Gavita-Pro 1000w 400v (new generation hps)

[azsupratt]

what about using a 120 volt to 240 volt converter. Ive seen them online at a very reasonable price. Will they work for these 240volt ballasts or will they damage them ?

I went this route first because I really didn't feel like crawling into the attic to wire a 240volt line. I purchased the top of the line 5000W Capacity 120v-240v Step up Converter with a Voltage regulator so I knew it wouldn't have any issues. Box came and it plugged right in.

Pro's- Easy Plug'n'Play to get light working in us

Cons:
Converter is HUGE and takes up space
Converter gets HOT actually increase my ambient room temp 10 degree's causing my tents to increase by about 15 and made my water chiller work extra hard to keep it down.
Converter smells and is a fire hazard
Cost for one is about 200 bucks to power only 1 Gavita at 1150W. So your looking at about 750 easy to get 1 light going.

In the end I called up the company and got refunded cause the heat and smells. Went to Lowes dropped 85.00 bucks on some wire and outlet accessories and did an attic climb.

1 hour later I had 4 240v Outlets in my room with a 30amp fuse at the other end so I'm now good to have 4 of these bad boys if I want with no fire hazard. Also reduced room temps to normal levels and everything. One of these inside a 4x4 tent at 1150 watts lights on is 78-88 F. Not bad at all for no glass.

Oh ya no previous electrical experience either just a simple engineering student using this lovely thread
www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=117867 Specifically Page 2

I like them so much I ordered 2 more to place between my 6 EVO 90 LED's in my 4x8 tent =)

 

[junkieman]

the gavita plasmas from sunlight come with 120 volt cord ... still waiting for sunlight to carry 240 volt cords , nice to have both options

 

[rives]

1 hour later I had 4 240v Outlets in my room with a 30amp fuse at the other end so I'm now good to have 4 of these bad boys if I want with no fire hazard.

You struck a bit of an alarm for me here when I saw the fuse size. I don't know what parts you used, but 30a requires a minimum of #10 wire and 6-30 receptacles. These receptacles are far larger than the plugs on fixture cordsets, and the cordsets are typically rated for a fraction of this amount of power. Below is a picture of a 6-30 receptacle. Using undersized components will give you the potential for exactly what you are trying to avoid -a fire hazard.

 

[whazzup]

Thank you all for chipping in for me (especially vwgtiron), sorry I can't be here more, I also sometimes need to work hard you know - visiting all these US trade shows

If you need support as a re-seller I suggest you not to wait for a forum answer as I can not guarantee I am here. As explained I do this in my free time on a personal title. Look at my posting times...

First one you should give a call is your distributor, there are people that can answer many questions and if they can't they will ask us. Also support mail sent to Gavita is normally answered within one day (and in many times within a few hours), that is if you fill in your correct email address!

The Pro 1000 does 50-60 Hz as specified on the product label.

The 240V LEP cords are on their way to the distributors. The part number is 60.30.40.10, length 5 m.

however, it is very easy to just cut off the 120V plug and install a 240V plug on the 120V cord, which is approved up to 300V.

The reason why we have US versions is primarily because for UL some things are not allowed that are allowed for CE or other certifications for some reason. For example we were not allowed any more to have an IEC input connector on the Pro 1000 (UL has no standard for that so it is not allowed, regardless if it is safe or not). Your power cord is different than in other countries, such as the EU, Australia, Switserland or the UK. So in order to distinguish the versions they have a different product number and extension which reflects the target country.

The process of getting something approved for the US market is a long, painful and full of surprises I can assure you.

If I missed any question please let me know.

 

[growshopfrank]

Thank you all for chipping in for me (especially vwgtiron), sorry I can't be here more, I also sometimes need to work hard you know - visiting all these US trade shows

If you need support as a re-seller I suggest you not to wait for a forum answer as I can not guarantee I am here. As explained I do this in my free time on a personal title. Look at my posting times...

First one you should give a call is your distributor, there are people that can answer many questions and if they can't they will ask us. Also support mail sent to Gavita is normally answered within one day (and in many times within a few hours), that is if you fill in your correct email address!

