hey

with Metal Halide's whats the difference between Magnetic Ballast and Ellectronic Ballast?

cheers

after 38 mins of searching i found this....

What are the Differences Between Magnetic and Electronic Ballast?

Magnetic ballast have been around since the beginning of fluorescent lighting. They employ copper coils and transformers to run a lamp. Magnetics cost less, but weigh more and, more importantly, are less efficient than modern electronic ballast. The federal government has mandated magnetic ballast be replaced with electronic ballast over the next several years.

Our electronic ballast use state-of-the-art printed circuit boards along with U.S. and Japanese components. Electronic ballast use 25% less energy than magnetics, do not hum or flicker when starting, and have a lower THD.

38 minutes?

http://www.google.com/search?q=magnetic ... difference

second result down looks like what you pasted tehehee

I rang a certain "switched on" hydroponics store recently thinking that this "switched on" crowd would know everything about metal hallides. When I ask if their bulbs come in various kelvin ranges I get silence on the other end. "I've never heard of that phrase before" says the pot-smoking sounding bloke. He went on to explain they have one that says "sun" on it and it has a "graph on the back". Very useful. So that was it, had to leave none the wiser and feeling like they were not very "switched on" at all.

you'll find you get alot more help through there site

Also you can buy online.

Shae

Shae...that site is awesome. i recommend it!!

I know about that site but you'll find it doesn't mention what Kelvin their bulbs are, so it's useless, and whoever I talked to didn't know anything about it

the bulbs will more than likely be 4500k.

their prices for ballasts are very attractive, so getting a holder and appropriate bulb wouldnt be too bad

They also really need to be HQI or better (not HPS) to be better for aquatic plant growth and specialised lamps for marines. You won't easily find marine lamps at electrical / hydroponic outlets in NZ.

HQI or better (not HPS)

what's the difference? (without bothering to google search it myself )

I have a magnetic ballast labeled HPS that seems to work fine with marine 250 DE bulbs.

HPS uses a glass case and HQI uses quartz. Glass blocks heaps more of the available UV than quartz.

Most marine bulbs use a quartz case to get the very best performance. It makes the bulb more expensive.

I have a magnetic ballast labeled HPS that seems to work fine with marine 250 DE bulbs.

As long as the bulb is running the correct voltage any ballast with will be fine.

I'm using HPS ballast on my HQI tubes as they are both designed for a 100V tube voltage. Some MH bulbs could be 90 or 110V and if run on a 100V ballast will run at the wrong temperature (so give out the wrong colour / spectrum) and will likely shorten their life if they run too hot (90V bulb run at 100V). It's important to get the correct ballast to maximise the life of the bulb and to get the correct colour. The bulb and the ballast usually have a number at the end. Mine are something like HQI250DL-100 and the ballast HPS250-100 (where the 100 indicates the operating voltage). As long as the watts and volts match it will be ok.

The tube voltage is not the same as the mains voltage. The job of the ballast is to drop the mains voltage down to the correct voltage for the tube. It also creates the high voltage required to strike the arc and maintain it.

The swiched on gardener is a funny store. I went there once and asked to look at one of there lighters and the guy said i'm sorry we dont sell bongs(not correct spelling), so i said no the lighter, he replied ohh you want to look at yoda(a bong), after that he relized what i was saying.

Haha, Yeah, Last time I went in there while I was looking at stuff the first guy bought a pack of party pills and a bottle of "Marijuana odor remover", the second guy bought a "Flower vase" aka bong.