H.I.D. CAR bulbs

[felix2]

Or motorcycle HID kits. There are 50w bulbs and kits available that seem promising, available in 3000k and 6000k, along with other kelvin ratings, but i think they're useless. Just a thought I had for you microgrow guys. I was wondering if any of you have ever thought about it or done it. I was thinking it'd be a good way to get you guys some high intensity light in that little pc case or something. Just mount the bulb and run the ballast somewhere else. Posted this in the main grow forum, but those guys aren't really digging it. Of course it's a little expensive, like around 80-100 bucks for a kit, but that's really a small price to pay. I guess i'm gonna have to experiment...lol

 

[felix2]

gotta add that having one little 50w bulb in that case or cabinet would leave WAY more space instead of having a bunch of CFLs crammed in....which means more bud space!

 

[alphacat]

Something tells me this is obvious enough that if it had merit, someone'd already be touting it. But hey, that shouldn't stop you from trying... fixtures and power adaptation might be a bitch tho.

 

[CaptainStoner]

You can get 25-50w CDM-T bulbs, i've seen 30 or 35 watt ones for sale, as well as 50w bulbs, they're just standard lampage.. and you can get the proper AC ballasts for them too.. no need to fart around adapting 12vdc car electrics to whatever AC you have, which is less efficient anyway because it's a further stage in the circuitry which has its own inefficiencies and power requirement.

 

[ScrubNinja]

My friend just ordered these for another guy to grow with...the guy is off grid so 12v would be great. I'm sceptical that they'd work (well). For one thing, the kit he bought, I looked it up and he seemed to be confused between HID and HPS. For example, mercury vapour lights are pretty much useless for weed right? Well mercury vapour is a HID too.

(From Wikipedia) - Varieties of HID lamp include:

* Mercury vapor lamps
* Metal halide (MH) lamps
* Ceramic MH lamps
* Sodium vapor lamps
* Xenon short-arc lamps.
* Ultra-High Performance (UHP)

 

[niacinamide]

It'll be a better idea to just go with HID lighting meant for architectural applications. The HID lighting in automotive use is really just a modified version of the typical metal halide lamp with the gas fill adjusted for a quicker start up time. The efficiency reduction due to voltage conversion really doesn't make them worthwhile, especially when you need to run multiple ballasts as they only run 35 or 50 watts. The spectrum is also not the best choice for horticultural usage.

A single 100 or 150 watt ceramic metal halide bulb would be a better option, especially if you get it in the smaller ED17 base.

 

[felix2]

hey captain stoner. I've been wanting try out the CMH bulbs anyways. I didn't know they made them so small. Know where i can order a full set up for a 50w CMH? I mean full set up as in pretty much ready to plug in. I just think microgrows are fun as i can test different seeds i have laying around.

Scrubninja, i think i'm getting talked out of trying the HID thing. I guess i'll never be sure if a 6000K xenon HID bulb grows a plant or not. Maybe if i had the pieces laying around, i'd try it out, but i'm thinking it's not worth a try...yet.

Thanks too, niacinamide. I was just thinking of one 50w bulb and ballast, connected to a 12v AC adapter. If anything, i would have thought the voltage conversion would be more efficient since the typical cars power fluctuates quite a bit. maybe i'll try a 150w CMH instead of a 50w.

heres a pic of last time's 150w cfl doing ultra haze #1. great results for a neglected plant...

 

[ScrubNinja]

Scrubninja, i think i'm getting talked out of trying the HID thing. I guess i'll never be sure if a 6000K xenon HID bulb grows a plant or not. Maybe if i had the pieces laying around, i'd try it out, but i'm thinking it's not worth a try...yet.

Probably a wise move methinks. What my pal did was get ones that fit his car so if it doesn't work, at least he'll have some bright ass headlights. I'll let you know if he ever gets em up and working.

Oh and nice plant btw