The Pro 1000 does 50-60 Hz as specified on the product label.

The 240V LEP cords are on their way to the distributors. The part number is 60.30.40.10, length 5 m.

however, it is very easy to just cut off the 120V plug and install a 240V plug on the 120V cord, which is approved up to 300V.

The reason why we have US versions is primarily because for UL some things are not allowed that are allowed for CE or other certifications for some reason. For example we were not allowed any more to have an IEC input connector on the Pro 1000 (UL has no standard for that so it is not allowed, regardless if it is safe or not). Your power cord is different than in other countries, such as the EU, Australia, Switserland or the UK. So in order to distinguish the versions they have a different product number and extension which reflects the target country.

The process of getting something approved for the US market is a long, painful and full of surprises I can assure you.

If I missed any question please let me know.

thank for the info
sorry for being a dick
take care

 

[purpleberry]

OK, i got one in my hands. First thing the hood is really small, and didnt really clamp in like it was suppose to. It was sized wrong but still stayed in place. The light coming out seems really bright. It dont really cover 4x4, It covers 3.5x4.5-5 I took a light meter and just mest around with measurements in the canopy and it does put out more light at the same distances, but is hotter so you need to be a little further away from the bulb, So it almost seems a wash to ditch the glass, which im doing anyway. With the brighter light and bulb life id be sold if it wasnt for the crappy reflector, My guess is it was designed for greenhouses use and they just stayed with it. Gavita should have made a new hood to cover 4x4 better and they would do better. The sides of the hood go straight down and is clearly why it does a really good job spreading the light sideways and vey bad job other way. I cant wait to see what sunlight suppy does for a hood and then ill be all over these. I was measuring a xxxl hood and i think i can fit it in there, LOL

 

[whazzup]

Those straight sides reflect the light to the other side. To get uniformity in a growroom using more fixtures it is essential that the sources overlap. With one reflector it is very dffcult to get uniformity in a small room anyways because of the influence of the walls. Also if you look at the shape of the light of a bare lamp you will find out that it primarily radiates to the sides in a sort of cone shape:

By bringing light back to the other side we fill up most of the gaps on the side while bringing the light very wide at 120 degrees exit angle, to enable uniform lighting by overlap. Basically the last reflector has to be closer to the wall to compensate the missing overlap.

 

[b_all_in]

Does that mean you should use at least two lights in a room? Or just, if you use two or more make sure they over lap and the last one is closer to the wall?

 

[whazzup]

For uniformity in a small room you would rather use more small lamps than one big one. Using smaller lamps is less efficient that a big lamp but is it also a better solution for a small room with a low ceiling. In low climate rooms they mostly use lower power lamps for uniformity purposes.

Uniformity however is not a "holy grail" You can get great results with just one lamp in a 3x3 or 4x4 tent, even from one plant:

 

[purpleberry]

I just got a sneak peak at the new hoods coming out. There will be a small wing and a agrotek magnum that takes the DE bulb. Also i think they will have a new ballast made by gallaxy. Im going to jump right in and get gavita setup with the magnum hoods. Im only doing half the room in these since i already have lumateks, I may order regular hoods that match and do side by side and see what really happens. gavita/phillips vs lumatek/hortilux and everything else would be %100 the same.

 

[whazzup]

Be advised that the DE lamps have a high operating temperature and work best at that temperature. It is not possible to cool them without a dramatic loss of light, these are nitrogen filled lamps, not vacuum. So air cooled hoods are out of the question.

A luminaire design and reflector design is more than just size or a nice casing

 

[SOGHOG]

Hello everyone! whatzzup or anyone who's used the Gavita 1000. I'm building an 11x11x7.5' sealed room within a room running a 3 burner NG CO2 generator, 70 pt. dehumidifier, a 36,000 BTU mini split & would like to run 4 of the Pro 1000s. It gets into the 100s in the summer but it's a fairly dry climate. Do you think heat will be a problem? How many BTUs would you add to calculate for the light/ballasts? My guess is around 4000 but this is costing way too much to guess!

