Ipower ballasts dangerous???

[Loc Dog]

I had problems a couple of years ago running 2 600 watt Ipower grow lights on the same outlet/timer. Timer was rated at 1675watts. Running 1200 watts they melted on 15 amp dedicated circuit, in no time at all. One ruined the wall wiring also.

I went to running only one per circuit breaker running extension cords. Today I went to unplug one of them from extension cord, and had to use a razor knife to cut melted plastic between extension cord and power cord.

Are they running way more than 600 watts?????

I am going with Vero 29 Gen 7 LED's now, with meanwell drivers, which I hope will be safer, and not wasting unused wattage.

 

[Loc Dog]

I started googling, and since this is on rival sites, and can not post links, will just post text -

I had a 400w ipower I bought just for clones and my small plants back in February, yesterday I walked in to my grow room and it was full of smoke and smelled like an electrical fire. Scared the absolute shit outta me lol after searching I came to find the ballast is what stunk and was blowing smoke everywhere, the little fans keep them cool but when it caught fire they also help blow smoke every mother fuckin where. Had I not been home it probably would have resulted in my neighbors calling the fire department and my setup no longer being a secret. Thank god I was home, but I figured I would put the word out around here just so people know. Those fans pull in a lot of dust that doesn't clean easy and will result in a fire. Just my experience lol and I'm just glad it wasn't my big lights.

Another -

I only had minimal interference with wifi. The main issue I have run into with ipower is ballast breaking on me. Original ballast blew a fuse and melted the power cable where it connects to the ballst within a month. Second ballast only lived 1 week and now waiting for a third ballast but my crop got ruined :/

The mh bulb blew out thanks to the first ballast blowing a fuse but they sent me a replacement since bulbs have a 1 year warrantee and ballast has 2 year but it's a pain to wait on the ups service without HID lights :/

Another -

This unit does not comply with the National Electric Code if used in an agricultural facility, or in a residential setting. The leakage current is in excess of 20mA, If you loose the ground connection your system will become electrified to 60v plus!!! This is a lethal unit that should not be on the market. I contacted iPower and they responded that the ballast does not work with GFCI outlets (which is required in agricultural and residential settings). USE AT RISK OF DEATH OR FIRE! This was the second one I received, I had to send the first one back due to the input connector overheating and melting down.

Another -

This balast is dangerous!!! Do not buy this if you don't like fire! I had originally posted a 5 star review however, after the 2 year warranty was up this balast literally started smoking and caught fire!! The conections at the power plug are garbage. No one should have this item anywhere near their home. I have switched everything to Solis tek. Solis tek is highly recommend 3+ years and still running amazing.
Even a used Solis tek from eBay for 150$ is loads better than I power garbage. Stay safe & stay away from this product.

Another -

after a year, in which 1/2 the year it wasn't used, the connector where the power in cord attaches started to melt, luckily it didn't catch my house on fire, no safety fuse, didn't trip the breaker or anything, just kept burning and melting, at first I thought this was a great deal, and at first it did work well, but the fact that just randomly it started melting and caught fire is concerning to me. I have tried to contact the seller, but have gotten no response.

Another -

Nobody should buy these ballasts!!! Bought 2 of them and they burnt out in 8 months. Both of them!

Another -

buyer beware. Mine blew up after 4 days of use. shot out flames out of unit,almost
burned my place down,Connection to light burned and melted. if I was not in room would have. I was running mine on 240 volts.The online description says it will run on a wide range of voltage with the smart chip. Seems not the case I do electrical for a living. No external breaker to cut of unit off like almost all good Ballast have. contacted I power they did not seem all that concern about there unit. They said I could get a replacement. No way not going to go threw that again. blackened my hand and arm. and wall and reflector. burned holes in curtains called Amazon they said they would investigate the matter and pull the unit off the shelves. the unit is still online with them.
I can"t stress enough buyer Beware. Cheaper is not always safer. You get what you pay for.

