A Question for Lumatek Digital ballast users. What Bulbs?

[daemos]

So ive been reading around here at IC MAG about indoor growers having problems with thier grow bulbs when used in conjuction with Lumatek digital ballasts i.e bulbs exploding etc...

was wondering if anyone in Australia is having these problems too?

I plan on buying 2 x 1000w lumatek ballasts real soon and was wondering what is the best brand/brands that you have bought here in Australia that work well with the Lumatek range or you have had no problems with when used with a lumatek ballast.

Im looking for both MH and HPS brands in the 1000w range.

Has anyone used these or have found a shop that stock these: http://www.sunpulselamps.com.au/index.html
they look like good MH lamps...

Thanks for your input peeps!

 

[Technique]

i have a sylvania 1000w

 

[daemos]

i have a sylvania 1000w

so i take it you use it with a lumatek ballast?

have you havnt encountered any problems at all?

Thanks...

 

[Joe Hawkins]

Apparently people are having problems with sunmaster globes and lucagrow.
I had no probs with either however Ive just bought Son T's as a safeguard 600w

 

[Technique]

nope no problems what so ever.. other than the fucking fans timer!!!

 

[habeeb]

I hear sun pulse is made for digital ballasts. not sure many people have used them though

I once had a hortilux and it blew within 2 months. I'm still waiting to pull back out my digital's , thinking about trying the sun pulse..

 

[daemos]

cool, thanks for the responses thus far guys...

Habeeb yeah im thinking of giving the sun pulse a go too...

 

[cancersurvivor]

gday mate,
lumatek does have issues That are easily fixed, and the company will help you under the warranty.
hOWEVER WHEN YOU RELY ON A HIGH QUALITY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT TO PRODUCE MEDICINE you expect it to work. can you afford to be down for at least 4 weeks if you have an issue? are you prepared to continually call lumatek to resolve their problems? be prepared that when you send it to them you wont see a new one for at least 2 to 3 more weeks.
So remember this down time is detrimental to you as a grower.
My personal experience is that as of today I have been down for 12 of the last 20 weeks due to this kind of poor turnaround,.
if this is what you want buy a lumatek.


This is not what I bought a lumatek to experience. I hope no one else experiences this!! .
to the rest of you, before you buy any ballast find out the waranty policies, how the returns policy operates and prepare for an alternate plan so you dont get fucked by the lumateks of this world selling low quality chinese shit that dont work.You see lumatek knew they put out a product that had issues and they used us, the growing public for their beta testing. saved them alot of money , cost us alot of timeand grief.
I was a fool to buy a lumatek, it was a waste of money, and actually cost me money to own it. its the yugo of ballasts

 

[princess cronic]

had my ballast go bad. Sent it back and company replaced with newer one. Never had bulb burst. Maybe bulbs?

 

[ranneG]

Ive used philips sylvania and GIB all no probs, I only got a 400W though

 

[djam]

gday mate,
lumatek does have issues That are easily fixed, and the company will help you under the warranty.
hOWEVER WHEN YOU RELY ON A HIGH QUALITY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT TO PRODUCE MEDICINE you expect it to work. can you afford to be down for at least 4 weeks if you have an issue? are you prepared to continually call lumatek to resolve their problems? be prepared that when you send it to them you wont see a new one for at least 2 to 3 more weeks.
So remember this down time is detrimental to you as a grower.
My personal experience is that as of today I have been down for 12 of the last 20 weeks due to this kind of poor turnaround,.
if this is what you want buy a lumatek.


This is not what I bought a lumatek to experience. I hope no one else experiences this!! .
to the rest of you, before you buy any ballast find out the waranty policies, how the returns policy operates and prepare for an alternate plan so you dont get fucked by the lumateks of this world selling low quality chinese shit that dont work.You see lumatek knew they put out a product that had issues and they used us, the growing public for their beta testing. saved them alot of money , cost us alot of timeand grief.
I was a fool to buy a lumatek, it was a waste of money, and actually cost me money to own it. its the yugo of ballasts

This is why I purchase only traditional ballasts . you can get a name brand 1000 watt hps ballast for around 150$

 

[Technique]

what lumatek have problems? the ones with the varied output?

 

[daemos]

gday mate,
lumatek does have issues That are easily fixed, and the company will help you under the warranty.
hOWEVER WHEN YOU RELY ON A HIGH QUALITY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT TO PRODUCE MEDICINE you expect it to work. can you afford to be down for at least 4 weeks if you have an issue? are you prepared to continually call lumatek to resolve their problems? be prepared that when you send it to them you wont see a new one for at least 2 to 3 more weeks.
So remember this down time is detrimental to you as a grower.
My personal experience is that as of today I have been down for 12 of the last 20 weeks due to this kind of poor turnaround,.
if this is what you want buy a lumatek.


This is not what I bought a lumatek to experience. I hope no one else experiences this!! .
to the rest of you, before you buy any ballast find out the waranty policies, how the returns policy operates and prepare for an alternate plan so you dont get fucked by the lumateks of this world selling low quality chinese shit that dont work.You see lumatek knew they put out a product that had issues and they used us, the growing public for their beta testing. saved them alot of money , cost us alot of timeand grief.
I was a fool to buy a lumatek, it was a waste of money, and actually cost me money to own it. its the yugo of ballasts

Thanks for your answer CS ive read about some of the problems with the Lumatek ballasts but im pretty sure they were the older models that have had problems not the newer ones. Im def gonna makesure i get the newer model. As for thier customer service ive had heard nothing but great things. Perhaps you were just a bit unlucky i dont know...

Good luck with every thing!

Ez...Mos

 

[Joe Hawkins]

My 2 lumateks work fine, never had a problem with them, they are about 6 months old so Im guessing they are probably from a newer batch, thank god for that as my toxic tent set me back at least 3 months.

 

[daemos]

Good to ear Joe!!!

I have Faith in Lumatek but its just the brand of bulbs im more stumped on...

 

[Technique]

i want to change to one of these mh/hps bulbs.. if you let us know how it goes.

 

[draco]

Hey

I have two Lumetek 1K w/ dimmers. I was using a phillips bulb and I had problems first with the ballast and then with the bulb not lighting. I don't know if the two events are connected but I suspect they are... now I am using Ushio opti red bulbs (made in Germany). No problems so far (5 mo).

Don't know about MH though... good luck!

 

[Lazyman]

Yeah, Ushio's are good for digital ballasts, NEVER Hortilux!

BTW< I took a bunch of measurements in my grow, Quantum digital ballasts vs SUn System coil ballasts. THe Quantums put out 10% more light with both MH and HPS bulbs over the analogs. 10% more light for free! Now get some SS2 or Magnum XXXl Hoods and get another 12-16% more light with those too.

For 600w users, check out the Agrosun/Gavita 600w HPS, 95K lumens, or 158 lumens per watt, better than ANY bulb/lighting system on the planet.

 

[kenoath]

i believe the sunpulse lamps are about to hit our shores down under
check the site at end of november early december
i havent used 1 meslef but have heard some good reports internationally
i havent got a lumatek but im getting a 400w-600w cap next gen ballast
i also believe lumatec themselfs are bringing a digi specific bulb to the market
cheers
KO

 

[daemos]

cheers for the info Ken!