I've been looking at the Revolt 250w HPS/MH Digital Ballast Kit for my two-plant grow box, and I can get it for a great price. Anybody have any good or bad experience with this brand and model? It's a dimmable ballast, which I find attractive, but I've also read that lots of people have had problems running their ballast on anything other than full power. Based on my square footage – I'll need about 250w of light total, whether it's with CFL or HPS/MH. I'd prefer HPS/MH because there is 100% definitive proof that you can get much better results, and it's a simpler setup than having to have 8 or 10 or 12 CFL bulbs. That's not to say you can't get great results with CFLs – I love CFLs, but I'd like to maximize my growth while also not running up the electricity bill. I've got a grow box design that's 11 cubic feet. I've created a design for both CFLs and HPS/MH. I've been leaning towards my CFL setup because it'll run cooler and I can move bulbs around. But, as we all know HPS and MH bulbs are widely accepted as the golden standard. Heat is also a concern. My grow box is 20in W x 16in D x 60in H. I've studied on both CFLs and HPS/MH, and I've been on the fence for both, but I'm thinking CFLs will probably be best for now. But, I'm really curious about that Revolt 250w. Anybody have any pointers or experience to share? It would be greatly appreciated. If a technology existed that allowed us to email marijuana then I would gladly do so to show how much I appreciate your input and shared knowledge.
I don't want to sound harsh, but unless you are getting it for free I would pass on that ballast. https://www.monstergardens.com/Grow-Lighting/Digital-Ballasts/Ballast-by-Wattage/Ballast-by-Wattage-400-Watts/gavita-digistar-400-watt-ballast is only about $20 more and Gavita has a stellar reputation. HTH bro!
You don't sound harsh…I'm looking for honesty here. If this ballast sucks then I'd like to know. If this ballast is going to crap out on me six months down the road then I'm not going to bother. Though, it does come with a three year warranty. You can make your own kit on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/250w-HPS-MH-Grow-Light-Digital-Ballast-Kit-Hangers-Timer-Complete-250-watt-/271115410241 For $133 I can get the 250w Revolt Digital ballast with a reflector, an HPS bulb (2000k/28,000lm), a digital timer, and straps to hang the reflector. It seems like a good price but I'd rather invest in something that's going to last for years. And that Gavita seems like a damn fine ballast, but for my grow box 400w would be overkill, and it'd probably fry my plants. I think I'm just gonna stick with my CFL setup for now, unless I can find a good 250w digital ballast.
I have a 400w Revolt ballast. I'm now in the middle of my third grow with it. Absolutely no complaints so far. I have never used the dimming because I've heard this can shorten the life of the bulb, and I bought nice bulbs so I want to get the most out of them. I've never had a "real" name-brand ballast before (Galaxy, Solis-Tek, Lumatek,, etc) so I can't make any comparisons but my plants seem to grow pretty good with the Revolt. I can say it is a lot better than my previous refurbished magnetic HPS ballast. Hope that helps.
Thanks for the info MrBelvedere and Chiefton8. You were both very helpful. Chiefton…I really hope that 400w Revolt works out for you. Keep me posted…I'd love to know how well that thing is running over time. But, I'm really thinking the CFLs will work just wonderfully in my 2 plant grow box. The plants will have to sit diagonally in the box so I'm going to have a 4-feet-long 52w T5 bulb in opposite corners – they're both pushing out 5000 lumens each, so that gives me 10,000 total lumens hitting the sides of the plants. Then, I'll have six 26w Spiral Bulbs hanging above them – they're pushing out 1,800 lumens each, so that gives me 10,800 lumens hitting the plants from the top. That gives me a total of 20,800 lumens, which is about 9,412 lumens per square foot in my grow box. Of course I'll be mixing around bulbs in the veg and flowering stages, but I think this will work out perfectly for my setup. Sooner or later, I will get a nice digital HPS/MH setup, but I'm going to wait until I have more space to grow and an easier place to keep cool. In one of my old apartments I had the perfect spot to grow, but I also knew a couple of great weed guys so I didn't bother to grow. But, it was the perfect spot – that apartment had a huge balcony out back and the balcony had a closet off to the side. The closet was about 2ft D x 8ft W x 8ft H and the walls were already painted white, and it had an outlet. And since the closet was outside it wouldn't have been hard to vent the hot air outside. It was the perfect grow room and I could've grown at least 5-6 plants in there. In retrospect…I should have grown. And I really loved that apartment too. Oh well…no regrets…moving on.