Lumatek Ballast

[Peacock]

Hi
In one of the posts, it was mentioned that a 600 watt ballast gives off better light that a 1000 watt. Please explain.
I have two rooms - 7 feet by 8 feet. Part of one room will be storage, clones, veg and the other is planned to be flowering. The flowering I was planning either a 1000 and a 600, or two to three 600 watts. In the veg. room it will be a 600 watt and a 400 watt or two maybe three 400 watts.

Suggestion, Ideas

What is the wattage (power consumed) by a 400 watt, 600 watt and the 1000 watt Lumatek Ballast digital.

Thanks

grow and help the world grow too

[McBudz]

Originally Posted by Peacock

What is the wattage (power consumed) by a 400 watt, 600 watt and the 1000 watt Lumatek Ballast digital.

A 400 uses 400 watts 600 used 600 watts and so on.

[Creesab]

Originally Posted by Peacock

Hi
In one of the posts, it was mentioned that a 600 watt ballast gives off better light that a 1000 watt. Please explain.

I believe a 600 is the most efficient... meaning a 600 per watt is more bang for the buck than a 400 or a 1000

so for instance 2400w ; (4) 600's would be a better choice
rather than 2 1000's & 1 400

make sence?

[Peacock]

Hi, To add to the wattage of the ballast. I will add to the question. A 400 watt ballast uses how many amps. If a 600 watt ballast uses 5.5 amps (for example). How many amps will a 1000 or a 400 watt ballast consume.

[McBudz]

Ohms law:

I = P/V



I - is equal to current in Amperes
P - is Power in Watts
V - is Voltage.

so 600 watt ballast plugged into 120V draws 5 amps.

Lumatek does have a lower "firing or igniting" draw than most ballasts.

[Bee23]

great thread! More science McBudz :)

[Peacock]

Originally Posted by McBudz

Ohms law:

I = P/V



I - is equal to current in Amperes
P - is Power in Watts
V - is Voltage.

so 600 watt ballast plugged into 120V draws 5 amps.

Lumatek does have a lower "firing or igniting" draw than most ballasts.

In your opinion is a 600 watt ballast the best for your $$.
The concern I have at this time, is where can you buy an MH bulb for the 600 watt ballast.

[McBudz]

Well you would have to investigate the lumen output each brand advertises their bulb at but at first glance I compared a Hortilux 600 (88,000 lumens) watt HPS and a Hortilux 1000 (145,000 lumens) watt HPS and the 600 is SLIGHTLY more efficient as far as Lumens per watt is concerned.

But if you compare initial cost of equipment based on ebay prices I just looked at the 1000w lumatek ballast is cheaper per watt by 20 cents.

1000 $332 $3 per watt
600 $187 $3.20 per watt

You be the judge. If you plan to grow in a larger area I would def recommend 2 x 600's as opposed to 1 x 1000.

You can find the bulbs at any local hydro shop or one of hundreds of online hydro or lighting company's.

[fireboytommy7]

Hey guys, I just purchased a Lumatek 400W digital ballast for 120V, and I have to tell you...this thing is AWESOME. It is COMPLETELY silent when it starts, and goodness it warms up the bulb to full operation with correct ilght spectrum in literally a minute or two. Not to mention that it can restrike a HOT HPS bulb in about 30 seconds to a minute (not recommended). Its pretty nice. My stupid ebay one blew out yesteday so i had to do one cycle of 12/12 with a stupid 25W CFL 5000K of all spectrums. lol

Anyways it also has a breaker built into it that is resettable, so gone are the days of one short and your Eballast is ruined. I also want to mention that it is SIGNIFICANTLY brighter. In a way, 20-30% more lumens means basically you are almost running a 500W system lumen output. I know this because my temps jumped up with this ballast. I had to raise the hood a good amount and up the vortex fan.

I definitely recommend. Its a keeper. Only $150 for a 400W online!

[Smokeyjoe]

Just bought a purple one myself 600W, completely silent and I am now partially blind. GO LUMATEK!

