Uncle FREEDOM
Member
yup. they can.
-
Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
-
Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!
smokadepep
Member
so on top of making the box, you have to cut your lamp cords to fit female 3 prongs outlets??
smokadepep
Member
how hard of a spike in the energy bill would 3 1k ballast starting up be? would it bring attention? its in an apartment with nothing else really running on the electrics, just the grow, it would be 6 1k bulbs, 3 on 3 off then flips
Uncle FREEDOM
Member
in a apartment, it is up to you, you laws, and your stress tolerance.. If you do not feel comfortable i suggest 2 1000 on a f/f, till you can afford a house.
just my 2 cents
just my 2 cents
smokadepep
Member
i kind of am more comfortable growing there because its secure cant get into the building unless you live there, its a huge building but no one will know me nor know what i am doing here, if im just running 3k its not much more then what i figure the rest of them people use
Uncle FREEDOM
Member
cool dude, my point was simply if you find you are getting stressed out with how much power you are using, then reduce it.
Trust me being stressed out all the time is not good for you. It is about finding that sweet spot.
best wishes on your en devour.
Trust me being stressed out all the time is not good for you. It is about finding that sweet spot.
best wishes on your en devour.
FRANKENBLUNT420
me blunt is like, wicked yo!! owight
first off i gotta say that this lil doohicky is gonna save tons of money and time!! and the premise of running two lights at the same time is really the coolest part of it all.
but the firing or starting up is not an option to worry about! for those of you that cant understand it to well, try to think of a street lamp and how they operate. the ballasts are always wired hot and the timer is what allows the current to get to the bulb once the sun goes down. so just imagine the flip/flop as the timer or rather "on" a timer! the ballast stays on, while A bulb is on, the timer flips, then A goes off then"B" bulb comes on, the timer then flops it back and then B goes off while A comes back on again!!
with the closet i am building (slowly but surely) i want to wire my 400HPS to a female outlet, ofcourse im gonna have to break the tab between the two outlets so that they are separate. i am gonna use one outlet for the HPS and one for MH (as soon as i do the HPS/MH balast conversion).
now this flip/flop option can help to expand my grow by virutally expanding my ballast availability!!! so besides OGRE's ebb&grow controller bucket build, now ive gotta get the parts for KUNGPOW's flip/flop. with doubling your lights your literally double your grow!! pure genius.
but the firing or starting up is not an option to worry about! for those of you that cant understand it to well, try to think of a street lamp and how they operate. the ballasts are always wired hot and the timer is what allows the current to get to the bulb once the sun goes down. so just imagine the flip/flop as the timer or rather "on" a timer! the ballast stays on, while A bulb is on, the timer flips, then A goes off then"B" bulb comes on, the timer then flops it back and then B goes off while A comes back on again!!
with the closet i am building (slowly but surely) i want to wire my 400HPS to a female outlet, ofcourse im gonna have to break the tab between the two outlets so that they are separate. i am gonna use one outlet for the HPS and one for MH (as soon as i do the HPS/MH balast conversion).
now this flip/flop option can help to expand my grow by virutally expanding my ballast availability!!! so besides OGRE's ebb&grow controller bucket build, now ive gotta get the parts for KUNGPOW's flip/flop. with doubling your lights your literally double your grow!! pure genius.
Last edited:
smokadepep
Member
what size relay would i need for a 1k light?
you should read the article, starting with page one..................
Anima
Active member
I agree with krunchbubble 
You guys should re-read this whole article and go read a few more from other sources in order to really grasp the concept, and the amount of danger you are dealing with here.
A FLIP/FLOP DOESN'T LET YOU RUN 2 BULBS AT THE SAME TIME OFF THE SAME BALLAST!!!!!!!!!! IT IS ESSENTIALLY A HEAVY DUTY OPEN RELAY THAT CAN FLIP ONE BALLAST FROM ONE BULB TO ANOTHER.
THE KIND OF POWER WE ARE DEALING WITH HERE CAN
KILL YOU!!!!!
MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! THIS RELAY NEEDS TO BE PROPERLY HOUSED IN A N APPROPRIATE BOX!! I mean if you touched this while its running, there is a good chance that you will loose some fingers/ your hand/life!!!
I would be madder than a keebler elf that just got demoted to fudgepacker if someone got hurt doing something they read about here while not understanding the dangers.
Careful guys.
Another downfall of this setup that I have wittnessed includes: Sometimes intermittant power flux (like washing machine/AC turning on) can cause the relay to flicker back and forth which will cause the bulb to do a hot start and burn itself out if not caught right away.
If you are just setting up your first real grow the $$$ would be better spent on airflow/ carbon filters/deheuy/nutes.
And dont even think about one of these unless you already have smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher!!
SAFETY FIRST people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peace and Kindness
You guys should re-read this whole article and go read a few more from other sources in order to really grasp the concept, and the amount of danger you are dealing with here.
A FLIP/FLOP DOESN'T LET YOU RUN 2 BULBS AT THE SAME TIME OFF THE SAME BALLAST!!!!!!!!!! IT IS ESSENTIALLY A HEAVY DUTY OPEN RELAY THAT CAN FLIP ONE BALLAST FROM ONE BULB TO ANOTHER.
THE KIND OF POWER WE ARE DEALING WITH HERE CAN
KILL YOU!!!!!
MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! THIS RELAY NEEDS TO BE PROPERLY HOUSED IN A N APPROPRIATE BOX!! I mean if you touched this while its running, there is a good chance that you will loose some fingers/ your hand/life!!!
I would be madder than a keebler elf that just got demoted to fudgepacker if someone got hurt doing something they read about here while not understanding the dangers.
