Lumatek Vs Phantom

J

janonymous

Member
Ive googled and searched threads never found a straight up answer. would you go with Lumatek or Phantom 600 watt ballast. They are listed the same price. I just like to know what is more quality if so and why. I know luma can run MH/HpS 400- 600 watts Im not familiar with phantom . Thanks
 
meowth

meowth

Active Member
Lumatek is better. Phantoms have certain bulb incompatibilities. Went through Sunpulse, defective I guess. Then Digilux MH blew within 2 weeks. Hydrofarm confirmed not compatible with Digilux. Three times the light wasn't on with my Phantom, 0 with my backup Lumatek. Also, Lumatek runs 600 and 400 watt bulbs. Phantoms run 600 watts only, with a dimming feature.
 
Dobby

Dobby

Well-Known Member
So far I like my Lumatek and it will spark up MH and HPS bulbs. Got a 400 MH in there right now and will put in a 600 HPS in two weeks. Oh and it runs nice and cool and silent.
 
gamebreaker81

gamebreaker81

Member
Love lumatek but that answer is biased never used a phantom. I have used htg ballasts loud compared to the lumatek. Lumatek is silent with no fans
 
Buddy Ganga

Buddy Ganga

Active Member
Every ballast I use is Lumatek, dimmable 600's that run 400's and dimmable 1000 that can also run 600's.
I've yet to have a problem with any of them..
The store I get most of my supplies/equipment from is so sure of their quality they have a "replacement" guarantee and will exchange them no questions asked.. I can walk in and walk right back out with a new one..

I don't know about anyone else but I believe that says a lot about the quality of the product.
 
J

jpill

Well-Known Member
I use Phantom ballasts, I got 8 of them and they run great. I guess the only diff between the two ballasts is

lumatek has a built in fan, phantom doesn't use one. Some like it some don't . The people that don't like it say it because the fan breaks and also allows dirt and dust in your ballast.

Phantom ballasts can stand up vertically or lay horizontal . So you can mount them how ever you like. Phantom Ballast literally stand up on their own.

Phantom also has a "soft start" on their ballasts.. Which is pretty cool..

I'm not telling you what to pick , pick whatever you want. But i got 8 and i like them they run quiet as fuck. (no fan noise) . Also their dimable . You can use it at 60,75,100%
 
meowth

meowth

Active Member
jpill said:
I use Phantom ballasts, I got 8 of them and they run great. I guess the only diff between the two ballasts is

lumatek has a built in fan, phantom doesn't use one. Some like it some don't . The people that don't like it say it because the fan breaks and also allows dirt and dust in your ballast.

Phantom ballasts can stand up vertically or lay horizontal . So you can mount them how ever you like. Phantom Ballast literally stand up on their own.

Phantom also has a "soft start" on their ballasts.. Which is pretty cool..

I'm not telling you what to pick , pick whatever you want. But i got 8 and i like them they run quiet as fuck. (no fan noise) . Also their dimable . You can use it at 60,75,100%
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Lumateks do not have a fan. Maybe you're thinking of Quantums. Dimmable is fine, but Lumateks fire different wattages. My 600 Lumatek, fires 600 and 400 watt bulbs. Lumateks are also quiet.

The rest you mentioned are a plus for Phantoms. Just don't use Digilux bulbs with them, and check with Hydrofarm if your bulb is compatible, because Phantoms are picky when it comes to bulbs.

Currently using a Phantom with HiLux Ushio MH conversion bulb. Have my backup Lumatek ready in case of failure. Had 2 bulbs fail on Phantoms so far because I didn't email Hydrofarm first on compatibility. Stores seem to think Phantoms fire Digilux, and actually recommend them.

Lumateks use Digilux bulbs with no problem. Can't say I like Phantoms pickiness on bulbs, but love the soft start, vertical placement, and hot restrike features.
 
