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Quantum or Lumatek?

BudGood

BudGood

"Be shapeless, formless, like water..."
Veteran
Seismic said:
Yeah, I read the title smartass, and if I thought either of those two were good I would have probably recommended them.:joint:
Click to expand...

Well, I can tell you, Galaxy ballasts are garbage. A friend bought 10 of em, guess what, ALL 10 FAILED within 6 months. There were no problems with his electrical, hell, he even had a power conditioner on the whole building! Ran some Lumateks, a few shit out, finally he went with Quantums, has been running steadily for over a year now, ZERO problems. How long have your ballasts been running? You have all of 2, right? :biglaugh: And just how many other brands did you try before?

If I'm gonna recommend a piece of equipment, I make damn sure I know what I'm talking about before I give something my seal of approval.

Galaxy= Crap, a 10/10 failure rate is HORRIBLE. FAIL.

Lumatek=Better, but still crap, 3/10 failed, they tried to copy the dimmer idea, but did a horrible job. FAIL.

Quantum=the good stuff, comparable to buying top shelf at a dispensary. You get what you pay for. Works with flipflops, actually cuts the amount of power used when using the dimmer, not just the light. 10 ballasts still working, with over a year being on 24/7 on a flip. Hmm, gee, I wonder which ballast I should go with? :laughing:
 
etinarcadiaego

etinarcadiaego

Even in Arcadia I exist
Veteran
BudGood said:
Well, I can tell you, Galaxy ballasts are garbage. A friend bought 10 of em, guess what, ALL 10 FAILED within 6 months. There were no problems with his electrical, hell, he even had a power conditioner on the whole building! Ran some Lumateks, a few shit out, finally he went with Quantums, has been running steadily for over a year now, ZERO problems. How long have your ballasts been running? You have all of 2, right? :biglaugh: And just how many other brands did you try before?

If I'm gonna recommend a piece of equipment, I make damn sure I know what I'm talking about before I give something my seal of approval.

Galaxy= Crap, a 10/10 failure rate is HORRIBLE. FAIL.

Lumatek=Better, but still crap, 3/10 failed, they tried to copy the dimmer idea, but did a horrible job. FAIL.

Quantum=the good stuff, comparable to buying top shelf at a dispensary. You get what you pay for. Works with flipflops, actually cuts the amount of power used when using the dimmer, not just the light. 10 ballasts still working, with over a year being on 24/7 on a flip. Hmm, gee, I wonder which ballast I should go with? :laughing:
Click to expand...

I'm not looking to start an argument here. I'm just wondering, it seems like all the most pertinent info comes from someone who has a friend who found this out, or a friend of a friend . . . .

Anyways, do you have any actual proof of this stuff? Would your friend be willing to register and post regarding his experience?

I've talked to a few wholesalers and 3 retailers over the past 6 months and told them I'm a member of a forum and that I'd been reading more Lumas get returned than others, and he said the reason THEY get 10 lumas coming back to every 1 quantum is because the sell 10 lumas per 1 quantum, and that on a percentage basis they stack up fairly equally.

Just thought I'd inquire.
 
BudGood

BudGood

"Be shapeless, formless, like water..."
Veteran
I doubt he'd be willing to post, as he is a large commercial grower. You can either take it or leave it. :joint:

EDIT: I am his sparky, and install his stuff, so I saw it first hand.
 
fish83

fish83

Member
you people are awesome man! Simba...i like ur post ...ty man....and everyone else here too...please ppl, no arguments on my threads...lol....it seems like the quantums are the way to go....thats what im gonna do.....every thing points to them out of the Lumateks, the galaxy'a and the quantums....quantums, hands down...thats my opinion anyway....again...thank you all, and it is ppl like you guys who make this growworld a better place...lol...have a good day all!
 
jonezin

jonezin

Member
The guy/owner at my preferred place to buy grow equipment told me the same thing about the Lumateks. He said they get them back all the time. He sounded to me like he would rather not even sell them, but people want to buy them so he sells them. I'm glad I took his advice and got the Quantums. I am going to be buying 2-3 more 1000 watt lights within the next couple weeks and I am getting Quantums. Along with Super Sun 2 hoods.
 
toohighmf

toohighmf

Well-known member
Veteran
I used to own a shop and saw my fair share of returned lumateks. Quantums have been running great for me. they are also the only Ballast that EYEWASAKI (Hortilux is going to certify as the recommended ballast to use with their bulbs.
 
