Next Gen Digi ballast 400 & 600

[THC farmer]

the nest gen ballasts are just the new future britghts in a different case with a dimmer. future bright is coming out with a 400/600 digital ballast they already make a 1000 wat that dimms down to 75% 60% and 50% DONT KNOW WHY THEY WOULDNT JUST KIM IT OUT TO 40% INSTEAD OF 50% CUZZ IF YOU DIMM A 1000 WATT BALLAST TO 60% POWER YOU COULD RUN A 600 WAT LAMP IN IT JUST DONT go past 60% or it will blow the bulb. the nest gen designer used to work in the plant lighting industry in the 70's then he wernt to work at kicker audio and alpine and etc. all different mobile audio manufacturers, hence the ballast looks like amp in my trunk.

the guys who do the future brites (know em personally) were woking of the newer future brites that are long and skinny and midway through designing the new ballsts the nestgen guy took the research and left and had cap put up the money and started manufacturing on the next gen. they are good ballasts but all they are is the older future brites with a dimmer and a wider acceptable input voltage from 90-240v the new FB digis have 120/240 capabilities and they make a 1000 with a dimmer. and soon they are releasing a 400/600 digital dimmable too.

the next gen does look very cool to me as im a mobile audio installer proffessionally and it looks like a car amplifier which i think is sweet. but not much more than a "check out my new ballast it looks like a 1000 watt amp.

one day i think in the near future car audio manufactuerer's will be making digital ballasts.....could you imagine a kicker or alpine or rockford fosgate ballast. my .2

 

[Mister Postman]

I wanted to update this thread, and let those interested in these know that CAP stood by their product/warrenty, and replaced my broken nextgen 600/400 ballast without issue...

It sucks that it blew on me within 3 months of use. Hopefully it was just a fluke.. Either way it's good to know the company replaces then no questions asked.

 

[aggregatebuzz]

I ordered my 400/600w Nextgen the same day yours malfunctioned,7/23 and 3 weeks of 24/0 operation and it presents the same problem,dang disappointing
they are replacing it

 

[Kushed]

I ordered my 400/600w Nextgen the same day yours malfunctioned,7/23 and 3 weeks of 24/0 operation and it presents the same problem,dang disappointing
they are replacing it

Really the same problem? Thats shitty is it just a coincidence? So theres no definate whos got the upper edge in the digital balladt industry?

I got a 600w lumatek and the bulb went out the other day....least i hope its the bulb, other than that I've had the ballast for 6 or so months running off and on and no other problem to speak of.

Im planning on purchasing 6 more light/ballasts and want them to be digital so if any others can weigh in on this topic it'd be appreciated.

 

[aggregatebuzz]

looks to be,runs in a cool 75F room so no temp stress,according to the error code is a vague fault indication,no more light out put for you
it was a piece of shit than

 

[aggregatebuzz]

got my ballast today,it wouldn't fire a 3 week old hortilux MH either so I tested it with a new hortilux hps,it runs

I had tested the original one with the new hps before I contacted CAP and it wouldn't fire,tied many starts,both ballast and bulb were stone cold during this test

so I had to retest the original ballast with the hps bulb and it runs this time

dang

changing bulb brands to possibly Ushio Hilux Grow

 

[claymoore]

should i get the 400/600w hps conver nextgen or a mag 600?

 

[swyork5]

I have a next gen 1000 and it works great. No problems and pretty quite. i have been using for 3 months and ran both mh and hps. I am really satisfied with its output

 

[aggregatebuzz]

mine was a failed lamp,being a new hid operator I didn't know MH lamps need a regular cool down period

still puzzling why the original ballast wouldn't fire the new HPS lamp than two days later it would

I was being toyed with

 

[claymoore]

how much more degrees you think a magnetic ballast would make a closet?

for instance a 600 magnetic vs a 600 digi,,

 

[paco666]

^^^^^ too hot without exhaust.... just purchased a 1000k next gen and a 6"XXXL hood.... excited for their arrival.... what the hell!...also dropped 170 on a hortilux "blue" MH.....anyone have anything to say about the bulb....?
it was impulse buying

 

[aggregatebuzz]

some good hardware you have coming there,I just outfitted my grow space and went with a Nextgen 400/600w and a Super Sun 2

my first indoor grow went on 12/12 last night after a 43 day veg phase

 

[good drown]

^^^^^ too hot without exhaust.... just purchased a 1000k next gen and a 6"XXXL hood.... excited for their arrival.... what the hell!...also dropped 170 on a hortilux "blue" MH.....anyone have anything to say about the bulb....?
it was impulse buying

i have a blue 400w, its awesome, i bet that 1000 is going to be fantastic

 

[311]

