digilux bulbs, how reliable?

[TurboFish]

Ive read every thread on them but they all stray away from digilux and some assclowns start talking how they swear by hortilux, then sun pulse and you get maybe 2 post about digilux bulbs in a 6 page thread about digilux bulbs. I am wondering solely in reference to diglux, how reliable are they? In a 400 watt digital ballast do they not have burning out or exploding issues? I don't want to spend $70 on something that has a high failure rate.

 

[Catchin1]

I am

I am

I am having good luck with mine right now but it is brand new and so is the lumatek ballast.it is 1000w I am running it at 100w and have not dimmed it or super enhanced it.
So far so good. Real bright very very bright.

 

[Iron_Lion]

I have a 1k Digilux, a 1k lumatek and it operates just fine and looks like a quality made bulb. I think I read somewhere digilux bulbs are specifically made for digital ballasts. Now Horti's on the other hand, I have read many reports of those burning out on digi ballasts.

There is a side by side test between a horti and a digilux on youtube and the digilux whooped the ass of the horti, plus the price is nice.

$70 bucks sounds steep for a 400, thats what I paid for my 1k at BGH.

 

[krunchbubble]

i have some digilux bulbs. they run pretty hot and bright. the plants under the digilux bulb yellow, where as under my horti's and sunpulses, the plants are lush and green....

 

[spurr]

Ive read every thread on them but they all stray away from digilux and some assclowns start talking how they swear by hortilux, then sun pulse and you get maybe 2 post about digilux bulbs in a 6 page thread about digilux bulbs. I am wondering solely in reference to diglux, how reliable are they? In a 400 watt digital ballast do they not have burning out or exploding issues? I don't want to spend $70 on something that has a high failure rate.

I have 1,000 watt MH and HPS Digilux, I have been testing both in terms of irradiance (photons within PAR range) with my quantum sensor. About three weeks about during a big storm my house got a big surge and power went out; the 1,000 watt MH blew out. I called up makers of Digilux and told them, they merely asked for a photo of the lamp and then sent me a new one, no questions asked, the next day. I only had to wait about 3 days to get the replacement lamp; they didn't even ask for a receipt from the place where I bought them.

So, in my testing and experience, Digilux is not only a great lamp in terms of irradiance (photon quantity; using a Galaxy select-a-watt ballast, BlockBuster 8" and Equalizer) and SPD (photon quality); but the company also stands behind there product 100%. Color me very happy with them so far.

I also have Hortilux 600 watt Super HPS and the Digilux HPS is superior to the Horitlux in terms of irradiance (600w vs 600w; as well as 1,000w vs 1,000w), SPD, and customer service; but also the Digilux were made for E-ballasts (re hertz), such isn't the case with Hortilux Super HPS (re lamp flicker, etc.)

My 2cents: use Digilux instead of Horitlux for E-ballasts; I prefer the MH (1,000w) because the SPD and high irradiance (not in terms of Lux, but in terms of actual photons within PAR range, i.e., umol/area^2/second).

 

[spurr]

I have a 1k Digilux, a 1k lumatek and it operates just fine and looks like a quality made bulb. I think I read somewhere digilux bulbs are specifically made for digital ballasts. Now Horti's on the other hand, I have read many reports of those burning out on digi ballasts.

There is a side by side test between a horti and a digilux on youtube and the digilux whooped the ass of the horti, plus the price is nice.

$70 bucks sounds steep for a 400, thats what I paid for my 1k at BGH.

^^^ yea that.

 

[spurr]

i have some digilux bulbs. they run pretty hot and bright. the plants under the digilux bulb yellow, where as under my horti's and sunpulses, the plants are lush and green....

MH or HPS? I ask because I have seen the exact same thing in my current grow testing both MH and HPS. From my testing, it has to due with instantaneous irradiance; as you wrote, they are "bright". When light is too bright (too many photons per second per leaf area) it can cause "photoinhibition" which in turn affects things like Chl A and B levels (greenness of leafs), stomatal conductance (openness of stomata), etc. Once I raised the lamp(s) a bit to reduce irradiance in the hot-spot to just under 900-1,000 umol/area/second, the plants became nice and green again.