RedXIII

RedXIII

Member
Not sure about the quantums, but I have both a 600w lumatek and galaxy.

Galaxy hands down.

They both work great, but the galaxy was cheaper, runs cooler, and I can run it on either 120 or 240, a nice option to have. Plus it looks better (green vs purple). I have personally never had a problem with either one though, had the lumatek 2 years and the galaxy for a year. I run Hortilux Eye bulbs or sylvania grolux no problems.
 
nuggluvv

nuggluvv

Member
Lumatek far superior

Lumatek far superior

Wow, I can't believe all of the negative talk on the Lumateks. I have been running them for quite a while now with no problem. In my experience they are the best electronic ballast on the market. They are the only one that Ushio, a major HID lamp manufacture, recomends for use with their lamps. I worked at a shop that sold Quantum, Future-Brite, NextGen, and Lumatek. The Lumateks hands down came back less often.

Everyone says they run hotter. Well, not really. They just operate without the need for a fan. The Lumatek is made with American and Japanese components (although assembled in China) that are designed to run at the hotter temps. A fan is just one more moving part to break. Quantums like many others are junk and all parts come from China. Think about it, the fan is just taking the heat and spreading it out in your room. Not only that, it allows dust and moisture to be blown over the circuit board of your electroncis. Lumateks are completely sealed in resin so no dust/moisture problems. And what does it matter if the ballast is hotter if it is designed to run at that temp?

The true test would be to graph the output wattage. If you did this, you would see that the Lumatek is far superior. Very consistent sin wave versus the Quantum, Galaxy, or any other ballast I've seen tested.

In addition, the newest Lumateks offer dual voltage and the dimmable feature. I have talked with manufacturer of the ballast (Northbay) and they only did this because the public demanded it. A dimmable feature is the silliest thing I've ever heard of, but obviously many people out there just like extra switches, so they put one on there to appease the public. In reality, the most efficient consistent e-ballast would have single voltage and no dimming.

An electronic ballast is never going to be reliable as a coil and core ballast, but they offer many advantages. The primary one is the fact that the light is much more consistent by operating at well above 60 Hz. The pulsing of the magnetics limits the amount of light you can get to the plant. You can't expect them to run for 10+ years like magnetics though.

Regardless of your choice, good luck and happy growing.
 
toohighmf

toohighmf

Well-known member
Veteran
The reason quantums are more reliable is because of a few things:
1) quantums are made with seimens semiconductors while others use whatever they can find for the least amount of money. It seems every other week, you find different components in the competitions ballasts.

2) the dual fans (though I do agree less to go wrong is good) cools the epoxy coated circuit board from frying as we have witnessed with the competition.

3) quantums are made in the same factory as some of the best consumer electronics on the market.

4) I have seen side by side comparissons of lumatek vs and quantum. The quantums were significantly brighter to the eye.

5) I have sold plenty of both and have yet to see a single return of quantums. I am still fighting with hydrofarm & lumatek to make good on their warranties. A lumatek that set a customers rug on fire and melted the power cord to it's input.

Lumatek has over 12 models to get you what you need. Quantum makes 3 ballasts that fire everything, are smartvolt, fire any bulb, and have soft pulse start technology as well. They work great with flip flops and can power a 600 with a 100' of cord between them and a flip box.

I am not a rep, or a retailer anymore. Just a grower, and I will not use anything but quantums from here on out.

Someone mentioned the longevity of magnetics. I just replaced a SSX econo 1000w HPS power supply when it blew up and caught fire when it was plugged in for the first time. I cannot tell you how many hydrofarm sg grow ballasts I have seen come back after less than 6 months of operation with venture components. I will say that I have SS1's & 6's that I have owned for over 10 years that have advance components in them. They are also quieter than the brand new SG's..

Just some food for thought...


I'm not a fan of the dimmable feature either, but why is lumatek attempting to copy it?
 
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