Lumatek digital ballast's

[Amon]

I was wondering if anyone ELSE has had issues with the new Purple digital ballast by Lumatek. I ask because I currently know of 3 friends, one with a few ballasts.
Mine lasted only 7-8mos, then one day just never came back on when the timer told it to. The tech's just say, It's toast. Good thing for the 5yr warranty and another for their excellent customer service at Hydrofarm. At least that was my experience.

Now, they are sending me a brand new model. 120/240v run's either or.
The biggest change though, dimmer switch on the ballast. Just wonder if this is a good idea. Maybe fix one problem at a time.

What are the advantage's of having a dimmer switch: Able to dim lights down and get 600w hps light closer to clones, seedlings & young plants, plus still give them more lumens then flouros'. Hmm, what you guys think.
It should be here anyday. wish me luck with the new one.

cheers

 

[mtnmama420]

My lumateks have been blowing bulbs out with amazing rapidity, but apparently it's a Hortilux compatibility issue and the Ushio should be fine. The newest one has the SuperLumen thing, but I don't plan on using it. I'm not happy with blowing 120 bulbs and I'm worried there will be other issues cropping up as they add 'features', but I don't know of a good alternative. My hydro store doesn't even carry another brand.

 

[Pinball Wizard]

60Hz people....... 20,000+Hz is hard on Hortilux bulbs.

It's just a guess?...but, I bet Hortilux is reseaching digital ballasts so, they can use their lamps. But, ...they haven't found it yet?

There's no UL standard for electrontic/digital ballasts. Why?...made in china, mostly

 

[feltonmuggs]

hydrofarm digi FTW!

 

[Amon]

My lumateks have been blowing bulbs out with amazing rapidity, but apparently it's a Hortilux compatibility issue and the Ushio should be fine. The newest one has the SuperLumen thing, but I don't plan on using it. I'm not happy with blowing 120 bulbs and I'm worried there will be other issues cropping up as they add 'features', but I don't know of a good alternative. My hydro store doesn't even carry another brand.

I have to agree with this for sure. Funny thing is, in the package I purchased they include the Hortilux Super Blue bulb. Some of the digital ballast even say in fine print what bulb they recommend or will ONLY work with that ballast.
I must say I'm not too thrilled they are adding features when they haven't proven to consumers they've fixed the first issue.

Ballast for sale, never plugged in only returned once. rofl.

 

[Outportgrower]

First 400 I had ran so hot that it burnt my hand causing blistering. Took it back and was given a new one on the spot. So far so good......

 

[mtnmama420]

I lied. I switched to Super Lumens and will leave it there to see how long this MH bulb lasts. My only regret is the bulb had 2 months use prior, so it's not a perfect test. There was a noticeable increase in light intensity when I switched.

 

[Asil]

I have two. One 400 120v and a 600 240v. Not one problem with mine runs super cool and quite.

 

[Cheeb]

no problems here - 600w 240v units are solid.

I have a few friend who experience issues with their 120v detachable power cord 1000w units. Were swapped for hardwired units with a reset button and so far all is great.

Lumatek (from what I've seen/heard) doesn't deny warranty claims..they'll make it right should you have issue.

__

As for the dimmer switch - hope it doesnt bring on its own new set of problems.
Does anyone know if it saves money.. is the ballast only drawing around 300w at 50%?

 

[mtnmama420]

Don't get me wrong, I think Lumatek has great ballasts, and I haven't really heared any complaints other than the original poster's about widespread failure. My issues have related to bulb compatibility, only recently identified and disclosed by the company itself, based specifically around the Hortilux ignition temperatures. For whatever reasons, Lumatek changed the ignition temperatures in one series of ballasts so that it fell outside safe ranges for basically only Hortilux bulbs, resulting in my case in 3 successive bulb failures and my experience is relatively common.

The Ushio and many other brands work fine. Lumatek is at fault for not coordinating their engineering better with Hortilux and notifying the public not to use those bulbs, but their ballasts still run well, quiet and fairly cool. I'm still bitter about the money lost and yes I'm vaguely worried some new 'compatibility issue' will crop up as they seem to be pushing the edge of technology/design...

