eye hortilux 1000 watt ballast

Smelly_Cheese · Apr 2, 2012

I just ordered one of these. I am hoping i didnt waste the extra money but im tired of empty promises from other ballast

my lumitek lasted about 2 years. my galaxy about a year. Both covered by warranty but that sucks when you in the middle of flowering. I really want a 1k ballast that is made to last atleast 5 years.I think most ballast fail at about 2 three years and some even faster. They almost expect failure. I see this ones not made in china it is made in japan. Ill let folks know my opinion in about a month.

http://www.eyehortilux.com/products/ballast#plat

anyone here tried this ballast?

KONY · Apr 2, 2012

Get a good old fashioned magnetic.... the technology for digital/electronic is just not quite there yet. Magnetic will last you 5 years no problem.

caljim · Apr 3, 2012

I 2nd magnetic ballast for reliability. I replace my capacitors every five years, not my ballast.

Hold Your Fire · Apr 3, 2012

I'd be interested in seeing the results of testing done using Eye ballasts and bulbs.
The bulbs are awesome using most ballasts.
I think results would be even better, using a ballast tuned to the bulb. :blowbubbles:

Greenheart · Apr 3, 2012

I like my 1000w Hydrofarm Powerhouse Magnetic. So far so good and should it every fail it came with an 8 year warranty.

Bennyweed1 · Apr 3, 2012

Ive been using the some 600w digi ballast from HTG supply since 2008 and it is showing no sign of efficiency loss.

FlowerFarmer · Apr 3, 2012

Phantom electronic ballasts seem pretty solid. Have not heard of any needing returned and I know lots of folks running everything from Quantums, Lumateks, no-names, etc.

Haven't seen anyone running these new EYE ballasts.. let us know what you think.

A lot of these failures come from running them at 120v. 1000w just draws too close to what the limits of many 15a components can take. Toss them in a hot room lacking good ventilation and its a recipe for failure.

I've ran over 16 Lumateks.. all run at 240v and never had one fail...all while at the same time by buds kept having to return 1k Lumateks due to failures if running at 120v. All lumateks being purple.. but only 4 being new dimmable ones. Many being 240v only 600w units (they rock my socks!)

Run at 240v and eliminate all this fuss. They'll draw half the amps and run much cooler and efficiently.

just my 2c

I cant run mags anymore unless its setting up a buddy on a budget grow. Electronics just translate to more light (to the bulb) and less heat (from the ballast). Its worth the occasional fail if they happen. They are now warrantied 3-5 years and only weigh a few pounds so taking it back to the shop aint no biggie. They are silent as well...no more humming thank god..(some mags are worse then others)

easyDaimoku · Apr 3, 2012

For that price I'd go with a gavita 1000watt 240v...

Hortilux makes great bulbs but charges a premium for nothing special imho

Happy growin(g)

whazzup · Apr 3, 2012

If you go for reliability I would certainly recommend a magnetic ballast. For optimal performance and efficiency, independent of the line voltage, I would buy an electronic.

High power electronics have a much higher failure rate than magnetic coils. Only magnetic ballasts don't always fail in a safe way. I don't know if you ever saw an exploding capacitor but I can assure you it is not pretty and can be rather violent

. An electronic ballast works or it doesn't. It does not go up in flames.

I would change my capacitors about every three years to be on the safe side. Interesting thread

shuswap · Apr 4, 2012

i talked with the local rep selling these and he said that they have done alot to improve them and thats why they have a 5 year warranty,one of the major things they have done is matched the asri rating with the bulb which hasnt been done before,they have also changed the bulbs making the filament a thicker gauge and taking alot of the welds out of it,and the electronics are sealedfromthe fan,itjust pulls thru a heat sink,for 600 bucks canadian ill stick with magnetics,peace...

SourPurp · Apr 4, 2012

Go with NextGen ballasts from C.A.P. They are hands down the best electronic ballasts out there. First one (1000w) lasted five years before fan malfunctioned (even tho ballast still worked). Rest working perfectly and it's been 3 or 4 years for them (600s and 1000s). I love em cause you can run em up to 65 feet from the bulb. Be sure to sure DigiLux bulbs from C.A.P. as well for best performance.

iSMOKE.KUSH · Apr 4, 2012

been rocking magnetics for years. like someone else said, i replace the capacitors/ignitors roughly every 4 years.

FlowerFarmer · Apr 5, 2012

SourPurp said:
Go with NextGen ballasts from C.A.P. They are hands down the best electronic ballasts out there. First one (1000w) lasted five years before fan malfunctioned (even tho ballast still worked). Rest working perfectly and it's been 3 or 4 years for them (600s and 1000s). I love em cause you can run em up to 65 feet from the bulb. Be sure to sure DigiLux bulbs from C.A.P. as well for best performance.

I've never ran digilux in them, but my experience with next gen is quite the opposite. The few that we tried would result in a slight flicker. It wasn't really obvious..but you could notice the slight flicker if you looked at the wall. This occured with a few types of lamps..and didnt occur in phantoms, lumateks or quantums. It however DID occur with these older elux ballasts we had a few of.

We have stayed away from nextgens because of this.

