Ballast Question

J

jronnn

Well-Known Member
Hey i was wondering if anyone here owns a 600w sun leaves magnetic ballast that they could tell me the operating/running wattage on it is? also how loud/hot does it get?? this is the ballast I’m talking about http://www.nehydro.com/sunleaves-ballast-600w-hps/

Im also wondering if anyone has a 600w phantom II ballast or had a bunch operating at the same time that could tell me if they had RFI problems?? if you could tell me the operating wattage on the phantom too id appreciate it

also do you think a Hortilux would be the best bulb choice for either ballast?
id be running them on 240v if that makes a difference

thanks
 
WorktheSystem

WorktheSystem

Active Member
a 600w ballast draws 600 watts. So any ballast you get will be around that number. Not sure on any of these as far as heat goes, but running at 240 instead of 120 won't affect anything except your current draw. I'm an electrician, and just going off what I know from parking lot lighting, etc... I believe the bulb choice you are thinking of using is fine, there won't be much of a difference from bulb to bulb.
 
green217

green217

Well-Known Member
WorktheSystem said:
a 600w ballast draws 600 watts. So any ballast you get will be around that number. Not sure on any of these as far as heat goes, but running at 240 instead of 120 won't affect anything except your current draw. I'm an electrician, and just going off what I know from parking lot lighting, etc... I believe the bulb choice you are thinking of using is fine, there won't be much of a difference from bulb to bulb.
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yeah it's crazy how some say that switching to 220/240v say it makes things more efficient. they still draw same wattage so how is it more effecient?
 
WorktheSystem

WorktheSystem

Active Member
it comes down to wire size, that's where the only savings is, which would be nothing in your situation.
Think wire size is a hose, Voltage is water pressure, and amperage is the volume of water.
Watts is just voltage times amperage

600 watts running on 120 volts is 5 amps--- One hose

600 watts running on 240 volts is 2.5 amps per wire, because you are using (2) 120volt lines-- two hoses.

but like I said none of this matters, because the smallest wire size you can use is a 14 gauge wire on a 15 amp breaker, which is big enough to run either of these setups.
 
J

jronnn

Well-Known Member
WorktheSystem said:
a 600w ballast draws 600 watts. So any ballast you get will be around that number. Not sure on any of these as far as heat goes, but running at 240 instead of 120 won't affect anything except your current draw. I'm an electrician, and just going off what I know from parking lot lighting, etc... I believe the bulb choice you are thinking of using is fine, there won't be much of a difference from bulb to bulb.
Click to expand...
WorktheSystem said:
it comes down to wire size, that's where the only savings is, which would be nothing in your situation.
Think wire size is a hose, Voltage is water pressure, and amperage is the volume of water.
Watts is just voltage times amperage

600 watts running on 120 volts is 5 amps--- One hose

600 watts running on 240 volts is 2.5 amps per wire, because you are using (2) 120volt lines-- two hoses.

but like I said none of this matters, because the smallest wire size you can use is a 14 gauge wire on a 15 amp breaker, which is big enough to run either of these setups.
Click to expand...
thanks for the reply i was wondering what the ballast draws together say a magnetic actually draws a total of 680w while runnning and the digital uses 610w... and i was just throwing it out there id be using 240v if that makes a difference not sure if some ballasts or bulbs work better on 240v
 
green217

green217

Well-Known Member
jronnn said:
thanks for the reply i was wondering what the ballast draws together say a magnetic actually draws a total of 680w while runnning and the digital uses 610w... and i was just throwing it out there id be using 240v if that makes a difference not sure if some ballasts or bulbs work better on 240v
Click to expand...
It will pull same wattage on 240v than it would on 120v. The ballast creates a voltage for bulb
 
J

jronnn

Well-Known Member
green217 said:
It will pull same wattage on 240v than it would on 120v. The ballast creates a voltage for bulb
Click to expand...
i know that, I'm asking if anyone can tell me the running wattage of specific ballasts. more specifically, those ballasts wattage draw after a year or 2 of use. if you weren't aware the older a magnetic ballasts capacitor is, the more electricity they use and less efficiency they are
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
jronnn said:
i know that, I'm asking if anyone can tell me the running wattage of specific ballasts. more specifically, those ballasts wattage draw after a year or 2 of use. if you weren't aware the older a magnetic ballasts capacitor is, the more electricity they use and less efficiency they are
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That's why you replace the cap every two years. Can't believe people are still running core and coil.
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
I trust phantoms as far as I can throw them. Personally I stick with solis for my uhf needs, hortilux platinum and AN Baddass for my higher wattage LFSW needs and sunplix for my 315w cdm. Ill soon be trying out the sunplix LFSW for the allstart 860 cmh.
 
6ohMax

6ohMax

Well-Known Member
dbkick said:
I trust phantoms as far as I can throw them. Personally I stick with solis for my uhf needs, hortilux platinum and AN Baddass for my higher wattage LFSW needs and sunplix for my 315w cdm. Ill soon be trying out the sunplix LFSW for the allstart 860 cmh.
Click to expand...
I'll upgrade to Solistek Matrix in the future

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