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Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

slohemian

slohemian

Member
All i know is that i want it to be CMH since its the best flowering light. A 250 would work, but i dont know how to pair it w/ a working ballast. On top of that, i know double-parabolic reflectors are the best, but idk where i'd pair one of those up with it either.

Edit: this is in a closet, im in the midwest

My box is going to be wood, i know that for sure, main reason is to dampen fan/light noise. The inside will be painted white. I have yet to find a good squirrelcage type fan that is very quiet and would serve its purpose well for a 16'ish Sq. Foot box. I will draw air from the hood area out the fan and through a carbon filter. I will have passive air intakes in the bottom of my box.
 
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2buds

2buds

Active member
Sucks, spoke with phillips this week, no date of any sort on 1k versions. It almost looks worth redoing the room to 2 x 400, less wattage, more light, looks to be equal or more on penetration.
 
nightcrawler

nightcrawler

Member
2buds said:
Sucks, spoke with phillips this week, no date of any sort on 1k versions. It almost looks worth redoing the room to 2 x 400, less wattage, more light, looks to be equal or more on penetration.
Click to expand...


Get 2 running, and when u dont want to use the full 800watts. Like when u just start to veg them, then when they get bigger use the full 800watts.
 
simba

simba

Sleeping Dragon
Sloh,
just get a basic 250 hps ballast and ur good.. (dont do cool tubes, make something better)
fans im unsure.. where best prices are..


Quote:
Originally Posted by 2buds
Sucks, spoke with phillips this week, no date of any sort on 1k versions.
-Ya its not any time soon/ the normal reps wont know anything till right before if not when released.(Philips and others have patents on working designs for 600-1Kw those would impede on the sale of specialty Sports lighting and other markets, like horti Compare CDM400s51 to EYE blue at $100 (cmh has higher MFR cost than eye Blue yet cheaper price.. (marketing)
in the beginning and until recently the seals have been an issue no matter what style cmh arc tube especially on the higher wattages.. pretty corrosive stuff in there..)
thats my opinion..so its a mix of reasons..


It almost looks worth redoing the room to 2 x 400, less wattage, more light, looks to be equal or more on penetration.

-Ya even when the 600-1Kw CMH's are avail those are really going to be for high bay legit Greenhouses..
There to much power directly on its Axis (unless using New Reflector Designs we haven't seen the likes of nor really willing to pay.. if the wrong people bring it to life)

someone in another thread recently asked is there to much light..
IMPHO & IMPHO yes the 600 watt CMH's will be on the verge and 1Kw will be strictly 12'+

Get 2 running, and when u dont want to use the full 800watts. Like when u just start to veg them, then when they get bigger use the full 800watts.
-Yups, Great way to save $$ to....

Im a fan of running multi 400's for many reasons the biggest we gain more energy that would normal be lost do to the inverse square law of light..
No mater how many watts you have in the middle it will still be subject to low levels on the edges and only half the plant will really get the bulb side.. Multi its all around..

--(disclaimer, there is no Concern for this as long as you dont sit and stare at the light source or have a room with many KW's of cmh or Mh for that matter)
there should be a warning on the box but it is common sense not to stare at the ARC TUBE of any Lamp especially on the CMH as it is a FULL SPD>> (all ranges from UV - infrared)
Staring at the CMH and reflector while on is the same as Going on a Mountain range and staring at the Snow
Snow Blindness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_blindness

this is good for the plant and us but not when you stare at it.. (like going outside and staring at the sun..)
 
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slohemian

slohemian

Member
could you direct me to a place that sells reliable ballasts? i would like a very fire safe unit. point me in the right direction? :D
 
jdubz206

jdubz206

Member
just thought i'd show off what my cmh has brought 34 days into flower :pimp3:
thanks everyone for the advice on the bulb, i'm super happy with it.





 
rabid

rabid

Member
simba said:
as far as Electronic and digital ballasts for the 250-400 watters..
Only the GE CMH Ultramax, Advance Digi (Not released yet, and advance is part of philips)
Click to expand...

