Cheap MH Lights

[SquekyTuba]

If anyone on here is From the US and is near this location this guy is selling (19) 400w Metal Halide light fixtures for 15 dollars each
http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/mat/2263748801.html

 

[SquekyTuba]

With ballast and lights

 

[Derka]

You know, I frequently see Metal Halides on my local craigslist for 5-25 dollars, and ranging from 100-400 watts.

My only concern is that I recall reading somewhere it isn't safe to run a metal halide without a glass shield of some kind due to.. uv a? b?

Anyone know anything about that?

 

[TruthOrLie]

stolen?

 

[Derka]

No, not stolen. The few that I have picked up for use in my buddies milking barn have come from contractors who had salvaged during upgrades to various warehouses and commercial/industrial buildings. Most corporations are switching over to cf technology, or t8s, anything that reduces their operating costs.

Those of us with green thumbs can delight in recycling materials and getting HID lights for ridiculous prices and a bit of tinker time. My concern is using them for something other then their intended purpose. Many that I have seen are sort of bell shaped, great for throwing light 10+ feet in a large area, but not so great for focusing it evenly close up like we want.

My thoughts are if I can salvage a functioning ballast, socket, bulb, and possibly some kind of crappy reflector, while ditching the housing, would totally be worth 5-10-15-20 bucks.

I am just unsure of what kind of shielding a metal halide bulb requires.. my experience thus far has been only cfl/pl/hps.

 

[hazydreams]

be careful with used parts. they can and will effect your total yeild. depending on the hours on the capacitor and ballast will determine if they are producing the optimal lumen output.

I used a 8 year old 400 MH ballast i had laying around for my micro grow and ended up chasing my tail for 5 harvest trying to figure out what the hell was wrong because it wasnt producing like it should. changed the ballast out and was amazed at the difference in growth and production.

to summerize. i would buy them to use as veg lights only.

 

[danks]

here is a tip eye iwasaki meal halide is 30 dollars for 1000w mh and is identical to eye hortilux 1000 w mh if you doubt me go to technical bulletin for both bulbs a compare wavelengths and cri and lumens ,4200k, identical

 

[danks]

o ya the hortilux box makes it 80 dollars bwahahahhahahahha

 

[Derka]

But to the original question.. is it safe to use a metal halide bulb bare?

 

[danks]

their horti blue thats $240 is half the price ajajajjajajaja christmas came early for yall about time hortilux went out of business jajaajjajajajjajaja there is one exemption the 1000w hps has 6000 more means lumens 26 cri instead of 25 same kelvin rating cost almost twice as much. the 6000 lumens is a little more blue but if you know what ur doing you can stack a 1000w metal every 2 hps, saving this much money means you canbuy new bulbs every turn. felt generaous today ;-)

 

[danks]

yes its safe lol if not why would warehouses and costco have like 200 400w metal halides with no protection. any bulb can burst so i would suggest when working near them to use glasses or shades

 

[danks]

o ya the bulbs last about a year lol with no change in weight

 

[Derka]

My point is, they do have a shield on them in their initial configuration.

A big part of a successful grow is thermal management, by removing the ballast and ditching the tall bell shaped housing of the light, and just using the bulb, ballast, socket, and the internal reflector (minus the glass shield).

Is that glass shield necessary for protection, or does it provide some kind of uv filtering?

 

[Hydrofarm420]

I understand what your asking man, not whether or not hortilux is a rip off, but whether ANY metal halide is safe with out a glass filter. I encourage anyone who thinks they are safe to lay down for 10 minutes under any unshielded HID. If you are stupid enough to try this you will get up sun burned. In warehouse settings, at least in my area building code dictates that UV filters MUST be installed on HID or any other light source that radiates potentially harmfaul UV Light. Not to mention that HID's discharge superheated quartz particles unless they have glass shielding to prevent them from leaving the fixture. Short answer they are no safer than the lights you currently use. I know that for 20 bucks you cannot possibly be getting a reliable lamp. If its 5 years old it'll probably fail shortly anyways. If not, consider why a company would offload a "perfectly good" ballast for a retarded amount of money. All I know is, im all for saving as much as possible to grow what you love, but I also know that You dont always get what you pay for, but you NEVER get what you dont pay for. Bottom line invest well in your grow and it will return well ofr you.

 

[GrinStick]

are you asking if it is safe for you?
you're not going to get too much exposure from uv-a
uv-b unless you spend much time in the light.
people strive for tans in the full-on sunshine without much trouble, a relatively short exposure in the growroom will not get you one. if you're worried about it, wear sunglasses
and long sleeves, or get a reflector with glass.
safety is in recognizing dangerous situations and avoiding them, not in making dangerous perceptions.

 

[hazydreams]

i think you are refering to the ETL jacket on the bulb itself. The bulb has to have the special glass so that if it ruptures it doesn't spew toxic amounts of mercury all over your home/shop/street/grow room. im pretty sure that is what you are refering too.

 

[Hydrofarm420]

Lol I should take a pic of my forehead before i go into my room then after i come out...Its funny as hell but it burns the piss out of my head bo. When I put the glass Which when held up to the light obviously has some kind of shielding in it i stopped getting burned. And it looks pretty similar to if I go to the beach and sit on the sand for an hour with out sunscreen. Oh hell thats what everyone should do, put on sunscreen before you work on your plants lol. Im down...

 

[Derka]

The glass shield, that provides a barrier between the bulb and the rest of the world. Its there for uv shielding, is there any benefit to the plants in removing it.. or is it really a necessity? That is one configuration I have seen frequently on craigslist, the other is bell shaped and I can't believe a ballast is bad after 5 years. Many of these fixtures run reliably in buildings all around the world for 15 years+

A new bulb I can accept, perhaps replacing the igniter or capacitor, but the ballast just being bad?

What is the critical difference between an advance ballast used in commercial lighting, and the advance ballasts used by any one of countless budget hid light providers?

 

[SquekyTuba]

Ive decided to stay away from HPS and MH. For my first grow i will grow 4 plants with 420 watts of CFLs with 28000 lumens. I will go 12/12 from seed. The lights should arrive today and then all i need to wait for is my seed. Aurora indica

 

[Hydrofarm420]

look at warranty periods my friend. Its rare to find more than 5 year warranty on anything HID related. That tells me that the manufacturer is not confident in the units ability to function after that period. Not to say they wont as some ballasts will probably last for 20 years. And as far as problematic for the plants to remove the glass...absolutely not harmful. Its only harmful to you but your plants will see no negative effects. Also I've watched 3 lumatek ballasts fail after 6 months but it doesnt scare me off from lumatek, just that I know that electrical technology can fail at any time for any reason. Why most automotive electrical parts dont even come with a warranty. Do what makes your plants happy as long as you dont harm yourself or others bud. peace yalls.