Careful guys.
Another downfall of this setup that I have wittnessed includes: Sometimes intermittant power flux (like washing machine/AC turning on) can cause the relay to flicker back and forth which will cause the bulb to do a hot start and burn itself out if not caught right away.
If you are just setting up your first real grow the $$$ would be better spent on airflow/ carbon filters/deheuy/nutes.
And dont even think about one of these unless you already have smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher!!
SAFETY FIRST people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peace and Kindness
smokadepep
Member
i would rather try to make one of these, double the amount of light from one ballast, basically double your yield, doesnt seem to difficult to figure out
I've read through the whole thread and I'm not sure I understand exactly how the bulbs(socket) are plugged into the flip flop.
The cord from my mogul socket to the ballast is not a standard 3 prong plugin as I see pictured on the first page. If it helps, I have a 1000 watt Harvest Pro elite ballast and I can draw a picture of the plugin on the ballast if necessary.
My question is if need to find special outlets to use instead of the normal three pronged outlets shown? I do have a fair amount of electrical experience and wondered if I could cut the cords I have now to make them work with the ballast as pictured. Has anyone else had to do something like that to make their ballast work>
I hope what I am saying makes sense... Let me know if you don't understand what I am trying to say and I will try to clear it up. Thanks in advance!
The cord from my mogul socket to the ballast is not a standard 3 prong plugin as I see pictured on the first page. If it helps, I have a 1000 watt Harvest Pro elite ballast and I can draw a picture of the plugin on the ballast if necessary.
My question is if need to find special outlets to use instead of the normal three pronged outlets shown? I do have a fair amount of electrical experience and wondered if I could cut the cords I have now to make them work with the ballast as pictured. Has anyone else had to do something like that to make their ballast work>
I hope what I am saying makes sense... Let me know if you don't understand what I am trying to say and I will try to clear it up. Thanks in advance!
Anima
Active member
I took apart my ballast and replaced wire from a cut (heavy duty) extension chord in order for it to interface with the flip/flop and lights like you see. Instead of cutting the wire and splicing in the extension chord to the existing wire with electrical tape or whatever, I opened the ballast and REPLACED THE WHOLE WIRE.
It is NOT standard.
You might want to use another type of plug/ socket for safety reasons so you dont go accidently plugging in something that is supposed to get regular household current. (NOT GOOD!)
If you do use the standard (heavy duty) plugs, dont forget to break the jumper connection between the 2 plugs (see the last 2 pics on the first post).
Good luck and STAY SAFE!
If you dont know exactly what you are doing it would be best if you had a knowledgeable electrician check your work.
Peace and kindness
-Anima
It is NOT standard.
You might want to use another type of plug/ socket for safety reasons so you dont go accidently plugging in something that is supposed to get regular household current. (NOT GOOD!)
If you do use the standard (heavy duty) plugs, dont forget to break the jumper connection between the 2 plugs (see the last 2 pics on the first post).
Good luck and STAY SAFE!
If you dont know exactly what you are doing it would be best if you had a knowledgeable electrician check your work.
Peace and kindness
-Anima
Thank you so much for your help!
If I am understanding you correctly, you opened your ballast, unconnected the ground, + and -, and recconnected the heavy duty extension cord in its place. Is that correct?
If so, now my only question is how I should modify the cord from my mogul sockets to match the three pronged output from the flip flop.
I was thinking of cutting the cord and attaching a heavy duty extension cord as done in the ballast. Any better ideas?
If I am understanding you correctly, you opened your ballast, unconnected the ground, + and -, and recconnected the heavy duty extension cord in its place. Is that correct?
If so, now my only question is how I should modify the cord from my mogul sockets to match the three pronged output from the flip flop.
I was thinking of cutting the cord and attaching a heavy duty extension cord as done in the ballast. Any better ideas?
prelude91sir
Member
what about having 2 lights in the same tent and flipping between them every hour or 2 for 12 hrs? when i first seen a flip flop this is how they used it. they had about 6 lights and swapped between 3 at a time for 12hr period. they said they barely noticed a decrease in yeild verse running the 6 all at once. i just want to make a 1 1k flip can some body help me? i understand the concept and some of the wiring. i guess i just want to know everything that is needed. anima do you have more pics of yours? would yours work with 1k ballast? thanks
Last edited:
Anima
Active member
You could do that if you wanted I guess.
Oh is that all?
umm, I have my flip/flop stashed away now, so no pics srry...And I dont think I would trust it to flip a hot line on a 1k...I don't trust it with my 400 W at the moment. I had problems with it un-clicking and reclicking (due to minor power fluxuations i think) back causing hot starts...lost 1 bulb to it and i tore it down and downgraded my other cab to 150w HPS.
But I am thinking about bringing it back into service after the addition of a hot start prevention circuit for the ballast...and a timer to turn the ballast off for a few mins while the relay clicks over so you dont have any problems with corrision buildup caused by arcing when you flip it while its on. (discussed earlier in the thread)
If you had all this I might trust it with a 1k...I'd get a second opinion though
Good luck man!
Make sure you talk to a real electrician if you have a question...My advise is worth what you paid for it (nothing)...
Be safe!--check out the auto-fire extinguisher in my sig!
Peace and kindness
-Anima
Y
yamaha_1fan
I am not really interested in doing this but I am curious to know how ths would work.
If you were flipping between two lights every two hours, how would you set it up to stop after 12 hours and give you 12 hours of dark?
If you were flipping between two lights every two hours, how would you set it up to stop after 12 hours and give you 12 hours of dark?
