hey guys I’m wondering how you deal with RFI? I know gavitas, LEDs and magnetic ballasts barely produce RFI and shortening the chord and faraday cages help but are there any other real fixes for electric ballasts? i know theres ferrite beads/chokes and RFI paint and products like nanolux filter kits but has any body ever tried these to know if they work? can’t find reviews anywhere. theres a few threads on this info but they’re quite outdated, theres got to be a good,simple solution by now. any e-ballasts/hoods/bulbs that don’t produce RFI at all? any input is appreciated!!!
Not all of the newer digital ballast have that trouble, but many of the cheap ones still do. Just be aware of what you are buying / using and you will be fine. But for me, I am stuck in the magnetic age, so no worries, and really see no reason to upgrade cause they still work awesomely.
Contrary to popular beliefs, an online friend who is a very smart electrical engineer and longtime grower changed my idea that digital ballasts are better than magnetic. They're not though! All bulb manufacturers test bulbs for PAR and efficiency with magnetic ballasts, not digital. Digital ballasts actually hurt bulb life more so than magnetic. Frequency doesn't determine quality of light and this marketing garbage of these ultra high 100k frequencies (like all my Phantom II digital ballasts use) is just a sales pitch. There are benefits to digital such as size, weight, quick changing of bulbs without switching over from MH to HPS, controllers that have morning and night modes (like Gavita's EL controller) but for the price of some digital ballasts it appears they're not necessarily the best. So Fataqui you're not really stuck in the magnetic ages, it's actually a smart move on your part. I know that was way off track but thought it was something interesting to mention. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
And I don't know much about RFI blockers since all my ballasts I've owned have been on the higher end of the equipment scale which typically don't show interference problems. Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
thanks for your input but do your phantom II give off rfi? the phantom II are literally the ballasts I'm looking at buying. is the any interruption in front of your house if you turn on the AM radio?
yeah i was looking at the Phantom II ballasts which are definitely are up there on quality but i was under the impression that they all give off RFI, just some give off more than others
