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Nanolux ballast?

H

HiFiGanja

Member
Trying to find an alternative to Hydrotek Lightspeed ballasts (they're warranty is now 1 year prorated from wholesale purchase date) I've had good luck with those for several years but with the warranty now need to find a new brand to sell. I don't mind a 1 year warranty but not when its pro rated as then I can't really keep them in stock/on hand.

I've sold two of the Nanolux OG ballast (non cloud one) a few years back and they ran good for 12+ months but that was only one customer who tested them out.

Other ones I'm looking at are Solistek 2001 and Hydrostar from Grotek.
 
growshopfrank

growshopfrank

Well-known member
Veteran
Greenstar has been good with the hydrostar ballast warranty issues so far but that being said that did sell lumis
 
H

HiFiGanja

Member
growshopfrank said:
Greenstar has been good with the hydrostar ballast warranty issues so far but that being said that did sell lumis
Click to expand...

Yah believe they got screwed bad on the Lumatkes, was told they had 100K+ worth of ballast Lumatek wouldn't warranty.

Looking at the Nanolux sample I ordered looks like it also has a built in RF filter on the power cord but also read its Hydrofarm that makes them now as the original company went under.

Maybe I'll stick to Hydrostar line then.
 
misterD

misterD

misterD farmhouse
Veteran
I ran some hydrostar ballast 400/600/1000 for awhile now, and still nothing to complain about.
 
S

SocalNugz

Member
Go with Solis tek, Nanolux is a nightmare to deal with. God forbid a ballast goes out on you it will take forever to get it replaced it did for me.... 3 times.
I can calculate at least 30k in lost production thanks to Nanolux lights.
I AVOID NANOLUX LIKE THE PLAGUE now....
Keep in mind I'm only about 2 hours from their Corp headquarters too.... Your in Canada
I'd be TERRIFIED to run nanolux in your shoes from what my experience has been
 
H

HiFiGanja

Member
SocalNugz said:
Go with Solis tek, Nanolux is a nightmare to deal with. God forbid a ballast goes out on you it will take forever to get it replaced it did for me.... 3 times.
I can calculate at least 30k in lost production thanks to Nanolux lights.
I AVOID NANOLUX LIKE THE PLAGUE now....
Keep in mind I'm only about 2 hours from their Corp headquarters too.... Your in Canada
I'd be TERRIFIED to run nanolux in your shoes from what my experience has been
Click to expand...

I'm not the end user I'll be the one selling them so for the most part the warranty would be done through my wholesaler. It is possible they could stop honoring the warranties if things go bad with companies like Lumatek.

I've only sold two nano og and they ran fine for 12+ months BUT that was only one person testing them so have no further feed back.

I'm looking at Solistek but the main local supplier here that carries them, me and them are mortal enemies so that rules them out and the only other Solistek supplier is in the next province and I think they only carry the 2001
 
S

SocalNugz

Member
Nanolux will make you do all the trouble shooting they take forever to swap a ballast, unless you wanna keep extra stock an do nanolux techs jobs as well as your own I'd steer clear.
They're far more interested in producing the next product than following the with promised features in the nccs system or good customer service.
 
H

HiFiGanja

Member
Well I decided to try the Hydrostar ballasts. Guy got 20 of them. One arced out and melted at the lamp cord (male to female) connection and two there going off after a few hours. Not a good sign so far lol. I did sell one nanolux today so will see what the customer reports. I have some guys testing the Solistek 1001 which fires SE and DE bulbs but heard mixed reviews on the older Soliteks.
 
Last edited:
H

HiFiGanja

Member
Update on the Hydrostar ballast. So far they seem good and the guy who was blowing the breakers on the ballast has some weird shit happening with his electrical. After several days of in shop testing the ballasts that he says are messed are working fine.
 
J

JimmyJamieJames

Member
I've been having a nightmare with the Nanolux DE remote ballast, I got 20 of them and have had 11 replaced till this date, some nights I can't even sleep with the stress of another one going out, or when I'm gonna get the replacements.

They seem to have weak fuses I'm thinking it was a bad batch, the first 2 went out within the first week I thought for sure it was an electrical problem so I call someone in and everything checked out, then every month after 1-2 would go out, so last month I called another electrician thinking there has to be something going on, and it checks out fine again.

This is still an ongoing problem, I'm thinking its a bad batch for sure since all the replaced ones are still going other than all the odd ones.

I went with these because apparently Nanolux had pulled themselves together, and these ballast had pretty much the exact same specs as the gavita remote ballast.
 
N

NanoZeus

New member
HiFiGanja said:
I'm not the end user I'll be the one selling them so for the most part the warranty would be done through my wholesaler. It is possible they could stop honoring the warranties if things go bad with companies like Lumatek.

I've only sold two nano og and they ran fine for 12+ months BUT that was only one person testing them so have no further feed back.

I'm looking at Solistek but the main local supplier here that carries them, me and them are mortal enemies so that rules them out and the only other Solistek supplier is in the next province and I think they only carry the 2001
Click to expand...


