Lumitech "E" Ballast blows bulbs

[vaportrail]

Whoever it was here that advised me against buying the digital ballast, you were right.
I have blown 3 bulbs with them in only a few months. of 12 12 use,

I have been told that I bought the wrong bulbs, by lumitech peeps, and promised the moon, but get no returns to my emails.

typical

I did pay shipping charges to have another ballast shipped out, only to blow another bulb.

What a big waste of time, money and plants.

Yes I lost my plants. I had spare bulbs, and blew them both.

Live and learn, I knew it was a risk, buying a new product, so I guess I can't complain too loud, but I want to let people know.

[nogoodnamesleft]

what kind of bulbs did you blow?

[rev.clone]

sorry to hear that you have had nothing but issues with your digital. i've had one for over a year now and have had NO issues what so ever. here is the place i got mine from http://stores.ebay.com/High-Tech-Garden-Supply_Grow-Light-Reflectors_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQftidZ2QQtZkm

[pflover]

funny i warned you against the potential for RF interferance from the ballast on your other electronics but was not personally concerned with the bulb. i have never heard this kind of report about a digiballast before. there are some very happy customers at OGF using digi ballasts but i don't know what brands. anyway, sorry for you bad experiences but thanx for the report.

[salmayo]

The cavity formed by the arc chamber of MH lamps (and HPS) have natural harmonic frequencies due to their shape, volume and operating temperatures.

If a RF ballast's output is close enough to one of these harmonic frequencies, the pulses are amplified and cause elevated stress on the bulbs similar to running them at higher wattages and reduces the operating life of the bulbs (resulting in faster burnouts).

Since manufactures turn out lamps with discharge chambers that are fairly uniform for a given line of bulb, certain bulb lines work with certain RF ballasts and certain bulbs don't. I think this is what your Ballast Maker referred to by "used the wrong bulbs". I think IceCap had some 175W tests that showed some bulbs doing better than others, not sure been awhile.

Manufacturers of such ballast often only test a limited number of bulbs with their ballasts and can only recommend or not the use of the limited number of bulbs they have experience with. This can be rather embarassing to them, since if you ask about using a particular bulb or not, the honest answer is "We don't know.", which is a very bitter pill for many to swallow (embarrassing).

You may get a responce from the ballast make if you ask for the information they have in a more painless format:"Can you give me a list of bulbs on the market that your Electronic RF Ballast work well with?" (or something similarly fuzzy and nonthreatenning.)

The company you got it from probably has some useful bulb info or even sells bulbs for the units. It would be worth it to me in your situation to buy at least one bulb from them to see who makes it, if its pricy you can probably source it cheaper once you know the bulb maker. :rolleyes:

I ponderred buying a first generation Electronic MH ballast. And I decided to wait until more information and more standardized units were available on the market. And I'm still waiting for what I consider an attractive budget system.

I think High Frequency (RF, HF, VHF) Ballasts are great technology, but until more standardization or engineering information is available on the RF operation of readily available bulbs, then I see reason to cautious.

If one brand of bulb has problems with a particular ballast, the easiest thing to try, without more info, is try other brands of bulbs. At least if you are using HORizontal MH bulbs, there (kinda) aren't that many brand out there. :o

I'm sorry to hear your having problems with that system and hope it works out for you.

[vaportrail]

The obvious thing for me to do is buy more bulbs.
I bought 4 premium hortilux eye bulbs for 2 lumitech ballasts, thinking I would change the bulbs after a year, and have a spare in case of emergency.

The hortilux eye is an expanded spectrum bulb that is sutible for veg and bloom, but according to the lumitech bunch, the top end bulbs won't work with digital ballasts, because they fire at a different voltage, but I have heard much double talk from all parties involved.
The first bulb that blew, was at a time that I could get by without the light, and I wanted to send it back for exchange, but the tech told me to put in a new bulb. So I put in one of my spares, and it worked, but 12 hours later it was dark. So they agreed to exchange the ballast, but said I had to pay all shipping charges which add up to the price of a cheap ballast.

I have been promised new bulbs, but stopped getting email replies, but now have a third party helping me.
I would sure like a couple of new bulbs that will work in these ballasts.

[HopaLong]

Too bad http://stores.ebay.com/High-Tech-Gar...QQftidZ2QQtZkm won't ship to canada, I'd like to get one of their 600 watt balasts.

[nogoodnamesleft]

I run Hortilux bulbs in three of my digtals.,....a 600w future bright, a 600w hydrofarm, and a 1kw evolution....I have had no trouble w any bulbs

[vaportrail]

I bought the expanded spectrum bulbs, and I guess that is the problem, the new digital ballasts are not working with the premium expanded spectrum bulbs, or at least that is the story I got.

[Dr.LOAD]

I bought the expanded spectrum bulbs, and I guess that is the problem, the new digital ballasts are not working with the premium expanded spectrum bulbs, or at least that is the story I got.


I've actually seen sites that have warnings on them about using enhanced spectrum bulbs inside the digital ballasts they are selling. I have a digital ballast and it's been working excellently for about 2 weeks now though I am using the cheapest 600w bulb I could get (GE). I do think it's odd that digital ballasts have been out for as long as they have and are still having all these problems. The chap at the store I bought mine from says that they are still having about 1 in 10 die within the first 3 weeks, though they do come with a 5 year warranty and he says that if they don't die within the first 3 weeks you should be good to go for years.

Sorry to hear about your troubles Vaportrail, hope everything works out for you,
-Dr.LOAD

[salmayo]

The ballast were more than likely besigned using standard bulbs. Most major light bulb makers produce a generic Sodium:Scandium 4100K type MH bulb, and they all basically have the same general arc chamber geometry and fill chemistry.

Most major hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowes have these in 400W, 175W and smaller sizes. Usually they carry a standard brand like GE, Sylvania or Phillips, but even a economy brands should work the same.

Given the cost of orderring/shipping or specialty hydro store prices, I'd just grab one a Home Depot and try it.

Hope it works out. :)

[Pepper]

I bought my bulbs at a specialty hydroponics store. They replaced my blown bulbs, no questions asked.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Who can blame you for trying something different.

[Happyplant]

I have a 600 digital and run a hortilux bulb with no problems. Did the bulb turn white when it went out?

[nogoodnamesleft]

I still dont understand what makes a 600w hortilux different from a standard 600w. Can someone explain HOW they fire at different wattages? still a little confused

[nogoodnamesleft]

never mind that last question....it has to do w hertz and cycle.....the "sunmaster" bulbs were recomended to me by a Nickel city gardening