Digital VS magnetic ballasts

I see a lot of people buying digital ballasts and I am looking to purchase another 1000 soon. Just wondering the advantages cause I feel my Harvest Pro 1000 HPS with and eye hortilux bulb does an awesome job and was thinking of getting another or potentially a Metal halide for end bloom cycle. Just looking for Input before I make a purchase and maybe a justification for their added cost.

i vote mag coil as too many bulbs failing on the digis from what I read

Illumination said:

i vote mag coil as too many bulbs failing on the digis from what I read

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That was kinda my feeling from what I read. Heard you just gotta be careful of your bulb selection. Still don't understand their advantages and I do not see a point in a dimmable light as I do not care to conserve power.

I still run a magnetic, but I have found a few things out about the digital ballasts. They are switchable, you can use both MH and HPS bulbs with the same ballast. They cost a little less to run. They are silent. BUT, they are hard on bulbs (from what I hear) But I think the pros outweigh the cons..

I own a lumatek it's nice...but it's not 300-400 dollars nice. If I could have done the purchase over I'd recommend getting a magnetic based ballast. For the price I paid I could have bought a boat load of other things I needed. A good digital ballast will last years. A good magnetic ballasts may last a decade or more.

Thanks. Im pretty sure Ill be getting a switchable magnetic one figured extra dough could be used for more venting as I don't have an inline and only a stanley blower fan mod. LOL. No heat issues at all but as summer approaches I forsee some.

I switched over to 600w Quantum digi's 12/09. In the 1 year I have been running 6 of them I have had 1 bulb failure. And since I go from clone straight into flower I like that I can acclimate my clones slowley using the dimmable feature. Plus the fact that I can switch anytime from HPS to MH is a bonus. ....jmho

mag ballasts for sure

digital ballast. Bulbs burn brighter, last longer and the ballasts run cooler and quieter.

XS Brain said:

Thanks. Im pretty sure Ill be getting a switchable magnetic one figured extra dough could be used for more venting as I don't have an inline and only a stanley blower fan mod. LOL. No heat issues at all but as summer approaches I forsee some.

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Did you mean to say switchable? I didn't know there were switchable magnetic ballasts, only digital ones.

There was a similar thread not too long ago and some guy claimed that all magnetics can run MH. If you do a search for the same title as the thread you might find it, it's a long thread with good points on both sides. In the end, just go with whatever fits your preference. I own a Lumatek 600w digital which I run at 600w super lumens (600w + 10% plus or minus) until it gets warm outside, then I switch it down to 400w or even 360w if the ambient temps get too high and my tent starts to over heat. For me, having a dimmable ballast works because of my current set up, if I had better ventilation and no heat issues in the summer, I would have just picked up a magnetic ballast, which I owned right before I sold it to help pay for my digital.

Good luck

Magnetic ballasts produce more heat and less light over time. I've experienced this first hand with a Hydrofarm 400 watt lighting system (remote ballasted) that is over a decade old.

The digital ballasts use a bit less power, put out more light, run cooler and are also quite. Digital ballast aren't as heavy as magnetic. I love that I can dim my bulb; I use this feature when plants are younger, when introducing new plants in general, when foliar feeding or if it ever got a bit too hot in the room... all I need to do is turn it down. So the dial-a-watt really allows you to control both light and heat output, because obviously the higher wattage you run the bulb at the more heat it will produce. When plants are young I don't have to raise my reflector so much, I can just dim the bulb.

I could also veg my plants under 250 watts, then start flowering at 275 watts... a couple weeks later give them the full 400 watts and for the last few weeks 440 watts; all under the same lighting system.

I think the bulb problems everybody is referring to mostly was due to incompatibility of some brands with the first digital ballasts on the market, and they've come a ways since then. My Lumatek also has a full 5 year warranty and I've been using it for about a year so far with no problems.

The only real advantage I see with magnetic ballasts is that you can replace specific parts within the ballast if it failed. They are also less expensive, but the digital ballasts really don't cost that much more... Well some places they do, but if you look around enough you should still find a good deal on a Lumatek.

tet1953 said:

Did you mean to say switchable? I didn't know there were switchable magnetic ballasts, only digital ones.

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There are, basically 2 ballast in 1 enclosure. I didn't think there were any either.

For longevity, in my old shop we had over 75-400w MH inside and 10-400w HPS outside. In over 20 years, I only saw 1 MH ballast fail and 2 HPS fail. The HPS failed mainly because the waterproof housing leaked in a hurricane.

I run magnetic.

Wet

tet1953 said:

Did you mean to say switchable? I didn't know there were switchable magnetic ballasts, only digital ones.

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there are switchable magnetic ballasts. Most digital ballasts work either type of bulb without a switch.

Wetdog said:

There are, basically 2 ballast in 1 enclosure. I didn't think there were any either.

For longevity, in my old shop we had over 75-400w MH inside and 10-400w HPS outside. In over 20 years, I only saw 1 MH ballast fail and 2 HPS fail. The HPS failed mainly because the waterproof housing leaked in a hurricane.

I run magnetic.

Wet

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http://www.monstergardens.com/grow-lighting/magnetic-coil-systems.html

just an example but there are many switchable coil ballasts above is an example....but I am not sure if they will run pulse start metal halides

Namaste'

mags for me until the bulbs and ballasts are better matched on the digis / electronics