How long did your digital ballast last before it stopped working?

hush · Oct 1, 2015

I bought my first digital ballast (iPower) almost 2.5 years ago, and yesterday it crapped out. I got home from work and checked the tent only to find it in darkness. So after doing some troubleshooting, I quickly discovered that the ballast blew its fuses. I replaced them and the ballast fired back up again. Then this morning I checked the tent, and it was dark again, after the light was supposed to be on already. So I immediately go to look at the fuses, but this time they aren't blown. Instead, I see that the connector for the power cord is all fried and partially melted. So, I've surrendered to the reality that the ballast is just dead. I went out today and bought a new one from the hydro store, by a company called Ion. I asked for Lumatek, because they used to have an awesome warranty, and they told me Lumatek went out of business. That sucks.

2.5 years doesn't seem like a very long shelf life. How long do your digital ballasts last before you have to replace them?

GSPfan · Oct 1, 2015

Good lord man! That ballast could have started a fire! My one ballast is about that old but no noticeable changes yet. Does anyone replace their ballasts say every 2-3 years? Probably sounds like a decent idea.

FlowerFarmer · Oct 1, 2015

Lumatek bit the dust hard when Hydrofarm and other distributors dropped them for their own house brand ballasts.

I still have Lumateks (240v only 600w units) in use from 2005/2006 though. I have had maybe 2 fail out of 16 in that time. I've bought several over the years, but I do only ever run them at 240v.

Not to worry you but my buddy just returned his ION 1000w that he got when exchanging a failed Quantum. It didn't last 2 months.

Seems hit or miss with digitals. I'll be going nanolux from here on out. They apparently own their factory in china and are supposed to have less then a 3% return rate. They are tiny as well.

Chevy cHaze · Oct 1, 2015

Dude, luckily it died in time and only melted parts of the plastic ! These things give me sleepless nights!
I guess all this stuff comes out of china these days...I guess it's always a good idea to keep an extra one for backup... I remember when shit was expensive but lasted forever !

hush · Oct 1, 2015

I appreciate the responses. Yes, I'm lucky a fire didn't happen. Fortunately, my tents are in an isolated shed in the backyard, so a fire wouldn't be dangerous to my life, but it sure would attract unwanted attention, that's for sure. Makes me want to install sprinklers in there or something.

And if this Ion doesn't work out, it's no worry to me because I know the owner of the hydro store, who is a friend of a good friend. So he'll treat me right.

aridbud · Oct 1, 2015

Usually 5-7 years easy(before we went LED route)......was there a fluctuation in current? Outlets shorted?

hush · Oct 1, 2015

No the outlet seems fine, and other electrical items running on the same breaker circuit didn't skip a beat. The timer it was plugged into is fine. The surge protector is fine. So it seems like the problem's source was inside the ballast itself, but I'm not an electrician, so I don't know for sure. I'm just going to have to keep my eyes on things I guess.

fabvariousk · Oct 1, 2015

I will hopefully never have to buy another digital ballast again!
6 of the 8 I bought five years ago have now shit out and are being temporarily replaced buy a buddies thirty year old analogs. If i had only spent the $3200 bucks on magnetic ballasts and bulbs I would be doing just fine right now.

FlowerFarmer · Oct 1, 2015

Make sure, and check often that the power cords are well pluggin in and seated. You want the power cord to plug in very snuggly.

I've seen loose ones. Can lead to that area melting down if there is a poor connection there.

Scary stuff indeed.

johnkneefive · Oct 1, 2015

first lumatek i had lasted only 4 months and it just went out,,took a little talking but lumatek finally replaced it with a new one...

trichrider · Oct 2, 2015

2 years. lumatek digital, melted the insides. crap.
mags here on out.

El Gato · Oct 2, 2015

Just had a Galaxy 600 that went out on me, checked the date it was 2005. Worked flawlessly for 10+ years!

Vanilla Phoenix · Oct 2, 2015

Had a quantum last me 7 yrs. then replaced it with another quantum.

And yeah, I agree with Flower Farmer about making sure cord is plugged in all the way. I work with electricity and kinda sounds like that is your culprit.

jewcebox · Oct 2, 2015

my hydropharm phantoms have worked for a long time.

over 4 years

budleydoright · Oct 4, 2015

I have gone through

4 Lumatek 600's
3 Galaxy 1000w select a watts
2 Lumatek 1000's
1 Future Garden 1000

My Phantom 1000's are the only digitals I have left.

Almost everyone failed right after the 3 year warranty was up. The ones with the 5 year pro rate warranty required a full retail purchase with a small credit. I could buy a new ballast cheaper mail order.

I could live with the cost of replacing them every 3 years but almost everyone of these ballasts went down hard, having the potential to cause a fire. Especially the older 600 lumateks. I had 2 of them ooze out hot resin. I had one 1k take out the 40 amp 220 breaker my controller is connected to even though it had a 20 amp breaker inline.

I now use the old core and coils and have 0 issues.

I do want to get into the DE world and will likely give Gavitas a try.

Jhhnn · Oct 4, 2015

Sometimes when the plug on the cord is melted it's just a failure of that part, not necessarily the equipment it feeds.

That happens fairly often w/ extension cords because of rough handling. Might want to install a new plug on the cord & see if it works. If it does, monitor it pretty closely for a day or few & you'll have a spare.

FunkBomb · Oct 4, 2015

I've got some original Galaxy ballasts that are still running just fine. Although, they have had time off here and there, generallly in the summer.

-Funk

bigbluedog360 · Oct 6, 2015

Does anyone know where to get a quantum 1000 watt ballast repaired, i'm in NY, will ship where i have too.

Rondon · Apr 28, 2017

Sold 5 HTG Digital Greenhouse 600 watt ballasts to a relative 2 years ago. Had them for 8 years before that...constantly on 12 - 12. Many many crops. Relative is using them now and they are fine. I consider myself lucky as others havent been as fortunate with Digital Greenhouse or any of the other cheap Chinese Ballasts. They are all the same. Apollo..Ipower..Revolt..Raider..Thunder..HTG..Viveo..and many other fly by night brands all come from the same factory in China. All have the exact same components. All very inconsistent in build quality. Some crap out very soon. Some crap out right after the 3 or 5 year warranty..and some just keep chugging along. I dont know if it helps but mine were and presently now are on 240v power. Heard its less taxing on ballast components than 110v.

DocTim420 · Apr 28, 2017

All Lumateks are dead here, all Quantums are dead, all older Galaxy styled ballasts are dead...but, lol one of my original "Greenhouse" 600 w ballasts is still alive (dozen years plus?).

My last digital ballasts I will EVER purchase (changing to 100% mag/capacitor here) were Galaxy GrowAmps...and we shall see about those.

And yes I run 220 volts here...the "only way to fly".

How long did your digital ballast last before it stopped working?

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