Opinions on Digital Ballasts

purrrrple said:

OK, heres the deal on dig ballasts.

Pros: Much lighter (weigh less) & burn MUCH cooler. They are a little more efficient. They do draw slightly less power and produce slightly more lumens compared to magnetics. Some of the newer ones offer a "dimmer" option (which is not particularly useful IMO). When you dim the ballast IT DOES NOT DRAW LESS POWER. Running a 1000w dimmable ballast on the 500w setting STILL DRAWS 1000 WATTS.

Cons: MUCH more expensive. They do cause RF (radio frequency) interference in some cases. Using multiple (10+) ballasts have caused peoples power meters & climate controllers to act up. If you use the "superlumens" switch on Lumateks they burn out your bulbs insanely fast. Not all digital ballasts are generator ready (do your homework). NextGen's are not UL listed (if i'm not mistaken) so if they cause a fire your insurance WILL NOT COVER IT.

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Error # 1 they are much more expensive.... I got my digi 600 dimmable lumateks for $175 A magnetic 600 is like $120 Is $50 dollars considered allot of money?

Error # 2 "they use the same power when the are dimmed" this is not true at all and I'm not sure where this stupid ass myth started. The luatek adds even started adding the (reduced power consumption when dimmed) statement on their adds so people wouldn't be so dense. If it was drawing 1000 watts and only sending 400 to the lamp, where would that other 600 watts go?TO some nternal resister? They thing would be glowing red it would be so hot.

The other big advantages not listed are: No reduction in lumen output over time like magnetics and none of that annoying fucking hmmmmmmmm.


Let me see... more efficient, cooler running, great lumen output, no reduction in output over time, utterly silent AND they are only 25% more expensive. Ummm, yeah; there is a debate on this subject?

Yeah, I've seen watt readers say the run less on dimmed. Why wouldn't they? I'm more counting amps than watts. The lumatek is like 5 amps, and you can run 2 on a 15 amp circuit plus a couple of fans. With a magnetic one you probably couldn't do that.

I agree with the post above. The cost is only going to be made up with your electric bill over a year or so anyway. Magnetic ballasts get hot as fuck, like hot enough to burn you. My Lumatek is very maybe warm to the touch.

Just saw some videos on youtube comparing Hortilux and Digilux bulbs on a digital ballast. Seems that Digilux kicks some major butt on Hortilux on digital ballasts.

purpple, not seeing where Digilux bulbs are so bad, on the contrary, they seem to be the best bulb to buy for a digital ballast.

Did another Lumatek search on google, and still no new complaints that I could find. Hey Purpple, are you sure Lumatek's are so bad? I'm not seeing it.

It doesn't have your mighty Quantum ballast, but this older article does say that all the new digital ballasts are very similar in performance. Galaxy, Lumatek, and Vertex (never heard of that one).

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/6/review

I think all the too brand ones are about the same. Comes down to price for me. I just got a 600 watt digilux MH. Seems to throw a very high amount of lux. Plus it's hard as he'll to did a 600 MH so there isn't a whole lot of choice in the matter.

I have 2 1000watt lights and one digital ballast and one magnetic ballast. I think i'll be buying another magnetic ballast. For me noise and heat arent concerns, but the problem I'm having is sometimes the digital bulb will go out (I have no idea why) and then wont fire again until I unplug and replug it again...fucking pain in the ass. Also the digital is going through bulbs like they grow on trees or something. Think I'll get another magnetic and quit worrying about it.
Also, along the same lines of small savings not being worth it, the 'efficiency' factor digital ballasts boast about is almost undetectable on the utility bill.

purrrrple said:

First of all, not everyone with a growlight is growing pot. The manufacturers have jumped through hoops to get FCC/UL tested & approved for the sole purposes of having insurance companies honor policies and to meet state/local codes. Unless otherwise stated in your lease/insurance policy you should be covered in the event of a fire IF your equipment is up to code. That is why I am an advocate of Quantum ballasts & Powerbox Inc. controllers.

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I didn't say the grow lights themselves violate insurance polices. I said growing pot does. Read what I wrote then comment. People on this forum seem to be reading less and jumping to conclusions more and more lately.

CaptainCAVEMAN said:

I have 2 1000watt lights and one digital ballast and one magnetic ballast. I think i'll be buying another magnetic ballast. For me noise and heat arent concerns, but the problem I'm having is sometimes the digital bulb will go out (I have no idea why) and then wont fire again until I unplug and replug it again...fucking pain in the ass. Also the digital is going through bulbs like they grow on trees or something. Think I'll get another magnetic and quit worrying about it.
Also, along the same lines of small savings not being worth it, the 'efficiency' factor digital ballasts boast about is almost undetectable on the utility bill.

