Digital Ballast Hype?

So, as I asked the clerk at my local "cultivation station" about digital ballasts, he told me that they work well for a 400w bulb, but 600w and 1000w lamps burn out prematurely, exactly the opposite of what the manufacturers claims are. He said he would gladly sell me one as they are more expensive and more profitable for him, but he said he also wants my repeat business, and does not want me to be pissed at him for selling me something based on hype that doesn't live up to expectations ( hello UFO buyers!!!) He continued to inform me that there are currently no HID bulbs made specifically for digital ballasts, as current bulbs are designed for 60hz, and a digital ballast runs at much higher frequencies. As I walked out of the store he handed me a free magazine, "Urban Garden", great mag with lots of info, but that's another thread. Anyways, as I read the publication I came across an article about a man named Gerald Garrison, who claims to have invented a bulb specifically for digital ballasts, called "Sun Pulse Bulbs" or digital bulbs. So in short, who is full of shit, the clerk or Garrison. Is my highly esteemed clerk out of the loop, and just behind on the current market advances, or is there just some more hype going on about the latest and greatest ( not to mention expensive) indoor grow gear?

Seems like digital ballasts offer better performance but less durability.

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/11151-regular-digital-ballast.html

Better performance? How so, if your burning up a 120$ bulb sooner than your supposed to. It would actually be costing you more in the long run instead of saving you money by increasing bulb life. That is the kind of performance my wallet hates!

Did you follow the link? Or Google it? Seems to be they improve performance, not degrade it.

Ahh, didnt see the link, lol, but yeah I checked it out, so it seems Lumatek is a reliable choice. I've bought into manufacturers claims before, (fuckin' HID HUT ) so I dont really care what their website claims, I'd rather listen to peoples own experiences, so do you own a digi ballast, just out of curiousity?

I've tried HID years ago, it was a digital ballast. It was cheap 175 W MH and lasted about 3 months -ballast failure. Put those 4 plants outside and grasshoppers ate through all 4 stems in one night.... 2 were completely separated.. 1 was possibly rescuable... until the next day that is. Didn't replace the ballast.

You get what you pay for... to a degree.

Damn, sorry to hear that, what kind of lighting do you use now?

Floros & sun light through the window.

Does suck.. they had about 3 alternating nodes.

well who gives a shit if your bulb wont last as long, i mean you change them every year right? i did a little talking with the guy at a store that manufactures lights and he was telling me that how the digi ballasts push more lumens is simply by putting out more power to the bulb, he said that the 1000's are actually sending about1160 watts to the bulb thats why they burn out faster, the effiency comes in the fact that they put out less heat doing it so thats where the savings are, he recommends the magnetic ones also because after time they go dead and in a magnetic ballast its usually the capacitor that goes out where in a digi ballast there is not much you can do to fix them, they make their own line of didgital and magnetic ballasts and hoods, look up lumenarclighting.com they bought out diamond lights some time back

@ 120$ a pop I give a shit, especially when the manufacturer claims a longer bulb life! They supposedly burn out faster because regular bulbs are designed to run at 60hz (ever notice that slight flicker?its noticeble in pictures) and digital ballasts run at 22,000 hz - 44,000 hz. The longer bulb life would be the main reason for me to purchase a digi, for the savings in the long run, low heat and noise are a close second, and extra lumens can be made up for in supplemental lighting, which I know is reliable and cheap! Manufacturers claims dont mean a goddamn thing to me, I want to hear from real experienced users, and the one guy who did chime in with experience said his ballast burned out in 3 months!

I see the biggest advantage of a magnetic ballast is practically anyone can fix it with a little knowledge .... Compared to... You'll likely have to replace a digital ballast completely or have quite a bit of knowledge about electronics if anything goes wrong.

I bought a cheap system for under $50(an outside garage light, ballast region was spot welded closed and inaccessible). I don't recall it being magnetic, but it could have been. It was nearly silent though. It was over 7 years ago... I'm honestly not sure anymore. I recall I was going to take it apart but didn't want to pry it open. Now if I did HID I'd get a back-up ballast and back-up bulbs. I'd never want to run HID without back-ups. With floros I can goto any hardware store and replenish without worry. If one fails, there's plenty more.

I have a new 1000 dig. ballast its my firstgoaround with it. but i can tell its brighter/stronger light that the magnetic.
this is the one i went with over the lumatek my hydro guy told me he was at the supply warehouse and saw a pallet of lumeteks being returnd due to malfunctions.the quantum has a dimmer on it so tou can ru at 50%,75 or 100% which is killer fo an all porpose light, start at fifty for a few days with clonesthen 75 to finish week one 100 for a nother weekk then to flower.......BANG
http://www.elitehydro.com/proddetail.php?prod=DHID1000W

yeah i sure dont buy from the place he does my1000's are like $70

Yeah I was gonna say that's pretty cheap! That Quantum series sounds pretty bad ass! How long have you had it, and what type of bulb are you running with it? I really like those Hortilux Enhanced Spectrum HPS bulbs, I wonder if the ability to turn up the power in steps will help the bulb last longer?

I just checked out that Elite Hydro link, and I like what I see, it runs at 50-60hz, and it costs around 341$, compared to a 1000w lumatek which costs around 499$, and this thing is switchable MH/HPS, I'm thinking this sounds too good to be true!

I run electronic ballasts (which are not the same as digital ballasts). I've never heard that they cause premature bulb failure. The ballasts themselves are more prone to failure than the "old workhorse" magnetic ballasts. Oh, and they will fuck up a 24/7 trimeter if you have it too close...

digital is the shit. quiet bright smaller and way way less heat.
ya get what you pay for

What is the difference between digital and electronic ballasts?