Nextgen ballasts can F&*%k off!!!

[greentrich]

So I ran a 250W Lumatek ballast for about year...no prob.

Wanted to upgrade to a 400W setup, buy my hydro shop stopped selling Lumatek and started selling Nextgen's new E-ballasts. Well a week before I'm done...it takes a shit and won't ignite my lamp.

They do have a five year warranty but for the life of me I can't find the receipt...so I'm fucked. This POS didn't even last one grow.

If ANYONE is about to or has looked into these ballasts, do not get one. They're crap.

Thx

 

[Phillthy]

what bulbs are you running?

 

[intotheunknown]

yeah that definitely could be your problem. they require ANSI type bulbs. look at the output port label on the ballast to verify that you bulb is in fact correct or incorrect. for example im using eiko bulbs which on the label says "ANSI ballast M59" and the ballast label says 400w ANSI. i have that same exact ballast. 0 problems. as a matter of fact i have two of them, they work great. no complaints. so definitely make sure youve got the right bulb.

 

[greentrich]

Ohhh...good points. My MH is an Agrosun Gold, and the HPS was a generic GE I believe. Hydro store employee sold the whole set up to me, but I will check when I get home...just to make sure not to repeat the same possible mistake.

However...I used the same type HPS on my Lumatek on the past grows with no probs. Maybe I should just go back to those...I liked 'em.

 

[intotheunknown]

Ohhh...good points. My MH is an Agrosun Gold, and the HPS was a generic GE I believe. Hydro store employee sold the whole set up to me, but I will check when I get home...just to make sure not to repeat the same possible mistake.

However...I used the same type HPS on my Lumatek on the past grows with no probs. Maybe I should just go back to those...I liked 'em.

yeah you cant always trust that the people at the hydro stores know what theyre doing. most of them around me, are just that way. their employees know nearly nothing, and do what they can to make a buck, so always keep that in mind. yeah just check your bulb and go from there. good luck, hope it works out for you.

 

[Teeg420]

Yep Hydro shop employees are not as educated as the reps. If you have questions call them up.

On a side note I called cap and asked about why they instruct you to use a 40 amp breaker with the mlc 8. They had a hard time answering my questions had to talk to 2 different people. I mentioned that exceeds the 80% continuos (sp) load capacity on the 40 amp and was not sufficient, he couldn't anwer the question and transferred me. The funny thing is that I just bought another mlc 8, on the box and it has been corrected and now mentions that it needs a 50 amp breaker.

I asked do you get this question often? To which they replied, "No, not really."

haha funny times in the hobby of growing the dankest dank!


Edit: So you might not get the answer you are looking for.

 

[greentrich]

Now see...that leads me to believer that CAP didn't do enough R&D on their shit before pushing it. Don't know if CAP is new company, but pretty sure these ballasts are new for them. So again, it irritates me that the shop didn't do THEIR due diligence on these before picking them and completely ousting Lumatek.
Regardless....I'm going back to Lumatek.

 

[Stoner Chick]

Maybe it was just a one off, that .5% chance something could go wrong.

 

[greentrich]

Maybe it was just a one off, that .5% chance something could go wrong.

Haven't ruled that one out either. Although if it is one of those rare occasions....it couldn't have happened at a worse time. I'm leaning towards it being the wrong type of lamp, forgot to check last night...had other things on my mind.

Think I'm gonna look into the adjustable Lumatek now...it has SUPERLUMENS!!! Ya...it goes to 11

 

[Maj.Cottonmouth]

You could try calling the shop you got it from and see if the have a loaner you can use while yours is getting fixed. I know that two of the hydro shops in my area offer this.

 

[intotheunknown]

and honestly i have not heard many bad things about the nextgens, i do however read a lot about problems with lumateks. i would keep trying with the nextgen man.

 

[dtfsux]

Most stores don't know much about what they carry, not just hydro stores.

