When is 14k not 14k?

Nice thread.
Just want to share my experience here and a point not mentioned yet - ballasts make a big difference too. Old magnetic ballasts I've had seemed to have often gotten me sub-par performance from bulbs. This year I switched to a Lumatek electronic ballast and the change is dramatic and consistant. Not only do the bulbs - in my case a Phoenix 14k - look great, but the opaque caking I used to get on the bulb itself does not happen anymore.

 

I'm kind of torn with electronic ballasts vs magnetic for DE bulbs. I prefer the look as well as performance of the HQI ballast. Some state that the HQI ballasts overdrive the bulb but that is just not true. They drive the bulb to specs. In many cases the electronic ballasts underdrive the bulbs. Also as bulbs age, magnetic ballasts will put more power to the bulb to keep them burning bright. Electronic ballasts do not have that ability. Basically if I'm running the 250w Phoenix 14K or 250w Radium 20K, I want a true HQI ballast to get the proper intensity, color, and longevity.

 

I didn't think of different bulb types there Greg. Interesting. Just sticking with my experience... which happens to be with HQI DE 150w setups. With one 70w exception. That said, as I recall from my Lumatek instructions, it claims to adjust to the health of the bulb. I can't prove that right or wrong, but I have noticed that lack of physical build up in the bulb noted prior that I used to get with other ballasts.

 

I have to wonder if that haze is a problem. Once the juice hits the arc tube, it all turns into plasma right? The easiest way to tell if the ballasts is adjusting is w=using a watt meter. It should put more power to an aging bulb. I have never seen that happen with a E-ballast, however if the Lumatek does it, my galaxy ballasts shoud do the same.

What bulbs are you running?

 

yeah, I have a Sunlight Supply Galaxy 150x2 ballast... will never bother with magnetic ballasts... meh.

 

From a purely technical standpoint there are certain things you can do with a magnetic ballast you just can't do digitally, and I suspect you could get into the same kinds of conversations audiophiles have about tube amps vs. silicon but in the end it's almost purely academic.

I'm sure the first generation of digital electronic ballasts were just a MOSFET and an oscillator without much in the way of advanced circuits... but todays e-ballasts are usually loaded with features aimed at the indoor grow market, which lucky for us is obsessed with making things grow...

-Doug

 

Goo points Doug. I too run SLS Galaxy ballast. I got the select-a-watt wich is another thing magnetic ballasts can't do.

 

Sounds like Doug has some tech in his background (I like tubes!)... anyway, I didn't want to derail a thread about 14k bulbs, just wanted to point out that the type of ballasts play a role with bulbs too.