converting a home security light into a remote ballast grow light (the OG FAQ)

ReeferDan · Oct 4, 2007

No specific reason, i opened everything up and wired it up black to black white to white and i grounded everything. Put on the caps and electrical taped everything and that sucker fired right up! Thanks for the help suga! I just wanted to make sure it wasnt harder than i thought it was.

One thing to add. I used the "vapor tight" $20 150w hps from e-conolights.com and i was able to use pieces of that for my ballast box so it actually saved me more money, because i didnt have to get a project box from home depot. I just drilled a bunch of holes in the case to aid in cooling.

Here's a link. http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EProductDetail.asp?ProductFamilyID=7&FGNumber=E-MT6H151G
Pretty cheap all i had to do was buy 2 8ft extension cords (~$10) and i have a nice remote ballast'd 150 w hps light to grow with. Now i get to wire up the second one tonight and hope i dont do things differently!

sugabear_II · Oct 5, 2007

ReeferDan said:
No specific reason, i opened everything up and wired it up black to black white to white and i grounded everything. Put on the caps and electrical taped everything and that sucker fired right up! Thanks for the help suga! I just wanted to make sure it wasnt harder than i thought it was.

One thing to add. I used the "vapor tight" $20 150w hps from e-conolights.com and i was able to use pieces of that for my ballast box so it actually saved me more money, because i didnt have to get a project box from home depot. I just drilled a bunch of holes in the case to aid in cooling.

Here's a link. http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EProductDetail.asp?ProductFamilyID=7&FGNumber=E-MT6H151G
Pretty cheap all i had to do was buy 2 8ft extension cords (~$10) and i have a nice remote ballast'd 150 w hps light to grow with. Now i get to wire up the second one tonight and hope i dont do things differently!

awesome - did the $20 light include a lamp (bulb) as well?

If it does that would be just an amazing deal - as the lamps (bulbs) are usually around $20 each.

ReeferDan · Oct 5, 2007

yup it came with a bulb. An extra 150w hps from e-conolight was only like $6 i believe. I ordered one extra with my two lamps, just in case.

Drewpdog · Nov 1, 2007

i ordered the same light and 2 bulbs all for like 42 dollars shipped and it was on my door step in less then 48 hours. But i actualy have some electrical questions......

1. The internal wiring is nickel or steel its silver colored... and my cord was a close out from sears thats supposed to be a replacement appliance cord. Any ways it already came with the female end off and the tips precut for 4 dollars but its all copper wire. is there anything special i have to do to connect copper to nickel.

2. The ballast is too thick to fit in my project box. Would anything bad happen if i left just the ballast out side of the box but had the ignitor and the wire ends inside the box?

sugabear_II · Nov 1, 2007

Drewpdog said:
i ordered the same light and 2 bulbs all for like 42 dollars shipped and it was on my door step in less then 48 hours. But i actualy have some electrical questions......

1. The internal wiring is nickel or steel its silver colored... and my cord was a close out from sears thats supposed to be a replacement appliance cord. Any ways it already came with the female end off and the tips precut for 4 dollars but its all copper wire. is there anything special i have to do to connect copper to nickel.

shouldn't be a problem - just use some wire nuts and abrade them with sand paper if they're heavily corroded.

Drewpdog said:
2. The ballast is too thick to fit in my project box. Would anything bad happen if i left just the ballast out side of the box but had the ignitor and the wire ends inside the box?

define bad?
- can you touch the ballast when the lamp is running without being electrocuted - yes
- can something fall into/onto the ballast and create a short or a fire - maybe someday

maybe get a bigger box? another option is to recycle the ballast box from the lamp as I have seen people do.

Drewpdog · Nov 1, 2007

i did it like reefer dan and drilled out the case it came with it actualy worked out realy nice. I cut off a 2 foot section of the 9 foot cord i had wire the fixture to the existing enclosure and then wired in the plug. But since you think the copper wire wont hurt anything in the near to immediate future i guess its time to plug it in and see if ****ed it up. >.> actualy im gona smoke a spliff first and see if i have the balls (electricity is one of a small few things that scares the shit out of me. i have been shocked 5 times with 110v and i wasn't even doing anything stupid >.>)

Drewpdog · Nov 5, 2007

is a hum normal?

sugabear_II · Nov 5, 2007

Drewpdog said:
is a hum normal?

yes - changing the way your ballast is mounted/secured will help but some ballast just hum like a mofo and others are quiet - I had a 400 that was quiet and a 150 that hummed very loudly.

