Inside Out Trees, Silo Op, custom RDWC, water cooled

[Ttystikk]

Guess we know why they were so cheap! Lol... Keep me updated on the return/replacement. If it works out I may drop a bill on a case as well.

Shit happens, I don't think this can be blamed on the seller. They're light bulbs- and fragile at that. I have tried to contact him once and got no response. I will try again, I may not have used the proper channel. I'm an eBay noob, maybe the last one, lol

The ones that survived initial startup are all running fine and their light output looks fantastic compared to HPS. The plants agree; one plant that is on an HPS Silo but near its CDM lit neighbor is actually displaying preferential phototropism towards the new tech- and this isn't about old bulbs; no HPS in my op has more than two weeks on it; I just replaced them all in mid June.

Color Rendering Index is said to be 93, and it shows; the plants display their full colors in this light! I hope it also shows up in increased growth and resin production.

 

[nr nodes]

Are you air-cooling the 860s or running bare?

 

[Ttystikk]

Are you air-cooling the 860s or running bare?

Bare vertical, the bulb requires vertical orientation. The less glass between filament and foliage, the better. My heat load did not appreciably increase when I chucked my hoods. In all cases, heat load remained about the same, which begs the question of why bother?

One thing that changed big time was how much trellis one bare bulb could cover. Reflectors just seem like a terrible solution to a problem with an obvious answer, and getting rid of them has paid enormous dividends.

The best reflector is no reflector.

 

[LSWM]

So my plants are already way too tall and I'm thinking about putting in some wire trellis like your silos, but I simply cannot figure out how to get the plants on the outside without shrinking the circle. The trays are currently 4x4 and I'd like the trellis to be the same. I could put the tellis on the outside but then doing work will be very difficult, if I go the outside route again I will make my own so I have easy access to the plants.

Any magic ideas? I've got some pics of the plants and the room over in my thread if it helps.

 

[Ttystikk]

So my plants are already way too tall and I'm thinking about putting in some wire trellis like your silos, but I simply cannot figure out how to get the plants on the outside without shrinking the circle. The trays are currently 4x4 and I'd like the trellis to be the same. I could put the tellis on the outside but then doing work will be very difficult, if I go the outside route again I will make my own so I have easy access to the plants.

Any magic ideas? I've got some pics of the plants and the room over in my thread if it helps.

I have trouble navigating this site on my mobile. If you could post a link to your thread here I'll go have a look. I enjoy seeing other people's grows, they give me ideas too!

I built my setup from the beginning around the idea of keeping the stems on the outside of the trellis. That meant that the holes in the tub lids for the netpots was cut at the end, to give extra room. Clearly, you won't have a lot of flexibility with an ebb n flood table.

I've found the plants are pretty flexible, if you trary them gently they'll bend quite a bit for you.

 

[LSWM]

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=286909&page=6

Post #84 shows the plants and the room, no trays yet.

And it will be dtw coco not ebb and flo but still with trays. Gotta catch runoff somehow.

 

[Ttystikk]

Okay, for those just joining this thread, I'm maybe ten days into the CDM 860W experiment, where I'm growing Super Silos head to head in an HPS vs CDM DEATH MATCH!

One early issue is that I can't really separate two silos in one room, so plants get light from the other spectrum. This is one more variable I don't know how to control for, so I'm going to build a separate room lit only by new HPS thouies, mostly digital.

It's almost done. I don't believe in waiting around.

 

[Ttystikk]

LOL- you know the old saying about life and plans, right? Soooo, rather than doing it half assed, I'm just going to do separate rooms on a head to head. One room is fully CDM, and I'll reset the other with fresh HPS lights.

The HPS room will run with not one, but two advantages; first, they get their full thousand watts apiece, vs the 860W CDM. Second, three of the HPS lamps will be on digital ballasts with their supposed advantages- and one of those is even a Lunatic with overboost. Thus, the CDM's spectrum will need to be decisive. On the other hand, tie goes to CDM.

The other room needs a bit to get ready, it'll be up and running shortly.

 

[LSWM]

Can't wait to see the results!

 

[Mister_D]

Ya know I was just thinking the other day I wish someone would do this exact comparison, and bam here it is

 

[Ttystikk]

Keep on building, building, building, just keep building, building, building...

 

[Ttystikk]

How does one get a part for an AC unit without calling a tech and paying an exorbitant rate?? I tried to cross reference a capacitor, but the local electronics supply house refused the business.

 

[2 Legal Co]

There's an appliance repair parts house on south Federal that I've used in the past. Just north of 285/Hampden. So 2500-3000 S Federal.

Good folks.

Last thing I got from them was a blower motor for my residential HVAC, or maybe a flame sensor. Wish I had a memory. lol

 

[Ttystikk]

There's an appliance repair parts house on south Federal that I've used in the past. Just north of 285/Hampden. So 2500-3000 S Federal.

