calvinjbrodus
Active Member
Ive read that digital ballasts are superiour, but have also read of poeple having problems with them.. and if they are so mch better how come they are cheaper than magnetic ballasts??
Better Ballast: Digital or Magnetic?
- Thread starter calvinjbrodus
- Start date
GNOME GROWN
Well-Known Member
the ones that ive seen are not cheaper!..digital ballast put off 20% more lumes...there as quite as a computer fan...and they dont get as hott!!!
kindprincess
Well-Known Member
they're also not safety rated (scary, no?) and bulb life is half of that on a magnetron.
Inneedofbuds
Well-Known Member
where are you getting that they are cheaper?
GNOME GROWN
Well-Known Member
either way man if u get a hps ur gunna grow buds! do work son!
calvinjbrodus
Active Member
High Tech Garden Supply the ballasts alone aren't significantly cheaper, but if you purchse the complete lighting setup with a digital ballast as opposed to magenetic you save about 50-80$
atlantadirect
Well-Known Member
The upfront investment on a digital ballast is cheaper if you get a switchable one. Then you don't need to purchase to ballast for your MH and HPS. Of course you could always get a conversion bulb, so that negates that advantage I guess.
Blinkstoomuch
Active Member
I switched over to digital last year. I have to say, the initial difference is almost unnoticeable, but it's been about 10 1/2 months and I've only experienced about a 10% drop in luminocity. I was buying new bulbs every 6 months with my magnetic ballasts. I mainly wanted it for the heat/electricity savings, and have been very happy with its operation. I am using the lumatek dual 600 switchable. I wouldn't ordinarily recommend this to a novice because it only comes in 240volt version at the moment.
LoudBlunts
Well-Known Member
YOOO!!!! you lucky bastid!!! i've been wanting a dual spectrum ballast. but i only wanted digital tho! too bad i dont have 240 service
damn damn damn that shit would be perfect....any idea when they will be making 110/120 version?
kindprincess
Well-Known Member
digi's aren't worth it yet. give them another year or two to get things under control.
i'm not joking about the bulb life....
i'm not joking about the bulb life....
Blinkstoomuch
Active Member
LoudBlunts, I think you misunderstood me. Sorry about the tech jargon.
The lumatek I'm using is digital, and dual spectrum(switchable). What I meant when I said that it was a dual ballast is that it has two output cords for two seperate bulbs. I really don't know when or if it will be available in a 120volt because of the double bulb setup. It is almost perfect though! I love it.
LoudBlunts
Well-Known Member
no i know what you are talking about man.....we're saying the same thing....
Blinkstoomuch
Active Member
Cool, sorry about the miscomunication. I'm kinda new to Forums. Sometimes I get Exited. Keep on Growin!
. Keep on Growin!