Picking new 600 W HPS/MH system HELP !

My trusty 400W HID system still works but can not cover my current grow, so I am on the market for something more powerful.

There is currently quiet a few deals on Ebay for 600W HID systems ranging from about 150 bucks to over $ 200 price mostly depending on hood configuration.

My concern is a ballast as the most expensive and important element.

I noticed following brands or names for ballasts of those ebay systems:

Thunder
IPower
Apollo
LLTI-Lumex

There might be more I missed.

I am leaning toward Apollo, mostly cause it has cooling fan.

Guarantees range from 0 , then 3, even 5 years for some of those ballasts.

Anybody experienced with those ballasts please chime in.

I got this 600W Apollo setup. I'm only on my second grow but its been flawless so far. Think I paid a little more than this actually. Runs real quiet and puts out almost no heat.

http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLK600CT24E-Digital-Dimmable/dp/B00EUIWMJA/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1382806723&sr=1-2&keywords=600w+apollo

Link takes you to the 1000W, click the 600W with both bulbs, now $157.

I did blow the original HPS bulb after a few weeks, called the company. They were able to look up my Amazon order to confirm the purchase date, and shipped a new replacement same day no questions asked. Easy to get in touch with them (in California). So the customer service seems to be good which is pretty important to me. Nice to be able to call and get to a service rep immediately that you can understand on the phone.

hi there,

about ballast, the problem with a ballast with a fan, its that if the fan breaks, goodbye ballast.
i got lumatec 250/400 ballats, without fan, running at 400, it gets a little too hot, but running it at 250SL is perfect. so maybe if you get 1000w ballast without fan, running at 600w will be perfect.

also, the first time ever i use the adjust-a-wing reflector, and have to say its really magical...i would advise getting one...it cost alot for a reflector, but its worth it.

wish you all the best!

I fuck with HTG supply. theyre on ebay and have a website. Best customer service and everything has a 1 year warranty. Saved me a few times when my power went out and some of my bulbs blew cause it kicked back on in less than a minute.

The ballasts they have are perfect. Been runnin one for almost 4 years now. i have both digital and magnetic. I have another one of the products, a floralux all in one 150w hps ive had for almost 6 years now and its still runnin as good as the day i bought it.

If you really want to save money grab one of HTGs ballast build kits. A whole ballast for about $100 and thats for a 1000w.

Then you can spend the extra few bucks on a reflector and good bulb.

http://www.htgsupply.com/Category-DIY-Ballast-Kits

The HTG kits look interesting, but they don't make a 600W, and you have to choose Metal Halide, OR High Pressure sodium. I don't know a lot about ballasts, maybe you could actually run both types of bulbs with the same ballast, just as not effectively or something.

Damn, they used to have 600ws. haha Must be out or having some difficulties with them.

You can buy conversion bulbs to work on either mh or hps.

If not the magnetic pre-built ballasts are good too. They have switchable ones as well.

And if you want to go digital those work well too. Digital green house, and im pretty sure the 5 year warranty is only 30 or 40 bucks. i didnt get mine but it woulda expired by now anyway haha.

No problems with my lumatek 600, nothing but problems with my virtual sun 600 and they would never return emails when I tried to make a warranty claim. Lesson learned

Thanks for useful hints guys, anybody knows if Amazon offers any warranties beside manufacturer warranty? Seems to me that if it does it would be probably safer to buy from Amazon than from ebay, since ebay protection plan is great for like 30 days I believe but then you are on your own.

As for cooling fan potential failure as mentioned in previous post I'd think that the ballast should have built in protection to shut the unit down if the fan fails.

I have an older digital 400W ballast, kind of heavy with air fins but no fan, it works great but it gets quiet hot even I keep it on the top of metal file cabinet which acts as a heat sink helping cooling it down a bit. I

I run the 1000 w Apollo with the fan, got it off amazon. ballast is great and has 3 year warranty. the bulbs are shit though. I blew 2 of them before just buying a hortilux which is awesome! the customer service is pretty good too. my plants are thriving!