You lost the receipt, so don't put too much blame on Nextgen. Things break, it happens. If you received 3 bad ballasts in a row, I could see the reason for complaining

 

[webehi]

I have had blue and purple lumateks run for years and years. I bought 3 Nextgen 400-600 watt ballasts and I think they are garbage. They didn't break because I didn't give them a chance. I sold 2 a week after I bought them and kept the other one as a backup for my lumateks and galaxies. I was really intrigued initially by the fact they could run from 90 to 260 volts and be mounted 65 feet from the reflector. However they won't work in a flip, or anytime the power is interrupted for that matter. They will blink a code until it is unplugged and reset. That means if you leave on vadcation for 2 weeks and your power is interrupted for 2 milliseconds 2 hours after you left you will come home to a dead crop and a bunch of blinking leds. The PC fans are a total fucking joke and just more crap that will be sure to stop working probably in the first year. I mentioned to the hydro store guy that future brite was the last ballast that used the PC fans and how futile and senseless they were and he mentioned that Futurebrite was C.A.P.s first attempt at digital ballasts. Once I realized I had bought rebranded Futurebrites I really felt like a moron. LONG LIVE LUMATEK!!! Oh and I run 600s on my mlc8 but I have always wondered how the fuck they calculated 8 1000s on a 40 amp circuit.

 

[greentrich]

CAP is taking care of it for me. Actually pretty stand up thing to do...no too many companies are that helpful when their end user loses their shit. So that's a good thing.

I'm doing some re-designing in my room and am probably going to end up getting a new Lumatek or Nextgen that does both 4 and 600w bulbs. I'd like to have the choice.

Thanks for your input webehi, much appreciated and I'll take what you said into consideration in deciding on the new one.

 

[danimarie193]

i love my nextgens

 

[Budsworth]

I have two 1k nextgens. Been running them for about 9 months. Not a single problem. Have a buddy who has 4 1k nextgens. Not a single problem. I have another buddy that runs 2 of the 600/400 nextgens. Again...never had a problem.

I think as growers, we're the type of people that get into a groove...and are resistant to anything that's different from what we've always done. Throw in a new type of ballast, and we feel like it's "throwin' of my Chi".

I think the little bastards are amazing. No heat. Don't dim over time. Can restart them pretty quick. Weigh next to nothing. Open your mind a bit. I promise you in six months you'll be a convert.

And the other poster is right. Electronics break. I was an MECP certified installer for many years when I was a younger lad. I'd pull decks out of the box brand new...and sometimes they didn't work. Even from my favorite companies. It's the nature of electronics. I don't think I ever pulled two out in a row from the same company that didn't work.

 

[Budsworth]

I have had blue and purple lumateks run for years and years. I bought 3 Nextgen 400-600 watt ballasts and I think they are garbage. They didn't break because I didn't give them a chance. I sold 2 a week after I bought them and kept the other one as a backup for my lumateks and galaxies. I was really intrigued initially by the fact they could run from 90 to 260 volts and be mounted 65 feet from the reflector. However they won't work in a flip, or anytime the power is interrupted for that matter. They will blink a code until it is unplugged and reset. That means if you leave on vadcation for 2 weeks and your power is interrupted for 2 milliseconds 2 hours after you left you will come home to a dead crop and a bunch of blinking leds. The PC fans are a total fucking joke and just more crap that will be sure to stop working probably in the first year. I mentioned to the hydro store guy that future brite was the last ballast that used the PC fans and how futile and senseless they were and he mentioned that Futurebrite was C.A.P.s first attempt at digital ballasts. Once I realized I had bought rebranded Futurebrites I really felt like a moron. LONG LIVE LUMATEK!!! Oh and I run 600s on my mlc8 but I have always wondered how the fuck they calculated 8 1000s on a 40 amp circuit.

I didn't realize that about the Nextgens because they've never done that to me. Even the other night, when we had an obvious drop in voltage across the block. I could tell inside the house when it happened, and I ran to my room. Very sudden and my wife said she saw it in the street light outside having a cigarette. Things stayed on...didn't even flinch.

I find this comment interesting:

They didn't break because I didn't give them a chance.

You don't like them...but you haven't even tried them...even though you had them in your house after purchasing them?

It all sounds so logical to me.

 

[dubdi3mond]

has anyone else had problems with the nextgens not restarting after a power outage? I just bought 5 nextgen ballasts (havent used them yet) but where they will be used power outages happen alot so just seeing if Im gonna need to return them or if they will be fine

 

[dubdi3mond]

bump

 

[webehi]

Just reread my post and I guess I don't have the right to rant until it actually breaks. The fans don't seem necessary as none of my ballasts have never overheated. The required manual reset after the power blinks is the same reason so many of us hate digital ACs and dehumidifiers-they don't come back on by themselves. I accidently ran a 600 watt bulb on the 400 watt setting so I wonder if that is a dummy switch. I'll go home and see if my 400 Lumatek will fire a 600 watt bulb and then I'll know. I actually think the dimmer switch is a way better option, and it means you don't have to toggle between a 400 and 600 watt bulb. Just turn the knob, and don't forget the super lumens.