New Study - All MH Bulbs NOT compatible with Digital/Electronic Ballasts

[jcom]

I just got through reading an article in a well known gardening magazine that was quite shocking. EYE Hortilux, one of the industry leaders in HID bulb manufacturing, just posted the results of very extensive testing of almost every brand of HID bulb being driven by the newer digital/electronic ballasts that have been so popular in recent years. (FYI, the touted benefits of digital/electronic ballasts are that they are smaller, lighter, and run cooler than the old magnetic pulse type ballasts).

The results of their study showed that the high Hertz rate at which digital ballasts run (20,000 Hz Digital vs. 60 Hz Magnetic) causes ultrasonic sound waves which cause the arc within the gasses of the bulb to flicker and swirl. Not only does this cause the bulb to fire at a reduced rate, it also shortens the bulb's life...drastically in some cases. Numerous reports of burnouts in 3 months or less (1 - 1.5 is normal) were what caused Hortilux to look into the matter and eventually conduct their study. It's actually very respectable of them to have conducted this study and to post their results as it will surely have a major impact on their sales when word gets out.

This will more than likely have a major impact on the industry, both for bulb and ballast manufacturers alike. Hortilux even went as far as to say that one of their competitors, Sun Pulse, manufactures the only line of MH bulbs that are compatible with digital/electronic ballasts. As for the rest of the manufacturers, they said that they will either have to completely redesign their bulbs or users will have to go back to magnetic ballasts. As the latter would be a big step backward for the industry, the former seems most likely. Hortilux also said that as far as HPS (High Pressure Sodium) bulbs, "There is no HPS bulb compatible with electronic/digital ballasts, nor can one be made."

This is one more blow to the jaw for HID lighting in the reefing and horticultural worlds and it seems almost certain that T5, and especially LED lighting, are poised to completely take over in both arenas.

 

[KingRicky]

What about Radium bulbs? As I understand, they will not fire on the old Magnetic Ballast. Do these bulbs flicker on the new Electronic Ballast? Where is this study published? Can it be accessed on line?

 

[skinz78]

Very interesting! I for one have switched over to the T5 and LED combo. The heat given by MH and the far greater bulb selection of T5 is what convinced me to make the switch.

 

[KingRicky]

I just switched from T-5's to the MH Radiums. I find that I'm getting much better growth and color. I have been looking at LED's for supplementation.

 

[jcom]

My apologies for the topic this relates to, but it's the only copy of the article I could find in a Google search.

www.way2grow.com.au/brochures/HT2010extract.pdf

 

[ksc]

Complete propaganda put out by the makers of some crappy mh bulbs. That's a sales ad.......

 

[WrasseSandwich]

Interesting....

 

[jcom]

Complete propaganda put out by the makers of some crappy mh bulbs. That's a sales ad.......

If this is the case, why would EYE Hortilux (one of, if not the most respected bulb manufacturers) conduct and post these results, while at the same time promote their competition?

 

[KingRicky]

A buddy just changed out his one year old Radiums and the new ones didn't have a noticeable difference in color or brightness. I know that if checked with a PAR Meter, thee would probably be a difference but to the human eye there wasn't.

 

[Troylee]

Radiums do not fire correctly on any of the new ballast fwiw!!!! To run a radium which is European the correct ballast is a m80 magnectic hqi ballast... I currently run my radiums on a pfo which is up to par any my bulbs burn a crisp white... Running a radium on galaxy or blue wave etc. They will fire but are under driven which causes them to be more blue and not nearly as intense and does shorten the life expectancy of the bulbs.... All the new ballast out are m138 which is a pulse start and will fire any bulb they just don't fire them to correct spectrum...

 

[ksc]

Funny, in that bit of propaganda, there were no "results" from any testing. I checked the EYE site and here is what they said in their Q+A section-"FAQFAQ'sQ: Do HORTILUX lamps work on electronic/digital ballasts?
A: HORTILUX lamps work equally well as any competitive brand on electronic ballasts. Performance really depends on the quality of the electronic ballast and the ability of the ballast manufacture to produce consistently good products.

Q: Do HORTILUX lamps work on electronic/digital ballasts?
A: HORTILUX lamps work equally well as any competitive brand on electronic ballasts. Performance really depends on the quality of the electronic ballast and the ability of the ballast manufacture to produce consistently good products.


