150w HPS Club and Resource Guide......

[00420]

I will mount the twin actinics up above tomorrow.

nice to see someone using actinics im going to use them on my new grow.
i have some from my reeftank that i no longer use.

and on to my new grow yep double 0 going micro......
i do have a few ?'s for the pro's, what i have is 2 175MH's now i know i can get 150w hps conversions bulb's and there up there in the price. sometime ago a friend of mine had a 175mv pulse start and just bought a 150 hps bulb and it worked fine.
i know when working with a 1k 600's and 400's you can have a "switchable ballast" the way that works is by using a hps transformer ( 1100 watts) for a 1k...... a mh ballast 1k is 1070watts it would run to hot and end up blowing after time.... all the "switch" dose is cut or connect the x-3 wire on the iggy

now my ?
being that i have a 175mh (210watts) and a 150hps (190watts) would i beable to put in a iggy and run a hps bulb? i dont see where it will be a prob. but wanted some advice first....... i would much rather run hps as to the mh

also what size room should i build for 2 150/175w lights i was thanking 2 x 4 ? i really have no limits, but i dont want a huge space that the light is not going to be useful. btw im going to put the 2 ballast on a flip flop and run 4 lights 2 rooms

 

[DiscoDuck]

not sure about the regular hps running on a mh ballast thing, may work just fine. each 150w hps bulb is good for about 3 square feet. if you plan to have two running together, a good configuration would be 2 ft x 3 ft = 6 sq. ft. this will give you about 50 watts per square foot. I've seen lots of grows here with larger footprints than 3 square feet, this is just my two cents.

While you're checking about the bulb thing, I understand that a 150 watt ceramic metal halide (cmh) bulb will work with a pulse-start mh ballast. cmh is touted as better than hps and metal halide, thought you might like to know.

 

[00420]

not sure about the regular hps running on a mh ballast thing, may work just fine. each 150w hps bulb is good for about 3 square feet. if you plan to have two running together, a good configuration would be 2 ft x 3 ft = 6 sq. ft. this will give you about 50 watts per square foot. I've seen lots of grows here with larger footprints than 3 square feet, this is just my two cents.

While you're checking about the bulb thing, I understand that a 150 watt ceramic metal halide (cmh) bulb will work with a pulse-start mh ballast. cmh is touted as better than hps and metal halide, thought you might like to know.

thx disco just a ? about your room size i understand the 50wpsf = 6sqft but would it be better to go 1.75 x 3.75 = 6.5sqft i just dont see how 2 lights side by side can go 3ft but yet it can do 2ft the other way where there is only 1

i was reading about them cmh bulb's to night i might go that way maybe i can do a side by side with the 2 rooms i am going to set up like i said i really have no limit's anyone have a link to buy a 175cmh bulb?

 

[DiscoDuck]

thx disco just a ? about your room size i understand the 50wpsf = 6sqft but would it be better to go 1.75 x 3.75 = 6.5sqft i just dont see how 2 lights side by side can go 3ft but yet it can do 2ft the other way where there is only 1

i was reading about them cmh bulb's to night i might go that way maybe i can do a side by side with the 2 rooms i am going to set up like i said i really have no limit's anyone have a link to buy a 175cmh bulb?

You may get better light distribution with 1.75 x 3.75. I guess the reason I suggested going with 2 x 3 was due to pot size/footprint orientation.

The thread you're referring to is a long one. The are several links to cmh hardware but I don't remember exactly where. Please be sure you get a correct match between the bulb and ballast. A 150w cmh will out perform a 175w mh or a 150w hps. I read the 150w cmh bulb requires a pulse start ballast but you'll probably need a little more ballast info to be safe.

I've also read that if there's a drawback to cmh, it's the fact the leaf to calyx ratio is heavy on the leaf side. Hps has a little better performance than cmh in this regard. Cmh growers recommend shortening the vegging period by a week or two to reduce the overall number of bud sites, thus increasing bud size. All said, cmh growers are sold on cmh and don't advise going back to hps.

I like the idea of a side by side comparison, please give the 150 hps club the thread link if you decide to do it. I'm also interested to see if anyone is using hps and cmh together since it appears each has what the other is lacking. Cmh seems to promote vigorous vegetative growth, maybe an hps thrown in the mix would improve the ratio thing. Good luck with your project.

 

[DiscoDuck]

anybody know?

is a 700mA wall wart (12 volt) too strong for one 12v computer fan?

