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Anyone know which HPS bulb is best?
- Thread starter zamzia
- Start date
Zen Medz
Member
Zamzia, We're all jealous, have fun at the Cup. Give us a rundown after the event.
Wanted to let the community know that my local shop stopped carrying the SLI HPS bulbs a few months ago. The bulbs were really good for the money and were recommended for a cheaper alternative to Horti's, Ushio's etc. They were made in Belgium but apparently were bought out by a Chinese company and the new bulbs labeled SLI are made in China and don't compare to the old ones. My local shop stopped carrying SLI.
Wanted to let the community know that my local shop stopped carrying the SLI HPS bulbs a few months ago. The bulbs were really good for the money and were recommended for a cheaper alternative to Horti's, Ushio's etc. They were made in Belgium but apparently were bought out by a Chinese company and the new bulbs labeled SLI are made in China and don't compare to the old ones. My local shop stopped carrying SLI.
seeingthings
Member
Sorry to bump the old thread.
I just installed a Solis Tek 600W ballast and matching 600w HPS bulb yesterday. Very impressed with the light output and color.
I was previously running an agromax 400w HPS that was about a year old.
The Solis Tek bulb is obviously much brighter (600w) but when dimmed to 400 or 430W it is still much brighter than my old 400.
Also, the color of the old agromax bulb was much more red/orange. Not sure if this was due to age or not. The new Solis Tek bulb seems to have much more visible blue and doesn't cast such an "HPS" red/orange saturated light.
Very cool!
I guess we'll see how it holds up over time. I've got a cheap light meter on the way that should help out with measuring degradation over time.
Solis Tek Matrix + 1000w Hortilux HPS= Win
I'm just saying...
SunMaster Full Nova
SunMaster Full Nova
Whazzup, a Gavita rep said the Gavita Pro ballast w/Gavita Greenpower by Philips hps bulb and Gavita Digistar ballast w/Gavita matched enhanced hps bulb would be pretty close. With the rest of the field (outside of DE bulbs) taking up the slack... 
Hortulux and Ushio are good bulbs too, all too are always coming out with new bulbs and ballasts.
Funny, not sure about their hps bulbs but Plantmax makes very good T5 bulbs, I get those over the GE Starcoat. I should compare the 2. They are about $8-10 each. I don't think I'll ever get those $15-20 aqua bulbs though, I'm not a Koiphile either...
Hortulux and Ushio are good bulbs too, all too are always coming out with new bulbs and ballasts.Funny, not sure about their hps bulbs but Plantmax makes very good T5 bulbs, I get those over the GE Starcoat. I should compare the 2. They are about $8-10 each. I don't think I'll ever get those $15-20 aqua bulbs though, I'm not a Koiphile either...
budleydoright
Member
Eye Horti are made in the USA.
i agree the horti are excellent and for the price i get them makes it better .
you know what i to think solis tek is worth looking at, but my reason
is because they are japan based i love japan technology its simply the best
you know what i to think solis tek is worth looking at, but my reason
is because they are japan based i love japan technology its simply the best
my next ballast is going to be solis tek .
Whazzup, a Gavita rep said the Gavita Pro ballast w/Gavita Greenpower by Philips hps bulb and Gavita Digistar ballast w/Gavita matched enhanced hps bulb would be pretty close. With the rest of the field (outside of DE bulbs) taking up the slack...
Funny, not sure about their hps bulbs but Plantmax makes very good T5 bulbs, I get those over the GE Starcoat. I should compare the 2. They are about $8-10 each. I don't think I'll ever get those $15-20 aqua bulbs though, I'm not a Koiphile either...
I was going to get the GE for $3.17ea
http://www.1000bulbs.com/product/2381/F-54T5841G.html
But I need to cut back on power and prefer my t8 nowadays
These are a bit cheaper
http://www.1000bulbs.com/product/4966/FHO-054T5841-25PK.html
http://www.1000bulbs.com/product/59072/FHO-54T5850H.html
I would think a ST ballast and bulb combo, would be better.
The bulb is tuned to the ballast, maximizing the set up, in theory.
seeingthings
Member
That's what solis-tek says anyway. Something to do with minimizing their already low THD. Oh, they also strongly suggest using a pulse start bulb.
I almost got a hortilux hps bulb but ended up going with the solis-tek hps. Hopefully it was a good move. Solis-tek HPS was cheaper anyway.
Thanks Coconutz, the GE Ecolux CRI of 85 is the same as Plantmax. Gotta try those, ordered from 1,000 bulbs before - they have a lot of stuff...
