Lights!!!

ifbleaf

Active Member
Yes lighting!! I have a good digital ballast with the option of 250-400_600+660w settings. Lucky me. I also have a DIY ballast with a transformer coil and an ignitor component. The DIY ballast has a significant strobe as seen on a camera , where as the digital ballast is good constant light. Can anyone please tell me if a traditional magnetic ballast is going to have a bit of a strobe or Will it be a constant light like the digital ballast is. It's one of those questions I am looking for the answer to before spending money on a better quality ballast to replace the DIY one with. Hopefully thanks for the answer in advance
 

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
Yes lighting!! I have a good digital ballast with the option of 250-400_600+660w settings. Lucky me. I also have a DIY ballast with a transformer coil and an ignitor component. The DIY ballast has a significant strobe as seen on a camera , where as the digital ballast is good constant light. Can anyone please tell me if a traditional magnetic ballast is going to have a bit of a strobe or Will it be a constant light like the digital ballast is. It's one of those questions I am looking for the answer to before spending money on a better quality ballast to replace the DIY one with. Hopefully thanks for the answer in advance
Buy a better one, keep the DIY as a backup. You can get used digital ballasts for pennies on the dollar.
 

ifbleaf

Active Member
Buy a better one, keep the DIY as a backup. You can get used digital ballasts for pennies on the dollar.
Ha I look pretty stupid here eh! I've now bothered to check out the prices on eBay and you're right. There's 2nd hand digi ballasts going well cheap.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
Frequency. Thats the difference. Most digital HPS ballasts drive the arc at a higher frequency where the core and coil ballasts are stuck at 60 hertz (50 in some countries).
 

chronnie49

Well-Known Member
Yea you will have that strobe effect with a magnetic ballast. They are old tech but are bullet proof and ive heard of people using them for 10 years or more since you can replace the parts when they fail.
When a digital ballast fails I don't think the average person without electronics knowledge would be able to fix it.

I actually have a 600 watt magnetic that I used before I switched to led and cmh and it came with a 25 year warranty.
 

jameslandry

New Member
I haven't had any problems with our Yescom digital ballasts. They are still very good since I bought them early last year
 
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