Silky Shagsalot
Well-Known Member
you might want to consider bulb price/availability for the 600 and 750 watt systems. they can sometimes be hard to get and expensive, depending on where you are.
Lumatek or Galaxy
- Thread starter AKDrifter
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Landragon
Well-Known Member
Never owned a lumatek. My galaxy 400 has worked flawlessly since august. No sounds. Though no electronic ( neither luma's or galaxy's are dgital) offer real savings over magnetic ballasts. Put them on a killawatt and see they all use 50-150 additional watts beyond the bulbs rating. They don't keep your room any cooler than a well designed magnetic ballast.
nomaninsf
Well-Known Member
You won't save more electricity with a digital/electronic ballast. You will get more lumens per watt from a digital ballast versus magnetic though.
As far as it making your room cooler, you should never keep your ballast inside your grow room in the first place. The cord set on HID's is long so you can run your ballast outside.
T
THseaman
Guest
You only get the higher lumen output with digital if you run 240v. You don't get this benefit if you run 120v.
nomaninsf
Well-Known Member
It's definitely not 20% more light like they advertise but there is a difference IMO. I have gotten better yields since switching from a magnetic hydrofarm to the lumatek. They still heat up like magnetics but they are dead silent which is very nice.
runsfromdacops
Well-Known Member
if nether are digaital and there not magnetic what are they? im still thinking about geting the galaxy dual 250w waht you guys think?
fuzzywuzzy
Active Member
thats probably because there isn't a 600 or 750 watt MH bulb .....only thousands in the high wattage range come in Metal Halide flavor......the 600 has a conversion bulb......but none that I've seen so far for a 750......Straight HPS =)
Landragon
Well-Known Member
They are electronic. There is a difference between "digital" and "electronic" ballasts.
Simply put, electronic ballasts use a circut board with various compnonents to allow pulse starting and to regulate the voltage in a fast pulse wave. Digital ballasts do that too but have a microprocessor to allow load sensing, auto input voltage switching, or to allow multiple wattage bulbs to be used on one ballast. There are few true digiballasts on the market, and sadly some sold as digital, are nothing more than electronic. True digiballasts do definitely improve the lumen out put as well as run SLIGHTLY cooler. Unless running a sealed, air conditioned room, I'd still keep digiballasts outside of room.
T
THseaman
Guest
I haven't tried out NexGen, but I would never pay the prices their asking when adequate equipment is available for half as much. And, yes, 240v plugs/outlets are the kind that you see on dryers here in the USA. They allow you to run a higher voltage at half the amperage and therefore are much more efficient.
Landragon
Well-Known Member
I have and they are digital not electronic
. Not 30% additional light over a new, burned in, core-coil ballast. More like 8-18% depending on bulb used. Highest gains are with name brand MH bulbs. They are very convenient , though you pay for the extra accomodations. They run with no flicker or noise at all. That said, I didn't opt to buy it after testing.
DR. VonDankenstine
Well-Known Member
I love my GLOBAL GREENHOUSE DIGI"S---They run cool and are dead silent---I paid 220.00 for a 600watter. If you into spending a lot of cash you can get a MONSTER CABLE POWER CONDITIONER and clean up all the flickering and noise----You're ballast will last longer as well.
runsfromdacops
Well-Known Member
depends on what hood you use. some of the sun systems hood have the lamp cord built in, some dont. if you have to buy the lamp cord seprt i think they are around 30-39$
You actually fell for that? I understand the reason for using a power conditioner with sensitive electronic equipment, but I would NEVER buy from Monster cables as long as I live. Everything they sell is a complete rip off and can be bought for half the price or less in another brand, and perform just as well. Just Google how their "premium" $50 audio cables perform on par with a wire coat hanger with connectors soldered on the ends. LOL.
http://consumerist.com/362926/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables
Nothing personal bro, I'm just saying that anything from Monster cables is a rip-off, and it's all in the marketing. They don't do anything special that another brand of cable/powerstrip/power cleaner can do, except you get to pay 4x the price. And as a matter of fact, the "power cleaner" that they try to sell most people in the big box stores (BB) is nothing more than a surge protector.
Peace
J