150w HPS Club and Resource Guide......

[sugabear_II]

I don't believe that anybody makes 150watt HPS digital ballasts, which makes the information not that relevant to a 150 HPS topic.

actually HID hut sells a digital 150

I've also read a few posts on this forum from people that have digital ballasts and a few of them seem to have interference issues.

lemon has a thread about some of the issues he's encountered with his digital 150 from HID hut. Basically it creates interference on some of the cable tv stations.

Reason for the interference wasn't clear last I checked his thread (lemon jump in if you've got more to add) but it seemed old wiring in the apartment he was running it in might be part of the issue or it could be a bad ballast - or who knows - there were issues with the first round of bigger digital ballasts that seem to have gotten straightened out along the way... hopefully some day the 150 digital will become a stable and mature technology.

-suga

 

[sugabear_II]

...
and i do plan to scrog, although not the first time around because i'll be growing out from seeds and will have to sex them. I think the first run i'll just do heavy LSTing so i don't have to worry about unraveling a male from the screen. after the first run, i'll pick out the best female and reveg her into a mother, then start scrogging with the clones.

Check out BigfatJ's super simple scrog technique - it allows for modular scrog screens attached to the individual planter which makes life much easier as each plant has it's own screen.

I've also found that you can wait until the plants have been sexed before putting on the screen, thus allowing you to only scrog the females.

That said LST will work well.

But in the end I would avoid a single large screen as having modular scrog screens makes for more flexibility.

-suga

p.s. - interesting outdoor plant lemon - hopefully it's not getting as cold there as it is here right now and maybe you'lll get something off of it.

 

[greenhead]

actually HID hut sells a digital 150

-suga

I didn't know that, I just checked their site, 80 bucks for the ballast.

 

[tiny_rabid_bird]

has anyone had any experience with shipping through businesslights.com? I'd rather not get a box that has HPS Lights and Ballasts written all over it. Or any distinguishing features for that matter. I'm trying to keep my flatmate in the dark.

 

[PHB]

Check out BigfatJ's super simple scrog technique - it allows for modular scrog screens attached to the individual planter which makes life much easier as each plant has it's own screen.

You can find that thread here

PHB

 

[Lemon]

really? no motor noise whatsoever? that's intriguing. it's so much cheaper than an inline fan.. and i can buy it locally... i think i'll give it a shot before i buy an inline, and if i find it makes too much noise for my purposes, then i'll simply return it. thanks a lot, lemon.

No problemo. Heres a clip that should give you an idea what type of noise it makes. Make sure your volume's up :smile:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY53A_pfV64

Reason for the interference wasn't clear last I checked his thread (lemon jump in if you've got more to add) but it seemed old wiring in the apartment he was running it in might be part of the issue or it could be a bad ballast - or who knows - there were issues with the first round of bigger digital ballasts that seem to have gotten straightened out along the way... hopefully some day the 150 digital will become a stable and mature technology.

The issue was never 100% resolved. As close of a conclusion I came to was a ground loop fault due to common neutral and ground conductors on my electrical network. Its a bummer.

 

[tiny_rabid_bird]

damn.. fans are too big. i only wanted to partition off about 8 inches to make a utility room, but it looks like i'll need more like 10-11 inches, despite whether i go with a stanley or a vortex inline, simply to accommodate fan width.

 

[vintner]

has anyone had any experience with shipping through businesslights.com? I'd rather not get a box that has HPS Lights and Ballasts written all over it. Or any distinguishing features for that matter. I'm trying to keep my flatmate in the dark.

Never ordered from them, but my 150 from Econo-light came in a pretty none discript box. And, right now they're only $20, and very easily convered to a remote balast w/nothing more than a heavy duty extention cord.

 

[Lemon]

damn.. fans are too big. i only wanted to partition off about 8 inches to make a utility room, but it looks like i'll need more like 10-11 inches, despite whether i go with a stanley or a vortex inline, simply to accommodate fan width.

You need exactly 9 inches width for the stanley

 

[Arcane]

Whats the best carbon to buy for a carbon scrubber at either Home Depot or Lowes?

 

[Pipedream]

Check out the very first post of the thread. There's a link to a carbon filter they sell at Home DePot. It's worked well for me and it's easy to work with.

 

[hardhat22]

Thanks Pipedream.That's the info I was looking for.

