What is the highest quality 1000 watt hps ballast and good for me to start with?
- Thread starter rokuez
- Start date
As a beginner, I went with a nice used magnetic ballast/ vent hood/ extra bulbs 1000w HTG setup off Craigslist. $135, works great.
It left plenty in the budget for an exhaust fan, carbon filter, ducting & all the other stuff I've needed.
Didn't know if I'd be successful or want to continue, so I tried to do it well w/o spending a lot of money. It's turned out excellent so far. Kept after it some on Craigslist to acquire a complete spare setup, $125.
I figured that having the best equipment wouldn't make me a good grower. Just having decent equipment has allowed my skills to blossom, however.
nukklehead
Active member
Good call... even the worst mags will give you a few good years of
service and good ones longer.. Not ditchin digitals by any means.. judt a good starter choice imo...
rokuez
New member
i'm not interested in anything but a digital ballast
can anyone recommend some of the higher quality hood brands?
K
K.O.Genetics
been using Sun Systems .. and honestly.. the warranty is awesome.. plus wen i had a problem.. my hydro store guy gave me a Loaner until my ballast was refurbished. ran it for 3 years .. and then had aproblem with startup.. u can grab refurbished gear at most hydro stores.. for cheap.. i think i paid 100 bucks for my backup ballast..
i bought one for backup.. cuz if any of my ballasts fail i dont wana have to go for a 4 hour drive to get a loaner.. the closest hydro store from me is about 2 hours there. and 2 back.. so i try to get Everything i need for 3 months.. and then go back 2-4 times a year only
i bought one for backup.. cuz if any of my ballasts fail i dont wana have to go for a 4 hour drive to get a loaner.. the closest hydro store from me is about 2 hours there. and 2 back.. so i try to get Everything i need for 3 months.. and then go back 2-4 times a year only
Depending on your particular setup, you might be better served with 2 600w lights. More money up front, but better footprint. I have both Lumatek and Phantom ballasts.
Will be replacing my old Lumateks with Phantoms soon. No complaints about either brand. Zero issues in 4 years.
I see by your join date, you are a fellow lurker who's come out of the shadows. Welcome!
Will be replacing my old Lumateks with Phantoms soon. No complaints about either brand. Zero issues in 4 years.
I see by your join date, you are a fellow lurker who's come out of the shadows. Welcome!
are you using the lumatek 1000w air cooled digital ballast and the eye hortilux? i was thinking of getting both of those but i have a few questions. i was hearing hortilux bulbs have problems with a lot of them, another thing i was reading is that it has radio interference and people almost got busted for using them. are you able to put in a 600w mh in the 1000w ballast and dim it to the 600 setting or is that bad for the bulb? ive heard mixed opinions on this
If you are a beginner, might I strongly suggest that you NOT start with 1,000w system, but a 250w, 400w or 600w light? 600w is the sweet spot in terms of energy efficiency/ lumen output, too.
A 1,000 w light consumes a lot of electricity, costs real $$ to run and lights up a fair bit of space. It gets hot and can be a fire hazard if you don't know what you are doing. Hell, it can be a fire hazard even if you DO know what you are doing, too.
All of that is problematic -- but here is the real issue: a 1,000w light will grow a lot of weed. Sure, this sounds like a good problem to have - until you actually have it. It's not cool. At all.
With a 1000w light, you end up with much more weed than you can use (I don't care how much you smoke - it's more than you can use) but WORSE, it's still less then is practical for you to really sell, too. So you end up with all of the problems and potential criminal difficulties of a commercial grower (unless you are in Cali or CO) without any of the monetary benefits. And that is a very shitty place to find yourself in. And you are trying to put yourself there. Deliberately. Why the hell would you want to do that?
It's just not a good light to start with dude. Bad call. Go lower on your wattage. At least walk it back to 600w.
I very much endorse going with a used system off of Cragislist. You can get tremendous value there -- and if something is screwed up? You won't lose much money on it either. You will also have more money left over for fans, ventilation, a good ph/EC meter, a grow tent or materials to buy/build with, nutes, etc..
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The ballasts do have radio interference but no one gets busted for that. I believe that for MH bulbs you have to use the 1000 watt bulb and you can't dim it. Not sure though as I don't use MH bulbs in any of my rooms. I only dim my 1000 watt Hortilux's and I've never had 1 problems with the bulbs or ballasts ever! I switch bulbs every other crop and the bulb has about 12% loss of light at that point.
I'll second "no moving parts". Even the best of the little fans only last a few years. When it dies, the rest follows along shortly. I wouldn't trust the fans on budget electronic ballasts at all.
As I understand it, not all bulbs are rated for electronic ballasts, so selection is key.
I run 4 raptors with 10' ceilings...don't know if I could do much better without going gavitas...
rokuez
New member
Before being registered on this website I was on overgrow for a while.
No worries about handling the 1000 watt heat, or too much meds. I will be using a 5 ton ac.
I'm looking now at having a separate ducting system for the lights with sealed hoods Versus having open hoods.
So far it looks like
1) Gavita
2) Lumatek
one thing that bothers me about the Gavita is that the hood is not sealed for a separate ducting system. I figure this is more efficient then having open hoods (assuming u can pull cool air from the outside).
been reading this thread about gavitas
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=228976&page=7
it seems like with lumateks it might be better for flip flop rooms
i don't understand the em concern with having the cable running to and from the ballast & light. what does the gavita benefit growing wise from placing the ballast near the bulb?
oscarthegrouch
Member
Less RF interference, If your worried about that. I'm also pretty sure gavita doesn't recommend using the pro series on flips.
