i need help choosing some good elec or digi ballasts!!!

8 reasons to go digi.

1. Digital Ballasts are brighter than magnetics, magnetic ballasts lose efficiency as the coil inside begins to degrade.
2. Digital Ballasts are smaller, neater, units.
3. Unlike Magnetics, Photos can be taken without that stobing effect.
4. Longer bulb life, since the bulbs are not strobing like magnetics.
5. Faster startup. Magnetics take much longer to reach full intensity than Digis
6. Digis are silent
7. Digis run cooler, (particularly useful in enclosed spaces)
8. Because digis use microcircuitry they cut off when a short is detected unlike magnetics which have been proven to spontaneously combust. You may have seen his on the news.

I wanted to make it to 10, someone else can find the other two reasons to use a digi over a magnetic.

kbo ca said:

yeah the power saving notion was part of what got me to buy lumatek, along with less heat being generated. they definatley run cooler than mag ballasts, but they break, and they do so often. I don't think i'm unlucky because i got one that broke. I think other guys get lucky buying one that Happened to not break.

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Probably an issue with that batch. Or maybe the US ones arent as reliable as the European versions. Whatever your experience Digis are the smart buy.

Moebius said:

8 reasons to go digi.

1. Digital Ballasts are brighter than magnetics, magnetic ballasts lose efficiency as the coil inside begins to degrade.
2. Digital Ballasts are smaller, neater, units.
3. Unlike Magnetics, Photos can be taken without that stobing effect.
4. Longer bulb life, since the bulbs are not strobing like magnetics.
5. Faster startup. Magnetics take much longer to reach full intensity than Digis
6. Digis are silent
7. Digis run cooler, (particularly useful in enclosed spaces)
8. Because digis use microcircuitry they cut off when a short is detected unlike magnetics which have been proven to spontaneously combust. You may have seen his on the news.

I wanted to make it to 10, someone else can find the other two reasons to use a digi over a magnetic.

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i think the strobe effect is from the camera user cause i have no prob with it under my 1000 hps DISCOUNT USED ballast (lol) it also runs a whole lot quieter than i would have thought when compared to my old hydrofarm 400 , and with my one fan on i can't even hear it , doesn't really get hot either , it may be a little warm by the end of the day but not hot , especially if they are in an area with moving air .

Moebius said:

Probably an issue with that batch. Or maybe the US ones arent as reliable as the European versions. Whatever your experience Digis are the smart buy.

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nope no they aren't

i use to praise mag's all day long. i have x6 mag ballasts and x3 digi's and i stand by the digi's. the 6 mag's are extrasun's 2 of the digis are lumatek's and one digi that is a cheap ass ebay ballast i bought. here is my experiences.

one of my 400w mags runs hotter than both of my 1000w lumateks so when i have x6 of them running they need to be cooled down ALLOT. now another thing i like is how quiet the lumitek's run (you really notice this when running x6 mag ballast fucking room sounds like a electrical sub station), now the one crappy digi i bought from ebay which has no name on it besides "made in china" has been running constant for 6-7 months on 24/7 and is still kicking ass the only thing is it runs a tad bit hotter than my lumitek's. all in all i stand by my lumiteks and they have never broke down and if one happens to i simply take it back to the hydro store it was purchased from and they replace it that day within a 5 year period (at that point any component of my grow has payed for itself 1000 times over and replacing a 300$ part in 5 years wont make me cry one bit). my lumatek ballast's are great to have i do know people who have had 400-600w lumatek's that have failed most of which where the older style ballast mine are newer and run great about 7 months in with them and i have no doubt in my mind they will give me years of service.

Moebius said:

8 reasons to go digi.

1. Digital Ballasts are brighter than magnetics, magnetic ballasts lose efficiency as the coil inside begins to degrade.
2. Digital Ballasts are smaller, neater, units.
3. Unlike Magnetics, Photos can be taken without that stobing effect.
4. Longer bulb life, since the bulbs are not strobing like magnetics.
5. Faster startup. Magnetics take much longer to reach full intensity than Digis
6. Digis are silent
7. Digis run cooler, (particularly useful in enclosed spaces)
8. Because digis use microcircuitry they cut off when a short is detected unlike magnetics which have been proven to spontaneously combust. You may have seen his on the news.

I wanted to make it to 10, someone else can find the other two reasons to use a digi over a magnetic.

