Digital Ballast interference problems??

Just looking into types of ballasts, and i've been coming across a few places where appearently they are causing a worrysome amount of interference with radios, tvs, etc..

i can't find the site at this moment but i guess the television providers or whoever do that came knocking on this guys door because there was an insane amount of interference coming from his house (they actually could pinpoint it, so the argument could be made that the feds could easily obtain that information aswell)

so what have people all heard and/or experienced with their digital ballast? should i go to a magnetic one for descresion's sake? i've also heard they waste a significant amount of power, but i'd choose a bit higher elec. bill over snoopy repairmen, or whatever happens to be the case, attempting to walk in on my illegal activity any day of the year.

Peace n Love

magnetic ballasts cause the most interference electrical cause. interference can also be related to the bulb wattage a lower wattage bulb in a higher wattage ballast will increase interference considerably. the reverse could be said for lowering interference. the type of interfering waves come off a radio or microwave and are everywhere only a commercial grow would have to worry about this but highly insulated walls will cut interference dramatically. i ran 4 400 watt lights and 2 1000 watt lights and the interference was still only noticeable in the grow room not outside. i tested with both a cell phone and a radio. i could never recieve phone calls in there people thought my phone was broke. but it isn't something to worry about unless your grow is very large

alright that's definitely good news for me haha, max i'd be running is a 600 watt hps in my next apartment or whatevz for flowering, so i'm in the clear..but from what you said i could have interference issues say if i used a 400 watt mh bulb in the 600 watt ballast, if i understood correctly?

it really only apply to magnetic ballasts so to answer your question yes if you put a 400w bulb in a magnetic 600w ballast. not recommended seriously reduces bulb life i wont explode but will burn out faster maybe a season of growth . you could increase intrferance in an digital ballast but alas most of these come with a dial-a-watt feature and would be better for both ballast and bulb to just match or to dimm down the max wattage bulb(lower interference). anyways there are pros and cons to both ballasts i recommend having a digital one with a magnetic one as back up.(digital ones are notorious for going poof while magnetic ballasts have no expiration date per say it will probably light a bulb long after your death)

BRO I USE MY PHONE IN THE GROWROOM ALL THE TIME..maybe its cause im running digital ballasts? only?

the only digital ballast iv had a broblem with is the ADVANCED NUTRIENTS ""BADASS BALLAST" MMORE LIKE SUCK ASS... AND THE ONLY REAL PROBLEM WAS CUSTOMER SERVICE.. i keep a magnetic as a spare just in case tho

yea that's prolly gunna be my route...cuz i'd be pretty pissed if my only ballast fucked up in the middle of a grow of that oh so ever sweet mary jane

ZeeBuds said:

Just looking into types of ballasts, and i've been coming across a few places where appearently they are causing a worrysome amount of interference with radios, tvs, etc..

i can't find the site at this moment but i guess the television providers or whoever do that came knocking on this guys door because there was an insane amount of interference coming from his house (they actually could pinpoint it, so the argument could be made that the feds could easily obtain that information aswell)

so what have people all heard and/or experienced with their digital ballast? should i go to a magnetic one for descresion's sake? i've also heard they waste a significant amount of power, but i'd choose a bit higher elec. bill over snoopy repairmen, or whatever happens to be the case, attempting to walk in on my illegal activity any day of the year.

Peace n Love

Click to expand...

I think this is the thread you're looking for
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/497790-warning-digital-electronic-ballasts-can.html


but that guy only had a problem with his ballasts because he decided to be buy the cheapest ballasts he could find on ebay. as long as you go with a good quality ballast you won't have a problem because they have RF shielding that prevents the interference.

yes! that's exactly the thread i meant. I guess i didn't read through it that carefully.. but yea i probably wouldn't skimp out on anything to do with my lighting

thanks alphawolf.hack, SFguy, and stak!

this is exactly what i was curious of, much appreciated guys

peace

the best RF shielding wont help if you don't have a good ground. when digital ballasts 1st came out several yeas ago, RF interference was common & the best solution was to properly ground the ballast and if needed replace the cords w/ shielded cable.

My digital ballast causes my ph/tds/temp meter to go nuts when lights on it reads 6000 ppm and a ph of .02 ....light off it reads normally.

That means it is not shielded/built well. The Digi ballast is giving off RF energy like a keyed up mic on a CB. I see all these people having problems with digi ballasts and interference, but I have to yet to experience it. To shield your digi ballast make sure it is properly grounded and if still emitting excessive RF, you could build a small Faraday cage to shield your meter, and use it there. It would truly be cheaper to buy a better quality digital ballast, however.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage

mrmadcow said:

the best RF shielding wont help if you don't have a good ground. when digital ballasts 1st came out several yeas ago, RF interference was common & the best solution was to properly ground the ballast and if needed replace the cords w/ shielded cable.

Click to expand...

Hello, you talk about properly grounding the ballast, could you comment on how to check this or how to properly ground the ballast?
Thanks
J

jays56 said:

Hello, you talk about properly grounding the ballast, could you comment on how to check this or how to properly ground the ballast?
Thanks
J

Click to expand...

(anyone correct me if i'm wrong)
i'm pretty sure he means like the ground in the outlets in your house..

but that's just a shot in the dark

ive gotten a letter from the cable company saying if i didnt let them in to figure out wtf is going on there shutten my service off on a certain date,l i was paranoid as fuck since i didnt have a card at the time, shit you couldnt even get a card at the time lol, i was usen a galaxy ballast with a hortilux bulb, luckily my cuzin worked for the cable company and i even told him a bullshit story on the interference, ( he knows im a digital freak) so i put away that ballast for years, but i recently been usen it since the interference went down a bit with a 600 watt digilux bulb, i also put 2 rf chokes on the electrical wire and one on the hood wire, interference is still way more then my lumateks but havent had a problem with any complaint from neighbors and im in an attached condo, also the ballast is in a basement and before it wasnt, wich helped a ton....... But if you ride with lumatek no interfernce at all withen 10 ft. on a 1k ballast Oh and all the ground wire bullshit the companies try tellen you is the problem isnt the problem i have thick fucken ground wire it's bullshit... and you should always run digital bulbs with digital ballasts they run cooler and burn brighter less interference (google Digilux vs Hoirtilux)

Funny that this came up, I'm living in the south shore in mass, and have had a ton of run-ins with the cops, and the big thing here is that the DEA supposedly use xfinity/ comcast vans for surveillance. I personally believe its true, little things just don't settle right with me, like some drivers look like normal repair men while there's a few that are clean cut wearing black or red collared shirts and shades (none of the other drivers you see wear any kind of uniform.) I was followed by two as I drove thru four different towns (obviously doing what I shouldn't have been), and my old bosses brother in law is a local cop who works for comcast as well, which i think that's just a front but any ways, I just bought an ipower 400w digi and had it set up for about two weeks. The other day one of these vans were literally parked in front my house for a good 20 mins. I have comcast services but the driver never once got out of the car, and I watched him from the second he pulled up, but as I read this, I'm thinking he was looking for interference, either way I'm always on my toes with the cops.

btw say my house did get raided, if i pull the three plants i have going and toss them out the window as they're coming up, they wouldn't have shit right, sure an empty grow space and a few bongs, but if there's no bud or seeds they don't have shit right