(Above the line is my review of the Phantom I&II, below the line are a few comparisons of the two ballasts for people who have used the original Phantom.)
In my opinion, if money isn't an issue, these are by far the best ballasts on the market.
Most ballasts these days have a lot of the same features so I won't go into those (dimmable, HPS or Halide, 120/240, internal breakers and the ability to restart with a hot bulb in the event of a power outage etc...), but there are a few things that are worth mentioning as pros/cons.
Pros:
- Indestructible. I've never had one of these fail on me, and I've run enough ballasts to have one of most every kind give it up eventually. Also, the casing seems extremely sturdy. I have yet to drop one of these, but of my ballasts I'm willing to bet that this would be the one that would survive a fall the best
- Cools itself without a fan. I think this might be part of why these last so long. There is no fan, so there are no moving parts, or open portions of the casing. You'd think this would make it run hot, but it doesn't in the slightest. This is among my coolest ballasts.
- Comes with a power cord that is large enough for the thousand watt load. I bet half of my ballasts came with cords that I would consider unsafe under a thousand watt load, which I immediately replaced. The Phantoms both come with large gauge power cords completely suited to their task.
- The Phantom II's wall mounting system is smooth, easy and stable. Great for wall mounting.
Cons:
- As far as I'm concerned, the only flaw with this ballast is the price, while not ridiculous, you can get very solid ballasts for almost half of what this one costs. I have bought ballasts all through that range, and this one is by far the nicest, but you will have to decide for yourself where the best value point is for you.
- The original Phantom's wall mounting is clumsy and complicated. It can be wall mounted just fine, but the Phantom II is MUCH better if you are going to be wall mounting your ballast.
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If you have used a Phantom I, this should seem pretty familiar. It's an almost identical piece of equipment, and I've repeated a lot of the same things I said about the Phantom I. There are only two major changes, and they are both awesome.
The first change is the size. This is just slightly smaller than the original Phantom. It's subtle, and not a monster difference, but it's always nice to save a little space.
The second, and much more important change, is the wall mount system. The mounting system on the original Phantom was clunky and basically just pinned the handle on top to the wall. It stuck out, it had lots of moving parts to fail, and I was NOT a fan. It was my only complaint of the old unit. This model has completely changed that. Now, two large bolts go into the wall, and the ballast slips over them. It's simple, it's stable, and the packaging even comes with a handy little measuring template to get the position of the bolts right. The Phantom went from having the most precarious wall mounts of my ballast to having the best.
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Reviews with images
An Extremely Reliable Ballast - Great Value for the money
At first I thought the Phantom II, PHB2010 1000W Digital Ballast for MH or HPS Grow Lights, was a little expensive too, but after, the E-Mini-ballast, I-Power, and Yield Labs 1000-W Ballasts ALL failed on me in less than 3 months, including killing my expensive MH bulb and leaving me without light for 2 full days, I'm convinced at what a great deal it is and I'm done with all the others. This one works as advertised. Although it should not be an excuse for their failures, I have had problems tripping circuit breakers because of my electrical load, and apparently the other ballasts don't handle that too well although they claim to have fuses in them to prevent such problems (And yeah, I checked and even replaced the fuses on all of them to no avail). But not the Phantom II. It never failed. Now I have TWO 1000-W HPS lights in my flowering room, each on a separate Phantom II, and it's all good! They are simple to use, easy to control, easy to view the settings (60%, 75%, 100%, or Super), quick to light my lamps, and discharge their heat readily. They are on cement bricks the floor as I do not want to mount them on my walls. I stand them on their end as suggested and shield them lightly with plastic mylar so they do not absorb any HPS light. It was real easy to assemble, switching between 110 and 220 is a cinch and the power cords are easily 10-15 feet real long so you can position them out of the way. I would highly recommend this unit. I like them so much I have a 3rd unit for future expansion or as an (now unneeded) backup). Regardless of the price of the units, its a waste of money if they fail. Don't make the mistake I made that costs me hundreds more because tried to save a little by buying (what turned out to be) inferior units. Spend the extra money and get this one.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2014
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2020
An Extremely Reliable Ballast - Great Value for the money
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2020
At first I thought the Phantom II, PHB2010 1000W Digital Ballast for MH or HPS Grow Lights, was a little expensive too, but after, the E-Mini-ballast, I-Power, and Yield Labs 1000-W Ballasts ALL failed on me in less than 3 months, including killing my expensive MH bulb and leaving me without light for 2 full days, I'm convinced at what a great deal it is and I'm done with all the others. This one works as advertised. Although it should not be an excuse for their failures, I have had problems tripping circuit breakers because of my electrical load, and apparently the other ballasts don't handle that too well although they claim to have fuses in them to prevent such problems (And yeah, I checked and even replaced the fuses on all of them to no avail). But not the Phantom II. It never failed. Now I have TWO 1000-W HPS lights in my flowering room, each on a separate Phantom II, and it's all good! They are simple to use, easy to control, easy to view the settings (60%, 75%, 100%, or Super), quick to light my lamps, and discharge their heat readily. They are on cement bricks the floor as I do not want to mount them on my walls. I stand them on their end as suggested and shield them lightly with plastic mylar so they do not absorb any HPS light. It was real easy to assemble, switching between 110 and 220 is a cinch and the power cords are easily 10-15 feet real long so you can position them out of the way. I would highly recommend this unit. I like them so much I have a 3rd unit for future expansion or as an (now unneeded) backup). Regardless of the price of the units, its a waste of money if they fail. Don't make the mistake I made that costs me hundreds more because tried to save a little by buying (what turned out to be) inferior units. Spend the extra money and get this one.
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2020
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Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2018
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2017
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2019
Top reviews from other countries
Blucifer302
Works good with Mh bulbs hps still testing. Doesn't like dual arcs for some reason
Reviewed in Canada on August 16, 2022