BTW.. most electronics (if not all) can fire lamps from quite a distance away. Unfortunately..even with nextgens.. the ability to fire from great lengths relies a lot on the lamp. I've had lamps fire from 65ft away using digitals however once the lamp were getting older they would not always fire consistently from such distances.. We've experienced this fire troubles even at 30+ Ft distances from lamp to ballast.

my 2c - for what its worth....

señorsloth · Apr 6, 2012

i guess i got lucky, i bought a no name 400w cooltube setup almost a year and a half ago from amazon.com, it's worked perfectly since i got it and shows no signs of slowing...i hear people complain about buzzing ballasts and stuff...mines never made a peep...doesn't even get that hot considering i'm using a 430w eye hortilux bulb in it...digital ones always seemed cool but considering my light, ballast, cords, and bulb were only 150 dollars shipped total, i dunno even if i get 2 years from it i will be happy, it's paid for itself like a hundred times over...

seems the more money you spend on them the more features you get, but less reliability? i wouldn't know but based on the comments above i must assume that's the trend. additionally, the more money you spend on a ballast the more pissed you will be when it bites the dust...to me that doesn't really seem worth it but i still haven't lost one yet, that could change things, i had one about 8-9 years ago that was a little higher end, though still magnetic(don't think they had digital ones back then). well that one lasted over 3 years till i ended up selling it and getting out of the grow scene for a while, so i never have lost a ballast...

eyes · Apr 7, 2012

better off with an old reliable mag. although i have galaxy ballasts, i do and would prefer mags if the situation allowed. if u do go electronic, go with the 1000/600/400- 3 ballasts in one. i think there mostly made in china so get the 5 yr warranty so u can bring it back if it craps out. i always have a backup as well. cant be waiting around for an exchange. id be interested in hearing about how u like this ballast. id assume its tuned for there bulbs specifically. i did hear that the ballast u have has jap parts so who knows. maybe it will last. but 500 and change is certainly alot of $ in anyones book.well, at least mine.

Smelly_Cheese · Apr 10, 2012

señorsloth said:
i guess i got lucky, i bought a no name 400w cooltube setup almost a year and a half ago from amazon.com, it's worked perfectly since i got it and shows no signs of slowing...i hear people complain about buzzing ballasts and stuff...mines never made a peep...doesn't even get that hot considering i'm using a 430w eye hortilux bulb in it...digital ones always seemed cool but considering my light, ballast, cords, and bulb were only 150 dollars shipped total, i dunno even if i get 2 years from it i will be happy, it's paid for itself like a hundred times over...

seems the more money you spend on them the more features you get, but less reliability? i wouldn't know but based on the comments above i must assume that's the trend. additionally, the more money you spend on a ballast the more pissed you will be when it bites the dust...to me that doesn't really seem worth it but i still haven't lost one yet, that could change things, i had one about 8-9 years ago that was a little higher end, though still magnetic(don't think they had digital ones back then). well that one lasted over 3 years till i ended up selling it and getting out of the grow scene for a while, so i never have lost a ballast...

i do laugh when i read "running great" or "hasnt missed a beat"
until they break. Then 8 months later "my ballast is not working".My lumitek ran perfect until about a year and a half in then all the sudden it would not work. My dimmable Galaxy worked less than one year b4 breaking but until they broke i guess they were "running like a champ". I agree with you that added features is just more crap to breaK. Thats why im hoping this ballast will last.
Ive been using it since saturday and just like the others it is "running like a champ" Actually the fan is slightly louder than the galaxy. One really strange thing is temps seems cooler by a couple degrees but that might just be the outside weether cooling this weekend

It did come with a new eye horti bulb included so the actual ballast is about $200 more than most not $300

Im getting older and time is an issue. Replacing a ballast every 5 years seems reasonable maybe even every 3 but every 2 years or less? no way. Unless you have 2 units your warranty sucks if your in flower. "There will be no charge, just give us 3 to 4 weeks" I did consider 2 cheaper units so i can use one as backup every year or so when they crap out.

So far so good, Its bright, no flicker, ignites on timer.Seems to run cool. Not really sure what else to really notice. The real test wont be for some time. I like the horti bulbs and was getting annoyed with the confusing reports about horti bulbs used in e ballast even after eye started printing "e ballast compitable" there still seemed debate about the whole ansi standards or some crap. Atleast now i know im compitable with the bulb.

eyes · Apr 11, 2012

i hear ya. i run galaxys but i will run. mags when i get the chance i had a galaxy 400 fry after a few weeks. couple of 600s and so far so good. good to hear your ballast is running well so far. time will be the best indicator. long as those electronics stay cool and theres no slag from shitty soders on the board, it should do well.

Hold Your Fire · Apr 11, 2012

My 600w galaxy had bee good for a year now.
Have a hydrofarm 400w mag that's at least 7 years old. Need to replace the capacitor on that one. Still going tho'.
I don't expect the Galaxy to be running 6 years from now!

I want to switch to Mag ballasts operating on 240v.

rrog · Apr 13, 2012

I went with MicroMole. Some folks who's opinion I value a lot recommended them. It runs quite cool.

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