This topic is not only about instanatious irradinace (i.e., umol/area^2/second) but also Daily Light Integral (DLI; mol/area^2/day). That is, the shorter the daylength the higher the instantaneous irradiance can be without causing light saturation (and thus reducing Pn and Pnnet) and possibly even photoinhibition; likewise, the longer the daylength the lower the higher the instantaneous irradiance can/should be ...

Other environ issues also come into play in terms of irradiance and 'loosing' greenness of leafs, like Vapor Pressure Deficit (canopy temp, leaf temp and RH), water-status, etc.

 

[krunchbubble]

MH or HPS? I ask because I have seen the exact same thing in my current grow testing both MH and HPS. From my testing, it has to due with instantaneous irradiance; as you wrote, they are "bright". When light is too bright (too many photons per second per leaf area) it can cause "photoinhibition" which in turn affects things like Chl A and B levels (greenness of leafs), stomatal conductance (openness of stomata). etc. Once I raised the lamp(s) a bit to reduce irradiance in the hot stop to just under 1,000 umol/area/second the plants became nice and green again.

This topic is not only about instanatious irradinace (i.e., umol/area^2/second) but also Daily Light Integral (DLI; mol/area^2/day). That is, the shorter the daylength the higher the instantaneous irradiance can be without causing light saturation (and thus reducing Pn and Pnnet) and possibly even photoinhibition; likewise, the longer the daylength the lower the higher the instantaneous irradiance can/should be ...

Other environ issues also come into play in terms of irradiance and 'loosing' greenness of leafs, like Vapor Pressure Deficit (canopy temp, leaf temp and RH), water-status, etc.

hps....

im limited on height space and cant move the plants under that bulb, they have 3-4 weeks to go.....

the buds are really big and look nice, but i cant stand the yellowing.....


most likely will replace the digilux with a horti's, because of my height restrictions......

and replace my sunpulses with horti's as sunpulses suck major phallus.....

 

[spurr]

Yea, SunPluse is a joke. Mostly because the owner is a major asshat who has little real understanding of the issues involved, ex., he refuses to post SPD of lamps ... asshat! And he's a real jerk to talk to on the phone once one starts politely questioning his lamps and why he refuses to provide SPDs. He and I have gone round and round before, with him claiming to have many plant physiologists and photobiologists working for him, yet when I asked to talk to them he refused to allow it. I believe because he doesn't employ said scientists ... what a maroon! (my favorite Bugs Bunny quote )

I found greater yellowing under HPS than MH, with the Digilux. I am glad you too found the same issue, not that I want your plants to be yellow; it's just that it's good to have more evidence than just my experience with them. BTW, was it mostly the upper leafs that were/are yellowing? And was it mostly the leafs under the places of highest irradiance that were/are yellowing (ex., at and near the hot-spot)?

TIA

 

[TurboFish]

so spurr, i will not have yellowing issues with digilux if the bulb is high enough? and you do recommend the digilux bulb? also, for 400 watts, is 900-1,000 umol/area/second correct for what my plant should be receiving and about what height do you think this would be for a 400 watter, and dose this change with plant size, as in seedlings are easier to burn then full size plants.?

 

[Tripsick]

mines doing great so far 600w hps digilux with a quantum ballast.

 

[Catchin1]

I am on

I am on

I am on day 43 of 70 and I have no yellowing as of yet, just a bit of foliage drop which is normal. They are green as can be and swelling like a motherfucker. I have the light about 10" from the tops of the plants as I have a awesome fan sucking that bitch cool.

 

[TurboFish]

digilux it is! I heard they have great customer service, however I cannot find a website for them...Dose CAP make them? is their a customer support number and website so if the bulb burns out I can get it replaced. karma for the website and or phone number.

