My Lumatek ballast already FAILED!

I bought a light kit from MGS on ebay, that included a 600w Lumitek digital ballast, a nice cooled light hood, a Plantmax MH lamp, and a Plantmax HPS lamp.

I got everything set up. Mounted my ballast on the wall, where it would get plenty of air circulation. Turned on my MH lamp, and left it.

I came back about 6 hours later, and the light was off. I unplugged it, and tried my HPS lamp. Still nothing.

I tried the reset button. It pushed in, but didnt pop back out. So today, I boxed it up, and shipped it back to the seller. It cost me $20, AND I dont have a light till I get it back (which could be a couple weeks). Im SO frustrated!

The seller said this is the FIRST lumatek digital ballast, that he's seen fail. I need another light kit, but now Im affraid to get this same set up, ...and I really dont want an old style magnetis ballast.

What to do???

That REALLY sucks.Although I've read of failures,I am also suprised,as where I work&grow,we use Lumatek,have 40 of em,and no fails.There's always that one though......sorry to hear.Hydrofarm recently put out an e ballast as well,and reviews are rave about it.

i hear lumatek has more problem with the 600 watt ballasts. i run two 1000 lumatek ballasts and everything is great..

this is the one thing that i hate about ebay... you never can really be sure of the quality of what you are buying when it comes from ebay.. i don't want to come off sounding bad and all, as i would feel horrible if i just put out that kind of dough and it broke that quick, and i do feel for you, but i would never really buy anykind of electronic equipment from ebay.. i am sure plenty of people will say that they do all of the time and have never had one issue with any of the things that they bought from there, but if i am laying out some cold hard cash that i worked hard for, i would rather give the money to a website who has been around awhile and who has a good reputation.. this is just my $.02 though, and don't get me wrong, it definitely sucks....

racerboy71 said:

this is the one thing that i hate about ebay... you never can really be sure of the quality of what you are buying when it comes from ebay.. i don't want to come off sounding bad and all, as i would feel horrible if i just put out that kind of dough and it broke that quick, and i do feel for you, but i would never really buy anykind of electronic equipment from ebay.. i am sure plenty of people will say that they do all of the time and have never had one issue with any of the things that they bought from there, but if i am laying out some cold hard cash that i worked hard for, i would rather give the money to a website who has been around awhile and who has a good reputation.. this is just my $.02 though, and don't get me wrong, it definitely sucks....

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The seller is a Lumatek dealer. He's going to warranty it, but it still sucks.

Has anybody pulled one of these ballasts apart yet to have a look inside. The button that didn't pop could be as simple as a inline fuse if so would be a easy fix. I have 2 600W ballasts but they runnin so i don't really want to pull one apart right now. Shitty deal bro hope you have something to keep the greeneies under while you wait.

Dradden said:

Has anybody pulled one of these ballasts apart yet to have a look inside. The button that didn't pop could be as simple as a inline fuse if so would be a easy fix. I have 2 600W ballasts but they runnin so i don't really want to pull one apart right now. Shitty deal bro hope you have something to keep the greeneies under while you wait.

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I didnt take anything apart, for fear of voiding my warranty. If it's an inline fuse, ....wouldnt something had to have made it burn out?

If there can be one ballast that fails, ...you better bet Im the one to end up with it.

I just put a performance transmission, and stall converter in my car, ..... less than 1k miles, ....FAIL. I mean, ...WTF? Ima catch a break here, one of these days!

DAMN dood hard times in the neighborhood!! sorry to hear aboutthis muphys law madness!!

i recently bought a 600w dimmable lumatek and thought the same thing...turned out, i just had a bad bulb... so now i have a spare ballast; but the lumatek has given me no problems whatsoever... i know shipping it back sucks, but it will fix the problem...... ANY electronic device has the risk of being faulty. let us know how it works out

i got two from mgs and they rock it hard. I run a 400 24 hours. No probs. Yu mist got a bad one. Shite happens, good for not voiding warranty. Someone stole my credit card yesterdayand myspacebarisreallybroken. That is the shite. Lol. Good luck. I am keeping a 150 watt hps from econo light on hand for this reason. Cheap backup.

I got a 600 watt from msg too and so far so good ran it 24 hours for 3 week now on 12/12 running like a champ.

I got a 400w one about a year ago and it failed after maybe 5 or 6 months of continual use. It was under warranty so i got it repaired with no hassle, but I went out and bought a good magnetic one at about the same price as the lumatek to use in the meantime and as a back-up later. They replaced my lumatek ballast with a newer one that has a dimmer knob, which I now use at 250w for veg room, so it's fine but having to return kind of turned me off the digi ballasts for my flower room.

Reliability is the real issue with the lumateks. They're definitely cooler, smaller and probably more efficient, but in my limited experience they've been less reliable than the magnetic, so if it you only plan on having only one ballast without a back-up plan in case you need it repaired, it's probably not a good idea to get a lumatek in my experience.

my 600w dimmable lumatek is suiting me fine these days

I've got two Lumatek ballasts and not a single problem. Have had the 400 running a year straight and the 1000 for two months. Even NASA can't guarantee 100% reliability. Redundant systems are the only failsafe method.

Has anyone heard of certain bulbs that don't work well with the digitals? Especially 600w?

I use Solarmax Gold

I just order one. Man I hope I have no issues. Hope it gets back to you soon

Glad i got a valueline there 400w ballast rock now there 1000w have problems and would not buy.but i have not heard of any probs with there 400w and i've had no probs i paid $125 dollars for mine.its switchable mh/hps i like it.if i got 2 i would have paid $220 out the door.the lumitek $188+ tax so 2 valueline c.a.p ballast is best for dollar and i can return to store if i have prob and get one right there new kyle the owner of santee hydro rocks bro,he is way cool all the produces he has used him self. he dont sell VL 1000w ballasts because of the probs but he also uses lumitek ballast for 1000w and has had no prob.so if ran 1000w i would use lumitek, 400 C.A.P VLine is it for me.

I feel 4 ya man, I just ordered mine and I live in canada and its shipping from the states, I have my fingers crossed it dont get damaged on the trip here...Good luck with the replacement