Club 600

jigfresh said:

I've never seen drooping like that. How do the actual roots look? I would guess either some sort of root ailment or really off ph? That's very strange. Like D said, change the water, just run them on 5.8 ph water for a few days.

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RetiredMatthebrute said:

hey guys, I got my 600w ballast in and when i hooked it up and plugged it in i heard a "pop" sound and then the ballast was dead. figured it was a bunk ballast so i returned it and got a new one. well the new one did the same thing. so now im thinking it isnt the ballast but maybe something else, or maybe im just getting a bad batch of ballasts......i dunno.

apollo horticultre ballast, 600w dimmable switchable digital ballast.

any thoughts or help would be great. i have tried firing MH and HPS bulbs in the ballast and nothing is working. i was thinking i may have a short in the hood and blowing the fuse but i cant seem to locate the fuse in the ballast to see if it is fried.

figure i would ask here sence most of you run 600w ballasts and may know a bit about them.

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RetiredMatthebrute said:

hey guys, I got my 600w ballast in and when i hooked it up and plugged it in i heard a "pop" sound and then the ballast was dead. figured it was a bunk ballast so i returned it and got a new one. well the new one did the same thing. so now im thinking it isnt the ballast but maybe something else, or maybe im just getting a bad batch of ballasts......i dunno.

apollo horticultre ballast, 600w dimmable switchable digital ballast.

any thoughts or help would be great. i have tried firing MH and HPS bulbs in the ballast and nothing is working. i was thinking i may have a short in the hood and blowing the fuse but i cant seem to locate the fuse in the ballast to see if it is fried.

figure i would ask here sence most of you run 600w ballasts and may know a bit about them.

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jigfresh said:

Matt the only thought I have is are you using bulbs that are rated for digital ballasts? I think if you use a bulb that's not meant for it, the bulb will burn out... not the ballast... but it's all I can think of. Maybe try the next one on a different outlet? A different house even, just to try it?

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smellzlikeskunkyum said:

besides the f'n dispensaries where charging up to 30 a gram. most decent shit was at least 20 a gram. no more dispensaries here tho... how stupid. we raise our alcohol% limit for driving, and we make MMJ retail illegal. gotta love MI backwards ways.

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giggles26 said:

I've run 2 appollo's and both of them were shit. I will never run them again.

But anyways, usually the fuse is right by where the input goes, mine is right below that. Should be a little slot that slides out.

I also know appollo had shit luck firing a lot of different bulbs and would only work with their bulbs.

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jigfresh said:

Matt the only thought I have is are you using bulbs that are rated for digital ballasts? I think if you use a bulb that's not meant for it, the bulb will burn out... not the ballast... but it's all I can think of. Maybe try the next one on a different outlet? A different house even, just to try it?

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209 Cali closet grower said:

Check you plugs first, and if you get good power at the plue, then it has to be the ballast. Don't get the same brand, might be a bad batch.

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jigfresh said:

Maybe I'm not reading correctly, but if you spent $250 on a ballast that's way too much. Lumateks are selling online for $175 and from what I understand they are the cream of the crop.

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RetiredMatthebrute said:

i am using apollo bulbs, ill check for that fuse. i have been running a 1000w apollo ballast and have had no issues with it....



yes the bulbs are the correct bulbs for the ballast, i am getting plenty of power as all the rest of the tent's electrical is working fine.



yeah im thinking a bad batch.....gonna make sure all my connections in the hood are good and not shorting anything out, if its the fuse ill try and replace it if its not too much of a headache, otherwise ill just return the dam thing and try a different brand. didnt really have 250 bucks to drop on a ballast though.

thanks everyone for the responses, ill check a few things out and let you guys know how i make out. im pretty bummed out i cant get my tent running at 600w sooner but i would rather run into the problems now while i still have my other lighting in place than later when i dont have it anymore (giving my CFL fixture to a disabled MMJ patient/friend once i get this 600w ballast figured out)

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jigfresh said:

Maybe I'm not reading correctly, but if you spent $250 on a ballast that's way too much. Lumateks are selling online for $175 and from what I understand they are the cream of the crop.

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RetiredMatthebrute said:

yes you guys are correct, i can get a much nicer ballast for about 50 bucks more than what i paid for this one. i had such a great experience with my 1000w ballast i figured i would get a decent 600w for a nice price (115$) shipped to my door.

i just checked the fuses, thanks giggles for explaining how to get to them. the one fuse was blown (tested it with a PC fan and a AC > DC converter, simply held the hot lead on one end of the fuse and put the fan lead on the other...no power = bad fuse. but im in luck, the ballast comes with a spare!!! which i also tested to be sure my test was accurate and sure enough it powered the fan....so my next step is to make sure everything is wired correctly, if i find a short then i will know that my 400w ballast is probabally suffering the same fate and i can swap that fuse if its accesable and have both ballast working properly......if all goes well.

i really like these apollo ballasts, they have a small fan and heat sink in them and put out next to no heat, they are super silent and the dimming options work great..when they work. I havent chalked up to it being a bad ballast or batch just yet, and its not the company's fault is my equipment is defective causing shorts and blown fuses.

anyhoo, i have one more question....if i dim a 600w ballast down to "75%" can i run a 400w bulb? for now i dont have any MH bulbs in 600w so its either a 600w HPS or a 400w MH i know the 600w HPS would prob be a better option but its only a 32x32 veg tent...

thanks for you guys responses!!

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209 Cali closet grower said:

man ballasts have came a long way!. Just read about lumateks and Galaxies ballasts. Love how they can run a 400w, 600w, 1000w, all on the same ballast, crazy!

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jigfresh said:

It will run a 400 at that power... just over powering it a little. Will decrease the bulb life, but that's about it. Otherwise it should work fine. If it were that bad to overpower bulbs they wouldn't have that Super Lumen setting (well some of them anyways).

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supchaka said:

A few pages back, but about curing... I tell people straight up hey it's harvested but not ready. 90% of the time they say I don't care, I want it. Lol consequently I don't have anything long enough to be cured. And I guess the one dickish thing I do is that the people who would actually wait for it don't get it cuz it's gone. They'll be like hey did that stuff finish up? Uh no it's gone... The fat scroggy table should up my yield though so ill actually have some around long enough to cure.

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209 Cali closet grower said:

Okay guyz thanks for the feedback, I'll say $50 first and see what happens? but will do $75 max.

Man got a another Breeders Boutique strain-freebie pack, showing it's colors and smell. Strain is Psycho killer x herijuana x Cheese (uk)? Fucken smells so, so, good, like sweet cheese(candy with a stink of) cheese. really sticky too! looks like a blue tent to it to under the hps. So glad I kept clones of that strain!

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