Click to expand...

9. Digital ballasts are considerably lighter in weight so I can mount them to a board in a very space saving way using only a few drywall screws.




To answer the question asked in the post, I personally like digital ballasts but the best advice I can give you is to ask your supplier which lights he best supports locally with service and parts. That is the ballast that you should buy.

Moebius said:

8 reasons to go digi.

1. Digital Ballasts are brighter than magnetics, magnetic ballasts lose efficiency as the coil inside begins to degrade.
2. Digital Ballasts are smaller, neater, units.
3. Unlike Magnetics, Photos can be taken without that stobing effect.
4. Longer bulb life, since the bulbs are not strobing like magnetics.
5. Faster startup. Magnetics take much longer to reach full intensity than Digis
6. Digis are silent
7. Digis run cooler, (particularly useful in enclosed spaces)
8. Because digis use microcircuitry they cut off when a short is detected unlike magnetics which have been proven to spontaneously combust. You may have seen his on the news.

I wanted to make it to 10, someone else can find the other two reasons to use a digi over a magnetic.

Click to expand...

10. You can use the digital ballast's dimming feature to help with the plant's transition to it's new life under HID lighting.

Galaxy ballasts are amazing...I like most Sunlight Supply products....check out plantlightinghydroponics.com...they have the 1000 Watt Galaxy dimmables on sale for $240...great deal...I haven't checked the price of the 600s, but I'm sure it's relative.

im glad we all love out digital ballast but they would never last as long as a good ol mag. where talking decades, hell theres a HID somewhere over 60years still running like a champ. like to see a digital ballasted security light do that.

Gavita all the way...blows a lumatek out the water

polyarcturus said:

im glad we all love out digital ballast but they would never last as long as a good ol mag. where talking decades, hell theres a HID somewhere over 60years still running like a champ. like to see a digital ballasted security light do that.

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It may be 60 years old but it's a for sure fire hazard...

I love both, so no hate on the mag, but I guess on 9, dim digi are the shit's!.I can go from 350w to 650w.Help's out great on the veg, where they don't need 600w when there babes

^^^this is another reason I use Digitals. because you can dimm during veg to save a lil more $.

Are you putting smaller bulbs in when dimmed?

I just use a 600w bulb and dim it i've heard of people using smaller bulbs but I dont.

Sencha said:

Are you putting smaller bulbs in when dimmed?

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I have and was fine, but got the right 600w mh bulb to use on my digi ballast to get it's full output out of it.

kbo ca said:

yeah the power saving notion was part of what got me to buy lumatek, along with less heat being generated. they definatley run cooler than mag ballasts, but they break, and they do so often. I don't think i'm unlucky because i got one that broke. I think other guys get lucky buying one that Happened to not break.

Click to expand...

Last summer I bough four systems with 600w lumatek ballasts. 3 months later, one broke and took out a bulb with it. It was replaced for free, but I did have to wait for it. Luckily I still had a trusty old magnetic one still lol. I love the ballasts, but I didn't like my 1 in 4 odds. I would still recommend them though over the electronic one I have.

dimming ballasts are just a gimmick, your plants don't benefit from it, you're just damaging your bulbs. Cannabis grows under the sun from seedling to budding bush so they can handle any damn wattage indoors, at any time.

Dimmable ballasts are not gimmicks. They are just used improperly. Dimming or driving a bulb at less than rated wattage can both shorten its life and effect spectral output. Always match the bulb/ballast output for optimal performance. And I personally love my Lumatek Dimmable. Also a few years ago there were some issues between some bulb makers and electronic ballast. Bulbs where not designed for the high frequency rates digis produced. Literally shook them to failure. But its an electronic era and those issues have been addressed for the most part. Even a 25 dollar Phillips 400 watt MH from Home Depot is now E rated.

As far as a good deal goes on Lumatek ballasts in combo with a Hortilux HPS bulb, this site is hard to beat: www.bulkhydro.com Great prices and free shipping in the US.

Some growers change there bulbs after 1,2,3 grows so the bulb to me really don't matter if you hurt it or not?I'm growing with my 600w dim at 300w mh and my plants love it.

209 Cali closet grower said:

Some growers change there bulbs after 1,2,3 grows so the bulb to me really don't matter if you hurt it or not?I'm growing with my 600w dim at 300w mh and my plants love it.

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your plants love light. Burn it at 600, they will love that.