Best light and ballast for $250ish?

Hey riu I went to some local stores and $250 would nltfet me very far, so does anyone have a ballast/light and hood deals? Is 400 watt hps out of this range?

Also how is eBay?

Here

http://www.amazon.com/Lumatek-LK400-Dial-A-Watt-Dimmable-E-Ballast/dp/B003TZ41KS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362377669&sr=8-1&keywords=lumatek+400

http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/digilux-400w-enhanced-spectrum-metal-halide-grow-bulb-p-2982.html

http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/digilux-400w-hps-grow-bulb-enhanced-blue-spectrum-p-2985.html

Reflector

http://www.amazon.com/Xtrasun-XT2AW-Aluminum-Reflector-Plants/dp/B001MQAGJQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362377978&sr=1-3&keywords=xtrasun

Ignore the single idiot comment that rates it one star, dipshit forget to take sticker off before he used it and he had a big issue.

Great ballast, mh and hps bulb and econo reflector all for about 270ish including shipping.

Ipower stuff from "hpsgrowlightstore" on Ebay has done me good. I haven't had any problems at all with them. Got 3 ballasts, reflectors, and bulbs going on their 3rd grow without a single issue. Just bought 3 more.
600 watt Digital Dimmable ballast, cooltube setup with 22x24inch reflector, both MH, and HPS bulbs for under 230 bucks shipped.

Check the grow in my sig if you want to see them in action

Tav.

If you go with lower end products like ipower be sure to find out warranty info from store and manufacturer. With Lumatek you are guarenteed a replacement ballast if it fails within 5 years and with Digilux you are guarenteed a replacement bulb if it fails within 12 months. Free replacement free shipping.

400w solis tek dimmable with hood and mh and hps bulbs, if you dont like the hood buy an a/c hood with your extra budget!

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=190732581021&index=11&nav=SEARCH&nid=38412226144

600w solis tek dimmable with 600hps and hood.

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=200876832912&index=5&nav=SEARCH&nid=60437781859

Hmmm these eBay ones are so tempting! Worried about quality tho!

get a hps magnetic ballast, 400 watt c.m.h bulb and a simple gull wing reflector. Best set up for veg and flower. IMHO

Solis tek ballasts are the best on the market if you do some research. The hood is blah, the bulb is blah. Bit they will do the job well if applied right. I bought the 600w setup i linked to you a few months back and i just upgraded to a solis tek matrix 1000w dimmable. Trust me they will do the job. Like i said, buy another hood but the light will hold up for you until you have a few harvests under your belt than you will have the money to go balls to the wall.

Just remember you have to start somewhere, and in this game, once you stary getting results you will be upgrading and buying shit all the time. I have the 1000w on stand by and am still using the 600 cause my temps are wacko. I have to find the time to hook my portable a/c up then i will unleash the solistek matrix....

BTW I bought that same package but upgraded my hood immediately because I wanted an air cooled hood. Good luck bro.

Rancho Cucamonga said:

If you go with lower end products like ipower be sure to find out warranty info from store and manufacturer. With Lumatek you are guarenteed a replacement ballast if it fails within 5 years and with Digilux you are guarenteed a replacement bulb if it fails within 12 months. Free replacement free shipping.

Click to expand...

I agree with going with a Lumatek ballast. You can get a Lumatek 400 Watt HPS/MH ballast that is dimmable to 250watt and I think there is a setting in between that is like 360 or 370 watts and there is also a super lumens setting. They have 400/600 watt model also. Lumatek is definitely considered one of the best if not the best ballasts out there and there warranty is great as mentioned by Rancho.

Here is the Lumatek 400/250 ballast from hydrogalaxy.com. It is only $134.96 for the ballast so you could definately get a 400watt setup for $250. They are even offering free shipping on all items right now so that is a bad ass deal for that ballast. And they have a lowest price guarantee.

http://www.hydrogalaxy.com/growing-lights/ballasts/lumatek-400-250-watt-dual-voltage-electronic-ballast/

The solis tek 400 watt dimmable would be my second choice. It runs 400/250 only and is pretty much right in the same price range (around $130- $140) like the lumatek. but has only a 3 year warranty and the lumatek has a 5 year warranty.

With Ipower you Get a 600 watt setup cheaper than these 400 watt.
Better reflectors too.
Like I said, I have 3 going on their 3rd grow without a hickup.
Just huge, lush, high yielding grows.

Ipower definitely has quality products. I do use there cool tubes and there great. i haven't tried the ballasts but I'm sure they are really good quality but I just recommended the Lumatek ballast because although its a little more expensive even the 600 Lumatek setup would still be in his price range. and he could go with an Ipower air cooled hood or the cool tube and still be within budget. I just prefer the Lumatek ballasts because it is easy to find info on these ballasts to make sure your bulb will not give you problems with your ballast because I have heard some of these new ballasts having problems with certain bulbs even the Lumatek ballast. i'm not saying its perfect but it is well known and widely used so it is easy to find info on if you run into problems. which on top of that they offer a 5 year warranty if it does stop working. But Ipower does have quality products and they offer a 3 year warranty I believe on the ballasts.

My 600s run on magnetic ballasts and came with bazer air cooled hoods for 300 even. Shop around for some factory second hoods and the price could go even lower. I dont like buying stuff online. My hydro shop guys will lend me a set up if anything ever goes wrong with the equipment they give me. That peace of mind id worth the extra 20 bucks. Besides, shipping is usually extra and the warrenty usually sucks on that stuff. Oh and i hear about it not working all the time on RIU. Shop around man

Main thing is this, get a ballast with good internal RF protection(digi not magnetic) and a guaranteed full 5-year manufactures warranty. If you can get these two things from any brand of ballast go for it.

Alright well eBay it most likely is now I'm torn four or six hundred watt also if I flower mostly indica plants at one foot tall how many could I fit?

throw for the solistek matrix like dude recommended, it's actually 3 ballasts in one . run any lamp 400-1000 watt.

http://sunpulselamps.com/Certified_Ballasts.html
that should give some indicator on which ballasts are best even though with different lamps thd would more than likely be different but look at the numbers and decide for yourself.

Also do your research before buying ballasts that are only dimmable and use only 1 wattage light. These ballasts are supposed to be running your light at 200 watts if you have a 400 watt ballast running at 50%. It is hard to tell with some of these ballasts if the are truly running at 50% power or just dimming the light some and still using full wattage. It is better to get the ballasts, like the lumatek ballasts for example, that the wattage is actually switchable so you have to actually switch out the bulbs. these ballasts are truly 3 in 1 ballasts and this way you know your exact lumen output as well. The 600/400 watt lumatek ballast is really bad ass my brother has one and won't ever get any other kind of ballast he says. And this way you know your exact lumen output as well.