going back to hps from led and need some input

Im looking at going back to hps from leds and im interested in your thoughts on the following: Baddass ballast, quantum ballast, or micromole from humboldt nation with regards to performace and reliability issues if any. I havent decided on 1000hps or 600hps. Leaning more towards the 600s. For my hoods i have these choices also---lil' hood from dl wholesale, hydrofarms daystar, or hoodlum from humboldt nation.. Alot has changed since i switchedto leds and im curious to know what you all think? Im going to be light up roughly a 6x8 space. Thanks for your input. Wonka

Why the switch back? I had quantums and really liked em b/c they ran cool(temperature wise). For that size I would go with 1000W as those usually cover a 4x4 area and ur a little bigger than that. Cant give you any input on those hoods as the only ones I've used are Magnum XXXL's. I just got my 336x-pro LED panels in the other day and I hope they perform as well as I've seen/read.

i wont buy another baddass product ever. phantom ballasts are great.

willy led wonka said:

Im looking at going back to hps from leds and im interested in your thoughts on the following: Baddass ballast, quantum ballast, or micromole from humboldt nation with regards to performace and reliability issues if any. I havent decided on 1000hps or 600hps. Leaning more towards the 600s. For my hoods i have these choices also---lil' hood from dl wholesale, hydrofarms daystar, or hoodlum from humboldt nation.. Alot has changed since i switchedto leds and im curious to know what you all think? Im going to be light up roughly a 6x8 space. Thanks for your input. Wonka

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The h.f daystar hood is made for deeper penetrating to the lower part, and not really good for a wide spread use.If you do 6 or less this hood word be great for lower buds

.I have there hoods

THanks for your input fellas. Whats up with the badass superstoner1? Im switching back because ive gone thru over 12 led lights that have driver, board, or some other issue and im tired of sending them back all the time. Its getting frustrating. Ive got 2 big 900watt leds right now that have 6 rows of lights out each that i have to send back. And this is the 3rd time ive sent them back. They work great.lol. When they are working!! And it seems ive got bad luck on my side when it comes to these lights.

By the looks of the hood, i was wondering if the daystar would spread the light out much? I can condense the space down to a 6x6 and use 4-600s. I do like the idea having the option to up the power from 6oo to 1000 watts the last couple of weeks or so but dont think its really necessary.

willy led wonka said:

THanks for your input fellas. Whats up with the badass superstoner1? Im switching back because ive gone thru over 12 led lights that have driver, board, or some other issue and im tired of sending them back all the time. Its getting frustrating. Ive got 2 big 900watt leds right now that have 6 rows of lights out each that i have to send back. And this is the 3rd time ive sent them back. They work great.lol. When they are working!! And it seems ive got bad luck on my side when it comes to these lights.

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What brand LEDs were they? I've only fired up my 2 panels upon delivery to make sure they work as I'm waiting on my tents to arrive but damn you dont give me the warm fuzzy I was looking for haha. Atleast its good to hear they worked but just kept breaking. What lead you to those 3 types of hoods? I know nothing about them but can vouch for the magnum XXXLs as being bad ass and putting out a serious spread. I ordered mine online at horticulturesource.com and they were were like 150$/ea which was 1/2 as much as my grow shop wanted. I got 4 delivered for what I would have paid for 2.5 at the shop.

baddass has the worst customer service and they are overpriced. i was looking at the baddass ballasts before their $80 fan took a shit on me and then about 20 other people i knew had same issue. they talk a good game but dont back it up.

Im currently using the blackstars. My buddies have issues with advanced, stealth, and the 800 watt solarflare. So ive seen enough of the led stuff breaking. They need to step their game up when it comes to the longevity and reliablilty of these lights and stop making claims of 50,000 hours when most have issues within the first 6 months. Its not good enough for them to work without breaking. The garden suffers everytime a light is removed. Ive yet to have all 6--900s on at the same time for a whole round. I chose these hoods because these are the hoods that are to my liking. I prefer a longer, narrower hood that isnt as deep. I dont like the light being wasted bouncing around in those big hoods. I prefer the light to "get out of the hood" with as little disturbance as possible. If it werent for the heat i would do the bare 600s vertically. I need the ability to air cool the hoods. Im not a big fan of the larger hoods for 600 watt bulbs. They do have their place, just not in my garden. lol I dont think im gonna run the 1000s after thinking about how hot this summer has been.

Good info!! I went with Hydro Grow LED's so hopefully I wont have any issues... fingers crossed! I did a whole lot of research before choosing them and I am a frim believer you get what you pay for an although just b/c something is expensive does not mean the quality is right up there with it. I can imagine how frustrating it had to be with lights going out during your grow!!! Heat is a SOB within the garden which is why I went the LED route this time. I'm renting a house and cant just drill holes wherever I want for exhaust plus the energy savings is a plus. Good luck with your hood choice but I give quantum my seal of approval for a ballast.

I have to agree with ya on the fans. Ive had a blade or 2 disintegrate. However i dont hold that against them.lol. They seem to have the longest warranty of all the ballast im looking at---thats why im interested in them. Was it AN's customer service or a local shop? I need to find some more information on the micromoles from humbodlt before deciding on what i what to do. So far it looks like quantum.

product issues aside, customer service ruins it for me. check out the new cap nano ballasts

I went with quantum when I upgraded from 600 to 1000 off of a friends suggestion and I was pretty satisfied. Previously had some lumateks and they ran hot as shit! like easily over 100 degrees and the quantums were barely warm to the touch. Ran 4 of those for 8 months and never ran into an issue with any of them.

Thanks for your input.

Interesting reading here - Thanks!

You might look into the newer digital ballasts - I've used digital ballasts for 3 years now. They run super quiet and VERY LITTTLE heat compared to the old style. The company claims they put out 30% brighter light. They also don't degenerate and get louder as they get older. It's nice to not have 3 loud ballast going that heat the place up! ---

i run two quantums and 2 badass got the badass for 150$ each so i dint pay the outrageous 400$ tag paid $290 for each qantum all mine are running 220v so there only pullin 4.7 amps, and mounted on the wall away from any dirt and debris. have had zero problems and have had the bad ass for over a year and the quantums few months. the quantums have 2 fans extra cooling power if i had to buy another i would dish out the $ for the quantum. there bad boy t5's are the shit to