Running a Lumatek 600W with Eye Hortilux bulb.
Good, clean, compact and runs great.

I watched a video on Youtube of someone buying a Apollo setup and it looked pretty decent, the bulb they got was huge but idk if they're normally like that. The reviews on Amazon are good too. Is a ballast and this thing - http://www.amazon.com/All-System-Cord-Set-Lamps/dp/B0046DD0EK/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1382883827&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=Mogul+based+extension+cord - all I need to run an HPS light? Can you run more than one HPS light off a ballast? I've been doing research into both but am leaning more toward CFL for my first stealth grow.

I would seriously consider HPS instead of CFL!

Buzerek said:

Anybody knows if Amazon offers any warranties beside manufacturer warranty?

Click to expand...

No, don't think so. If they screw something up they will make it right. I've ordered hundreds of things from Amazon and if the item is less than 30 days old they will generally replace it. After that just call the manufacturer and deal with them.

Policy
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=901926

If you're planning on cfls but want the output of hid than get a 150w hps by floralux. It's perfect for small stealth grows and doesn't throw too much heat.

www.htgsupply.com/Product-FLORALUX-150w-HPS-Mini-Grow-Light

check out the minicab grow in my sig if you want to see what it can light efficiently.

Like your stealth-mini set-up !
That's the way to grow, screw CFL's , they are good for cloning or growing seedlings for a week or two. Then it is time for serious lumens to take over LOL.

thanks it was pretty easy to make.

You can use cfls for all of flowering. Ive dont it before. But it gets costly. Ive had a box of similar size to the one i built and ran 5 42 watt cfls in it.

Got a nice harvest of some strong shit and a decent yield too. But after one grow they were shot. Not shot but they had lost a noticeable amount of light (at least 30%) and were coming loose from the base. They were around 12-15 bucks a piece so so thats about the price of the 150w and itll last a solid 4 grows before you need a new bulb and itll still have only lost 10%-15%

And now htg makes a lightbulb for it so you dont have to search for em and theyre 25 bucks i think.

Good deal in my mind.

Yea, I flowered under CFL's too, but it is too much work to keep adjusting them, almost daily, I,'d never expect that 42Watters will go bad after 1 grow, perhaps too much heat concentrated in one spot, I used 26 / 30Watters and they are still OK, used as household light bulbs now.

Now I am experimenting with combo of CFL's and small 3-5W led bulbs for vegging only.

Im using maverick sun products and very happy. everything has at least a one year warranty and price is great for quality. They are local to me so I stopped by their shop but ive seen their stuff on amazon. Check them out. My 600 watt with digital ballast and sealed aircooled hood for $200.

Apollo has been great for me. Ive only had it 2 months. Runs 24/7 . Gets hot but nothibg crazy. I got the air cooled hood . The foot print is OOKK if i did it over i thibk id go vert bare bulb. Just been reading up on it lately. Ive progressively notched it up from 50 to 75 to 100 without any problems. Always unplug before notching. Shipping was fast.
Ive owned lumateks before and they are better. But i dunno if its very significant. Id buy another apollo over a lumatek.

Buzerek said:

Yea, I flowered under CFL's too, but it is too much work to keep adjusting them, almost daily, I,'d never expect that 42Watters will go bad after 1 grow, perhaps too much heat concentrated in one spot, I used 26 / 30Watters and they are still OK, used as household light bulbs now.

Now I am experimenting with combo of CFL's and small 3-5W led bulbs for vegging only.

Click to expand...

I dig it. Ive been lookin at led multi chips. Around the 50w area. Lookin to put 3-5 of them on a bent/arced piece of stainless or aluminum cause i think it has better heat transference, connect each bent section to a heat sink and give it its own fan. That plus some dimmable ballasts for them should let me dial it in between 100w (for 3, 50w chips) to 175 (for 5, 50w chips)

Also gotta decide whether i want to put lenses on them. Is it worth it to lose that little bit of light for the penetration it would give?? Ill have to find out. Theyre cheap as can be so i can get them and experiment.