galaxy and lumatek 1000watt digital ballasts

I've done alot of digging about digitals and the biggest complaint I've found on most have been individuals problems with bulbs and then I found this
http://www.eyehortilux.com/eye_lighting_faqs.html

Maybe this is propaganda brought on by Hortilux.(maybe not) But the fact remains if a electronic device doesn't have a ANSI rating there is no standard to which it is built by.

Maybe your digital works great ,and I'm happy for you.And by no means am I trying to flame any digital ballast manufacturers.But if I'm buying a ballast I do want one that has been built to a ANSI standard

Eye/hortilux has been in business for awhile and there answer to the first faq holds alot of merit to me.

you need a pulse start bulb because digital ballasts are pulse start. pusle start with standard bulb with burn out faster/explode..

Dimmable is bad news in my opinion because putting a dimmer switch on fans and lights runs the same wattage so it will burn out the dimmer. I dont know this to be true with ballasts but lights/fans on dimmers are bad news after 1 year running on a dimmed setting.

G33kDro said:

... lumatek doesnt make dimmable ballasts. Quantum has the only dimmable ballasts that i have seen. somthing else was going on with your breakers trippin, or so it seems. i would have to say from what i have seen in person and what i have heard from growers who do use them quantum is def. not the way to go. i am happy with my galaxy. found it on cl for cheap too.
again my two cents

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yea the new gen lumanteks are dimmable. like 20% dimmable but they hae a little black knob next to the MH/HPS switch. unless i bought a fake lumantek with a fake warranty card etc...

SmokeyMcChokey said:

yea the new gen lumanteks are dimmable. like 20% dimmable but they hae a little black knob next to the MH/HPS switch. unless i bought a fake lumantek with a fake warranty card etc...

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I bought mine about 3 weeks ago. They all have a silver knob with two white buttons for resetting if there is a short. The silver knob is to dim.

timmythetooth said:

you need a pulse start bulb because digital ballasts are pulse start. pusle start with standard bulb with burn out faster/explode..

Dimmable is bad news in my opinion because putting a dimmer switch on fans and lights runs the same wattage so it will burn out the dimmer. I dont know this to be true with ballasts but lights/fans on dimmers are bad news after 1 year running on a dimmed setting.

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what are the better pulse start bulbs out there for the digis?

I was searching for pulse start bulbs and came across the Ushio dual spectrum bulbs. Does anyone know if the Dual core bulbs from Ushio are pulse start? And are they any good?

Sorry to the original poster. I did not mean to hi-jack this post.
For what it is worth I bought 5 1000w 240v Lumitek's. I havent used them yet but I have researched high and low and feel pretty comfortable with my purchase. Now I am just trying to find the right bulb. I think that bulb choice is more important with digital bulbs.
The Ushio's seem to be the ticket for these ballast's.

thought I would toss this info into the mix... http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/files/ballastComparison.pdf