Digilux 600w enhanced spectrum Tru Metal Halide

[danimarie193]

I didnt mean you couldnt use them I said they are meant to work the best in nextgen ballast. Also I use the hortilux with lumatek and so does just about everyone I know without any issues.

 

[Babbabud]

ive got two digulux 600 i just started using in veg ...so far so good

 

[spurr]

I didnt mean you couldnt use them I said they are meant to work the best in nextgen ballast. Also I use the hortilux with lumatek and so does just about everyone I know without any issues.

The reason Hortilux lamps shouldn't be used with e-ballasts if one can use lamps designed for e-ballasts is due to hertz of the lamps verses hertz of the e-ballasts. Hortilux lamps are made to be run on 60 hertz but most e-ballasts run on 22,000-45,000 hertz. That is why using a lamp that is made to run on higher hertz (such as Digilux and Ushio) is better than using Hortilux when using an e-ballast. The hertz issue is why some people have had non-igniting Hortilux lamps when using e-ballasts, e.g., premature failure.

Can you use Hortilux (or any 60 hertz HID lamp) with e-ballasts? Yes. Should you do so if it can be avoided? No.





Taken from elsewhere, from Jason, founder of Lumatek.

My name is Jason and I am the founder of Lumatek Electronic ballasts. We try to stay away from these forums but I think this is important. Some customers are currently experiencing problems when using some 600 watt lamps. I do want to point out that the Hortilux Solarmax Grolux issue applies to ALL brand of electronic ballasts.

The lumatek ballast is a true Eballast. It has a micro processor cpu. This cpu allows the ballast to make adjustments according to the lamp that is being used. A eballast can compensate for degrading bulbs and slight power fluctuations. It can also sense the exact specifications of the lamps it is using. The Lumatek ballast is up to 27% brighter than a core and coil ballast. We do have one problem with this technology the cpu can not detect the lamp until AFTER the initial ignition. Once the bulb is lit the ballast can then take over and drive the bulb to its exact specifications. Industry specifications for a 600 watt hps lamp call for a 4000volt ignition pulse. This is what Lumatek and all other digital ballast use for a starting voltage. Hortilux ignition used to be 2000-3000 volts even though this is less then the ignition pulse of the Lumatek we did not experience any problems with the Hortilux. I have lots of customers with Hortilux lamps that are over a year old. However, about 6 months ago we started to notice an increase in Hortilux failures. We also noticed that the font of the text printed at the base of the bulb had changed. When we tested this lamp we found that the ignition range was lowered to 1500 volts. These new Hortilux lamps are different then the ones we originally designed the ballast with and have a higher frailer rate. The problems that customers are having are NOT a ballast problem they are a bulb problem the Hortilux 600 watt is not designed to industry specifications regarding ignition pulse. Furthermore, it is also manufactured with a special gas in the arc tube that no other lamp maker in the world uses. The Hortilux lamp design is unique. We are currently adapting our ballast for this bulb it may require a switch to lower the ignition pulse for Hortilux.

Solarmax and Growlux lamps are the opposite problem these lamps require a 5000-6000 volt ignition pulse. Again the standard ignition for a 600 is 4000 volts. The Lumtek ballast can light these bulbs with the 4K pulse for a while however over time the lamps degrade and they require more and more voltage to start after a few months the bulbs will not ignite in any digital ballast. The other problem is that you have a certain type of electronic ballast. The particular ballast you have puts out 30,000-45,000 HZ, and Hortilux lamps, Sunmaster, Grolux, Solarmax and all the other brands of lamps were designed for 60HZ standard core and coil ballasts. A 60 HZ lamp was never intended to have 30,000 HZ flowing over its components. That's why the lamps are burning out on the electronic ballasts.

 

[spurr]

ive got two digulux 600 i just started using in veg ...so far so good

Good to hear, HPS or MH? What brand and model e-ballast do you use?

 

[danimarie193]

Thats some good info but I am going to go with first hand experience and I have used them in lumatek for a long time and they work great. Judging form what has happened here I think I am making the right choice

 

[Irie_Lion]

Does the ballast size have any effect? U are running 400s right DM? The quoted post from the lumatek guy only mentions the 600 as having issues just wondering if its across the board or that model only. Thanks

 

[danimarie193]

Yeah I got the 400s. They have the bulbs at the place I got my tent and after you said something about them the other day I asked about them at the place you told me about and they said the same thing. At the stores those digilux cost more so I dont know way that wouldnt try to push them if they worked great.

 

[Irie_Lion]

Cool thanks for that info. Online it seems the digilux r cheaper than horti....gonna have to do some more research before I get my new bulb now lol.

