digital ballasts? advantages?

[Hank.Scorpio_86]

i just bought a 600w HPS "digitally ballasted" light. Unlike other HPS lights ive seen, the ballast is about 30x10x15cm and is connected directly to the light so its all one unit. does anybody know the advantages that these lights have over....not digitally ballasted lights?
:hippy:

Hank.Scorpio_86 Reviewed by Hank.Scorpio_86 on 10-31-2007. digital ballasts? advantages? i just bought a 600w HPS "digitally ballasted" light. Unlike other HPS lights ive seen, the ballast is about 30x10x15cm and is connected directly to the light so its all one unit. does anybody know the advantages that these lights have over....not digitally ballasted lights? :hippy: Rating: 5

[Dutch Pimp]

whatever e-ballast you use....it better have a UL rating on it!

and ANSI rating...:thumbsup:

[Hank.Scorpio_86]

whats a UL and ANSI rating and what kind of figures should they be??

[texas grass]

they are smaller
run cooler, and most have built in fans to help keep cool
some say if bulb burns out they will auto shutoff(mine said that)
they supposibly use power more efficiently
supposibly start faster and better
so theres afew things

[Dutch Pimp]

whats a UL and ANSI rating and what kind of figures should they be??

Underwriters Laboratories: U.S., not for profit, privately owned product safety certification organization.

ANSI: premier source for timely, relevant, information on standards and comformity, assessment issues.

Bottomline: if they have a rating on your ballast...your good to go.

Digital Ballasts?...I keep reading about short life spans...as opposed to magnetic ballasts going 10 years....enjoy.

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

I am going to do my best to explaine the difference between the 2 types of ballasts so that most people can understand.

First a standard ballast is just a transformer that takes your line voltage from the wall and converts it to say 10,000 volts at 60hz. A transformer does this by what is called electromagnetic induction, so in other words while the transformer is running it is creating a very large Magnetic field, in doing so it is expending energy in the form of heat. that is why a standard ballast gets hot. So in reality a 600w ballast is actually using around 700w of energy.

In a digital ballast this voltage conversion is done with electronic rectifiers. So what is happening is the rectifiers are just not converting the voltage they are taking your wall voltage and converting it to say 10,000 volts DC at 20,000hz, by doing this it saves the energy of the magnetic feild needed in standered ballasts plus by running the bulb at 20,000hz and using direct current it will prolong the life of your bulb.

Now for the down side of digital ballasts, they are a solid state device and can be damaged by excessive heat, that is why they have fans in them. They can also be damaged by power spikes and surges where as stanard ballasts cannot as easily. If you have a digital ballast make sure you place it where there is plenty of free air flow, do not put them say in a box or enclosed space. Also put them on a surge protector just like you would put a computer for the exact same reason.
In my opinion digital is the way to go.

Happy Growing,

[hiroshi_87]

Jerry,

From what I gather by your post, an HPS with a digi ballast is not a good idea for a closet op?

[Hank.Scorpio_86]

Ye that's pretty much answered my question, thanks. I think it would be worthwhile investing in a surge protector. Im growing in an attic and it gets kind of hot so ill probably just face the fan a bit more towards the ballast. thanks for the advice man:thumbsup::hippy:

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

No I was not saying that a digital ballast not good for a closet room,

What I am saying is the actuall ballast has to be placed in a cool place with good air flow. You can put it in your grow space if you have good ventalation and the temperature never goes above 80f. Also the ballast has a cooling fan and if there is any restriction in air flow it may overheat the ballast. I also don't recommend setting it on the floor exspecially carpet. Carpet is an insulator and will cause heat buildup.
The way I have mine is hanging from a screw on the side of my cabinet with 1" air space between the ballast and cabinet so air is flowing freely on all 4 sides.

As for attic growing I do not recommend using a digital ballast for this due to the extream temperature fluctuations. I don't even recommend growing up there at all.

[greenhorngrower]

Digital ballast run MUCH COOLER. Just hang it on the wall with the fan blowing upwards.
Mine never got hotter than 85 degrees.