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How To Remote Ballast a 150W HPS Vapor Tight Light

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BagseedBoy

Member
yeah I was going to ask y you did that?? Shouldn't that type of light just plug right in.. like reefer dan siad it seems like you just extended it... Is that all you were going for, or do you have to wire the light up when you buy it???? I have a sun system 600wt HPS system hood and all I just plug err in... But I got a warehouse style 400wt MH THat came with the bulb, ballast. ballast capasitaTor, and i just take apart the socket from the 600 i got and that works fine... THere is a wire diagram on the ballast so its simple.. I never ran the mh long just wanted to see if it work and it sure did.. I thought when you said remoting a ballast you were hooking a remote to it or something??????? I herd about this thred and got confused cuz i gotta go stealthy and drop to a 150 hps that would of cost me 85$.. you say you got that vapor one for 20$ nice job.. I'm going with your source and it comes with everything but the bulb you said????????
 
Quazi

Quazi

Member
BagseedBoy said:
yeah I was going to ask y you did that?? Shouldn't that type of light just plug right in.. like reefer dan siad it seems like you just extended it... Is that all you were going for, or do you have to wire the light up when you buy it???? I have a sun system 600wt HPS system hood and all I just plug err in... But I got a warehouse style 400wt MH THat came with the bulb, ballast. ballast capasitaTor, and i just take apart the socket from the 600 i got and that works fine... THere is a wire diagram on the ballast so its simple.. I never ran the mh long just wanted to see if it work and it sure did.. I thought when you said remoting a ballast you were hooking a remote to it or something??????? I herd about this thred and got confused cuz i gotta go stealthy and drop to a 150 hps that would of cost me 85$.. you say you got that vapor one for 20$ nice job.. I'm going with your source and it comes with everything but the bulb you said????????
Click to expand...
It's for a micro grow. Extending the wires allows me to have the lamp in the flowering room and the ballast in the electrical room.

When the ballast is separate from the lamp, it's called a "remote ballast." It doesn't have anything to do with a remote control or anything.
:bashhead:

If you purchased a grow lamp, then it probably already came setup with a remote ballast.

You can check out my grow in my signature to see how this particular one is being used.

-Q :rasta:
 
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BagseedBoy

Member
Hey Quazi I need some help with this.... What is the web site for this $20 light??? Is it a security company or a grow company???? After I posted that last one i figured out what the remoting of a ballast ment... I felt like an IDIOT....lol...THanks for the help though.. I really appreciate this.... $20 is better then $85....
 
catman

catman

half cat half man half baked
Veteran
BagseedBoy said:
Hey Quazi I need some help with this.... What is the web site for this $20 light??? Is it a security company or a grow company???? After I posted that last one i figured out what the remoting of a ballast ment... I felt like an IDIOT....lol...THanks for the help though.. I really appreciate this.... $20 is better then $85....
Click to expand...

They website every ordered them from no longer offers them.

The $85 is without a doubt of higher quality, but you'd never be able to tell which plants where grown under a $20 and a $85. The light output is the same.
 
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BagseedBoy

Member
So where can I get the cheapest 150-250 HPS Light set up???? the $85 is from lowes it is a dusk to dawn one that i was going to take apart an use what I need....
 
d4twamp

d4twamp

Member
That sux that they don't offer the 150 hps now...I was wanting to get some to drop down vertical w/ a 1000w HPS overhead...but I'll have to wait so see if they offer them again...Shit I'm sure they are making plenty of money off of these ICMag forums....Offer the HPS again, Please Econolight.com continue to stay the home of the $20 150w HPS....
 
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BigBlack81

Member
I'm just wondering what lamps can be used as a substitute for this tutorial as econo has decided to be turds and not carry the best lamp evar anymore. Bargh.

Any ideas, all?
 
AP KUSH

AP KUSH

Member
Hey Quazi, i love this tutorial, i just recently built my own version of your remote ballasted vaportight 150. I guess it was just in the nick of time too, cause apparently econolight doesnt have them anymore
 
isit4.20yet

isit4.20yet

Member
@ free radical

@ free radical

free radical said:
Could you run 2 150w lights on a cap. like that? Or would it be better to get two caps also? And just curious how much did you pay for your cap?

EDIT- Also more microfarads is better right? I found one on ebay and its 100 uF 370 v ac or 650 dc. Also its oil run, idk if thats bad? Would that do well if I wired both lights to it?
Click to expand...

You use one capacitor per ballast/light. More is not better. Exact (52uF) is best, and a little more/less is ok but don't go over 55uF. We're trying to neutralize the extra current caused by the inductance of the ballast. At the right capacitance it cancels and draws minimum current.

Also, if you are making more than one light, make them separately and put the caps right at each ballast with short leads. Don't try to make one big ballast to run 2 lights because you may want to use them separately at a later date and because i'm not sure that you'd come up with a wiring design to do it effectively. Besides, if you wire 2 lamps in 1 circuit you need to consider what happens when 1 fails. Will it take out the other or worse yet start a fire?

Happy growing. 8)
 
isit4.20yet

isit4.20yet

Member
BigBlack81 said:
Sorry, sirrah. That link don't work. As I said, econo has stopped selling the light altogether. We need an alternate light.
Click to expand...

The cheapest 150w HPS light that e-conolight sells now is this one for $42. It has a reflector in the housing and looks like it would be a simple matter to just remote the ballast, remove the glass and hang the rest of the fixture in your growroom.
 
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