 

[Iron_Lion]

www.capcontrollers.com

tech support: [email protected]

(866) 476-9768

(951) 552-9860
(951) 485-4717 Fax

 

[mugenbao]

I did get some yellowing compared to my previous bulb, and while I don't like it, the plants seem to be doing quite well otherwise. I raised the bulb higher than I'm accustomed to, and the plants actually seem to like that somewhat better. It's my first run with them, so I don't have much more to add at this point. For whatever it's worth, I'm using a no-name digital ballast rather than the oft-referenced Lumitek.

 

[TurboFish]

thanks iron lion

 

[spurr]

so spurr, i will not have yellowing issues with digilux if the bulb is high enough?

That is my experience, but YMMV. This has to due with irradiance and the type of reflector, ballast and reflective walls (if any) you use; as well as the VPD of your room, etc.

and you do recommend the digilux bulb?

I can't say for sure yet, but in my testing so far I am happy with it. Check out my album (here), all plants are being grown under 1,000w Digilux MH. That said, if you are using a digital/E-ballast I would suggest using a lamp designed for said ballast (re hertz, lamp flicker, etc.).

also, for 400 watts, is 900-1,000 umol/area/second correct for what my plant should be receiving

Yes, or a bit higher up to ~1,200+ umol/area^2/second dependent upon daylength re DLI.

and about what height do you think this would be for a 400 watter,

It's very hard to tell you how far to place the lamp from canopy (re umol/area^2/second; irradiance within PAR range) without testing in your grow space with a good quantum sensor, such as the Li-190 from Li-cor (but it's not cheap). What type of reflector are you using?

You can rent a quantum sensor (Apogee MQ-100) for $25 a week from customhydronutrients (here), but it's the least ideal and least accurate quantum sensor you could use ... so the irradiance datum would not be nearly as accurate as that from the Li-cor Li-190 quantum sensor. Also, for nearly the price of deposit you need to provide to simply to rent the quantum sensor ($250), you could by the very same quantum sensor from Apogee (here) for ~$300.

and dose this change with plant size, as in seedlings are easier to burn then full size plants.?

Yes. I just did some informal testing re irradiance for seedlings that is sufficient to prevent stretch and provide great growth; and my findings so far (from far-less-than-ideal testing methodology) is that one should try to provide ~500 umol/area^2/second (see the seedling pics in album* above).

* In that album are pics when I was testing low and high irradiance effects on seedlings; re: the very stretched seedlings (I'm not a bad grower, I promise!). Basically, I provided 100 umol/area^2/second to seedlings for about a week or so, until they were stretching a lot, then I increased the irradiance to 250 umol/area^2/second and then 500 umol/area^2/second. I wanted to look into sufficient irradiance for seedlings. From my very simple tests, 500 umol/area^2/second is what I will use until I have a chance to more thoroughly/correctly study the issue.

 

[spurr]

edit: double post

 

[JOJO420]

the plants under the digilux bulb yellow, where as under my horti's and sunpulses, the plants are lush and green....

Ok I am having the same issues, after reading this post I see that its cause the cooltube is too close. My tent has a fixed cooltube and i can't raise or lower it. ? will a digilux MH be better ?
About the yellowing, sounds like the consensus is sunburn. They need a good spf-30,lol.

 

[overmyhead]

hps....

im limited on height space and cant move the plants under that bulb, they have 3-4 weeks to go.....

the buds are really big and look nice, but i cant stand the yellowing.....


most likely will replace the digilux with a horti's, because of my height restrictions......

and replace my sunpulses with horti's as sunpulses suck major phallus.....

Hey Krunch, what was it you didn't like about the sunpulse's? I'd heard some good things and just ordered a couple. If you didn't have any height restrictions what would you use?

On the Digilux, I used a 600 and like it, but, my local shop stopped carrying them b/c they were getting a lot (1000's) back. Said the 600's were fine though.