 

[Doc420]

I have seen a grow in Phoenix Arizona.
They put the reflectors to the cieling.
This way they dont have problems with infrared radiation.(heat)
It is very impressive and a awesome harvest.
It has something to do with crossover lighting of the reflectors to get uniformity of light.
It is a myth that you have to put your reflector close to get a good yield.

 

[whazzup]

You can cool anything. 4000 (REAL) btu would be enough for a 1000W fixture. I am more concerned about your height, what is your crop height?

 

[SOGHOG]

You can cool anything. 4000 (REAL) btu would be enough for a 1000W fixture. I am more concerned about your height, what is your crop height?

The height will range from 2-3 week old clones to 28-33" at finish. 4ea. 4x4 tables on wheels touching for overlap when the light are on. We're attempting a SOG harvest every 2-3 weeks with Indica dominant strains.

 

[CulturedHeathen]

Just filled a new 13x18x10 room with these fixtures. They are each covering a 5ftx4.5ft area and can be positioned up to 8.5ft above the floor! There will be trees grown in this room for sure. Love the cleanliness of the install and the versatility of these fixtures. I have started at the 600w setting and will be working up to the full 1150w setting over the next few weeks.

This doesn't cover the entire room, but gives an idea of how the setup works. This room was designed around these fixtures. The lamps are turned on via contactors hooked to a 10 minute on-delay. Not sure if these lamps have this safety feature installed, but wasn't willing to risk them not. Wazzup, could you please chime in?

 

[Gardens Keeper]

Hmm, well, I gave up on led's and plasmas have the same weak yield so these are looking very viable....Thanks for the all the info whazzup. My average room currently is 12' x 12' with 9' ceilings. I would be running 4 of these, but worry what the heat will be. Room is not sealed and has an in/out. Air conditioned, but not a dedicated one has two vents from a central ac. Right now I have 3 (6") air cooled 1k watts in each 12 x 12 room. Those rooms stay 79-84 max even during extreme heat. Any chance you have been in similar rooms and could give me a an idea of whether or not 4 of the 1000 watts DE's will need additional cooling like a mini split or something? Hoping I can just hook a filter up high since it is the type is heat that is easier to vent and just use the locations normal ac.

 

[BingoBoy]

The above room contains 8 of these setups and is cooled via 12" exhaust and 10" intake. Keeping the room around 80 with the lights on has been easy so far and with the outside temps plummeting, I expect to be fine until next July-ish. Hope that helps.

 

[Gardens Keeper]

Wow, yeah, thank you for that answer that is pretty amazing they must be much cooler than HPS. I think I will take the dive then.

 

[whazzup]

The lamps are turned on via contactors hooked to a 10 minute on-delay. Not sure if these lamps have this safety feature installed, but wasn't willing to risk them not. Wazzup, could you please chime in?

The Pro 1000 fixtures do not have a built in delay timer. All ballasts, also electronic ones, have an inrush. The height of the inrush is actually determined by at which part of the sine wave you are kicking in, and that you can never time unless you use SSRs to switch. In Europe we have B and C type fuses (residential is always B, C is a slower fuse for high inrush). So the only thing you need to think about is the speed of your fuse: use a slow fuse for HID lighting (C type) which can cope with the inrush. For a B fuse that is about 5-10x I nominal (so for example, a 10A B fuse would take 50-100 amps inrush) for C that is 10-20x I nominal. Example, 20A fuse, slow:

Pro 1000, 4,7A at 100%, so 3 fixtures max per 20A fuse (do not ever fully load your circuits!)
Inrush per fixtures <50A, so in extreme cases 150A
Fuse takes 200-400A inrush, so you are safe.

In case of a normal fuse the max inrush it can handle will be 100-200A, which means you are in the danger zone (fuse could trip at startup).

Nice room btw CulturedHeathen

Some good details such as the lack of flexible duckting. That will save you a ton of pressure drop. If you want to keep things as cool as CulturedHeathen use the metal ducting like he does! Copying those values with flexible ducting will not work.

Always use a good contactor for whichever ballast you switch.