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Lighting Magnetic or digital please reply

C

conservativegro

New member
Ok so Im setting up my flower room and Im wondering what kind of lights I should go with. I will start by saying that my veg room is about 4x6x5 and I run T5 for that and everything is doing great. Im set up in a basement for now that doesnt have much room. My flower spot is going to be about 6x7x6. I used to run with magnetic ballasts which I loved and nver had a issue with but digital wasnt out yet. So my question is I have right now about 600 bucks to put towards lights. I can either get one 1k digital ballast along with the Raptor xxxl hood. Or I can go with 2 1k mag ballast and cheaper hoods (Im still unsure what kind of hoods I would go with) The only thing that scares me about running 2 1k is the heat. Im prepared to set up some kind of ventilation in the basement to where I can exhaust the heat from my lights outside . Theres only one window down in the basement though so I am limited on what I can do. I cant afford a stand alone AC right now BUT im def going to get one in the future just because thats what I used before and my temps never had a issue. Any inout would be greatly appreciated. Also any tips on ventilation (brands of fans) any input on my set up I woould enjoy. Ive been out of the gro scene for about 10 years and a lot has changed.
Thanks
 
supermanlives

supermanlives

Active member
Veteran
go with 2 mags. digital has gotten really good finally but 2 mags are better than one digital for sure. the thing with digitals is if they break most people cant fix them . so you better hope you can get a replacement quick.
 
Stonefree69

Stonefree69

Veg & Flower Station keeper
Veteran
I went w/Phantom digitals, there are some advantages over magnetic. Another good brand that tends to be more reliable is lumatek. It's actually less efficient to underdrive them though, some you can overdrive about 10% and not really lose efficiency (but some bulb life). Also runs both HPS and MH and is lighter to handle.
 
O

oldergrower

Member
Magnetic

Magnetic

Have always used magnetic ballast and have never never never had a problem. Don't know about digital but magnetics are reliable and easily fixed if need be. Just my 2 cents.
 
H

Hydro-Soil

Active member
Veteran
Mag... all the way.

Buy a QUALITY ballast (not some cheapo that will run hot(ter) than necessary)
No fingerprints or skin oils on the lamps.
Change your lamps when they're still fresh.
Change your capacitor every 2 years.
Install a fan that runs when the ballast runs... cooler is cheaper and more efficient.

Keep those practices up and you won't have issues. Should you have issues, they generally start making weird noises before they pop. It will also last you over 10 years... regardless of the warranty. :)

Digitals still go POP and present a dangerous fire hazard... without warning.

You decide. :D

Stay Safe! :blowbubbles:
 
medmaker420

medmaker420

The Aardvarks LED Grow Show
Veteran
I have never had a digi ever break on me whether name brand or knock off, the mag ballasts that I first got started with were pain in the butt NOISY and at that time noise was important for me.

If you see yourself wanting digital and to keep running digital later on I would go with the single digi now especially if all you will end up doing is selling the mag ballasts later. Also mag ballast have next to no resale value compared to digis but in all reality MOST ballasts have terrible resale value compared to what they can produce and grow for you.
 
N

nukklehead

Active member
I prefer repairable mags but if noise is an issue go with digis..
Resale value???? Like i said I see both sides but is this pawn stars??
 
rives

rives

Inveterate Tinkerer
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
nukklehead said:
I prefer repairable mags but if noise is an issue go with digis..
Resale value???? Like i said I see both sides but is this pawn stars??
Click to expand...

I thought that the resale value comment was pretty funny - shit, I can barely get myself to consider resale value when I buy a car, much less lighting gear.

Regarding the ballasts, the mags will use a bit more power and can make more noise and heat. Many lamp brands have problems with the high frequency from the digitals, and they have a much shorter life expectancy, but are certainly more flexible in their application. I've seen literally hundreds of mag-ballasted fixtures in industrial settings that have been on 24/7 for over 25 years and have only been re-lamped as needed.
 