Nanolux is a Factory Brand. It is NOT owned by Hydrofarm-- It was indeed distributed by Hydrofarm however.

Additionally, Hydrofarm did purchase Quantum ballast brand, which interestingly-- for a time-- was also made by the same factory that made Nanolux.

As far as I'm concerned there are no problem with RMA's. (both when I worked for Hydrofarm or for Nanolux).

In California, [IF THE PAPERWORK IS SUBMITTED] an RMA takes three days MAX.

The "paperwork" is so so simple..... basically:

1. Store name
2. Serial number of the product
3. Comment(s) on the problem.

So simple right? Really shouldn't be difficult.

Well, guess what?

Some STORES STILL FAIL to do it (surprise! surprise!!)

As long as there is no paperwork, the RMA will never happen. Not in a week, not in a month, not in a year, not in a decade.

How will the manufacturer know who to contact or send the product to?

So to repeat:

THE END USER [customer] FILLS OUT NO PAPERWORK.

JUST TO BE CLEAR AGAIN: The RMA is conducted by the STORE... NEVER THE END USER. The end user walks into the store where they made the purchase and can say " My name is George Washington. Here is my receipt. I have x problem with this product." That's it.

The store can then verify the problem and swap for a new one (like most stores do) and then they conduct the RMA directly with the manufacturer. Separately. At a later time.

End users NEVER process the RMA.

If your store [where you purchased the Nanolux product] refuses to swap, or is taking forever to process an RMA, or just simply unwilling to cooperate, they are violating their distribution policy and must be reported immediately to Nanolux HQ. 844-626-6589 Ext. 4
 
Mikell

Mikell

Dipshit Know-Nothing
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Any thoughts on Ace? While we have all you learned merchants/what have you, in one place. Specifically, return/fail rates.
 
teemu shalanie

teemu shalanie

WeeDGamE StannisBaratheoN
Veteran
had both nanos suck ,have had a few probs when I bring em back store guys get sour ,ace are better IMO , fuckin ballests eh ,.....

TS
 
H

HiFiGanja

Member
NanoZeus said:
they are violating their distribution policy and must be reported immediately to Nanolux HQ. 844-626-6589 Ext. 4
Click to expand...

I and no store in Canada has any distributor policy signed or agreed to through Nanolux. I get them from a wholesaler who then does the warranty issues. All I as a store owner give a fuck about it that they run properly for more then a year and not have to explain to the customer why I changed ballasts brands yet again cause of this product.

Anyways I've gone with with the Hydrostar ballast from GreenStar. Hmm so for minimal issues and no issues with exchange/warranty. I've had the least amount of problems with the Hydrotek Lightspeed ones but they changed their warranty to prorated from my purchase date and not customer purchase date.
 
Tynehead Tom

Tynehead Tom

Well-known member
damn... my super old cap and coil MH and HPS ballasts were in storage in a barn for the past decade + . Set up my first room in a lonngggg time and whaddya know, everything is still running like it did 12 years ago.
personally, with all the issues I've been reading online about digital ballasts, I don't know why anyone bothers with them.
 
H

HiFiGanja

Member
Tynehead Tom said:
damn... my super old cap and coil MH and HPS ballasts were in storage in a barn for the past decade + . Set up my first room in a lonngggg time and whaddya know, everything is still running like it did 12 years ago.
personally, with all the issues I've been reading online about digital ballasts, I don't know why anyone bothers with them.
Click to expand...

Digital ballast are fine its just like food product in this industry 85% of the products are hocus pocus.

Couple problems with diigitals is most people that run them on flips don't bother with having a time delay built it and eventually the ballast will go. People run 50-75 foot lamp cords and wonder that they can't hear a radio of the ballast go bad after a while. No shot you just create a 50 foot RF antenna.

But same goes with cap and coil. If you use the aluminum cores ones they run hotter which causes the cap to die off. Or again people run 50+ foot lamp cords on a ignitor designed for 15-25 foot max striking distance.
 
growshopfrank

growshopfrank

Well-known member
Veteran
Tynehead Tom said:
damn... my super old cap and coil MH and HPS ballasts were in storage in a barn for the past decade + . Set up my first room in a lonngggg time and whaddya know, everything is still running like it did 12 years ago.
personally, with all the issues I've been reading online about digital ballasts, I don't know why anyone bothers with them.
Click to expand...

One thing about cap n core ballasts is that the capacitor will degrade with use. I change the caps out on my ballasts every 12 months of use.
Before you think that I'm full of it if you are running more than one of the same older ballasts try swapping out one cap and see if it makes a difference.
 
H

HiFiGanja

Member
Well the Hydrostar ballasts started ok and sold quite as few and a couple came back but in the last two months I've had to return quite a few even after few days of running, possibly a bad batch. Also seems the breakers don't pop so not sure if they are actually real.

Well off to the next obrand, gonna try the Growlite 1000W SE/DE ones which also can be dimmed down to 600 and 400W and can light a DE bulb. The price is not bad either.
 
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