A: HORTILUX lamps work equally well as any competitive brand on elecFAQ'sQ: Do HORTILUX lamps work on electronic/digital ballasts?
A: HORTILUX lamps work equally well as any competitive brand on electronic ballasts. Performance really depends on the quality of the electronic ballast and the ability of the ballast manufacture to produce consistently good products.


tronic ballasts. Performance really depends on the quality of the electronic ballast and the ability of the ballast manufacture
'sQ: Do HORTILUX lamps work on electronic/digital ballasts?to produce consistently good products.

 

[ksc]

A: HORTILUX lamps work equally well as any competitive brand on electronic ballasts. Performance really depends on the quality of the electronic ballast and the ability of the ballast manufacture to produce consistently good products.

 

[jcom]

I just read what you're talking about and it's clear that they've worded their answer VERY carefully.

 

[Paul_N]

Radiums do not fire correctly on any of the new ballast fwiw!!!! To run a radium which is European the correct ballast is a m80 magnectic hqi ballast... I currently run my radiums on a pfo which is up to par any my bulbs burn a crisp white... Running a radium on galaxy or blue wave etc. They will fire but are under driven which causes them to be more blue and not nearly as intense and does shorten the life expectancy of the bulbs.... All the new ballast out are m138 which is a pulse start and will fire any bulb they just don't fire them to correct spectrum...

That's why I got the lumatek switchable ballast 250/400 because they have 250w,HQI,400w and Super lumens setting. Best MH ballast out there IMO.

 

[ksc]

Looks like both ballast and bulb manufacturers are choosing their words carefully. That said, many reefers and reefers have used electronic/digital ballasts for years. Some bulbs run better on electronics, others better on magnetics. To claim that,"Numerous reports of burnouts in 3 months or less (1 - 1.5 is normal)" is just an outright lie....

""My name is Jason and I am the founder of Lumatek Electronic ballasts. We try to stay away from these forums but I think this is important. Some customers are currently experiencing problems when using some 600 watt lamps. I do want to point out that the Hortilux Solarmax Grolux issue applies to ALL brand of electronic ballasts.

The lumatek ballast is a true Eballast. It has a micro processor cpu. This cpu allows the ballast to make adjustments according to the lamp that is being used. A eballast can compensate for degrading bulbs and slight power fluctuations. It can also sense the exact specifications of the lamps it is using. the Lumatek ballast is up to 27% brighter than a core and coil ballast. We do have one problem with this technology the cpu can not detect the lamp until AFTER the initial ignition. Once the bulb is lit the ballast can then take over and drive the bulb to its exact specifications. Industry specifications for a 600 watt hps lamp call for a 4000volt ignition pulse. This is what Lumatek and all other digital ballast use for a starting voltage. Hortilux ignition used to be 2000-3000 volts even though this is less then the ignition pulse of the Lumatek we did not experience any problems with the Hortilux I have lots of customers with Hortilux lamps that are over a year old However about 6 months ago we started to notice an increase in Hortilux failures. We also noticed that the font of the text printed at the base of the bulb had changed. When we tested this lamp we found that the ignition range was lowered to 1500 volts. These new Hortilux lamps are different then the ones we originally designed the ballast with and have a higher frailer rate. The problems that customers are having are NOT a ballast problem they are a bulb problem the Hortilux 600 watt is not designed to industry specifications regarding ignition pulse. Furthermore it is also manufactured with a special gas in the arc tube that no other lamp maker in the world uses. The Hortilux lamp design is unique. We are currently adapting our ballast for this bulb it may require a switch to lower the ignition pulse for Hortilux.
Solarmax and Growlux lamps are the opposite problem these lamps require a 5000-6000 volt ignition pulse Again the standard ignition for a 600 is 4000 volts. The Lumtek ballast can light these bulbs with the 4K pulse for a while however over time the lamps degrade and they require more and more voltage to start after a few months the bulbs will not ignite in any digital ballast. "

 

[proudtobe]

Do you have all of your facts straight?

Are you sure you have all of the detailed facts? Is it because the technology you are using has not been fully tested and evaluated? Do you have any evidence to back up your claims? This is extremely confusing!