grow cycle | back to the ballast
If you plan to grow indoors , chances are you will be use a high-intensity discharge lamp of some kind . In order to illuminate this light , you will need a ballast . Pretty basic stuff … but that ’ s just the beginning . With so many different ballasts on the market , there are a few questions you need to ask yourself : What is the difference between them ? How do they work ? What are the options ? Are some better than others ? Well , let ’ s have a quick run through of what ’ s what . Ballasts currently on the market are broken down into three main categories : magnetic ; electronic , which is sometimes known as digital ; and true digital . Essentially , they all do the same job , which is provide the lamp with a start-up pulse to ignite the lamp . They also all regulate the power supplied to the lamp . There are a few key differences between them , though . " THE QUALITY OF THE BALLAST LIES IN ITS INTERNAL COMPONENTS , NOT THE CASING ."
MAGNETIC BALLASTS
Magnetic ballasts have been around the longest and are currently the top-selling style of ballast . They normally come fixed at 250 , 400 , 600 , and 1,000W outputs , and they are available with either a vented resin or metal case . A common misconception with magnetic ballasts is that the metal-cased variety costs more than resin-cased ballasts simply because they are metal and , thus , must be a better quality . This is not true , however , as the quality of the ballast lies in its internal components , not the casing . The casing for magnetic ballasts is just that : a case . It ’ s there to keep you from electrocuting yourself on the dangerous internal components — and when I say
74 Maximum Yield USA | February 2017