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

[sawnic]

This is not only my first post but one of my many posts I will contribute to this wonderful community. I must admit I've been lurking for a while and found a vast amount of information for growing whether indoor or outdoor- although indoor is what interests me more based on my current situation. As soon as I get things running an indoor grow dairy will follow so I'm very excited as I will be posting pictures. I would like to give a huge thanks and high five out to sugabear for the inspiration to go about a 150w hps grow in the closet. I think without this very helpful thread I would have not thought about designing an indoor grow based on expenses and what not.

I just have one issue with the recently purchase hps from econolight. I got the 150w hps vapor light for $20. It came packaged with everything enclosed and the white, black and ground wires coming out from the lamps enclosure. I tried to start up the light originally by cutting a heavy duty extension from the male at about 6' feet and connecting the white, black and ground to the corresponding colors on the fixture. When I plugged that in I got no light but only a very silent hum from the ballast (i'm guessing). Then I thought oh I didn't look at the original wiring diagram displayed at the beginning of this tutorial so I went ahead checked it out. I figured out that the wiring did not match the one displayed in the tutorial. I cant remember exactly how it was wired to begin with. I think it was a matter of colors being mix matched. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced difficulties with the econolight 150w hps. I still can't get the thing to light up- maybe a bad bulb who knows? All I know is that it hums when plugged and does not light at all while being plugged in for no longer than 30 seconds, that is when i unplug it- for just playing it safe (fire extinguisher by my side).

I'll try at it again tomorrow but rest assured I am not sure why its doing whats its doing. I also have not made a reflector for the hps but when I do it will have a grounded feature- not sure if that has anything to do with it.

 

[sawnic]

Its alive!

Its alive!

Good news! After another night of rewiring the fixture I figured out what was wrong. After unscrewing the ground screw connected to the fixture i noticed it did not have direct contact to the metal. After a quick sand down and removal of the paint I rewired everything, double checking connections, and it fired right up! The orange glow it gave that moment felt like the sun at dawn shining through my room although its only almost midnight.

So if anyone else has similar issue check to make sure the ground connection is sanded down. Until next time! Next stop: reflector!

Cheers

 

[Gmrpr7]

Capacitor questions

Capacitor questions

If I wanted to wire a capacitor to the ballast of an econolight (not sure if it's worth it) would I buy a capacitor like this one at pfo lighting:
55 MFD 120V (150WHPS REACTOR) $17.81
I checked the capacitor that came with the venture kit, which had 52 MFD and thought that this one is close enough and the correct voltage. Can I use this one?

 

[purpbythepound]

i got a 70hps security light that i want to remote ballast..anyone know how i would go about doing this??same way here as it was explained for the 150 watt or is it different for the 70?? thanks alot

 

[Cozy Amnesia]

Yes, same way.

The basic idea is to add a length of wire coming from the components in the ballast and to the socket, and also bypass the light sensor if there is one.

 

[leaddraft]

Suga Bear II Thanks a whole buch, Wired My Brand New 70 Watt HPS, w/o the Sensor..
TIA again for the Wiring diag....
Peace & Light..
LD

 

[djbenzo]

hey i got a RAB 150w light on ebay for $30!
http://www.prolighting.com/15hpsfl12wla.html
it has a built in ballast so all i had to do was wire it up and presto! =]

no gay ballast wiring or sensor..just three wires..

 

[brettweir]

Weird problem here guys.. I bought a 150w HPS from Rona that is very similar to the OP's. I decided to try and use a PC power supply case for the actual ballast/ignitor case. When I place the ballast into the case as well as everything else and test it, it makes a loud crunching noise and the light simply flashes really fast. It doesn't sound too good so after it makes that noise I immediately unplug the unit. If I place all the parts on my counter though, it starts and works fine. Is it possible that my ballast is redirecting voltage to the case and causing a short or something? I'm no electrician so any help would be appreciated.

 

[sugabear_II]

Is it possible that my ballast is redirecting voltage to the case and causing a short or something?

sounds likely based on what you describe it would probably be best to try a different ballast box.

...no gay ballast wiring or sensor..just three wires..

not really sure how to respond to this.... many people find it best to remote the ballast for their setups, there are severa advantages, most notably that you can take the ballast which produces a good bit of heat out of the grow area... also many people are working with a non-flood (such as vapor lamps, security lamps, ballast kits, etc.) style lamps that don't reflect well for growing... that said you can certainly take a mini-flood style lamp like you have and connect a grounded power cord with a male plug to the lamp and use it as is.... but why do you have to call the idea of remote ballasting and understanding a wiring diagram gay? I assume you mean this in some derogotary way and in the process are also expressing some kind of anti-gay rage which I don't think belongs here. I hope you do well with your shitty little plant in your closet with your flood lamp from ebay... if you don't do well I expect it will be the result of your I know better than everyone else attitude.

 

[brettweir]

Turns out it WAS the ballast box. I suspect that the type of metal it was (likely aluminum) was causing issues with the ballast. It seems to have been pulling voltage from the ballast (which regulates a constant flow of electricity to the bulb, btw) thus wasn't getting enough juice to get it going.

Either way, I ended up going to Rona and buying a 4"x4" electrical box and shoving everything in there. What's nice about this box is that if you poke all the entry holes out, you can hook up a couple fans to keep it cool. I ran it for about 10 minutes and it didn't even get warm so I'm not even sure if ventilation is important; as long as you have it in an open enough space it should not overheat.

So back to the unit I bought. It was at a Rona in Canada and the brand is Globe. They're clearing them out for $63.50, down from $98.99! If you don't see any on the shelf just ask someone if they have the 150w Globe "Dusk and Dawn outside lights" sitting somewhere on clearance.

