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is a digilux 600w mh a waste of money?

is a digilux 600w mh a waste of money?

  • Yes

    Votes: 12 42.9%

  • NO

    Votes: 16 57.1%
  • Total voters
    28
M

madliberated

Member
ha! it wound up being out of stock!

now... what is the best I can do for vegging at 600w? (lumatek 1k dialed down)

I am growing big plants, semi perpetual mod scrog in a 4x4. each plant gets a little under 4 square feet. Speed is not a big issue, but quality is. I am looking for tight spacing of nodes so my branches get nice and thick.
 
I

Iron_Lion

Why not buy a 1k MH bulb and dial that down. With lumateks you dont need a smaller bulb when you dial down. That way there you could dial up you MH later on in growth and not waste electricity with some kind of 600MH conversion. If you are die hard on a 600MH check out sunpulse bulbs instead, supposed to be better than MH conversions.
 
M

madliberated

Member
thanks bro, I never considered that.

so dialing down a bulb generally yields good results compared to dialing down the ballast and using a smaller bulb?


edit: eh, that's a whole other thread, isn't it?
 
I

Iron_Lion

madliberated said:
thanks bro, I never considered that.

so dialing down a bulb generally yields good results compared to dialing down the ballast and using a smaller bulb?


edit: eh, that's a whole other thread, isn't it?
Click to expand...


I just bought a 1k lumatek but I've had a 600 dimmable for a while now. its sweet, I can dial down my 600w bulb to 400, 360w or dial up to 660. Same for the 1k ballast, it can do 1100w, 1000, 750 and 600 all with a 1k bulb. You can run smaller sized bulbs but its not necessary, and since 600MH's only come in conversion bulbs there is really no sense in that, conversion bulbs dont make very efficient use of the electricity. Im not 100% sure but I think a 600MH conversion only puts out a little more light than a 400MH. Also, I really dont like the idea of putting a 600w bulb in a 1k ballast, this is not something you would do in any other instance and I personally would not recommend it, if that bulb accidentally got dialed up KABLAMO!

Up until recently I have been buying cheap HPS bulbs, but I've never had any issues and I run super lumens mode thru the entire grow. These ballasts are the best because when you have small plants they dont need all that light or if at some point you have a few less plants and can get by with a smaller foot print.

I will say if you buy a cheaper bulb you should change them every 4 months at the very least. Digital ballasts run at a higher frequency and can cause micro vibrations which can shorten the life of cheaply made bulbs. Digilux are supposedly built to withstand higher frequencies specifically from digital ballasts.

I got my 1k digilux 1k the other day and I can say it is a finely crafted bulb, I was impressed by the nocitable quality difference over my cheap bulbs of the past.

I've noticed a drop off in bud size and density after 4 months or so of bulb use, yield seems to stay about the same bud bud quality drops off. I see this when i grow clones multiple runs all other grow variables remained pretty much the same.
 
Aerohead

Aerohead

space gardener
Veteran
chargers123 said:
the digilux 600 watt MH is not a conversion bulb. It's the only non conversion 600 watt MH bulb on the market.
Click to expand...


Yes, exactly, the only non conversion 600w bulb yet people in this thread rate it a waste of money by 75%. This is kinda sad, only a few are paying attention. This bulb should stomp a 600w Conversion bulb, yet most think it's a waste of money...
 
C

chargers123

Member
i want to get one but i saw the blown bulb on page 1 but he didn't say why or what ballast he was using or anything.

conversion 600 watt bulbs are 55,000 lumens

this digilux 600 MH is 75,000
 
Aerohead

Aerohead

space gardener
Veteran
I think a few are bound to fail and he found one of them. My local hydro store here replaces defective equip on the spot and deals with the manufacturer for the customer.

I'm pickin one up for next grow round.... I'm stoked someone makes a true 600w MH..
 
Y

Yes_I_Am

Member
i have just swapped my 400 hps with a 600 mh in my flower room its a sunmaster, should i swap them back to the 400 hps i figue 600 mh top 400 hps but i could be wrong time will tell.
 
H

Herborizer

Active member
Veteran
I bought one of these bulbs. My plants love it. Much more light than the conversion ushio I was running.
 
desertsquirrel

desertsquirrel

Member
I love digilux bulbs.

That being said, i don't think the dim able feature was intended for permanent use. Its great for 1 day at 50% 1 at 75% 1 at 100%. But there is more to Bulbs then simply how much power is being pushed through it. There are gasses, etc inside the bulb that were formulated to run at a certain power level and its inconclusive how well bulbs ran at different power rates perform. Dont expect performance to be exactly 50% or 75% just because your running that wattage.
 
C

chargers123

Member
Sun Pulse 600W 6.4K Pulse Start MH Digital Grow Lamp - $85

doesn't list lumen output because the manufacture says lumens are for human eyes and not plants

... seems to be another good option
 
S

SCROG McDuck

madliberated said:
wait, are we talking veg only?

I am gonna whip out the 1k hps to flower.


is this gonna suck for veg? I have a cheap 600w mh in there now, and I did like the way it vegged the test crop. will this be worse?


I am trying to figure out exactly how silly I should feel for this purchase, when I considered a ushio.

I refuse to veg under hps. I want to be able to look at my plants, at least during veg.
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if that is the only 'silly' purchase you make.
You might have made other silly purchases already and haven't
figured it out yet.

I have boxes of silly purchases in the grarage.
Marketing/advertising companies are very good at making 'crap' look good.

bulbs, I use the cheap ones and change them every 6 months (HPS only),
stacked 600 over 400.

wear welding goggles.
 
M

madliberated

Member
I'd be surprised if that is the only 'silly' purchase you make.
You might have made other silly purchases already and haven't
figured it out yet.
Click to expand...

that's why I don't feel embarrassed. Lots of us are silly!
 
ShroomDr

ShroomDr

CartoonHead
Veteran
So.... if all 600w MH are conversion bulbs, except this one... doesnt that mean that all 600w ballasts are HPS?

Im confused, is there a 600w MH ballast?
 
stonedar

stonedar

Macro-aggressor
Veteran
no there are no 600w MH ballasts
BUT 600w electronic ballasts (like all digital ballasts) run both HPS and MH

so, Digilux stepped in and made a bulb for 600w electronic ballast user looking for a veg bulb

and I vote not a waste if you already have an electronic ballast
 
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