where it comes down to personal preference. I veg rooted starts under a 400 then transfer to the flowering area and then go with 600's. You can fit a lot of starts under a 400. Enough for me to fill 80+ sq ft of fully flowering canopy space. I use fluoros to root cuts.