best ballasts???

My digital dimmable Lumatek is 5 years old now. Seems to be working fine, but I don't know how much longer it will last so I should get a new one and maybe keep the old Lumatek as a back up.

So what are the best ones out there now? Maybe go DE (I have a 9X5 space 7ft high)??? I have a newer Gavita dimmable 1000, which is pretty good.

Price doesn't matter much... I want good quality, reliability, low RF...etc.

Suggestions?

7 foot height in my opinion is too small for duel ended 1kw lighting, I use galaxy gro amps(3 x 600w) and they work great( my area is 5x10x7) also the solistek ballasts are really good, I would stay away from quantum ballasts I bought one and it died 2 months later and was emitting a high frequency noise.

Stay away from de with 7 foot ceiling . Maybe 600/750'gavita. I had good luck with those under 8 feet ceiling . I prefer lumatek and nanolux ballasts . Quantum is dogshit I have a bunch of them I'm slowly trying to swap out

Im leaning towards another 1000w dimmable Gavita, but its been a couple years since i got the first one and just wondering if theres better out there now.

My lumatek was good too but it gives off a good bit of rf noise though...

Why are you guys against the de The hydro guy, mind you I understand its his job to sell me shit, has been pretty helpful he knows what's up. He suggested a de and ordered it for me knowing i was working in a tent even. I don't understand why you would want it to be higher? If you hang it say ten feet your footprint gets huge and intensity drops. Now i did have one branch start to bleach and i let them veg too large but i had good results and have some room to grow now..i can understand wanting it a bit higher but for two to three foot finished plants it's doable and i just don't understand. Are you guys saying you can pull the same yields with a 600? The light is overkill?

Running the de on galaxy ballast btw.. Nice light seems good

I'm for the DEs, but the 1000s can't really get much closer than 36"

Nanolux makes a 600W DE that can go as low as 24" above the canopy. I like Gavita, but I don't like dimming. It changes the frequency which changes the spectral output. It's not ideal. I pay too much money for my lamps to have them not put out the right spectrum.

I have a 600 w with Suntek reflector I keep it 12in above canopy with no burn or heat stress

Why not just get another lumatek?

I did a lot of research and orders a solid tek 600 watt dimmable ballast am t seems pretty nice. Going to be using it soon

You need to look into Gavita 6/750 flex. These are thee answer for your setup. But you have to cool the room in the warmer months depending on what your room is like and how many fixtures your running. These lamps were designed for lower ceiling heights and the inefficiency of dimming 1000 watt hps lamps.

Im looking to convert to hps from cfl but need something relatively silent. Any suggestions for quiet ballasts

Anything electronic (digital) with no cooling fan (deeper "fins") will be as silent as Helen Keller.

Go with zero magnetic ballast. There will be no humming sound emitted plus they emit a more stable light which results in energy savings, running cooler, and slight I crease in light produced. Double ended are the best to use but they have drawback too. They tend get hotter then single ended bulbs and that can becomes an issue. Don't forget that regardless for what lights you use there must be air movement. Good luck.

Another factor when considering ballast temperature is whether your running them at 110v or 220v.

Galaxy grow amps, or solis tek SE/DE 1000w ballast v2.0 they can run the 1000w MH bulbs..
the grow amps have the lowest RF interference and are fully tested. stay away from cheap ballasts Nanolux is also a good one!

since1991 said:

Another factor when considering ballast temperature is whether your running them at 110v or 220v.

Click to expand...

Is that adjustable or usually either one or the other?

Oh no. Its your wiring setup from you panel, subpanel, and relay if your using one. Magnetic ballasts used to have to be setup internally for either or. Now most have a switch. Electronic ballasts (the quiet, lighter, modern more efficient ones) can run either 110 or 220 volt. When going this route i suggest you research the timer you will be using. More than one house fire was started from rookies using cheap timers not rated for what they were used for. I also suggest you talk to someone knowledgeable in person on how to wire up your house electrical for what your trying to accomplish. If your just running one lamp most begginers just use the standard 110v wall outlet. But you need to know how much that circuit is giving up power to other stuff on said circuit. Its not hard. But you should have a basic understanding of what your doing. If not.....talk to someone who does.

The reason why alot of serious growers with multiple lamp grow rooms use 220volt wiring is so that they can double up on the amperage load on a circuit. Contrary to popular belief....it is not to save on power bills. It doesnt work like that. It is the more efficient way to run larger grow room operations.

So a normal circuit is 15amps right? So if I need to run 30 amps I can just use European wiring and boom I get double amps lol that can't be right. Does the whole electric panel need requiring to turn to 220? if you don't want to explain this shit I can look it up when I need to just making conversation