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Sounds like you had a bad first experience with electronic ballasts. What's the brand of the ballast and the brand of the bulb? Most bulbs aren't 100% compatible with electronic ballasts yet, but electronic ballast specific bulbs are showing up finally.

I'm sure there are people who stuck with black and white television when color came out. Electronic ballasts seem to be the future and have been around long enough now to get the bulb technology up to par. Digilux and Hilux and two brands I can think of that support electronic ballasts.

Use what you have, until all your bulbs are used up after 1 year of use, but I wouldn't buy any new OLD technology from this point on.

I really like my lumatek ballast! But are the hortilux bulbs only good for 2 times around? The 3rd time I was ripped off!! This time I have new digilux, 2 week till flowering hope their half as good as I hear!! lol Just put the lumateks by a fan their cool & quiet! Heres what they look like!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8Fi8bZpvVg

i got a 600 lumatek,much less heat, no more noise...........saw a pic of a melted magnetic ballast....put me right off.

Bulbs burn out faster in digital ballasts, even the so-called digibulbs.

I have three 600w Digital Greenhouse ballasts. Two are almost 3 years old and still running like champs. One is 1 year old and also running like a champ. I've never had a magnetic so I can't comment on them, but in my experience Digital ballasts are good. No interference that I've noticed.

Beansly said:

Bulbs burn out faster in digital ballasts, even the so-called digibulbs.

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Show us the facts, proof please....

It has been shown many times over that regular bulbs designed for magnetic ballasts will fail more often in a digital ballast. This is due to the frequency at which the bulb operates, which for a digital ballast is 10x the frequency of a magnetic ballast.
So bulbs designed to operate at a higher frequency will result in optimal bulb length when paired with its digital ballast counterpart. These bulbs are becoming more and more common place in the marketplace.

On another note, A large company which does millions of dollars in sale will have more reports of problems with thier products simply because they sell more of them and there are more of them in use than a lesser known competitor. You would have to take this into account before you can accurately predicit wether a product truely has more problems.

With that being said I love my new lumetak 400w....I'm currently using 4ooW bulbs from the lumatek digital bulb line...

I bought a digital ballast from HTG Supply, a Digital Greenhouse, it is much cheaper than a lumatek and it works just fine. Its been operating for several months without a hiccup. The only issue is the fan on it is loud, so if sound is an issue you should op for the lumatek. It also isn't dimmable, and mine only works at 600w.

MrGhettoGrower said:

I really like my lumatek ballast! But are the hortilux bulbs only good for 2 times around? The 3rd time I was ripped off!! This time I have new digilux, 2 week till flowering hope their half as good as I hear!! lol Just put the lumateks by a fan their cool & quiet! Heres what they look like!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8Fi8bZpvVg

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how much did you crop out of those on your video??

Well I have 1000 watt lumateks that run on 240 volts so they use less amps that is where the "energy efficiency" is less amps you pull less it costs.. I have a next gen that I got at a police auction I got 2 1000 watts for like 249.00 sold one for 240 figured i would keep this one i'll see how it goes, Seem like you hear problems about everything ballast related. they are all most likely made in china I would love to buy an American made ballast with quality parts.. different strokes for different folks...

yaknowguy said:

Well I have 1000 watt lumateks that run on 240 volts so they use less amps that is where the "energy efficiency" is less amps you pull less it costs.. ..

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news flash Einstein, your power bill is based on the number of watts you use. Kilowatt hours actually. Sooooo you have fallen victim to THE dumbest myth in all of growing weed "half the amps means half the expense"

As an indoor grower you need to get a small tattoo that reads: Volts x Amps = Watts.

I love my Lumateks. I use Hortilux bulbs and never have problems. I have a 600w that has had the same bulb for two years. I have two of the multi watt 1ks going now and they are a dream to use. Solid power, no glitches like many magnetics I have seen that cycle through a dimmer period and warm back up. Everyone I know who uses Lumatek loves them.

Digitals are here to stay. The hardcore oldies will always love their mag ballasts. It's all good.

legallyflying said:

news flash Einstein, your power bill is based on the number of watts you use. Kilowatt hours actually. Sooooo you have fallen victim to THE dumbest myth in all of growing weed "half the amps means half the expense"

As an indoor grower you need to get a small tattoo that reads: Volts x Amps = Watts.

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There is a small line loss savings...but yeah, pretty much what you said.

buy a digilux bulb and you'll never look back

Digilux bulbs are the only high efficiency bulb I know of that stand behind their claims. Get a luxmeter and find out for your self. 10% more lumens vs a magnetic ballast and standard bulb. Any other bulb including the hortilux blue is "digital ready" meaning it was not optimized to run off of a high frequency digital ballast but is universal to work on magnetic and digitals.