Ive been considering getting this thunder 400 watt grow light setup off of ebay.. however, ive recently learned about rf interference. from what i have gathered, the newer ones dont do it as much, and the more expensive ones dont do it all. they have some sort of shielding.. i was wondering if anyone has experience using thunder brand ballasts? do they give off any rf interference? my grow room is at the corner of the house..exactly where my cable lines meet the house.. i have heard of methods to eliminate most of the interference but to me its not worth the chance.. here is a link to the specific item i am buying. ive contacted the seller, but he has yet to return with a reply.http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thunder-400w-600w-1000w-Watt-HPS-MH-Grow-Light-System-Set-Kit-Digital-Ballast/281154961852?_trksid=p2047675.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D555012%26algo%3DPW.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D22425%26meid%3D7392540611669043801%26pid%3D100010%26prg%3D9723%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D180933709019%26
I am also curious about this as well, I've read that the cheap amazon ballast kits like Apollo and ipower give off way more rfi then say lumatek or galaxy ballasts. But I have no first hand knowledge maybe someone else can chime in? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thats just bull. I have a lot of electrical shit, computer shit ,cable and satellite , 2 wireless networks (2) 1,000 Watt ballast and have no problems. I have a thunder and an I power. Thunder has a 5 year guaranty and is top notch equipment. Also buy the 600, you can dim it down if needed.
How close is your ballast and plug wire from say your cable to your tv, if you have cable? From my understanding is that supposedly there is stories of people buying cheap ballasts and some name brand expensive ones too giving off way to much rfi, but I'm in the same boat as OP I'm not sure how true this is with the digital ballasts or if its total bs? For example type "rf interference ballast" into google and you will see what the I believe the OP is getting at but is it all that real of a problem?
(3) 1,000w ballast like 4-6 feet from coax cable for internet,satellite TV, phone line and one of my routers. I have 2 wireless networks. It will not interfere with anything unless you grow in a ghetto wired crack house.
I read about this a long time ago..remember seeing someone say wrap the wires in aluminum foil or some shit lmao
I agree with snoop above, if you have any doubts email the seller before purchase, and should the basllast fail later is easy to repair, but if in doubt get a pro to fix it for you either way test on recievering it, by turning the light and fiddling with your Am radio
My solis tek ballast jizzes about this, they recommend ( of course) their bulb, I bought in and love it. Supposed to have zero Rf interference.
RF interference cause Comcast to come to my house 3 days in a row. They wanted to inspect all coax wiring in my house. Not a huge deal as I'm legal, but not into showing the cable guy the coax that was right next to my 600 watt digital ballast. Long story short, I'm fairly certain the crappy connectors I had along with the cheap coax were picking up the RF interference. Be careful out there guys because this RF stuff is not a myth.........just saying.
If you have a questionable ballast or wiring then replace those suckers. Im now buying magnetic switchable 1,000's real cheap and if it dies I can take it back to the store and they take care of me.
Please give me a little more info. So they replaced the coax or connectors and the problem went away? RF is not a myth but it usually goes through the electrical wiring in the house rather than through the air.
im running 2 1000 watt ballasts solis tek matrix and a lumepower both digi i have interference with my tablet and computer and sometimes my smart tv. ballasts are about 10 feet away from modem and cable box.
So they are 10ft away. Are they on an isolated circuit or just plugged into the wall(10ft away likely 10ft of wire connecting them)?
In my experience it's the cables to your lamps that cause the most RF interference, Gavita seems to agree : http://www.gavita-holland.com/index.php/item/about-electromagnetic-interference.html Failing putting the whole room/tent in a Farady cage or using integrated fixtures, mounting the ballast(s) as close to your lamps and keeping the leads to them as short as possible is your best bet in minimising possible problems.
Can this be also a problem with LED lamps? I'm not sure if the drivers would spit out RFi. But I seem to have found a couple of cases where LED lightbulbs do emit RFi but I don't know to which extent they disrupted surrounding radios or cables...
simple and effective fix for anyone interested. i used the two large toroids (one on each side) listed at the bottom of this page to fix mine. 8-10 turns through it and you should be fine, just don't forget to order the capacitors for the AC side. http://www.w0qe.com/RF_Interference/grow_light_electronic_ballasts.html