I know this is an old thread BUT...... I just recently purchased a 400/600 watt Nextgen through someone thru Craigslist(which was my stupidity), he claimed it to be "Brand New" and sure enuff when I saw it it was "Brand New" in a box. I took it out, examined it, not 1 scratch on it! Plugged it in with a cheap ass Sylvania 400 watt bulb, and it didn't even turn on like my other ballasts do(3 are self made kits, and one is a SunSystem) This bulb just turns ON! No warming up. Like when my other ballast would turn on, my bulbs seemed to go thru all their spectrum of colors. But now it turns(not flicker) and immediately turn bright orange(Which I now use a 600 w Hortilux Super HPS) ANYWHOOO! I purchased the ballast and when I plugged it into the timer it came on and all. 2 days later I go in my grow room and all my leaves are droopin. I can't figure out what it was. I start diagnosing my plants as if they were sick. The next morning I decided to feel my exhaust ventilation out of my room, and it felt like warm air comin out of the room. So I crack the door and there was my answer to my problems with my girls. The ballast had circuited my timer. My lights were still on. I checked my timer, and it was set right. So I changed timer, it did it to that one. I changed it to another one, and it did it to that 1. I called my local hydro store and they had NO idea wat it could be. I tested all my timers on my household appliance, and they worked. I checked my timers for watts and amps, and the one that could hold the least wattage was for 1250 watts, and being that all I have plugged up is that ballast, to that timer, I'm safe. So I plugged one of the timers back into the ballast and just figured I'd monitor it. For 9 days now it had worked fine. Every single morning I'd get up at(alarm is set), make sure that the timer would work,and throughout the day, turn all lights off in the house, and peak in the room to see any light leak from the tent. And guess what!!!!!!!!!!!! The one freakin day I don't get up to check if it cut off, what do u think happens??????? That's right just my luck! 3 hours after "Lights Out" I woke up(about 11am) and I put my hand up to the exhaust ventilation, and sure enuff, as I awoke I even thought this to myself..."Watch the on day that I don't check it, it NOT work!"....... I felt that warm air comin out. I cracked the door, and sure enuff there was LIGHT! AAAAARGH! I started 12/12, 12 days ago and have only gotten 9 full 12/12 out of those 12 days. So I called the maker of Nextgen, and they were very polite. When they say "No-Hassle" They mean it! They didn't ask for a receipt, where I purchased it. Their main concern was getting it fixed, and making me happy! Some people might take that as a negative thing, and make statements like Nextgen sucks so they have to keep their costumers happy, so they get business(which really doesn't make sense, but people do think like that), but for me...... I didn't purchase this product thru "proper guidelines" that the company would probably honor. In another words, it wasn't thru a store where I should be under warranty, and the fact that I didn't have to lie to them. all I told them was I have a Nextgen 400/600, for the this is what happened, and that was ALL of my story! I was on hold longer than I explained myself. LOL. And the funny thing is I'm not lying, seriously! So I actually got on the internet and googled Nextgen reviews to see if anyone else had had this, OR IF ANY, problems with Nextgen, and I found this thread. And I read thru the whole thing, so I figured I'd post something to help people decide if they ever come across this thread, as I did, in search for some info/input. Hope this helps someone in the future. Even though I AM having problems with the Nextgen ballast, it's great to know that this company is willing to stand behind their product and try to help u in fixing the problem and not give u a hard time. They could of have made it harder on me, cause for all they care the product has been payed for already, so they're $200 richer whether u come back or not. It's good to know their about customer satisfaction! Sorry if this turned out to be long. I just wanted everyone to fully understand my situation, cause I think it plays a big role in their costumer satisfaction! See u all in Las Vegas for 311 day 2010! ♥~311

 

[311]

^^^^^ too hot without exhaust.... just purchased a 1000k next gen and a 6"XXXL hood.... excited for their arrival.... what the hell!...also dropped 170 on a hortilux "blue" MH.....anyone have anything to say about the bulb....?
it was impulse buying

I also use Hortilux products, I must say they feel ALOT cooler than most HPS bulbs. I have 2 Sylvania 400 watts, that looks way brighter than the Hortilux, but I know the lumens are less. Than I have 2-1000 watt GE(I think) that are hot as hell. The I have 1 Hortilux MH, that has already blown on me. It didn't last that long, but I have no receipt for it, so of well( i still have a couple of regular MH) Whta I like about the Hortilux MH I had was that the bulb was bigger than the normal MH it actually looked like a 1000 MH, but the bulb said 400, I have a 400 watt Hortilux. Now both those 2 bulbs(the 400 MH, and the HPS) set off little heat if any. The 600 watt bulb is a little warmer, but with a SuperSun 4" air cooled reflector and a 6" appx 450cfm duct fan, and my actual room at 68 f. Keeps my tent at the base of it at a cool 70f and at the canopies at about 73/74 f. And that's with the reflector glass at about 18"-20" away from MOST of the canopies(except for the Strawberry Haze. She's the tallest 1, she's about 6"-8" from reflector glass, but not directly under it, so no signs of problems from heat. But quite honestly I would go with the Hortilux, and I would get it ONLY thru www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/. No one can compete with their prices. Even after S+H, I still save $35+, than if I were to go to my local Hydro store. So yeah, u made a good choice, IMO! ♥~311

 

[newbie2009]

A large distributor of ballasts carrying galaxy, lumatek, and nextgen ballast recommended NextGen over lumatek due to hortilux bulbs blowing and burning out to quickly with Lumatek. In addition, warranty issues are going crazy on the lumatek with total meltdowns taking place. It makes sense since these are really self enclosed, but who knows.

 

[whodair]

just got my nextgen 600/400. came with 600 horti. im gonna pick up 400 hps and 400 mh from 1000bulbs. not horti 400s just ge or sylvania. the standard bulbs work ok

 

[Chroniconn]

i have one of the nextgen 1000w hps and am surprised this isn't already asked but how do you switch it between mh and hps and i am lead to believe you can switch wattage of the hps?
there isn't a visible switch on the device so does it just sense what you have plugged into it and auto switches?