Lumatek or Galaxy

Does anyone have any opinions on these two 600W ballast/reflector combos?

I am planning on buying one of these set ups in the next few days and am spending that time researching and reading reviews. Price aside which one is a better product? I have read about problems with the old Lumatek which is said to be worked out.

Super Sun 2 reflector - Galaxy ballast grow light system from Growco Indoor Garden Supply

http://www.4hydroponics.com/lighting/radiant6Lum.asp

Either system will be run with a MH conversion bulb for veg and then a HPS for bud.

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks again.

yo, might wanna try here for better prices.....

600W Lumatek Digital Ballast - 120V | Grow Light Ballast Assemblies

as far as which is better I personally like Lumateks. The new units have no issues whatsoever, and the silence is beautiful. The selling point for me to opt for the lumatek over the galaxy was the extra warranty. Its great that there I see a lot of people switching to digital ballasts. Think green while you grow green.....

If you have access to 240V I'd recommend getting a dual 600 ballasts (one ballast powers 2 bulbs), or the 750 watt lumateks. Those fuckers are just badass.....750watt power draw with the light output of a 1000watt.

When I ran my old magnetic ballast, a 1000watt bulb and ballast was pulling 1160ish watts.

When I ran a digital 600, bulb and ballast were pulling 660

and on the 750 it was pulling 840watts

u know how to calculate electricity costs.....so plug those #s in and look at what a diff it makes.......

Plus the lumatek's feel so nice......the aluminum cover reminds me of the high quality alum used in apple macbook pros, of course much much much thicker.

=)

I was just about sold on the Lumatek and started reading all the reviews on the old models. I guess all that is now taken care of, and the new ones are really good.

Today I was checking on another order with one of the shops and the salesman started talking up the Galaxy ballasts and the other reflector. He really confused the hell out of me. But he said the Galaxy are solid and the sun system Super Sun 2 reflector was the coolest running reflector they sold, which is huge for tent use.

Thanks for the link , that is a great price.

I'm not a big fan of the lumatecs--My store stoped carring them after a large percentage of them had to be returned due to problems. I changed over to global greenhouse digis and have had zero problems---no noise---no heat...runs great...

I just bought 8 1000W Cool Blue units 2 months ago and these units kick ass! The sales guy did a side by side comparison with Lumatek and the coolblue units we about 15% brighter. Not to mention that they are made locally on Vancouver Island, BC and have a 3 year swap out warranty.

Look around a bit. There is a lot of s**t out there.

I <3 lumatek


-potlike

Mike Huntstinks said:

I just bought 8 1000W Cool Blue units 2 months ago and these units kick ass! The sales guy did a side by side comparison with Lumatek and the coolblue units we about 15% brighter. Not to mention that they are made locally on Vancouver Island, BC and have a 3 year swap out warranty.

Look around a bit. There is a lot of s**t out there.

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I did a search on Cool Blue digital ballasts and I can only find one site, but it doesn't say where I can buy one. I live in the U.S., and I don't see any retailers that deal in them, only Lumatek and Galaxy...

does Lumatek make a dual 250w ballast? i know that galaxy does

I've had my Lumatek 600 watt, 120 volt ballast for only about 6 weeks now but I don't have any problems with it. It's quiet, I don't know if it actually makes any noise because so many other things in my grow tent are noisier. It gets very warm but not hot, I can touch it without any concerns at all about burning myself. This is my first ballast so I don't have anything to compare it to. The only trouble was that I had to rewire the used reflector I bought because they weren't compatible but that was no big deal because I bought mine with a HydroFarm cord set.

BTW, you don't need an MH conversion bulb for this ballast, it runs with a straight up MH bulb. I believe the Galaxy does too. That's one of the selling points of the digitals.

DontKnowBeans said:

BTW, you don't need an MH conversion bulb for this ballast, it runs with a straight up MH bulb. I believe the Galaxy does too. That's one of the selling points of the digitals.

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On the website it says that all of them will run both HPS and MH except the 600 and 750 watt ballasts. Has this changed with the new ones or something?

If you go with the Lumatek, here is the lowest price I have seen: http://www.thegardendepotinc.com/3173.html

2 out of the last 4 times I have been to my grow store, there have been dudes returning defective lumatek ballasts though. I have a digital greenhouse from HTG and have had no problems. Also, you will get better efficiency and lumination if you run 240v vs standard 120v with any digital ballast, FYI.

so no one likes the galaxy ballast? i havent seen any no say any thing good or bad about them?

I like my galaxy ballast. No experience with lumatek to compare though.

Skeksis said:

On the website it says that all of them will run both HPS and MH except the 600 and 750 watt ballasts. Has this changed with the new ones or something?

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I guess so, my ballast, Lumatek 600 watt:
http://www.lumatek.ca/proddetail.php?prod=600-120

Galaxy 600 watt:
http://www.bustan.ca/product_detail.asp?menuID=4&SID=105&PID=1010

They both say they'll run any 600 watt MH or HPS.

Digi ballasts just make me laugh. Like for the price of them to me they just are not worth the money.

They say the ballast use's less power. Well yeah and no the savings on your power would be minimal for the price you pay for them unless you where running 5 or more of them. And they can NOT be repaired because they are resin sealed(Can't be opened). So they have a 5 year warranty LOL who care's really like the mag ballasts have been known to last longer (CAN be repaired).

So if i had i digi ballast and it worked fine for say 5 years then BAMM in the sixth yeah it stuffed up what would you do. It can't be repaired and your warranty is out LOL you would be very very mad. Well i would be knowing ill have to spend another 200-300 $ on a new one.

So dude ill say get the magnetic ballast unless you where planing on expanding your grow.

Ive had to return two 600w lumateks, luckily they have a 2year warranty which is nice. But I hear galaxies are garbage.

hom36rown said:

Ive had to return two 600w lumateks, luckily they have a 2year warranty which is nice. But I hear galaxies are garbage.

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Hmm. Where'd you hear that?

oh 2 years warranty? lol thats just even worse. I thought they came with 5 years but 2 years omg.

DontKnowBeans said:

I've had my Lumatek 600 watt, 120 volt ballast for only about 6 weeks now but I don't have any problems with it. It's quiet, I don't know if it actually makes any noise because so many other things in my grow tent are noisier.

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Do you have your ballast inside the tent? If its possible, keep your ballast outside of your tent to keep temps down.

I have the same ballast as you. As far as I can tell it's silent. It is also cooler to the touch than my old hydrofarm magnetic ballast.

If you decide to go magnetic, here is the best deal i have found on a hydrofarm system (xtrasun is hydrofarm): http://thegardendepotinc.com/co10waswsy.html