 

[420chuy]

I love my baby!.. Nice and quiet, cool too!!.. No problems yet.. Im running a solar max lamp

 

[THC farmer]

okay the super lumens option on the "dimmer switch" is a big NO NO to use on bulbs that are not specifically for digi's. they make certain bulbs for digi's that are bought according to kelvin temperature of the bulb.

future brite ballasts are great with hortilux bulbs. the noew dimmer switch is on every single lumatek and every single other ballast that is digital on the market since they first came out. the only thing is now is that some companies like lumatek and future brite and quantum are putting them on the outside of the ballasts's case so we can access the "dimmer" option without taking the ballast apart and voiding warranty.

what the dimmer switch really is is a "Potentiometer". and all electronic or digital ballasts have them. for instance, im going to use the little bit older future brite ballasts as an example cause they are not filled with resin and the board can be accessed by taking the case apart. now when you take the ballast apart you will se a dial by the power side and you can adjust it manually if you want or like i did... i went to my local hydro store )future brite distributor too they are the place that sends them to every other company to sell the guys just tell the china men what they want tand they ship em the ballasts and then the hydro store guys tag it with stickers and package it up and sell em)

any way i ordered 5 external Potentiometer's for 5 bucks each to upgrade my older future brites to have the dimmer on the outside. little bit of drilling and a dab of solder here and there and you could make the Potentiometer accessible on the outside of the ballast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentiometer

check that link out or just google "potentiometer wikipedia" and you get all you need to know about this new fangled technology. for instance every single one of you use potentiometer's every sinlge day!! by adjusting the volume of you car stereo.

 

[Guest 18340]

60Hz people....... 20,000+Hz is hard on Hortilux bulbs.

It's just a guess?...but, I bet Hortilux is reseaching digital ballasts so, they can use their lamps. But, ...they haven't found it yet?

There's no UL standard for electrontic/digital ballasts. Why?...made in china, mostly

According to Lumateks website, the are 50/60hz. Same with the Galaxy.

 

[SB7]

That's 50/60Hz input line frequency, he was referring to the output freq ( 20kHz) which may or may not be a good frequency for some bulbs depending on the specific construction materials and arc tube shape.
Typical output frequencies can range from 18kHz to over 90kHz depending on manufacturer.


Digital ballasts aren't the be all end all of ballasts, IMHO there's alot hype in the sales pitches especially from Lumatek. I had nothing but problems with a number of different versions of lumateks and said F$%k it and went with a nice tried and true reliable , easily repairable coil ballast.

I like CMH bulbs in my cab so a digital ballast wasn't an option as the arc tube shape makes it very sensitive to a wide range of frequencies. It works happily at 60Hz and is rock solid. I have a Galaxy should/want to use it, but it sits gathering dust right now.

Cheers

 

[idoreallytry]

when my purple 600 is on it is very hot to the touch,,do they all run warm? i mean i cantouch it but i wouldn't grab it it makes the plywood it sets on hot and it even has teh rubber boots,,,just curious,,,peace

 

[mtnmama420]

I run everything 24/7, and yes, every Lumatek has been hot to the touch. I just warned a grow friend I lent one to to keep it off the plywood shelf and put in on brick or concrete, but truthfully it was probably fine where it was. They run hot but not THAT hot.

 

[Asil]

I can rest my hand on mine for extended periods of time with no problems.

 

[Guest 18340]

That's 50/60Hz input line frequency, he was referring to the output freq ( 20kHz) which may or may not be a good frequency for some bulbs depending on the specific construction materials and arc tube shape.
Typical output frequencies can range from 18kHz to over 90kHz depending on manufacturer.


Digital ballasts aren't the be all end all of ballasts, IMHO there's alot hype in the sales pitches especially from Lumatek. I had nothing but problems with a number of different versions of lumateks and said F$%k it and went with a nice tried and true reliable , easily repairable coil ballast.

I like CMH bulbs in my cab so a digital ballast wasn't an option as the arc tube shape makes it very sensitive to a wide range of frequencies. It works happily at 60Hz and is rock solid. I have a Galaxy should/want to use it, but it sits gathering dust right now.

Cheers

Can you shoot me a link that has that info. Evl...

 

[green_thumb...]

I got a 400w back in February and it runs hot as a mother,I called the tech line and the dude told me they usually run 130-150 deg which i thought was pretty hot but he said its normal so i just kept runnin it and still am havnt had any problems runnin my horti hps in it,im currently runnin a sunmaster cool blue mh and its been fine other than the heat, Is that normal at all???

 

[420chuy]

I run my 400 hps on 18 hours, I can rest my hand on top of the ballast for about 4-5 seconds before it starts to burn..