digital or mag ballast

[AOD2012]

is RF interference an issue though with any of you? i just set up a 6-600 spot, and i cant wait the radio on in the basement without being mad staticy. not sure if its causing any issue anywhere else. but i am going to be setting up a warehouse spot, and i will be running two rooms with 12-600s each, so i am worried about all those digis causing shit for my neighbors. so i am on the fence still about whether to get digis or mags for the net spot.


aod

 

[Cainea]

There are brands out there with minimal RF interference.
Lumatek for example are RF shielding their 3:rd generation electronic ballasts

 

[Neo 420]

That is a 6:1 failure rate in comparison... over a 5 month period... over a hundred ballasts.

Its a fact that the digi's have problems... period. ;-)

Tried and true = Mag's. They may get a little hot, heavy and make some noise but works consistently .....

Digi's......Within 2 to 5 years, most the kinks will be worked out and the price will decrease. That when I go Digi!!

BTW people are still having RF issues with brand new Digi's. (I suggested Mags, he bought Digi's) If you order online, and it is defective, good look on the RMA!!!

 

[FreedomFightr]

I rock Magnetic's. They are cheaper and they are tried and true. They work just as good as digitals but are a hella of alot cheaper. Plus if a magnetic ballast breaks down you can repair it. For the price you spend on one Quantum you could get a mag. ballast hood and bulb. Also most bulbs out there were designed to run on magnetic ballast. If you go Digi make sure they are FCC compliant.

 

[iSMOKE.KUSH]

mags all day

 

[surfiis]

is RF interference an issue though with any of you? i just set up a 6-600 spot, and i cant wait the radio on in the basement without being mad staticy. not sure if its causing any issue anywhere else. but i am going to be setting up a warehouse spot, and i will be running two rooms with 12-600s each, so i am worried about all those digis causing shit for my neighbors. so i am on the fence still about whether to get digis or mags for the net spot.


aod

If you have cable TV you'll want to make sure the connections are all good. The cable man knocked at my house and said I was leaking into the system. He asked to come in. I said he would have to come back tomorrow. I fixed the connections before he came back.He was happy and left. This happened after I switched to digital. Dunno if it was a coincidence or not.

 

[BigDawg]

mag

 

[Lowman]

Well my Quantum 600 took a shit last week. So that's it. Nothin but mags now. Two 400's, and two 600 digi's in the garbage in the last few years. Not to mention all the finicky bulb issues.

DONE! Mags all the way.

 

[Bud Light]

I use mags for the fact as mentioned easy to fix and parts are cheap

 

[simon]

Ultimately, there's nothing wrong with magnetics aside from their weight, slightly lower efficiency, and a propensity to lose output over time due to failing capacitors. That loss in output can happen relatively fast. IME, a year is enough time to tap a 600 of ~20% of its output. FWIW, I ran (TOTL SS) Advance ballasts and replaced the caps with genuine Advance caps. Even without measuring the difference in output, the difference in yield between a digital and magnetic with a year old cap was on the order of ~25% - same clones, same environment, plants right next to each other, blah, blah, blah.

My point is this: If you prefer to run a magnetic ballast, replace its cap every ~6 months.

Personally, I run all digitals. In fact, I just tossed the last two magnetics that I was holding onto for emergencies. Hell, say a digital fails. So, what? It costs less than $200. That's not even a half ounce at retail. Compare that to loss in output, even the marginal loss over the initial 6 months, and we're talking a lot more than $200 in lost yield. Prorate that over several ballasts over 2-3 grows and we're talking thousands of dollars. All, because of a ballast.

Simon

 

[skunktoker]

Ran mag for 25 years always having troubles every 2 years with them for the last 5 plus years been running digital Quantum ballast...no trouble whatsoever...also been running my Badass digital for about A year and a half no problems with it either...will never go back to mags...digital is the future no doubt................ST