Good folks.

Last thing I got from them was a blower motor for my residential HVAC, or maybe a flame sensor. Wish I had a memory. lol

Thanks for the heads up. Got it covered for now, but there is always a next time.

 

[LSWM]

Any update on the broken/bad bulbs? I still am curious about running them. I have two bad ballasts sitting around I could just take out the ignitor and add the proper capacitor for MH.

 

[Jhhnn]

Any update on the broken/bad bulbs? I still am curious about running them. I have two bad ballasts sitting around I could just take out the ignitor and add the proper capacitor for MH.

The capacitor values are so close that it doesn't matter much- 26 uf vs 24 uf. The usual switchable ballasts only have 1 cap, 26 uf. There are ballasts that switch capacitors, iirc, but they're rare.

If it fires a probe start MH or CMH but not a HPS the ignitor is bad.

If it fires neither, the capacitor is probably bad.

Transformer failure is rare.

Capacitors deteriorate over time. It's easy to test using the power factor reading on a kill-a-watt meter which should be .97-.98. with a new bulb fully warmed up.

Good article-

http://www.parsource.com/resources/articles/correcting-problems-hps-lamps

 

[Jhhnn]

Okay, for those just joining this thread, I'm maybe ten days into the CDM 860W experiment, where I'm growing Super Silos head to head in an HPS vs CDM DEATH MATCH!

One early issue is that I can't really separate two silos in one room, so plants get light from the other spectrum. This is one more variable I don't know how to control for, so I'm going to build a separate room lit only by new HPS thouies, mostly digital.

It's almost done. I don't believe in waiting around.

Looking forward to it. The way you're dialed in, a fair comparison should result. Your water cooling/ dehumidifying methods are excellent.

 

[LSWM]

The capacitor values are so close that it doesn't matter much- 26 uf vs 24 uf. The usual switchable ballasts only have 1 cap 26 uf. There are ballasts that switch capacitors, iirc, but they're rare.

If it fires a probe start MH or CMH but not a HPS the ignitor is bad.

If it fires neither, capacitor is probably bad.

Transformer failure is rare.

Capacitors deteriorate over time. It's easy to test using the power factor reading on a kill-a-watt meter which should be .97-.98. with a new bulb fully warmed up.

Good article-

http://www.parsource.com/resources/articles/correcting-problems-hps-lamps

Funny you mention they normally dont switch caps, I just picked up two new ballasts that have a switch for hps/mh. I assume they just switch off the ignitor. It specifies some #s about relamping specifically for mh or HPS, no idea what that means...

I have a 1k that fires the bulb but then it flickers and makes a burning smell. I have a 600 that hasnt stopped working but is old as time, and it started making a burning smell as well. i got it from a friend who got it from a swap meet... I dont have mh bulbs for either. My plan was to just tear the ignitor and cap out of both and throw in the proper one for this 860.

 

[Jhhnn]

Funny you mention they normally dont switch caps, I just picked up two new ballasts that have a switch for hps/mh. I assume they just switch off the ignitor. It specifies some #s about relamping specifically for mh or HPS, no idea what that means...

I have a 1k that fires the bulb but then it flickers and makes a burning smell. I have a 600 that hasnt stopped working but is old as time, and it started making a burning smell as well. i got it from a friend who got it from a swap meet... I dont have mh bulbs for either. My plan was to just tear the ignitor and cap out of both and throw in the proper one for this 860.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=55127&pictureid=1294870View Image

You are correct that switchable ballasts generally just disconnect the ignitor for MH operation. I remember reading about ballasts that also switch capacitors for MH vs HPS operation. I've never seen one in person, but it's entirely do-able if not of much benefit.

Your 600w ballast shouldn't be used w/ an 860 lamp even if you disconnect the ignitor.

Your 1000w ballast has a good ignitor if it fires a HPS lamp. It could suffer from several different issues according to your description, even something as simple as a loose connection or worn out receptacle for either the lamp or power cord. Be sure to test it with known good lamp/cords/socket in any case.

 

[LSWM]

Your 600w ballast shouldn't be used w/ an 860 lamp even if you disconnect the ignitor.

Your 1000w ballast has a good ignitor if it fires a HPS lamp. It could suffer from several different issues according to your description, even something as simple as a loose connection or worn out receptacle for either the lamp or power cord. Be sure to test it with known good lamp/cords/socket in any case.

Wow, I guess I completely overlooked the fact that they have separate transformers.

I opened up the 1k and it had a gaggle of wires bundled in it. I think just replacing the wire may do the trick. I definitely tried different plug/socket combos. I figured just replacing the caps on them would relatively cheap and would increase light output and efficiency.

Sorry for hijacking the thread Ttystikk