315 Watt Maxibright Daylight CDM Ballast Review

[Bulls]

Good morning GrowRoom420.





I've been running 3 of these ballasts for nearly a year now and I must say I am well impressed. As every other products there is a huge variety to choose from when selecting a cdm ballast. I was recommended Maxbright and here we come. These ballasts are recommended to be used with 315 Watt Philips CDM Lamps which I also highly recommend but that would be another review.

I'd say these ballasts run very quiet and at very reasonable temperature. I'd rate them better than my 600w Digital Lumatek ballast for sure. Here is some information from the manufacturer:
You get all of this, from a ballast that’s compact, light and silent – just what you need.


• No power surges (soft start technology)
• Prolong lamp life
• Low energy, to help prevent hot spots and lower running costs
• Incredible frequency control!
• Maximises beam pattern & light output of 315 Watt Philips CDM Lamp
• Silent to run
• Auto reset + short circuit protection
• Lightweight, compact & space saving – 230mm x 108mm x 68mm – (L x W x H)

Something very important with these ballasts is that they have protection. Once turned off, you won't be able to turn it back on for at least 15-20 minutes. The reason behind that - to protect the bulb ( And you will want to protect the bulb as they cost about 100£ ).

When connected, these lamps emit a smooth beam pattern, thanks to your ballast’s excellent frequency control! They’ll also kick out up to 1.9 micromoles (µmol) per Watt! That's crazy for a 315W supplemental lamp.

Now to get to the point - yield. I'd say that's very relative depending on your style of growing. 1 GPW can be easily achieved if you're using the most of the area covered by the light.

I had one problem with one of my ballasts recently. I noticed that 1 hour after the light come on, one of the bulbs goes off. If I unplug the ballast manually and plug it back in in 20 minutes It starts and runs without a problem, but if I leave it as it is, it would possibly turn itself back on in 40-60 minutes. I've contacted the Hydro Shop I bought the ballast from and they instantly replaced it!

Thank you for reading my 315 CDM Ballast Review

[Keeno]

Nice write up Bully. I really want to try these.

[Smokey]

Very very interesting indeed. I’ve seen these ballasts popping up a lot, well worth looking into I reckon.

Thanks for the info Bulls

Smokes

[2-Scoops]

How hot do these run are they up their with a 600 hps ? Cheers

[Nanook]

turns off when too hot? I run omega cheapo's and they dont do that however if theres a powercut they take like 15+ mins to turn on again

[2-Scoops]

How hot do these run are they up their with a 600 hps ? Cheers

Mine runs quite warm.

It does turn the lamp off when the ballast gets too hot too, but I've got one of my intakes ontop of it this grow and it's been faultless.

But yeah, I have opened the tent and it's been dark in the past, I've had the same with an MH bulb on a HPS ballast too.

Maybe i got some twilight zone portal in my house that doesn;t like MH bulbs.

Hmm sounds like they run hotter than a digi hps ballast to me ?

So do you reckon these are as good as a 600hps for yield.

turns off when too hot? I run omega cheapo's and they dont do that however if theres a powercut they take like 15+ mins to turn on again

Cool mate so the Omega is a digital cdm ballast too ?

[Nanook]

I dont think they are as hot as hps tbh.

[Captain Beefheart]

a lamps a lamp mun if it shines it will grow dope,im not saying they crap but for the average indoor gardener like myself digital HID will do splendidly inho + yhey much cheaper ive had my sunmaster digi for 7 yrs now its faultless + i run my bulbs till they dont strike any more i can buy 5 HID bulbs for 1 cdm its a no brainer where im from.

[Nanook]

I dunno capt, my CDM was cheap as chips - I have 9 :o

[2-Scoops]

Cheers for info guys. I see Beefy`s point as well. :)