@tiny rabid bird.I bought a 150hps bulb from econolite and the package contents were not on the outside of the box.BUT,once I bought a zip drive on Ebay and our local ups driver handed the package to me and said "here is your zip drive".It was only later that I noticed that there was nothing on the outside of the package that would have told him that.Take that anyway you want it,but it paranoided the hell out of me.But he also brought my 150hps from htg 2 years ago without saying a word.HTG is very discreet.They even black out the items in the feedback section,whether it be lights or nutes.Good luck,man.
Peace

 

[hardhat22]

Hey Vitner.Is that your Sadhu?I just love that plant,man.I just made my first order today,but the cash flow being stifled atm,I stuck with Mandalas safari mix.Then I said a short prayer that sadhu will be in the mix,Lol.Prolly end up with a sackfull of sats that wanna grow 10 ft in my little space.
Next paycheck will get me a full sack of sadhu.I'm going to go by sugabear's advice and try the grapefruit X nl,but I'm having probs finding it.He just said seed boutique.I'm still going through the umpteen dealers on SB.Seedbay has some interesting stuff though.I may have to start cutting grass after work for extra cash though,Lol.I see much that looks like it would mix well with my mexi sat genes.
Peace

 

[redboi20]

Never ordered from them, but my 150 from Econo-light came in a pretty none discript box. And, right now they're only $20, and very easily convered to a remote balast w/nothing more than a heavy duty extention cord.

i been eyeing one of those...hows the noise/ heat on them?

 

[sugabear_II]

hardhat22 - the grapefruit x nl is by femaleseeds and can be found in the X-line.

Arcane - the other option for pelletized active carbon is the pet section of walmart and or a pet store - that is where you can buy the tubs of the stuff for doing the SunIsShining can type filters.

-suga

 

[Siddartha]

Ya know, I think grapefruit X nl is one of the so -called elite strains in my part of town. I may have to try that.

I'm interested in the cheap lights, I too would like to know about noise and heat, whenever you get a chance vintner.

 

[COCOPUFF]

LIGHTS FOR CABS

LIGHTS FOR CABS

I just got a copy of the Hydrofarm catalog and they have a nice 2' t5 light with 4 tubes its 100 watts and 10,000 lumens It cost $160 with bulbs but you can save buy useing less fans and the light can be put 2" from the plants saving room and giving the plants more light also the are silent

 

[sugabear_II]

I just got a copy of the Hydrofarm catalog and they have a nice 2' t5 light with 4 tubes its 100 watts and 10,000 lumens It cost $160 with bulbs but you can save buy useing less fans and the light can be put 2" from the plants saving room and giving the plants more light also the are silent

I've seen some pretty decent floro grows under t5s.

However I think that the 150 is still a better choice since it puts out an extra 6,000 lumens more for only 50 watts more than the t5.

I also disagree with the reduced need for cooling fans. My basis is as follows;

1. Per watt a floro (even these t5s) produce less light per watt than an HPS - that extra wattage has to go somewhere - and that somewhere is extra heat. Well the bulb may be cooler if you were to put a 100 watt t5 setup in a closed box and a 100 watt HPS setup in an identical closed box the box with the t5 would get hotter.

2. Most people will remote their HPS and place the ballast outside of the grow space - this is not an option with the t5 ballast - and therefore on a per watt basis the t5 will produce more heat in the grow space as the ballast can't be removed from the grow space.

I'm not saying you shouldn't go with the t5 if you want to - but I am going to say that it will not produce as much bud as the 150 in the same square foot print.

-suga

 

[Lemon]

I also disagree with the reduced need for cooling fans. My basis is as follows;

1. Per watt a floro (even these t5s) produce less light per watt than an HPS - that extra wattage has to go somewhere - and that somewhere is extra heat. Well the bulb may be cooler if you were to put a 100 watt t5 setup in a closed box and a 100 watt HPS setup in an identical closed box the box with the t5 would get hotter.

Signed. This is 100% true - general energy conservation and thermodynamics principles.

When It comes to growing, HPS produces less heat than anything else, including CFL or T5.

However, HPS bulbs are a much more concentrated source of energy and exibit higher temperatures immediately around the bulb. A cooler overall cab is no good if your plant tops are burning.

 

[abirdintheair]

finally...

finally...

my 150w hps has been just laying on the carpet waiting for me to get my ass of my shoulders and finish my dresser cab. it measures 24" wide, 18" deep and 3 feet high on the inside. i have a 50cfm nutone vent fan wired up inside up top. i also found a $3 emergency camping blanket that is being used for reflection, will update further tomorrow with the light up and seedlings in place. first pic is it with the door shut, i know it sticks out right now but ill eventually paint it black.