[Peacock]

At looking at the store bought light movers, there are two types. One is 6 rpm and the other is 10 rpm. Is there going to be much of a difference in lighting. Any experiences?
I'm thinking of using a 600 watt. Seems they are the cheapest to run and you can have the light real close to the plants, esp. when it is moving.
I will buy both a conversion bulb along with the hps.
It has been brought to my attention that a 600 may not have enough light on a 6 foot light mover.
I also would like to add two lights to the light mover by adding another 6 foot piece. Saves on energy and hoping to get good results.

[TorturedSoul]

Originally Posted by Stix

I also read some info about Lumatek and RF noise. It seems Lumatek and other digital ballasts have issues with RF noise. RF noise causes radios in the vacinity of the ballast to not work properly. Basically all you'll hear is static. Some ballast owners report that they have noise up to a 30 foot radius of the ballasts. Some people say that it will even interfere with police radios.

Originally Posted by fatcatzzz

I have just gone thru RF noise thing with Lumatek. Spent 2 days on the phone with hydro store and Lumatek. All the ballasts have been fixed except the 1000 watt. I have a Nutradip Tri Meter and the ballast rendered it completely useless from 15 ft. away. Even knocked out the Sat. TV.

Originally Posted by Palpater

Thought I would chime in here and share my experience.
I have the new purple 600W Doomatek bought in Feb of 08. It has caused me countless of hours trying to figure out why my Growtronix environment controller was loosing communication. Growtronix even replaced my system.

I spoke with Chris at Lumatek support. He claims that they never heard of this RF problem and that all ballast are tested for RF noise. BS!!! search google and you will find many people complaining. Chris said he was going to contact GT and then get back to me. A week has passed, I emialed them again, still no reply.

I bought it from Greentrees hydro. They said that they are no longer selling them because of all the problems and returns. At least they are offering to give me $60 towards this unit that they recommend. That was a waste of $200.00 plus countless hours trying to figure out what was going on.
Power House ballasthttp://www.hydroponics.net/c/297

Does anyone know if Lumatek has fixed their (lack of) RF shielding issue? It would really suck to buy one in the future only to learn that I'd have to return it due to the interference (everyone has satellite tv around here), not to mention the next door neighbor would most likely throw a fit if his scanner radio was rendered useless.

BtW, don't you hate it when a business refuses to admit to a known problem?

Originally Posted by Peacock

What is the wattage (power consumed) by a 400 watt, 600 watt and the 1000 watt Lumatek Ballast digital.

Originally Posted by McBudz

A 400 uses 400 watts 600 used 600 watts and so on.

I know that electronic ballasts are more effecient than magnetic ones. But are you saying that someone has actually invented a 100% effecient electrical device lol? Or do you mean that they don't actually send the entire 400, 600, and 1000 watts to the bulbs?

[SunCoastHydro]

Does anyone know if Lumatek has fixed their (lack of) RF shielding issue? It would really suck to buy one in the future only to learn that I'd have to return it due to the interference (everyone has satellite tv around here), not to mention the next door neighbor would most likely throw a fit if his scanner radio was rendered useless.

BtW, don't you hate it when a business refuses to admit to a known problem?

I am an authorized seller for Lumatek and do not believe they still have this issue, but I will let you know soon. I have a 400W here that I am getting to put through its paces for testing purposes. I will post my findings once I have tested it against radio interference.

I know that electronic ballasts are more effecient than magnetic ones. But are you saying that someone has actually invented a 100% effecient electrical device lol? Or do you mean that they don't actually send the entire 400, 600, and 1000 watts to the bulbs?

Lumatek claims a 99% PF on their ballasts. Again, I am actually going to test its power factor and I will post my results once testing is complete.

Might I also suggest a Galaxy electronic ballast (available on our site in our signature). These have great warranties like the Lumatek, but I have not heard any issues with the Galaxy ballast.

[Stix]

I have (3) 600 watt lumatek ballasts running and am experiencing no RF noise that I know of. I don't have a scanner or satellite T.V but I do run the radio occasionally with no probs. . I couldn't be happier. As far as the power factor goes I guess I could put an amp prob on my line and check it out.

[Mylar]

I have had my Lumatek 600w hps for over a year and love it. With the 600w Eye from hortilux its a match made in heaven. I have been using the same bulb for a year now so it is time to replace the bulb.

I will buy a Lumatek again if I have too.