[yortbogey]

I come asking this question for my peers....personally i have a old sunsystem magnetic ballast that is @least 8yrs old...running EVERy night for all those years...... done a few replacements on it...but still runs fine.... question is is it still as effective? or just wasting excessive energy...and how long before ....its just too long... and no longer safe???
it'z probably pushing 10 yrs..........i guess that's pushing it too the end.................

[TGT]

I am not a ballast expert, but I dable in electronics and making simple IC boards for solar home experiments and robotics. I would say an electronic ballast on average in a hot environment and under the stresses such as humidity and temperature change would last way less than a magnetic ballast. It has a small number of solid state devices, is quite simple and can better withstand a grow room environment. With regular use it should be able to last over 20 years, depending on quality construction that varies from company to company. Heat and humidity are the main killers of any ballast. Some have not enough vents or horrible heat exchange that can limit its life expectancy. The best bet is to get one that has alluminum heatsinks to release the heat and prevent less stress. The ballasts with fans for heat control will most likely have the bearings wear out on the fan well before anything else, so a alluminum heatsink and venting without a fan would be the best when shopping for a new one.

Industrial lighting in factories have magnetic ballasts sometimes last well over 30 years because the stresses are not quite as high as in a grow room environment. I would think if the room is properly constructed and humidity and heat kept low and at a constant your ballast either electronic or magnetic should last a very long time, with a magnetic lasting the longest.

wow, that was longer then I had expected - hope this helps!

TGT

[Cappy]

That was good Tom. I keep a fan on my switchable 400 ballast full time and consider it as important as the intake fan in the grow.

[supermanlives]

i had one for 17 years once.still worked when i gave it away

[yortbogey]

thanks for the insight.....TGT

sounds like I'm still ....ok w/ my old ballast....

430w hydrofarms from mid 1990s still make the prettiest buds...never opened the ballast because it still performs as new homie

[rives]

As stated above, mag ballasts will last virtually forever. The capacitor should be replaced every few years because it will diminish the light output considerably (but the lamp still functions), and if it's a HPS ballast, I would replace the ignitor at the same time.

[imnotcrazy]

"You must spread some reputation around before giving it to rives again"

You keep beating me to the punch.... lol

[Blaz3]

Honestly man..I would jsut buy a new one...unless you have dozens to replace..one or two new ballasts shouldnt hurt the pockets too bad..and it just gives a better piece of mind..why stress the little things like equipment...and damn 8 years running..pretty good track record for sunsystem [I also recommend their galaxy electronics]...


but if you dont want to you def dont need to...just replace the capacitor and ignitor...and nice cravenmore your kickin' it old school..damn some of ya make me feel like a damn freshman haha...much respects to ya old schoolers ;]

My ballast only lasted 3 years! An econo-gro sunsystem 600w hps ballast.
I was in my room LUCKILY!!!! when my bulb on 1 of 2 lamps went to 1/4 power.
I looked at both lights real quick then went to look at the ballasts and the ballast was smoking ALOT! If I wasnt in the room at the time would the ballast arch and explode or catch on fire and would the breaker trip or would it continue to arch and burn....????
I tripped my breaker on the PXM-1 power expander that both lamps are plugged into.
I dont know why that would happen? Could water of gotten spit into a side vent from the a/c?...or did it over heat?

The electric in my place always jumps alot,alot,alot.
Tiny small flickers all the time! About 20 times a minute.
Very tiny almost unnoticable flickers. Every light in the apt does this.
Could that be working my ballasts overtime to manage the output into the bulbs that they get to hot or something?

Luckily I had a replacement ballast from my veg room that I will have to replace in a few days once my clones are ready. There just starting to root so I dont have much time to get another ballast.