RF Interference from HID ballast...

Hey guys, So I've read from a few places that some HID ballasts (cheap ones?) can cause unwanted RF interference and led to people having issues with wifi/internet/cable, etc. Well I've got an opportunity to locally buy a light for cheap, which has a user reveiw saying they had this same issue.... And I just want a second opinion on the matter. My grow spot is in a storage building that has no cable/interenet/telephone/anything but straight power going to it. The ballast is 400w, but will probably be run at 50%-75%, wont see full power. The nearest cable lines would be on the street or in the house at the other end of the property about 75 yards away. So its not like I have a hidden cable line in the wall behind my grow space that would get messed with, but does anyone think I'd still be in danger of having this issue???? Thanks. Dr. R

your cars fm radio wont work near your house this happened to me...The whole street was fuzzy on the radio, could get people busted. so we switched ballasts asap.

your cars fm radio wont work near your house this happened to me...The whole street was fuzzy on the radio, could get people busted. so we switched ballasts asap.
and people are referring to wireless signals. Because those transmit threw the air on a frequency. And your ballast will be producing the same frequencys but with noise(static sounding) and its alot more powerful then the other frequencies that's why it blocks them because it is more powerful ( probably due to how close you are to it. ) So you need to not go the cheap route, because they are inefficient with electricity and they are dangerous to your operation. Some rippers rely on these to find plants to steal. Hope my information was helpful

stick with the tried and true Magnetic cap and core ballast, no worries!

.....scary. i dont know i have a cheap 600watt digital apollo from amazon. hasnt caused any problems, radio fm and am both work within a few feet. i have one right next so they get music

digital ballast are the ones that mess with Radio Freq

Daniel987 said:

digital ballast are okay i believe there magnetic ones that cause the frequency problems. I could be wrong on that though.

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yeah, you could be.

two names that are well rf shielded are hydrofarm phantom and solis tek matrix.

Daniel987 said:

digital ballast are okay i believe there magnetic ones that cause the frequency problems. I could be wrong on that though.

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You are exactly backwards here, Magnetic cap and core ballasts are not only run everywhere (think street lights) but have been used for decades by us with no issues like this. It is the cheap digital and electronic ballasts you have to watch out for.

TruenoAE86coupe said:

You are exactly backwards here, Magnetic cap and core ballasts are not only run everywhere (think street lights) but have been used for decades by us with no issues like this. It is the cheap digital and electronic ballasts you have to watch out for.

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I have a digital welthink ballast that lit up the hood (so the cable guy says) for a good two years before they said anything. had them out on a service call and they said " so you're the one that's been lighting up the neighborhood".
next day I was ballast shopping. as much as I like my welthink wex150 led I've retired the ballast for good.

If you don't have any cable in the building, phone, etc., you are fine. My friend, who works for a cable company told me that an electronic ballast can cause interference back to the pole, and possibly in worst case scenarios, make the neighbors lose their cable. This is only with cable, and he said the most common cause was inferior wire, or cheap connectors, couplings or splitters. He said the guy's would call them RSS fittings.(Radio Shack Shit). They will trace it back to your house, and they will ask to be let in to repair it. You do not let them into your house, and tell them you are busy etc. They will disconnect you at the pole and wait for you to call them and make an appointment. You then make sure all your connections are good, get any wires near your ballast as far as way as possible, and hope you found the problem. If this happened to me, I would cancel cable and go with the phone line for everything, or get a magnetic ballast. He said this issue was rare, but it does happen. Peace

there are a few well made digital ballasts that dont do this, but afaik no magnetic ballast does. as an added bonus mag ballasts dont burn out bulbs as fast or require special bulbs and the ballast itself lasts alot longer. also alot cheaper.

dont no about phone,net,cable but mine is small. messes with my ph meter if its to close.

I'm an electronic design Engineer so I have alot of experience with RF and EMI interference. without getting too technical, if this is going to be an issue for you, make sure to only buy ballasts that are UL and ETL certified, they'll have a label on them. This means they are not allowed to interfere with any RF applications within a specific range.

Wow! Thanks for the response guys! Just learned a lot and made my decision real quickly lol.... No cheapos for me.