-suga

bongasaurus · Nov 15, 2007

wheres my best chance on finding one of these?

ive been to my home depot, rona and canadian tire. none of them seem to carry anything 150w...

kidkannabis · Nov 15, 2007

i would try lowes or ace hardware.its aways in the last place you look.lol

sugabear_II · Nov 15, 2007

bongasaurus said:
wheres my best chance on finding one of these?

ive been to my home depot, rona and canadian tire. none of them seem to carry anything 150w...

lowes if you have them in canada. otherwise rona and canadain tire have both carried them in the past.

-suga

edit: does amazon ship to Canada? if so check this deal out

amazon 150hps

Shliite · Nov 16, 2007

Im thinking of getting one of the 150w HPS vapor-tight lights but im a little confused. (http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EProductDetail.asp?ProductFamilyID=7&FGNumber=E-MT6H151G)

Where is the ballast in this? How much wiring stuff needs to be done? it just looks like a bulb and a mount - no plugs or anything. Would you recommend the $16 aluminum "shroud" that you can get with it? Sorry for the noob questions but $20 seems too good to be true.

sugabear_II · Nov 17, 2007

Shliite said:
Im thinking of getting one of the 150w HPS vapor-tight lights but im a little confused. (http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EProductDetail.asp?ProductFamilyID=7&FGNumber=E-MT6H151G)

Where is the ballast in this? How much wiring stuff needs to be done? it just looks like a bulb and a mount - no plugs or anything. Would you recommend the $16 aluminum "shroud" that you can get with it? Sorry for the noob questions but $20 seems too good to be true.

the ballast is inside the "mount" as you called it - the $16 shroud is not needed.

if $20 seems too cheap check out the amazon link in my post above which has a 150 for $16 with free shipping

Shliite · Nov 17, 2007

i followed that link and got a Globe 150-Watt Outdoor Flood Light, Brown #43205 for $31.44. Is that the one your referring to?

I also found this: http://www.1000bulbs.com/150-Watt-High-Pressure-Sodium/
when browsing the 150 watt club thread.... does it come with a bulb or mount though? It seems like something cheaper might be less energy efficient? Im just looking for bang for my buck to supplement my 400w HPS..

sugabear_II · Nov 17, 2007

Shliite - the Globe 150 includes bulb and all - it was on-sale aparently briefly for $16 on amazon. Now the cheapest deal on a complete 150 for remoting is at e-conolight for $25 this includes everything you'll need including the ability to reuse part for ballast enclosure - you just need to buy a heavy duty extension cord and your golden.

http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EProductDetail.asp?ProductFamilyID=7&FGNumber=E-MT7H151G

the one on 1000bulbs would also require a bulb and socket which they sell but you can get cheaper the whole thing at e-cono.

as for cheaper being less efficient - they're all pretty much standard

-suga

ReeferDan · Nov 19, 2007

i got my vapor tight 150w hps for $20, its on e-conolight in the row all the way to the right.

I re-used the case as well to house my ballasts. All i needed for each to make a clean remoted ballast was 2 8' extension cords per each light.

MushuHappiness · Dec 11, 2007

Suga... You rock.. Just got done making mine today

Found all my stuff at Home depot btw...

ReeferDan.. Awesome find! I'm book marking that for when i start my larger grows ^_^

Deft · Dec 21, 2007

Yea there is a 150w hps bulb ballast and socket on e-conolight for about $20 so you cant go wrong there, its under the vaporlight section I think. I just got a 250 from them and will get it working using this guide.. Just make sure whatever bulb you use is meant to be aligned the way your going to use it (vertically/horizontally). I'm going to separate the core from the starter in hopes of giving the starter lower temps to sit in and a longer life, I may also use my old CPU heat sink to sap heat from the core and dump it in the air.

Guest · Dec 21, 2007

Quick question - I picked up an electrical box from HD and it's decent sized. The ballast and wires do fit inside but the wires are touching the ballast. Will my wires melt or burn if it runs like that for too long? If the ballast will melt or burn it, then I'll pick up a bigger box.

the_man · Dec 30, 2007

pick up a bigger box you don't want those wires touching the ballest

converting a home security light into a remote ballast grow light (the OG FAQ)

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