Edit: here's the link to the light. Like I said though it was on clearance in my store, so chances are it is probably in other stores.

 

[retawgnob]

sugabear II - i love all the info you have made available. I have a couple questions in short.

What concept am i missing about the remote ballast. Couldn't you just cut/splice/extend the wires coming from the socket to the ballast?

As well, i had a friend who advised a street lamp for a ballast. It follows you diagram pretty well, but i would feel more comfortable if you saw what it looked like. If i send/post a pic could you tell me what adjustments to make to the FAQ?

Thanks man.
Peace.

 

[sugabear_II]

sugabear II - i love all the info you have made available. I have a couple questions in short.

What concept am i missing about the remote ballast. Couldn't you just cut/splice/extend the wires coming from the socket to the ballast?

that's pretty much all that is being done is extending the wires from the ballast to the socket and adding a long plug from the ballast to the wall. as mentioned before you could just add a cord to the light fixture as is from the store, however there are many advantages and reasons why the leaving the lamp in the fixture from the store won't work for people.

As well, i had a friend who advised a street lamp for a ballast. It follows you diagram pretty well, but i would feel more comfortable if you saw what it looked like. If i send/post a pic could you tell me what adjustments to make to the FAQ?

Thanks man.
Peace.

hey sure, post it up and we will take a look. you may find that the lamp has a day/night sensor and or a capacitor which makes it different than the faq... should be easy to get squared away

 

[retawgnob]

I love it. I have asked a couple electricians and didn't get a damn response othe than, "be careful man."
I will return shortly with pictures of the light as well as the cab i'm trying to engineer them in. I can't find a hood thats 3.75' long and 1.75' wide, and would fit in my cab in a unobstruting manner,so after purchasing a reflective stamped sheet of metal (4x2) -I'm sure there's a technical term for it, but thats my description- form my local grow store i bent the sides and intend on installing two 150w lamps to evenly distribute the light in the cab.
Like i said, i will post more when i have pictures. Thanks again Sugabear. I'm packin the next one for you

Peace.

 

[retawgnob]

How To Configure a Street Lamp into a Grow Light

How To Configure a Street Lamp into a Grow Light

Well to be honest, the reply to this post will be the "how-to" but at least there will be result when others use the search function I LOVE THAT FUNCTION!!!

So here's what i got:





So I hope these pictures are clear enough that you can trace the circuit. Thanks agiain, i can't wait to see what you have to say.

Peace.

 

[sugabear_II]

Well to be honest, the reply to this post will be the "how-to" but at least there will be result when others use the search function I LOVE THAT FUNCTION!!!

So here's what i got:





So I hope these pictures are clear enough that you can trace the circuit. Thanks agiain, i can't wait to see what you have to say.

Peace.

Okay -- First I am trying to figure out what is what. ballast coil is obvious as is the socket (which as an aside happens to be a mogul base as opposed to the medium base which is more common for the 150 - you may want to swap that later when it's time to change bulbs but that is pretty easy).. neways ...Ithink the starter is clear and the other thing appears to be the light sensor - see pic below.


do you think you can take close ups of those and also post any writing you see on them?

 

[retawgnob]

Word. Thanks again, you do understand the advatage to this set up correct?
IT'S FREE! Well i meam you might have to drive around for a couple days, but i used to deliver pizzas and that was a perfect job to aquire these sort of materials. Let me see if i can find the other one. The light sensor, that tells it to turn on/off was removed to remove it from the gigantic case that if fell off in. I cop might ask more question if i have the whole head to a street light in my car.lol

Well yes, i'll take some up close pics, and lt ya know more.
Thanks again man,
Peace.

 

[rave420]

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

I thought i add that if you are in B.C Canada, you can find them at any RONA. I bought my 150hps there, brand name is GLOBE. They are called "Outdoor Security light" and come with light sensor and a mogul base bulb (the bulb by itself costs 27$). They work awesome, but are quite pricey. I paid 119$CAD for mine!

 

[CoughingWidow]

Well it took some work but all of it fit... Now for my question, is it safe?

Edit: Are the ground wires to box absolutely needed?

 

[CoughingWidow]

My ballast looks a tad different than others it's not in an enclosed box per say and has some type of glue around it. Does it need to be seperate from everything else or will it work as is in the picture of my last post? This is a 70watt hps model I just want to be sure before I plug it in.. Everything was working when the parts were laying on the floor outside of the electricial box.

 

[sugabear_II]

Well it took some work but all of it fit... Now for my question, is it safe?

Edit: Are the ground wires to box absolutely needed?

yes the ground wires to the box are needed as you should have a grounded 3-prong plug. Using a grounded extension cord as described in the original OG FAQ you should have ground from the socket to the box to the lamp socket bracket.

My ballast looks a tad different than others it's not in an enclosed box per say and has some type of glue around it. Does it need to be seperate from everything else or will it work as is in the picture of my last post? This is a 70watt hps model I just want to be sure before I plug it in.. Everything was working when the parts were laying on the floor outside of the electricial box.

It is safe to stuff it all inside a box like that if; the box is grounded and no exposed wires in your connections.

I did that on my 150 watt - the only issue I ran into was that the ballast coil may hum if it is not in there right. People I think have had better luck securing the ballast coil such by putting the big iron part flat on metal and strapping it down without anything touching around it. Often times they're mounted this way inside the original fixture with epoxy - I tried epoxing mine in to a 4 inch square box like that and it still hummed - I think because the coil was touching on 2 sides.

p.s. the more I look at your picture I would say yes it is safe - but it is going to hum.