 

[OldPhart]

several of those post hit on what I believe to be the issue. The power cords are shit. I have noticed over the last few years that the power cords are way too light gauge, I have seen many as small as 18 awg. The other issue is where the plug goes into the appliance, it just does not make a connection worth shit. I don't think I'll ever get another ballast that doesn't have the power cord attached to it, or have the ability to hard wire it.

I don't really blame the timer for frying, many of them are not good quality items. I would not exceed 50% of the rating of these timers. What is more concerning is melting wires. The extension cord isn't supprising, but the damage to the house wire is shocking. The rubber molded jacks on extension cords don't make the best connection, and if the plug you are putting in it isn't the greatest, the heat can be a real problem. If I have to run an extension cord, I'll chop the end off of it and put a handy box on the end with a good quality outlet in it.

Edit: If at all possible, I would look into running all lighting at 240v, just to lower the current.

 

[Loc Dog]

I gave up on those timers over a year ago, and use some cheap digital ones from Home Depot, that are UL listed. This today was just a 600 watt ballast plugged into Chinese power strip, connected to Home Depot orange grounded extension cord.

I am thinking they were drawing a hell of a lot more than 600 watt, due to poor manufacture. I have had 3 go bad on me. I will write it off as learning experience, even though I am broke.

That will push me to build another 1000 watt array of LED's. Meanwell driver/ballasts are highly rated.

Ever since those timers melted, I am careful to only run one 600 watt on each circuit. With 2 tents, one runs days, the other nights.

Everybody should remember to test their smoke detectors!!!!!

Winds up the power strip connected to the grounded outdoor extension cord was made in China, but showed a UL listing on the box. Still think there is something faulty in the design. Maybe that is why they are so cheap.

 

[Loc Dog]

I just bought a wattage meter on e-bay, from about 20 miles away, so should have in next few days. Will test them. If they say they are 600 and drawing way more than that, they are useless. For $13 it is worth determining the problem.

 

[Phaeton]

I use a surge protector with a timer for each light. Fans are grouped in fours.
The surge protectors are 1875 watt (15 amp) and are used for up to six hundred watts. Timers are the same, five amp max on a fifteen amp protector.
Seventeen timers and protectors total in use. This also prevents major failures, if a timer quits only a single light goes out. The startups are a few seconds apart, effectively soft starting the morning light.
In the four years since reducing the loads there have been no timer failures, before then I would use up to 50% (900 watts) and have a failure every couple years. Two digital timers have been defective, I do not count them as failures. Overheating or relay sticking is failure, dead circuit boards are defective units.

The watt meter has all the lights drawing within fifteen percent of rated load, as opposed to the 1100 watt microwave oven which pulls 1680 watts, dedicated circuit on that bugger as well as a failing surge protector. When continually overloaded the green "protected" light goes out, turning the surge protector into an unprotected power strip.

PS: I have a collection of 14 gauge cords, the 18 gauge cords are good for computers and monitors but high amperage lights get the large gauge cords.

 

[Loc Dog]

I use a surge protector with a timer for each light. Fans are grouped in fours.
The surge protectors are 1875 watt (15 amp) and are used for up to six hundred watts. Timers are the same, five amp max on a fifteen amp protector.
Seventeen timers and protectors total in use. This also prevents major failures, if a timer quits only a single light goes out. The startups are a few seconds apart, effectively soft starting the morning light.
In the four years since reducing the loads there have been no timer failures, before then I would use up to 50% (900 watts) and have a failure every couple years. Two digital timers have been defective, I do not count them as failures. Overheating or relay sticking is failure, dead circuit boards are defective units.

The watt meter has all the lights drawing within fifteen percent of rated load, as opposed to the 1100 watt microwave oven which pulls 1680 watts, dedicated circuit on that bugger as well as a failing surge protector. When continually overloaded the green "protected" light goes out, turning the surge protector into an unprotected power strip.

PS: I have a collection of 14 gauge cords, the 18 gauge cords are good for computers and monitors but high amperage lights get the large gauge cords.

Thanks buddy!!! Stay warm, but not from fried ballasts!!