Advance Digi...as in Advance Transformer Company??? Thanks
 
simba

simba

Sleeping Dragon
Yups.. advance transformer Company (Advance Transformer, a division of Philips Electronics North America Corporation) and they have no clue when its to be released..

IMPHO for the cost of a Digi vs Elec cost savings. its hard to beat just a diy'ed simple air cooled ballast..for a 1/3rd-1/4th the price. unless you are running id say 5+ ballasts..or unless the price drops on the GE Ultramax..
its that initial cost that bites. and makes it not worth it..

also for Horti if a digi fails your plants are PISSED until you get a replacement or repaired or have a backup mag-core. (can take weeks im told) with a mag-core if something fails you can Source all 3 parts at a local light supply shop (high cost but avail 9am) or ur local hydro shop...
also with some of the digis in the Horti market (not usable with cmh) have fans so you have to worry about what from your op has been sucked in.. (not concern on ultramax)
spend that extra money on the Room/Setup or on another light and ballast..
 
simba

simba

Sleeping Dragon
night.. US post to canada can take min of 3 days to 15 days..
most goes by truck from shipping point.. all the way threw..
other countries go by truck to the nearest Intl sorting place..
ie why it took so short for rabid.. not as much goes there vs uk lets say so it gets a faster run.. if that makes sense..

wbp.. eye blue is a over priced dinosaur compared to CMH..
im working on page 1 post.. that will cover the eye blue vs cmh
i have a few eye blues (Freebies) and wont use them.. I personally buy CMH's

bonsai.. ya s50 is the ansi code so if its that its 250 HPS.. only thing that doesn't say is the ballast design IE CWA HX*, etc.. but cwa is gen cheaper anyways.. so its more common as the "shelf stock" Your good..


im not 100% on ur fixture but if you can open it and see the ballast code. for 100 watt u need m140 or m190
if you get the protected bulb.. you dont need any thing else for protection..
 
G

Guest

So is the EYE Hortilux Blue better than CMH in blue?

mt1000b-dHORhtl-sd-r.gif
 
BonsaiBud

BonsaiBud

Member
Simba: I have located a Howard HPS 250 ballast at a local place at a good price. I could tell you some long serial? numbers from the box, but it specifically says: S 50 Lamp. That is all I really need to know, right?

As for putting a CMH 100 in an old Micro-Mini 100 watt MH hood/ballast: it has an "ignitor". Is that the same as "pulse start"? If it isn't, I can order a pulse start module over the internet for about $17 (it says it works for 50 to 1000 watt MH ballasts). Could I just swap that out for the old ignitor and have a nice little 100 watt CMH lamp? I'd get the tempered glass and the protected bulb.
 
G

greenisgold

Member
The eye blue is a great bulb, but expensive. If you compare the 2 graphs, I think simba has a side by side, you will see that the cmh has an all around better spectrum. But from what I can tell the eye blue seems to be a better veg bulb based on the graphs (more blue). I have an eye blue and I use it to veg and get incredible amounts of nodes with hardly any space between. BUT if you do not have either then the cmh is the way to go. Over all it is a better bulb in every respect except the hot firing of the bulb-flame on.
 
simba

simba

Sleeping Dragon
i posted at 1099 to answer but it posted above the Q's

Night
yes for veg the Eye blue has a nice spd but not for the price life..especially vs CMH in my eye.. like i say in 1099 i have few new ones and don't use them..
also on the eye blue the wattages change the SPD dramatically.. not with cmh
id grab 2 cmh's run 1 during veg and very early flower and add the 2nd one during early-mid flower till harvest..

but the end result IMPHO is to bushy.. i prefer plants with few branch/flower sites..
your plants are already going to love it..

as far as hot restrike most MH don't like it but are able to pop back on faster (the quartz arc tube cools faster than the alumi sil)
 
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nightcrawler

nightcrawler

Member
Simba... lets say u can only do a few plants in a 4x 4 area... and want speedy results... would u then recommend it? or should i just use 2 CMH's?
 
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