150w hps

[seedlingstarter]

Ok guys so i have this mini cab that im in the middle of setting up i wanna go with a 150w hps. Now the thing is i do not know how to the ballast together i saw them on 1000bulbs.com and it looks like it will be confusing. So I wanna know if anybody can show me a way to hook it up or does anyone know if they can be bought self ballasted?

 

[Bionic]

They sell it with the ballast built into the reflector.

 

[seedlingstarter]

I have seen this but that reflector will take up alot of space in my cab its about 18 inches in height

 

[usblues420]

your probably going to want a remote ballast so you can place the ballast outside of the grow area, an attached ballast is just going to make your space hotter and your going to have to add more ventalation

 

[seedlingstarter]

yea i was thinking the same thing. As for a remote ballast do they make noise an if so are they loud? And how do i go about wiring the remote ballast, is it hard?

 

[IwannatokeNbone]

htg garden supply, 69$ for a hps kit.

 

[seedlingstarter]

Also i was wondering if a 150w hps compared to a 150w cfl bulb using the same wattage.. since the hps is running off a ballast does this means it uses more watts than a cfl? anyway im gonna get the hps this week i just hope its not a over kill for my cab. here is what my cab looks like its be side a 17 inch tower an its about 18 inches dont know the exact dimensions though, any ideas on a 150w hps going in there being to hot?

 

[MMJcali]

buy a 150watt security light from econolight.com and wire a remote ballast following the instructions in (i believe it was) sugabear's tek.

I did it that way, no noise, sits outside of the box, 100% effective and under $50.

but be careful!!!

 

[MMJcali]

also, watt for watt, hps throws more light than cfl.

ie, 150 watt cfl puts out less lumens than 150watt hps

both use same amnt of electricity.

hps will get a lot hotter.

 

[moonquasar]

^That doesn't make sense to me.
If HPS puts out more light than the CFL, where does the wasted energy from the CFL go? It goes into heat. Without having taken measurements, I do conjecture that a 150Watt CFL(which has a built in ballast BTW) will heat the cab more than a 150Watt HPS with or without a remote ballast.

 

[seedlingstarter]

so @ Mmjcali your saying it would be better with going with a 150w hps floodlight rather than the 150w hps kit? And then wiring it to be hooked up is easy right? So the ballast it self doesn't use any watts? like say the hps is 150w then the ballast is using 10watts so it would be like 160watts to run it? or doesn't a ballast use watts i'm not sure. See when i read how big the reflector to the kit was my first idea was to take the hps out of the reflector cause if i would put the whole thing in my cab it would take height away from my grow area.

 

[Sir_Stickybuds]

You can get super cheap 150 ballast kits at businesslights.com, they are simple to wire up and sometimes already come 75% wired

 

[MMJcali]

^That doesn't make sense to me.
If HPS puts out more light than the CFL, where does the wasted energy from the CFL go? It goes into heat. Without having taken measurements, I do conjecture that a 150Watt CFL(which has a built in ballast BTW) will heat the cab more than a 150Watt HPS with or without a remote ballast.

theoretically you may be right, but ive used both in my space and the cfl was cooler but didnt read as high in footcandles...now I have my HPS in a cooltube, best of both worlds.

so @ Mmjcali your saying it would be better with going with a 150w hps floodlight rather than the 150w hps kit? And then wiring it to be hooked up is easy right? So the ballast it self doesn't use any watts? like say the hps is 150w then the ballast is using 10watts so it would be like 160watts to run it? or doesn't a ballast use watts i'm not sure. See when i read how big the reflector to the kit was my first idea was to take the hps out of the reflector cause if i would put the whole thing in my cab it would take height away from my grow area.

youre thinking into this a bit too much, bud. look at it this way; the ballast is what powers the lightbulb. in the security floods, what you would do is take it apart, assemble the ballast pieces in a metal electrical box, then wire those with an orange extension cord to the bulb. All you gotta do is feed that wire into the cab; you can keep the ballast outside and the bulb inside as long as theyre connected with that orange cord. You can then rig up a cooltube like I did, or come up with other clever ways to reduce the heat. do some searching and you can find step by step instructions on how to do this, like I said before, it was written up by a member named Sugarbear (i think. its been a while)

good luck and most of all have fun with it!! the learning is the best part...you'll find as you gain experience the beginning years and respective failures were the most fun...so enjoy it while you can!!

 

[MMJcali]

eh never mind, did the search for you.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=36344

fyi the diy linkorama is the best resource for a beginner: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=40637

 

[IwannatokeNbone]

ill say it again, there 70 bucks brand dam new, why build one, why source parts, 70 bucks n done.

 

[FreezerBoy]

I can think of several reasons to build your own and not overspend on things you don't need.

HTGsupply used to have a PDF of the finest hookup instructions I've ever seen. Unfortunately, it seems to only exist now as a jpg...

 

[iowswift73]

hello from the uk,im using 150w hps they are called minimax 150,i was asked to try this 2years ago and to be fair i think there great.not sure if you could use these in the us,they only use 0.6amp,ive used 4 before in sj dr 2.4mx1.2mx20m tent split with 600w lumteck ballast in the other and could'nt really tell the dif,my new tent turned up friday,and went to set up today with 2 poles missing gutted.lol.am going to try 8 in a3mx1.5mx2m tent with 8 plants and give them 1 light each.same watts but but even spread of light.also summer is finally here

 

[e_24]

look on the CL (craigslist) for 150w hps. i got 8, yes 8, for 100. only two needed new bulbs.

 

[txskunk]

Hidhut is having a sale on lighting right now. 250w hps/mh digital ballast for $70 and 150w hps for 60. They also have full kits with reflector and cooling tubes that seem pretty decent. After pricing out the cost for making my own cooling tube, reflector, buying mh and hps bulbs the lighting kits they have seemed like a good deal. I personally went for this deal:

http://www.hidhut.com/catalog/250w-...lb-and-glass-tube-reflector-combo-p-2297.html

It includes:
250W HPS/MH 120/240V Digital Smart Ballast
250W HPS Enhanced Spectrum Bulb (for the flowering cycle)
250W MH Enhanced Spectrum Bulb (4000 Kelvin for vegetative plant growth)
Glass Tube Reflector

I am not affiliated with hidhut in any way.

 

[IwannatokeNbone]

prob better to drive around, or order parts with sep shipping cost from multiple places, and build one, rather then spend an extra 20 bucks over the time, parts n labour that will end up costing u more then the 20 extra bucks to just buy one complete.