Read in High Times March 2011 issue pg. 52 that HID bulbs will burnout prematurely using electronic/digital ballasts instead of magnetic ballasts. They also say the bulbs also leake the toxic gases from the HPS and MH bulbs NOT MADE BY Sunpulse. Is there truth to these assertions made by "Sunpulse Certification Laboratories"?
i'd bet there is some truth to it... but you also don't know how they achieved their results... if you had two IDENTICAL grows, this could have very good data to achieve their results from, but not knowing every single aspect of how they achieved their findings you just gotta take it with a grain of salt and be prepared for the worst and hope for the best im talking about little things like which side of the air cooled hood the fan is on, it makes a difference.. ambient air temp, exhaust temp, carbon filter size, light schedule... so... grain of salt
They, in this case, are Eye Hortilux. This might be the study. But back in 2008, High Times claims that a technician confirmed the bulb/ballast incompatibility and confirmed that SunPulse bulbs were, at the time, the only bulbs suitable for use in digital ballasts. http://www.eyehortilux.com/EYELU600.pdf I was not privy to that conversation, so I don't know if the High Times journalist is lying about that or not. I haven't had time to read the article I linked you to, but it may answer your questions (based on the title I assumed it would have pertinent info on the subject. Also because the High Times claims always refer back to the Eye Hortilux studies I thought we might go to the source.) I run all SunPulse bulbs on Phantom and Lumatek ballasts. I have had great results flowering under their 3K bulbs. There are a lot of other companies making "Digital Bulbs" now. Lumatek, Digilux, etc...
Thanks go out to Tihspeed and StinkBomb for the prompt, intelligent, and helpful replies. It feels REAL GOOD to have found this community of helpful brothers and sisters. I look forward to the time when I will have learned from both experiece growing this magical herb and from help just like this from my new-found community of friends to be able to help others as I have been helped.