Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

[EdIsOnnOsIdE]

will this ss10 fire the 400w cmh? Anyone have experience running this ballast with the phillips cmh?
http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/400w-hps-ss10-remote-ballast-p-1384.html

Just received ss10 ballast / ss2 hood / 400w horiz bulb. The bulb is fired up for about an hour now and doing good. took maybe 5 minutes tops to reach full brightness. I asked this question originally because i spent a few nights going through all the jargon on here. Looking for some encouragement on the ss10 purchase. Im glad i did. I knew this ballast would fire it. I was confused about the ballast to bulb distance. It must be the wire it yourself ballasts that i was reading about. None the less i am looking forward to showing off what this bulb does for me. Ed

 

[Geoffrey Boycot]

Just received ss10 ballast / ss2 hood / 400w horiz bulb. The bulb is fired up for about an hour now and doing good. took maybe 5 minutes tops to reach full brightness. I asked this question originally because i spent a few nights going through all the jargon on here. Looking for some encouragement on the ss10 purchase. Im glad i did. I knew this ballast would fire it. I was confused about the ballast to bulb distance. It must be the wire it yourself ballasts that i was reading about. None the less i am looking forward to showing off what this bulb does for me. Ed

great job ed. very similar purchase to the one i'm considering. how does the 400 CMH fit the SS2? my 600w bulbs favour one side in my ss2's so i imagine the 400 even more so? look forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

[!!!]

Fuck advancedtechlighting.com Site ripped me off.

He sent me the wrong order and then ignored my emails. It has been 3-4 weeks now. On the phone I get his voicemail 24/7. Appears like this "business" is run by a lazy (or maybe just very busy) guy from his basement.

Ended up wasting a few weeks of my time and about $200. I'll stick to reputable companies that I can reach by phone.

 

[MrBomDiggitty]

where does advancedtechlighting.com get the bulbs from anyway?

 

[FlyinHawaiian]

Fuck advancedtechlighting.com Site ripped me off.

He sent me the wrong order and then ignored my emails. It has been 3-4 weeks now. On the phone I get his voicemail 24/7. Appears like this "business" is run by a lazy (or maybe just very busy) guy from his basement.

Ended up wasting a few weeks of my time and about $200. I'll stick to reputable companies that I can reach by phone.

im not too happy with advancedtechlighting either right now, I placed an order almost 4 weeks ago, the tracking # they gave me is either invalid or they haven't even shipped the package yet.
I've been trying to contact them for over a week now, I sent emails to all of their email addresses numerous times, tried calling a couple times, no answer. needless to say I wont be using them again either.
If you run a buisness you can't just ignore customers.

 

[MEnSouRdeeZ]

I ordered 5 bulbs for less than $40 each total from the ebay guy, sent me valid tracking same day I paid (which means he shipped same day) and tested the bulbs before he shipped cheap shipping too

http://shop.ebay.com/research_lighting/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340

 

[MrBomDiggitty]

y'all don't think mr.advancedtechlighting cant check out ICmag forums? Giving out a lot of info about your order makes it easy to figure out which customer you are.

 

[stonedar]

went to my local electrical supply store ordered 4 250w cmh bulbs. he hadn't heard of them but had no trouble getting them. $37 each in store pick up no s&h.

write the phillips product code for the bulb you want down on some paper (old school, I know.) open a local phone book, they still work for real. look up electrical supply, call them or walk in. it's what they do all day long, ordering electrical shit. trust me they can get either 400 or 250. remember it's a phillips bulb (brand name) and it's made to light a warehouse (won't think you are growing weed.) the guy in the store won't bat an eye he'll just get you the bulb. so like unless you live in sheep and goat country backwoods, usa there will be a local electrical supply near you within a 40 minute drive anywhere in the usa that can sell you a freaking PHILLIPS light bulb they are not rare or for horticulture. just walk in and order some bulbs. thank you have a nice day.

phillips product codes
250 Watt Horizontal CDM250S50/HOR/4K/ALTO
400 Watt Horizontal CDM400S51/HOR/4K/ALTO

250 Watt Vertical CDM250S50/V/O/4K/ALTO
400 Watt Vertical CDM400S51/V/O/4K/ALTO

 

[SweetIndica2]

Do Xtrasun 400W HPS ballasts work fine with CMH Bulbs? I Found a sit that has them for only $110 so i will probably pick one up and put a CMH bulb in it to supplement my 1000W. I figure i will use the 1000W w/ SolarMax Veg MH Conversion Bulb + 400W CMH for Vegging and the 1000W w/ EYE Hortilux Super HPS + 400W CMH For Flowering.

What is the cheapest/best place to buy the 400W CMH Bulbs? I know most people seem to prefer advancedtech but i figured i would make sure.

 

[FlyinHawaiian]

y'all don't think mr.advancedtechlighting cant check out ICmag forums? Giving out a lot of info about your order makes it easy to figure out which customer you are.

so what are you saying? the man doesn't even have time to respond to emails let alone browse icmag, and even If he did read my post, what could he do? send me an email?

 

[DaftBud]

How far does a CMH bulb need to be away from the plant top?

 

[Maj.Cottonmouth]

I have run at about 6" but I usually keep mine about 8" unless I am trying to get a bigger footprint during veg and then it is about 18" to 20". The White Castle I grew was fine at 6" but the Northern lights was burned at 8" so it does seem somewhat strain dependent.

 

[DaftBud]

Thanks very much, Major. BTW, Venture Bros. fucking rules.

Another question: Using CMH lights in a space with the dimensions below, what's the highest possible yield of dried bud you guys think I could get?