SFguy

SFguy

Well-Known Member
I own 1 phantom, and 2 older digital greenhouse love it. phantom is silent...

meowth... why would you use a 400 watter in a 1000 watt ballast dimmed down?? i think your confused on how the dimmer feature works.. it allows you to run a 1000 watt bulb at a percentage of its power, I.E. 60% and 75% and 100%... not run a 600 bulb on a 1000 ballast.. i suppose it COULD/ AND WILL WORK.. but thats not how they were intended to be used
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
SFguy said:
I own 1 phantom, and 2 older digital greenhouse love it. phantom is silent...

meowth... why would you use a 400 watter in a 1000 watt ballast dimmed down?? i think your confused on how the dimmer feature works.. it allows you to run a 1000 watt bulb at a percentage of its power, I.E. 60% and 75% and 100%... not run a 600 bulb on a 1000 ballast.. i suppose it COULD/ AND WILL WORK.. but thats not how they were intended to be used
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I think you maybe getting confused SFguy. We who own LUMATEKS read our product leaflets and in the product leaflet it states that you can run a 400w lamp on the 400 setting. If you dim down a 600w to 400w you loose efficiency. This is the reason lumatek advise to run a 400w lamp on the 400w setting on a 600w lumatek dimmable.

I run my 400w MH on the 400w setting.

I also dim down my 600w HPS during my final few weeks of flowering to 400w.




J
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
I have an HTG digital greenhouse and a lumatek and straight up benched the HTG for good. Never run a phantom but love my lumatek.

My 600w lumatek can run 400w bulbs - 1kW bulbs. It is always best to run the correct wattage bulb though, a 400w bulb runs better at 400w than 340w, a 600 runs better at 600w than 400w... the bulbs are designed to run at a particular temperature dependent on wattage, when you lower this temp (dimming the bulb) the spectrum changes. I have videos of running 1kW, 600w, and 400w bulb on my lumatek under the various dimming settings and you can clearly see how the spectrum changes as you vary more from the manufactured intended wattage. Lemme know if you want them posted.

That said, I still run my 600w MH at 400w 50% of the time. Still have great results.
 
benign

benign

Active Member
I also use a Lumatek 1000 as well as a 600 Global Greenhouse (for the Humboldt fans), at first I wasn't too sure about Lumatek having read all the neg reports but now I don't think that I would use anything else the dimmable option is one of my fav features, if things heat up too much I can dim down to 750 or 600 or I can start the photo period at 600 and then dial up as I need to. I don't have any experience with Phantom, that was also the decision that I had to make, I went with the Lumatek because it gave me an actual dial down wattage and not 50%, 65% dimming options.
 
cowboylogic

cowboylogic

Well-Known Member
SFguy said:
I own 1 phantom, and 2 older digital greenhouse love it. phantom is silent...

meowth... why would you use a 400 watter in a 1000 watt ballast dimmed down?? i think your confused on how the dimmer feature works.. it allows you to run a 1000 watt bulb at a percentage of its power, I.E. 60% and 75% and 100%... not run a 600 bulb on a 1000 ballast.. i suppose it COULD/ AND WILL WORK.. but thats not how they were intended to be used
Click to expand...
Lumateks purpose of the dim feature is to fire different wattage bulbs. Match the bulb to the output. And is exactly how they are intended to be used. Firing a bulb at a lower wattage is kinda fruitless. The spectral output of the bulb is compromised....
 
SFguy

SFguy

Well-Known Member
well maybe its diffrent for the phantoms then... i do know its supposed to have ONLY A 1000 WATT bulb in it... maybe the dimming feature is designed diffrently, cause mine does not dial down wattage, its dials down intensity.. 100%, 75%, 60%.. so i guess if thts wht it says in the manual for the lumateks then you use diffrent bulbs, but that sucks, it should only need one bulb.. as for effiency i think buying two separate bulbs is b,s. i already have six bulbs lying around... now tell me i gotta double that?? i dont like that ill stick with a phantom then
 
B

Big J. Money

Member
Ryandoe11 said:
I love chronic
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Phantoms all day long..... Lumateks are common cause they hit the scene quicker than the Phantom. So you got a bunch of Dbags recommending crap just cause they own it.....While the Phantoms were fine tuning their shit, first gen Lumateks were wasting people $$$. The real question is Phantom versus Solis-Tek? IMO...

And why would you dim a ballast other than a heat issue? Idiots.....
 
B

Big J. Money

Member
Also, the Phantom runs Digilux, Hortilux, Ushio, and Sunpulse beautifully. Digilux is garbage though. Not sure what you other Dbags are talkin about.......
 
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