S

sso

Active member
Veteran
noise?

i have magnetic ballast, it has an electronic starter, but the rest is oldschool. (some spanish brand)

it barely hums (Very vague. you dont notice it if you arent listening particularily for it.)

edit: i might add, that i used to have old 150w hps ballasts, unless i placed them correctly on a empty pc powersupply, they rattled and hummed like there was no tomorrow. and even then, made a bit of a noise.

they were really old though, possibly older than 15 years, maybe 20 or more. (and rescued from a bunch of u.s army lamp posts that were being thrown away. (well actually stored indefinetly as it turned out.:))
 
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C

conservativegro

New member
MAGS

MAGS

Yeah after some research Im gonna stick with mags for now. The heat issue Im not too worried about because in the size room im going with Im gonna have to have some good ventilation/ac to keep 2 1k's cool. And like I said I can get 2 mags and decent hoods (i dont need a raptor if Im using 2 hoods) just something air cooleld so I can blow off some of the heat. And maybe later I will switch to digi. Im a little nervous about going with a single digi just in case it does blow during my grow because I cant be positive I will have another 300 just sittin around lol. Im on a budget so yeah. As for sound.....not a issue considering Im going to have a window ac going/fans/ etc.... Thanks guys for the info
 
Greenheart

Greenheart

Active member
Veteran
I went for a magnetic with an 8 year warrantee.

If your considering 1 digi instead of 2 mags then why not go with 1 mag and a nice fan/exhaust setup that will remove all the heat from adding the second ballast of your choice down the road when funds allow?
 
3

332359

I ran 15 lumatek ballasts for years with no problems. I've had 4 or 5 magnetic ballasts start smoking in the same timeframe. Granted the magnetics were 4 years old but it was still a serious problem and luckily I was there every time to catch it before a fire. If I were in a position like you I would rather buy 2 magnetics as opposed to 1 digital. If I had the funds though I would buy 2 lumateks. I like how small they are and they do save you about 100 wafted of power. Some lamps wont like the digital but I use the e-hortilux 1000 HPS and change them out every 2 crops with roughly 15% loss under lumateks. In the end whatever you decide will work fine.
 
H

Hydro-Soil

Active member
Veteran
sso said:
noise?

i have magnetic ballast, it has an electronic starter, but the rest is oldschool. (some spanish brand)

it barely hums (Very vague. you dont notice it if you arent listening particularily for it.)
Click to expand...
That's a sign of a quality ballast. All the cheapies I've ever run were noisy. Can't even hear the 400w hps I put together for a grow. The wired in fan is all you can hear, when it's blowing.

Dumbledore420 said:
I ran 15 lumatek ballasts for years with no problems. I've had 4 or 5 magnetic ballasts start smoking in the same timeframe.
Click to expand...
What brand, how long and did you change caps at around the 2 year point?

Stay Safe! :blowbubbles:
 
3

332359

Hydro-Soil said:
That's a sign of a quality ballast. All the cheapies I've ever run were noisy. Can't even hear the 400w hps I put together for a grow. The wired in fan is all you can hear, when it's blowing.


What brand, how long and did you change caps at around the 2 year point?

Stay Safe! :blowbubbles:
Click to expand...

The caps were never changed. I didn't know I had to change them. When I took it to the grow shop they told me I should buy new ones instead of changing them. They said it would be close to the same price. My grow shop sucks anyway. I'm pretty happy with the lumateks though. Never had any problems with them. A lot of growers don't change the cap in 2 years to their magnetics. I guess its pretty important. Maybe more people should change them out and get new caps. The only thing I hate about digital ballasts is the frequency messing up my meters. Other than that they are great.
 
H

Hydro-Soil

Active member
Veteran
Dumbledore420 said:
The caps were never changed. I didn't know I had to change them. When I took it to the grow shop they told me I should buy new ones instead of changing them. They said it would be close to the same price. My grow shop sucks anyway.
Click to expand...

Considering a replacement cap is usually less then $50... I'm not impressed with them either. lol

Please do noobs a favor when you bring up that your mags fried. Mention that you never changed the caps... it's very important information. Otherwise it makes digis out to be more reliable than mags... which they're not. :D

Stay Safe! :blowbubbles:
 
clown baby

clown baby

Active member
its probably already been said, but

Mags: You can replace components if something goes wrong.

Digital: quieter. cooler. slightly more efficient
 
S

sso

Active member
Veteran
i prefer mags.


why?


modern shit is made to last a certain while and then give up the ghost (modern economics, if shit lasts, you wont have repeat costumers to the same degree,(plus the modern stuff is more complex, more stuff to go wrong. i like my stuff to at least last 2 decades.)
 
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