33" (114.3cm) high x 30" (76.2cm) wide x 22in (55.8cm) deep

You all are infinitely wiser about these things than I am at this point and I'm just trying to work out the logistics of the cabinet I have in mind before building it.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Vertical lighting gives you the largest possible footprint.
In my cab that has a 23" x 18" x 5ft tall area, I can grow 1/4 lb with my eyes shut. Paying attention I can yield 1/2 lb easy. I use a 400CMH and a 150HPS in a vertical cool tube. I am shooting for a lb out of a single cab run...but I can't smoke that much and I don't sell weed, so it is no biggie to me.
My plants can get right up close to the glass. If the fan is on them they can touch the glass with no burning. (in real inches they are probably within about 1.5-2 inches of the bulb glass)

Cabs and micros need to be dialed in to produce the best possible yields.
My cabs first run gave me about 3 ounces and I though I had it hooked. lol...

Just a random thought...if I were to sell weed, I could easily pay my mortgage with nothing else. My lovely female unit aint down with it...so I still work. lol....

 

[DaftBud]

COOL fucking beans, man. A pound is just a little more than I was hoping to yield, but at least it's within reach.

Answer much appreciated. In fact, it alone turns out to have been enough to make me COMPLETELY rethink my cab design. You wouldn't happen to have a thread devoted to the design and building of your cab, would you? If you don't, would it be too much trouble to ask for a quick explanation or a drawing?

 

[hoosierdaddy]

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=84904

 

[DaftBud]

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to hoosierdaddy again."

 

[Bass Akwards]

Back to the Get-Go ...

Back to the Get-Go ...

We haven't seen any discussion ( recently ) of the tech issues raised in the very first post of this thread.

"These lamps were designed as a retrofit for industrial lighting fixtures that have a standard 3' ignitor. this means the ignitor was designed to strike/start a HPS (easy to start) up to 3' of wire away from the ignitor. Most of the off of the shelf Hydro shop ballasts are using just that and getting away with it."


None of the ballasts we've seen advertised have wires that short from the ballast to the socket. Short, stout, wires might be available, but most "kit" package ads feature longer wires as a benefit. ( probably because of the heat issues with other HID's )

It's unclear what was meant by "getting away with it". Does it mean that Hydro-shops are "getting away with" using longer wires? Something else?

Wouldn't it make sense to shop for an Industrial fixture in the first place? They must be available, and couldn't be harder to assemble & wire than the absurd "ballast kits" ( posed on cardboard ) in the "advancetechlighting" website.

"The less expensive ballasts use cheap components and switchables should be outlawed in my view. As the switchables go, they put a switch in the ignitor circuit. Most of those switches are not 5kv pulse rated or even 600v rated as they should be at a minimum."


Since Philips CMH bulbs don't require a pulse start ballast, why should the switches be pulse-rated? Is it just a heavier-duty switch, or something else? Why 600 volt rated?

"If you are going to use these bulbs you need to understand that they require (for best reliability) a high quality ballast kit (that will generally provide a high quality ignitor) i.e.. Advance, Venture, Sylvania, Sola(o.k.) and such with high quality STRANDED 600v rated 16ga - 14ga wire between the ignitor (ballast box) and the socket."

OK ... for best results, i.e. to mfg. designed parameters, use a quality ballast/ ( and heavy wire ... how long? ) So, which readily available models make the cut? There are only a handful of options out there for 400 Watt HPS magnetic ballasts. Since they're intrinsically heavy, shipping is a big concern if not locally available.

"You should also use 5kv pulse rated connectors and always ground your hood/reflector (safety)."

How can you tell if a cord set or ballast kit, or socket/reflector, has "5kv pulse-rated connectors"? Again, ... why? Is it a heavier duty component, or what?

As for grounding the reflector, ... would a length of lamp-cord from the reflector to a water pipe be sufficient? If not, what gauge wire should be used?

 

[Megas]

Alright I've been following this thread for a long time and it has raised many questions and confused me more times than I can count.
So to try and fix this once and for all I hope you guys who know your stuff can just hammer out this stuff easily as possible.

Okay So!
1, What is the deal with some cmh's not fitting in sockets? To me this seems nuts.
2, If you buy a magnetic coil 400w HPS ballast a 400w cmh should work in it correct?
3, If you do buy a magnetic coil 400w HPS like a sun systems do you need to buy a conversion kit?
4, If so is there any ballasts/ set-ups that do not need a conversion kit? I rather just have something straight forward so I don't burn my house down.
5, There has been a number of grows completed now we should have been able to figure out the g/kw ratio. We know it uses a higher spectrum but when it comes down to harvest what is a 400w cmh comparible to w/ hps?
6, Where are the best places to buy everything for this setup? I've seen a number of places now. From whatI have read Philips bulbs are best would they have any problems fitting into a sunsystems setup?
7, If I bought a sun systems ballast 400w, does it come with the cord that attaches to the bulb or would a sun systems relector have the socket/ mount and the ballast plugs into that?
8, have many people converted back to HPS? Why do people flower with hps then move to cmh? If its a broader spectrum wouldn't it be better/ just as good?

I think thats it for now, I've gotten myself really confused and some of the links throughout this thread no longer work so I couldn't see more of what the poster was talking about.

 

[EdIsOnnOsIdE]

great job ed. very similar purchase to the one i'm considering. how does the 400 CMH fit the SS2? my 600w bulbs favour one side in my ss2's so i imagine the 400 even more so? look forward to seeing what you come up with.

It fit into the socket with no problems or grease. The size....lol. When it is installed the tip of the bulb is at the middle point of the ss2. Maybe in the future i will rig 2 bulbs in one of these reflectors. I would upload a pic but the filesize was too big for one picture? Im still working on my picture pages......