Ballast Question

[fortphoenix]

Hey i was wondering if anyone here owns a 600w sun leaves magnetic ballast that they could tell me the operating/running wattage on it is? also how loud/hot does it get?? this is the ballast I’m talking about http://www.nehydro.com/sunleaves-ballast-600w-hps/

Im also wondering if anyone has a 600w phantom II ballast or had a bunch operating at the same time that could tell me if they had RFI problems?? if you could tell me the operating wattage on the phantom too id appreciate it

also do you think a Hortilux would be the best bulb choice for either ballast?
id be running them on 240v if that makes a difference

thanks

 

[Hushpuppy]

Not sure on any of that but as far as the bulbs, be sure to get bulbs that are made for electronic ballasts to go with the Phantom ballasts. the 240v doesn't matter there as that is input voltage. the voltage going to the bulbs is set regardless of the input voltage being 120 or 240. The RFI is typically minimal unless you have a cheap knockoff or just a faulty ballast.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Wattage= Amps x Volts

Check the amperage on the ballast and multiply by the volts and that is your wattage.

 

[fortphoenix]

Not sure on any of that but as far as the bulbs, be sure to get bulbs that are made for electronic ballasts to go with the Phantom ballasts. the 240v doesn't matter there as that is input voltage. the voltage going to the bulbs is set regardless of the input voltage being 120 or 240. The RFI is typically minimal unless you have a cheap knockoff or just a faulty ballast.

yeah i just said the 240v incase the digital lasts longer on 240 or something, I've heard hortilux is actually made for magnetic even though it out performs all other bulbs on digital ballasts according to PAR tests thank you for the response though i appreciate it

Wattage= Amps x Volts

Check the amperage on the ballast and multiply by the volts and that is your wattage.

yeah i was asking that because i read magnetics use more and more running electricity as time goes on due to their capacitor getting old so I'm curious how much electric it uses as time goes on, say, after a year or 2 thank you for the help though

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I have never heard that they use more and more eletricity as time goes by. I do know that they do use more than the rated wattage though. You may have to buy a meter to determine just how much power they are using and whether it gets greater as time goes by.

 

[Hushpuppy]

The wattage may not increase over time as much as the loss of light energy from the bulb is translated into heat. Meaning that it may draw more current due to the inefficiency of the ballast. But if that is happening, it will continue to decay because the increase in current will stress the components, causing them to get hotter and less efficient until a cascade failure occurs and the ballast dies or blows a fuse/circuit breaker. There are several ways you can monitor this. I used to use a lux meter until LEO took it from me. The lux meter would tell me if my bulbs were getting weaker. If I replaced a weak bulb with a brand new one and it didn't get better then I would check the ballast.