 

[PurplePotion]

You can't have one 'too strong'. You have your voltage, which needs to be around 12V for the fan to operate, then you have amperage, which will determine how many fans you can run off of that 12V source. Depending on which model PC fan you are talking about, it could draw anywhere from 200mA to 700mA. What size fan? CFM/RPM? Or even better, the model number? Most fans have the amperage listed on them.

 

[DiscoDuck]

You can't have one 'too strong'. You have your voltage, which needs to be around 12V for the fan to operate, then you have amperage, which will determine how many fans you can run off of that 12V source. Depending on which model PC fan you are talking about, it could draw anywhere from 200mA to 700mA. What size fan? CFM/RPM? Or even better, the model number? Most fans have the amperage listed on them.

PurplePotion, the mfg label doesn't show an amp rating, just volt and watts. I did a google on sunon 80mm kd1208ptb2-6 at sunon.com lists it at 110mA. It's loud though, 32dba, 2800rpm, 37cfm. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[PurplePotion]

Yeah that adapter would be fine.. realistically, you can run about 80% of the total amperage of the transformer. So with that adapter, you could use up to 560-600mA and still have a proper buffer for safety. Look into bigger fans. (More air, less noise). Newegg.com has some pretty cheap 120mm fans. I just got two that move 77cfm and only 30dB (around there). Way better than the 60-80mm fans I've used.

 

[Pipedream]

One of the basic incarnations of OHM's law tells us that P=IE or Power is equal to Curent times Voltage. So, if you know the Power in Watts that an electrical device generates or uses when operating, and you divide that by the Electrical Force that is being presented, measured in Volts , the resulting number will be the required amperage. Fancy words but here's how it works......

Say your fan is rated at 5 watts with an operating voltage of 12vdc. Simply divide 5 by 12 and you get approximately .4 amps, or 400 milliamps. As long as the power supply you use has a higher amperage rating, you're good to go.

And like PurplePotion mentioned, if the supply is large enough, you can run multiple fans wired in parallel from the same source. Just add up all the amperage requirements and size your supply accordingly.

 

[DiscoDuck]

Yeah that adapter would be fine.. realistically, you can run about 80% of the total amperage of the transformer. So with that adapter, you could use up to 560-600mA and still have a proper buffer for safety. Look into bigger fans. (More air, less noise). Newegg.com has some pretty cheap 120mm fans. I just got two that move 77cfm and only 30dB (around there). Way better than the 60-80mm fans I've used.

Thanks for the info PurplePotion. I'm using the fan for circulation in the veg area of a small NGB cabinet. I don't have enough room to position a larger fan without making hurricane force winds on the babies. Fortunately the noise of the fan is quieted when I close the door. I've done business with Newegg, good company.

Pipedream, thanks for the info. I figured I had enough data from the lable but didn't know the equation. Good info for future reference.

 

[57fun]

Here are my sweet ladies :] after 52 days of 12/12 h light.
Strain: Grapefruit Fs

 

[Guest]

Well i've been waiting to post up in here since i read the whole thread and started to follow it from page 195 but i have a problem.I wired my ballast thanks to the DIY from Sugabear II but when it comes on it gets bright and then just dies all of a sudden and it's grounded on the ballast box and the socket box so i'm kinda lost here .I'm wondering if it could be my capacitor which i got from here http://www.hidquickfix.com/cafor150wa.html i don't know wat to think any help would be great.


Edit:I took 2 pix to show wats going on.

 

[ReeferDan]

Update on my Cab!!
First, here is a picture of 1 of the 3 somango in my 150w box that is about 3 days into flower now.


I'll probably take off some of the lower branches as clones to try to keep this one around in case i like her when she's finished.

Here is my janky seed setup! 1 tray, with a heating mat underneath and 2 cfl's hanging above!


There are some hashberry, Sadhu, and core's mongrol poppin there.
The big one is a trainwreck bagseed. (could potentially be a trainwreck x GrandDaddy)

Last is my veg box. These clones/seeds were going slower in the flower box, and it was time for the somango to start flowering because taht sob grows very vigerously!!


Top left corner, grape ape re-veg, waiting to get a little more growth before i attempt to clone from her. Next to her is a Grand Daddy Purple clone, very slow strain in veg, i'll probably let her get to about 9-10" in there before i flower her
Middle row left side, the first Sadhu seed to pop, next is an Afghan Kush bagseed , and another GDP
Bottom row left, Blueberry, probably going in the flower box in a week, and another sister of hers, blueberry clone from MMJ club in SF

In the next couple weeks things should start looking good! By the time most of the plants in the veg box are in the bloom box, they seeds will get cloned and then thrown into the flower box to get sexed, then the males will be tossed and the females will maybe just flower out in the small pots while their clones will grow into new mothers. By the time the flower box is done with its round, all clones turned into mothers should have more clones availible and will be put into the flower box! Extra's will be gifted to some outdoor friends, and possibly taken on a nice guerrilla adventure.

