Both the CAP and the BB are durable no nonsense ballasts that will last a lifetime. The BB will cast better light on your plants. All ballasts are compatable with all reflectors. There's only 2 plug styles and adaptors are avaiable.
IMO, nothing beats a Phantom ballst. 5 year warranty, and the guys at my hydro store have NEVER had one come back. I cooked 3 Lumatek ballasts before finally going 100% Phantom in my bloom room. I still have 3 Lumateks in veg waiting to fry. The Phantom will run on anything between 90 volts and 275 volts. They wall mount 2 inches off the wall to provide air circulation all the way around it. It comes with the adaptor to run either light plug style. These things are work horses.
I'm in a pickle, At first I was looking at the CAP ($75) + NextGen ballast ($130) totaling $205.
Now you have me trying to get the Phantom at ($130) and the BlockBuster ($130) totaling $260.
Add shipping on top of that, and I'm over the top.
I could do the BlockBuster + Galaxy for $230.
I'm more than happy to buy the BlockBuster, but ballast-wise,
between Galaxy 400w and Phantom 400w for a $30 difference,
is it worth that $30 to the hobby growing youngin'?
My efficiency doesn't matter too much, I'm not making a business out of my gardening.
And another thing, I have a ballast for my bulb, it's a Fixture+Ballast type deal.
I could rewire it to become remote.. is there any reason to avoid using a re-wired ballast?
I'll score pictures later tonight if I can remember.
By the way, thanks a ton for all the help.
You established this thread simply to share a warehouse experience.
And then you had the heart enough to help countless growers countless times.
Thanks