T5 Club... Show Us Your Stuff...

[zachrockbadenof]

Has anybody found a really cheap place to buy the 8 tube fixtures? With or W/O the tubes?

ebay has em for 190/200 bucks.. includes bulbs... and i think the hydrofarm gives a 5 yr warr of the unit (bulbs one year)...

in a tent/small space these t5's are the way to go... altho i have not tried led's as toooo much $$$ at this time...

 

[Nez]

wow nicely done man

 

[ZZTops]

Although, I'm not sure how much difference making a mix helps. I think ZZ did a run with 3 fixtures. One low, one high and one mixed, and I couldn't tell the difference, visually.

Not a true side by side but all three worked very well in bloom. I'm still liking the "Mixed Fixture" (4@3000K & 4@6400K) as it makes more since if your using the same fixture for veg and bloom...

 

[ZZTops]

It's Snowing out side but it's Autumn In Da House...

SS Bubblegum @ 10 Weeks...

 

[TOM BOMBADIL]

will a t5ho bulb work in a regular t5 fixture. at work we recycle office cubicles and they scrap a lot of t5 fixtures. I was thinking of building a 4x4 cabinet with verticle bulbs mounted to the walls every 4" with mylar behind them. ballasts mounted externally.

 

[ZZTops]

Close Up...

 

[noyd666]

very nice there zz.

 

[The_Protege]

oooooohhhh shit! That bubblegum looks dankitidank @ 10 weeks! Well done son!

 

[zachrockbadenof]

zz..lookin good... i espec like the pale leaves... looks like a good...real good.. flush... u growin in soil?? we flush (in soil) for 2+weeks but never get that even pale u r getting

 

[2 Legal Co]

will a t5ho bulb work in a regular t5 fixture. at work we recycle office cubicles and they scrap a lot of t5 fixtures. I was thinking of building a 4x4 cabinet with verticle bulbs mounted to the walls every 4" with mylar behind them. ballasts mounted externally.

Tom;
I'm no expert on the subject. However, from what I see available at the supply houses I'd have to say no.

The ballasts are rated by wattage & matched to the tubes. HO will have a higher wattage on the tubes than the regular tubes from what I can see.

It's possible we can change that to a maybe? The higher wattage tube might 'light', but it's capabilities would be wasted as it would be limited by the available wattage from the ballast.

However the lights they are replacing probably do not have more than 4 tubes in each 2'x4' fixture? So you'd be limiting/lowering the wattage available to the plants.

You could and probably should grab some of them to use for Vegging however.

One could use them in a more vertical manner perhaps for bloom, just using multiple fixtures in some sort of a teepee configuration. I would think that the normal T5 tubes would be the way to go, and they are probably FREE to you as well.... so why not?

If you have the room, hang them in a 'gabled roof' configuration. Something along the lines of 5/12 or 6/12 ought to allow you to grow 4'-5' plants. Let us know how it works. The absolute worst you can do is get a lower yield.

Here's a link to a supply house, so you can see for yourself what the differences are.

http://www.lightingsupply.com/ballasts/fluorescent-ballasts/filter/ballast_voltage/120-volts.aspx

It looks like the 4' fixtures use tube wattages varying from 23 watts to 80 watts. All referred to as T5HO..??.. To know what you have, you need to get the spec/model #s off the ballast and the tubes. If the fixtures are worth it/down the road. You could replace the ballasts & the tubes to increase the wattage/lumens. By the time you get all that done, the $200 8 tube 4' fixture will probably start to look inviting. But if the price is right (i.e. FREE), plus the materials for hangers.... why not?

You could also use them for 'side' lighting. and just grow 2' heads on the plants?

I passed on some a while back on Craig's list. They were 23 watt 4 tube 4' units for mounting in suspended ceilings. Guy wanted $20 each.

I looked at the pictures and the ballasts appeared to be the old magnetic ballasts which create substantially more heat (1 ballast for 2 tubes). 23 watts x 4 = 96 watts covering 2'x4'=8 square feet, is only 12 watts per square foot.....

If you put one on each side of the plant,,, that gives you 24 watts per square foot... still a bit light maybe? Now if you use one on each side and one on top....now you've got something going (23watts x 12tubes=276/8sf=32watts per sq ft. Compared to 54watts 8 tubes @ 54 watts per sf. of the 8 tube fixture....

But now you've got the heat from 6 ballasts to extract,,,, so I'd guess you are entering the realm of heat for HPS,or MH lighting?

As an addition to the 8 tube unit for side lighting ok maybe. But probably only IF they have digital ballasts in them?

Free lighting is always welcome... you just have to figure out the best way to use it.

NOTE; I've edited this sucker several times. So re-read it, and Do check my figures. Bit fuzzy around the edges this morning. lol

 

[CaStoner]

1 week into flowering, just finished supercropping the whole lot.

 

[ZZTops]

zz..lookin good... i espec like the pale leaves... looks like a good...real good.. flush... u growin in soil?? we flush (in soil) for 2+weeks but never get that even pale u r getting

Thanks All...

Zach... I/We/They say flush but I do not run vast amounts of water thru the pot as I grow organic and have no salt build up. I simply stop feeding the plant and run straight tap water...

I stop feeding her at 7 weeks and it took three weeks for her to finish off. Started in the center and work it's way out, had to make three harvest of her over that three week period...

 

[ZZTops]

1 week into flowering, just finished supercropping the whole lot.
View Image

Looking Real Clean...

 

[CaStoner]

Looking Real Clean...

Thanks!, it's going to get very crowded. Nice buds!

 

[zachrockbadenof]

ca stoner.... nice...very nice... waterfarms??? - we have 24 waterfarm buckets, but stopped hydro and went over to soil... could never dial in with hydro... for us at least, much easier with soil...

 

[CaStoner]

Hi Zach, yes waterfarm. I came from soil and made the switch straight to hydro and never looked back, it was like going from dial up to cable modem growth wise and yield. But I could never match the potency and taste from soil. I would give it another go. Try using Maxigrow I'm getting good results.

 

[PetFlora]

One of the many things I love about hydro...

Temps here are crazy up and down. One week it's a steady 65-70, the next high 80s, we hit 91 yesterday. My room is open beam ceiling (no attic/insulation). At 3 pm it was 89* in the room. I went outside and watered the roof, brought it down to 86*, which doesn't sound like much, but it made the room comfortable.

I am in mid flower. When it's 65-70, I feed every 3 hours, when it's 85+, I feed every hour... during lights on of course

 

[CaStoner]

I use to run a 1/15 hp chiller I still have it worked great, modified controller, res the whole bit lines running everywhere was more of a nightmare. I decided to just run them individual easier to move around. I never gotten root rot I just wrapped them a few times with reflectix, seems to keep water temps down.

 

[jPhunk]

This might be a dumb question but one I need to ask. Have you guys seen or know of a difference in all the t5 HO units out there? There's a 4x4 t5 HO with a reflector on eBay for 80 bucks. Then I go to the hydro store and see em being sold up toward 200 dollars. The specs are the same. I know common sense usually says a difference in quality but where? The lumen output? The longevity of the unit? I'd love to pick up a couple of these but don't want my first experience with them being shitty because I went the eBay way. I don't see a brand name on the eBay ones either. Just a pick and the specs. Nice thread by the way and those pics your posting are insane zz. Thanks

 

[zachrockbadenof]

the hydrofarms on the bay are $190/200 for the 8 bulb 4foot units... n they give a 5yr warr on the fixture... the 4 bulb units are cheaper