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CAP NextGen 1000 watt Digital Ballast

D

DieselFuel

New member
How small are ballasts going to become in a few years? :rasta: I can pick one of these up for a pretty good price... any news through the grape vine about these units?

 
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W

Whatever

I got lucky, I guess, a few years back when I picked up 6 blue Lumatek 240V 600's. Never had any problems with the units or all the GE bulbs I ran thru. Now I would not touch a 'new' piece of equipment like this until I see others having success. It'll be interesting to see how they shake out.
 
fisher15

fisher15

classy grass
Veteran
DieselFuel said:
any news through the grape vine about these units?
Click to expand...
just the CAP guy at the hydro store sayin how great they are and how they could run any bulb...were nice and light...
 
clowntown

clowntown

Active member
Veteran
Whatever said:
Now I would not touch a 'new' piece of equipment like this until I see others having success. It'll be interesting to see how they shake out.
Click to expand...
I agree. One thing that I'm hoping for, though, is that there have been enough problems (RFI/EMI and bulb compatibility being the most common) across many brands that most/all new models/companies will be aware of these issues and have them worked out. That's not saying there won't be new problems arising from the lack of real-world testing.

But look at the fancy case and the shiny metal arm holding it... how can you say no?? I'd buy one based on the shiny metal arm alone. It does come with the arm, right? :asskick:

I've never seen a digital 1k in action, but after running some Lumatek 600w/120v's and then getting some magnetic Hydrofarm XtraSun 1k's, I can definitely say that I expected more from the 1k's. Of course this is just going by "eyeball feel" and not a light meter or yields or anything like that, but I had bigger expectations from the 1k's. My magnetic 1k's just don't seem to be all that much brighter than my Lumatek 600's, both running the Hortilux Super HPS... all 1k bulbs are brand-new. (I do understand that ballast performance may vary widely from brand-to-brand and model-to-model.)

On my next room I'm going to go with the known goods (Lumatek) unless I hear substantial feedback reporting otherwise. At that time I'll see what the deal is with the RFI/EMI on the 1000w/240v Lumatek digitals, and if it's do-able I'll be going with them rather than magnetics. Although I love 600's, I love the simplicity, availability, compatibility, and reliability of the 1000's more so far.
 
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W

Whatever

I see that even CAP is saying the 1000W digital is 30% brighter than a standard 1000 W coil. Based on my experience with the Lumi 600's and the claims about being 30% I think this 1000W comparison is also BS. They are better but no way 30%...not even close. I know of a shop that ran some 600 coils and digitals side-by-side on amp meters and used an expensive par meter, like $2,000 worth, and the digitals were only negligibly better in all areas including bulb life. That's basically my experience...but still worth it.
 
clowntown

clowntown

Active member
Veteran
Now here's my limited, half-assed experience on bulb life and digitals... somehow I was led to believe (mostly through marketed statements) that bulbs will stay brighter, longer. I don't have anything to compare against personally as I've never owned any other 600w equipment besides digital, but from what I can gather through others' experiences and my own combined it seems that this statement is far from true, and if anything, completely false and opposite... i.e., it shortens bulb life.

Anyone with experience in both magnetics and digitals of the same wattage have anything they can add to that? :chin: Sorry if we're getting a little off-topic here...
 
ubet28

ubet28

Member
I just picked one up today i will update what i think in a couple of weeks. i am still under the T5's at the present time. So far all i can say is that they are light and compact thats for sure.
 
motofox16

motofox16

Member
clowntown said:
But look at the fancy case and the shiny metal arm holding it... how can you say no?? I'd buy one based on the shiny metal arm alone. It does come with the arm, right? :asskick:
Click to expand...

I agree. I see that thing holding it and i'm like wow i want one. that arm better be in that package. i'm going to go squeeze some cars or something... andd grow dank weed while i'm doing it. dam order me up one. Btw anyone using these? how are they?
 
P

PonicalChillin

Know a guy that has 1 Next Gen 1K next to a Lumatek 1K and he told me he's likeing the lumatek better still. Didn't get his exact reason or anything though.

The Next Gens are cool because they are dual voltage unlike the Lumateks. Its nice to be able to run a single ballast at 120v..but have the ability to run 240v should you want to expand. Lumateks must be purchased either or.

Next gens also have indicator lights which let you know when the bulb is full brightness and warmup is over. who cares though really.

that all being said - I'd stick to 1K Lumateks (240v preferred)..if you get a 120v Lumatek try to get one with a hard wired power cord and breaker button instead of fuses. My local shop has had a lot of 1K 120v Lumateks come back due to melted inputs where the power cord plugs in. I believe they've changed this however.

just sharing what I know
peace

pc
 
beamx0r

beamx0r

Member
I finally got to get my hands on one of these at the hydro store and was amazed at how small and light the things are. I thought about it today when i accidentally banged myself in the knee moving my heavy ballast around
 
High Jinks

High Jinks

Member
Lurked one of these today. Lightweight, little green and red(!?) LED lights let you know how its feeling like a mood ring. Can handle just about any voltage, and accepts all types of lamp cords. Guy at the store said they were going to try to phase them in and Lumatek out. Said that people buy more individual Digis now, but you still get 1 guy every once and a while who will come in and buy 20 Magnetics...BUT 4hundo?! I too will wait.

Edit: Unless it comes with the arm. THEN with Cyberdyne arm power, I'll grow smoke that enslaves humankind.
 
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Cannabean

Cannabean

Active member
I just got one and tried to fire it up with a brand new hortilux 1000w hps in a brand new hydrofarm radiant 8 on a 120v outlet with no other devices connected on a 15amp breaker.
Bulb doesn't even try to fire. Immeaditely on plugging in I am getting the Solid Green/Blinking Red which reads: "Fault. Reset Ballast: Check input voltage. Change your bulb. Unplug for 5 minutes then reconnect power(tried this). If problem continues contact technician".
I have run 1200w+ on this outlet which should be on a breaker of 15 amp if not 20 amp. "check input voltage..." 120v...check? I have a hard time believeing it is a doa hortilux bulb(I don't have an extra bulb to test it against either)...

I don't know what to do...
any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated
 
Cannabean

Cannabean

Active member
wow...it was my radiant 8 reflector/cord that is DOA...nothing at all wrong with the nextgen.
I plugged the 1000w nextgen and same 1000w horti bulb into another reflector and it fired right up.

Check this out, this is the radiant 8 box as I received it. See the hole in the box that was from impact with the top of the socket on the radiant 8. I didn't think anything of it until just now. I called PLH and they said they've heard of this before.

Careful with your radiant 8's!

edit:damn I can't figure out how to post pics with the new system
 
B

been

I'm surprised more cats aren't snatching these up. I Googled and this thread was the top result. Seems like these are top of the line with maybe Galaxy and the newest Future Brights right there too.

Anyone wanna jump in and tell us how great the C.A.P. Nextgen is?
 
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