 

[sugabear_II]

Well i've been waiting to post up in here since i read the whole thread and started to follow it from page 195 but i have a problem.I wired my ballast thanks to the DIY from Sugabear II but when it comes on it gets bright and then just dies all of a sudden and it's grounded on the ballast box and the socket box so i'm kinda lost here .I'm wondering if it could be my capacitor which i got from here http://www.hidquickfix.com/cafor150wa.html i don't know wat to think any help would be great.


Edit:I took 2 pix to show wats going on.

weird - haven't heard of that one before - you could try taking the capacitor out and see if it runs w/o it.

-suga

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply sugabear i did that after i had posted and it did the same thing so it has to be the ballast.I sent an email to the company and still no reply.I got my ballast kit from atlaslightingsupply but i really did not want to get it there cause i originally i had ordered from businesslights but after i got my bulbs there was a paper saying it was on back order and it's not listed as so on the site so i had them refund my money.Now i have a ballast that don't work right....the company wont reply and fucked out of my money and the time i waited to collect all my shit

 

[Pipedream]

First off...did the system work properly before you tried the cap?
And, are you sure you have it all wired correctly (especially if your ballast uses a multi-tap transformer)?

Does the bulb reach full brightness?
How long does it run before it cuts out?
Does it run longer when the ballast is cool than it does when its already hot?
Does the bulb try to re-start on its own?
Does it stay lit but dim when it goes off?

Fill in the details if you wish, and I'll tell you what your trouble likely is.

 

[Guest]

First off...did the system work properly before you tried the cap?I don't know i just wired everything at once
And, are you sure you have it all wired correctly (especially if your ballast uses a multi-tap transformer)?Well i followed the diagram so i would think it's correct and no it's not a quad tap

Does the bulb reach full brightness?yes

How long does it run before it cuts out?1:46 sec

Does it run longer when the ballast is cool than it does when its already hot?It never got hot

Does the bulb try to re-start on its own?yes

Does it stay lit but dim when it goes off?yes

Fill in the details if you wish, and I'll tell you what your trouble likely is.

Thanks for your help after u posted i tried all those..funny thing too cause i never let it re-start before.

 

[Pipedream]

While you say everything is "new", you have the classic symptoms of an HPS bulb reaching its "end-of-life" cycle. As HPS bulbs age, they require more voltage to stay lit. Typically, the ballast can supply enough to start them, but as they heat up they need to draw more than the ballast can supply. As a result, they drop their arc till they cool a bit and then re-strike themselves and start the process all over again. The cycle in a low wattage HPS (70-200 watts) is typically under two minutes. The most obvious visual indication of this is often a darkening at the ends of the Sodium tube inside the lamp itself.

One more thought..... a number of years ago, we had the same symptom happen at a clients factory. we replaced the bulb, but it continued...every few minutes it would re-strike. Turned out that there was a large compressor operating on the same line as the lamp. Each time the compressor started up, the motor load was so high on the line that the lamp could not maintain its arc. Same problem, lack of voltage, but a different cause.

Cycling of an HPS lamp is almost always due to insufficient operating voltage, either as a result of whats being supplied or the demands of the bulb itself.

EDIT: I forgot to mention: check to be sure that the ballast and bulb match. 150w HPS are available as both S55 & S56. S55 has on arc voltage of 50 volts where as an S56 has one of 100 volts.

 

[Guest]

Thank you Pipedream as u talk about the bulb i have a mogul bulb and socket on the bulb packet it says LU 150/100...so what i would need is medium base bulb?or something else?I also have 2 of these bulbs so if i can't use them i'm gona be really down more money.


Edit:Just checked businesslights and i have the 100v bulb

 

[Pipedream]

The size of the base really doesn't matter. S55 & S56 are available in both sizes. What you need to match is the operating arc voltage between the bulb and the ballast. Take a good look at the ballast, it should be marked one or the other. As long as the bulb is stamped the same it doesnt matter what size it is. Bulbs are often marked by embossing right on the brass screw cap.

If you have two bulbs that are the same, can I assume you get the same symptom with each of them?