dont know about home depot but you can buy all the parts to make a "magnetic" ballast to power a 1000 W HPS for way less then it costs to buy one but you have to wire everything up and wind wires around posts and put it in a safe case so I wouldnt even try to do this without help from someone who is certified, or buy a kit online and put it together because you can burn your house down if not done correctly regular ballasts are not that much its the digital ones that are expensive but they arent compatible with HPS bulbs - sure they work everyone knows that but just read the article in "high times" and "maximum yields" which was a "pay to print" article from hortilux saying that there bulbs arent compatible with any digital ballasts - they said this even though they dont make a MH thats in the correct color spectrum for flower only sunpulse does, so to say something like that and basically say that if you have a digital balast dont buy our bulbs they wont warranty them either they said but I bet there is no way to tell or they arent going to check, but they dont sell normal magnetic ballasts or a MH buld for flower so you got to believe that its true they would stand to loose money by saying this but they did it anyways search around for this and you will find people who dont believe it but read the article for your self its probably on the high times site and maximum yields site
Dam hortilux dint work with digis? Thats the first ive heard that...obviously its not all hps that dont work with digis right?
Something like this: Diy hps light with remote ballast 4 $25.00 I'm sure there's more good tutorials out there too waiting to be found. I wouldn't try this unless you're pretty comfortable with electrical work, it's easier/safer to just buy a good digital ballast.
Might wanna source that a bit better. from the hortilux web site "Do HORTILUX lamps work on electronic/digital ballasts? A: HORTILUX lamps work equally well as any competitive brand on electronic ballasts. Performance really depends on the quality of the electronic ballast and the ability of the ballast manufacture to produce consistently good products. Magnetic, core and coil ballasts are made to conform to ANSI Standards. ANSI is the American National Standards Institute that establishes specifications on how specific HID lamps are to perform electrically. This designation ensures that all lamp brands work interchangeably on the ANSI compatible ballasts. For example, all major brand LU1000 lamps comply with ANSI S52, and when matched with a ballast designated ANSI S52, the consumer is assured the lamp and ballast are matched correctly. All major lamp brands currently comply with these ANSI standards, and have for decades. Most electronic ballasts do not comply with ANSI ratings. This means that each e.ballast brand can be different. Compound this with actual variations in the production runs from the same manufacturer/brand and you can see why system dependability is easily compromised. These are clearly NOT lamp issues but ballast challenges to be improved upon. If you chose to operate our lamp on a ballast that does not meet these ANSI specifications, lamp life and performance MAY be dramatically reduced. Since the quality of artificial light is paramount to successful plant photosynthesis and optimum growth, it would seem ill-advised to compromise lamp performance in favor of unproven ballast technology." so yes they do work with electronic ballasts long as they meet ANSI S52 compliance. FAQS
I would probably believe hortilux if other bulbs were doing the same thing...is that the case? Or is it just their bulbs? I have a hortilux bulb but its in a mag ballast s52 ,,is right on it, I think..