Weren't you going LED. I am loving the new Vero 29 Gen 7's. Bastards are so bright sunglasses do not help if you have to look at them. Planning all adjustments after they go out.

Be Well!!

 

[GoatCheese]

Yea, even if it's claimed certain timers can take 1600w (..or what ever) and so it should be OK for two 600 W HPS grow lights, when the ballasts start up they can actually peak much higher than the 600W each.


It seems there's alot of bad electronics coming from China in recent years. Even big brand cell phone chargers seem to be burning up all over the world, batteries explode and what else.
..lowered standards in China, what next?

 

[Loc Dog]

Yea, even if it's claimed certain timers can take 1600w (..or what ever) and so it should be OK for two 600 W HPS grow lights, when the ballasts start up they can actually peak much higher than the 600W each.


It seems there's alot of bad electronics coming from China in recent years. Even big brand cell phone chargers seem to be burning up all over the world, batteries explode and what else.
..lowered standards in China, what next?

After I started the one tent, ten minutes later the timer started to melt, with 1/3rd rated amount.

 

[Phaeton]

Thanks buddy!!! Stay warm, but not from fried ballasts!!

Weren't you going LED. I am loving the new Vero 29 Gen 7's. Bastards are so bright sunglasses do not help if you have to look at them. Planning all adjustments after they go out.

Be Well!!

I went LED for the most part, out of 3320 watts of overhead feed lights 1200 is CMH with the rest Black Dog and Dwarf Star.
Side lights are 1200 watts passive LED bars and 648 watts fluorescent. The 250 watts Far Red are only on at night so do not count.
The veg area has a 600 watt 10,000 K bulb mixed in with the 1640 watts of LEDs.

My recent LED purchases all have a mix of 'white' diodes mixed in, same as supplemented CoB lights. I go the step further and mix in CMH as well for a still smoother spectrum curve.

But overall, yes, I went LED.

 

[MJINC]

Got to watch out for the inrush on the ballasts. When you first fire them up they draw a hell of a lot more then what they draw when running normally. It's why folks with a lot of lights use things like the Gavita master controller or the dimlux maxi controller. They keep your lights on standby so there is no power inrush when your lights kick on

 

[AWDTERROR]

Moral of the story.
Don't buy cheap growing equipment

 

[Loc Dog]

Moral of the story.
Don't buy cheap growing equipment

I also bought the cheapest T5 fixture I could find on E-bay. One of the ballasts died within 2 months.

 

[GoatCheese]

Yea, as the saying goes..
"poor people can't afford to buy the cheap stuff"

 

[AWDTERROR]

You can get a 8 bulb t-5 for $125. Its not worth going cheap on anything in regards to electric. Cultivate a good relationship with your local hydrostore and you should be able to beat online prices all day.

 

[samiam]

I just bought some 1000 watt ipower bulbs and one went out within a week.

Also I want to make aware those no name timers that look like hydrofarms are a fire hazard had one catch on fire with me last week. Says it rated for 1800 watts but it's not
I had 2 600 watts running off it and it toasted those ballasts as well.

 

[samiam]

It came as a free gift from an online store that ended up costing me $400 ��

 

[Loc Dog]

It pisses me off how much I wasted on their stuff. Had 3 X 400 watt sets, then bought 3 X 600 watt set, and bought extra set for backup since the ballasts blew easily. Fortunately all under warranty. Now I do not feel safe plugging them in. The one 600, the cord where it plugged into a Home Depot grounded extension cord, melted.

Now it is going to only be Vero 29 Gen 7 LED's with Meanwell drivers. The drivers are not UL rated, but have heard great reviews. 4 times the cost per tent, but no bulb replacements, better light, less heat, no fire hazard, and should last 7 years.

 

[Hookah79]

Timers are not meant to run high wattage at a continues rate.

 

[Loc Dog]

Timers are not meant to run high wattage at a continues rate.

Problem is that these a-holes selling the cheapest bundles they can, do not care about safety, but price, and getting the most sales.