Lumatek vs Xtreme Nano

[pcduck]

Howdy mP:ciao:

I have been running a couple of 600 watt Lumateks in my tent and they finally started to go bad. They did not quit working, they just would not come on when the ambient temps were to cold or to hot. I would have to push in the circuit breaker for them to work. Instead of worry and fretting everyday that they were coming on I decided to try out the Xtreme Nano 600 ballast and bought a pair. I was happy with the Lumateks just want to try something new. I figured I would give ya my impression on them.

Lumatek Pros: Silent, reliable(Mine both had 5+ years on them)
Luamtek Cons: Heavy, hot

Xtreme Pros: Cool running, lightweight, dimmable, led power light, and lighted diagnostic codes
Xtreme Nano cons: fan noise, reliability(unknown, have not had it long enough to pass judgement), no circuit breaker(has fuse)

My Lumateks were the older models that did not have the dimmable feature where as the Xtreme Nanos do. Although it is a feature, I do not understand the purpose of having this feature.:confused2: I know some growers turn down the setting for seedlings/clones and to control the heat better when it gets to hot,...but the instructions with the Xtreme Nano states that the bulb wattage must match the ballast wattage settings. This would mean I would need 3 sets of bulbs to use this feature Plus I do not even know if they make a 450 and 300 watt bulbs. So this feature is sort of useless in my opinion.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Hey PC :ciao: Yeah the Lumateks are pretty decent but they are susceptable to heat degredation. My Bro has several and keeps fans blowing on them to keep them cool. I have been using the Ipower now for about 2 years and so far so good. They have the little fans that pull the heat out of them. I think the new Lumateks now have the same internal fans. I don't get the dimmable feature either. The ballasts that my Bro has have a power boost setting on them that he used until one of them failed on him. I told him to not use that boost.

I have seen those Nanos but haven't needed to change any of mine yet. I hope they hold up well for you.

 

[4u2sm0ke]

yeah sorry duck Im no help..

 

[Growdude]

Ill never buy one.
5 years aint squat for a good ole magnetic.

New toys are always fun no matter what.

 

[pcduck]

Yeah Growdude I didn't think 5 years was all that long either, but from what people have told me is that 5 ain't to bad. One of my concerns were that the older they got the hotter they ran and I mean hot(could not just place hand on cover). Or maybe it was my imagination but they sure felt hotter. I think if I did what HushPuppy suggested with the fans they would still work much longer.(maybe that is why they made that add-on fan). I just enjoy the peace of mind of not having to check if they are working. With all that heat I was thinking their watt to lumens must be deteriorating. But not sure.

New toys are always fun no matter what.

You got that right

 

[ShOrTbUs]

i treat my digi ballasts like my computer. i open them up every couple of months and give them a nice cleaning(compressed air). hey duck, i bet your fan was filled with dust particles which caused it to inadequately cool the ballast, causing the heat.

 

[pcduck]

No fans on my Lumateks.. Shortbus..Plus also when they got to cold they would not light.

 

[ShOrTbUs]

guess it just their time to go, i feel like 5 years is a good amount of time. my big screen lcd tv didnt last that long

 

[7greeneyes]

I still run all my original mag ballasts...lol..not one breakdown whatsoever (knock on wood) in 14-15 years...

 

[Hushpuppy]

Those old magnetic ballasts are tough. If the pins and rivots that hold the steel plantes together in the core were done good then they will last, especially if they are kept cool. Its the expanding and contracting from heating and cooling that gets electronics. It breaks connections(or loosens them) and it loosens the rivots which causes them to hum and buzz. If they are kept cool so that expansion and contraction are kept to minimum then all of the ballasts will last longer.

 

[NorCalHal]

I just switched from mags to Digi's over the last 6 months or so, and will never look back. Incresed lumens and incresed weight. Digi's rock.

 

[shahomy]

Incresed lumens

Are you saying that a 1000w digi gives more lumens than a 1000w magnetic?

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

I have a 400w MH and 600w HPS, both Ultra Sun bulbs, and I use the dimmer on my 600w Quantum digital Ballast to drop to 50% on the 400w MH because I'm running seedlings in there. Seems like good use of the dimmer to me, and I'm quite confused how you think you need 3 bulbs to run all 3 modes.

 

[NorCalHal]

Are you saying that a 1000w digi gives more lumens than a 1000w magnetic?

Absolutly. Checked it myself. Now, mind you, this was a new digi compared to a 1 year old mag.

 

[Hushpuppy]

That is a good use Ellis if you have a smaller setup and have to run your area all the way through both veg and flower. I have dedicated veg space and dedicated flowering tents. So I keep the flowering setup on full power and have different lights for the veg space. this allows me to run both vegging plants and flowering plants at the same time so that as soon as I empty a flowering tent, I can immediately refill it without having to wait for plants to veg. I have 3 grows going at once that are offset from each other by 3wks. This allows me to maximise how much I can grow in a year's time.

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

After this month, I'm going to have a veg tent with T5 fixture in it and keep current tent for flowering.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Yep, that is the way to go for quicker turn-over, plus it keeps you from having to go in and change stuff around when you go from veg to flower and back again.

 

[pcduck]

I'm quite confused how you think you need 3 bulbs to run all 3 modes

That is what the direction said that came with the Nano's

Make sure the bulb wattage matches the ballast wattage setting.

According to their instructions that would mean a 300 watt bulb when turned to 50%, a 450 watt bulb for 75% and a 600 watt bulb for 100%

 

[Hushpuppy]

Yeah, I would think that you wouldn't want to take a 600w bulb and run it on half the wattage as it would damage it. However, with the digital ballasts, they may reduce the duty cycle through manipulating the frequency rather than cutting back voltage as this would also reduce the current as well. By reducing the duty cycle on the bulb, the damaging current will be reduced rather than the voltage so that damage doesn't occur. Don't take this as fact though as I am just giving educated speculation

The advance of transistor technology has opened up some new ways of doing stuff that is more efficient, like battery driven AC motors in forklifts that stay inside facilities.

 

[pcduck]

Or maybe they just do not want the user to blame them when they start blowing bulbs out? or maybe that is why many digi's suggest using certain bulbs made for digi's? IDK