 

[FistedSister]

that was the dreaded vertical bare bulb failure we all worry about. i could get dramatic and say the bulb blew up, which it did, but actually that damn thing was still burning bright with no envelope.


but, for the few minutes it was lit, i asked myself what the hells an MH doing in my flower room? hps works well enough. 430w hps still makes the prettiest buds to ever catch my gaze

 

[spurr]

Does the ballast size have any effect? U are running 400s right DM? The quoted post from the lumatek guy only mentions the 600 as having issues just wondering if its across the board or that model only. Thanks

Some growers have reported failures with Hortilux lamps (of various wattage) in e-ballasts; it's not a sure thing to happen but it does happen. I for one ran a 600w Hortilux Eye HPS with a NextGen e-ballast until the NextGen died on me, I didn't have failure from the lamp; YMMV.

AFAIU, the biggest reason to not use a 60 hertz lamp (ex., Hortilux, Sunmaster, Grolux, Solarmax, etc.) with the > 22,000 hertz e-ballasts is the difference in hertz. Using a 60 hertz lamp with an e-ballast usually translates into issues such as greater flicker (e.g., less overall irradiance), less instantaneous irradiance and reduction in lamp output over time (re lumen maintenance) verses a lamp designed to be used at high hertz (ex., Digilux, Ushio, etc.) with an e-ballast.

A 60 hertz lamp (ex., HPS) can be used with a > 22,000 hertz e-ballast, but it's not the best option AFAIU. The best option is to use a lamp designed to run at higher hertz from a e-ballast.

The e-ballast I am going to use, Galaxy select-a-watt, and the Lumatek e-ballasts run at 30,000-45,000 hertz, AFAIK.

FWIW, here is a decent post from the BetterGrowHydro forum:

http://forums.bghydro.com/showthread.php?353-Galaxy-hortilux-blue&

As far as i can see, the only benefit to using a "digital" ballast would be one of lumen maintenance. Ie the ballasts ability to get more out of the bulb as it ages.

The improved efficiency is barely worth taking about and I don't believe that you really get higher lumen output per watt input. The manufacturers can claim all they want, but I've yet to really measure any appreciable difference in lumen output.

[SPURR'S NOTE #1: I could test the claim that e-ballasts have higher radiance than coir and coil with the same 60 hertz lamp at some point, using my quantum sensor to measure umol, not lumen. However, first I would need to buy a 400w MH (60 hertz) lamp or I could test with my (slightly) used 400w MH lamp. I could use my Galaxy e-ballast and my coir and coil 400w MH ballast, but not for a few days. It would also be a good idea to test HPS due issues of traditional MH verses HPS as pointed out below.]
​

Designing a EB [e-ballast] for HPS is relatively simple, (note that I said relatively and not just plain simple) in that it doesn't present the same resonance issues that your typical MH bulbs does. Due to the shape of the [HPS] arc tube, HPS will only have a few narrow bands of acoustic resonance. It would generally be safe for say a 400 Watt [HPS] to operate around 35kHz given it's arc tubes particular dimensions. MH on the other hand is a minefield between 20KHz to 100KHz with wide bandwidth acoustic resonances determined by it's arc tube dimensions (being that most [MH bulbs] are a short, fat, with nice curved/elliptical ends that make a lovely tuned cavity over a wide frequency range) so it requires a much more complex control system to ensure that the bulb isn't being driven in a "sweet" spot until it explodes.

[SPURR'S NOTE #2: Digilux MH lamps are close to the same tube dimensions as an HPS lamp; Digilux MH do not look like typical 60 hertz MH lamps...]
​

For MH EB's we are left with a few rules:

1) We can use a low frequency square wave to side step the resonance issues (ala GE...say 150Hz) but this will negate any efficiency increases that may or may not be present by running above 20KHz.

2) we can operate between 20 - 100KHz and try to pick a magic frequency that will work with resonance. Very difficult and inherently unreliable due to subtle bulb to bulb differences.

3) If we choose to operate in this region we must implement some form of spread spectrum frequency modulation (white noise perhaps), to ensure that we don't allow resonance to occur within the bulb. This increases the cost/complexity of the ballast and in doing so decreases the reliability somewhat.

4) Operate the bulb at a high enough Frequency that we are out of the acoustic resonance region (above 120KHz say) but then that can lead to EMI/RF problems. And the higher the frequency generally the higher the switching losses which would decrease the efficiency.

...

 

[big ballin 88]

The arc design looks different for the MH on the 250w its longer. I really like my Digilux HPS lamp over the typical 60hz lamps. I was getting really bad noises and flickering from a Phillips lamp and since switching over the problems have disappeared. Not to mention I got 2 lamps for the price of the one Phillips. It seems the problem with the Phillips was the way the anchored the arc tube, the Digilux is much more secure.

 

[habeeb]

what about sun pulse bulbs?

 

[Folate]

What is the color spectrum of the Digilux 600w MH?