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

[Vern Equinox]

I pulled the glass off my 150s today and there is a big jump in the heat underneath that thing. i wonder if its worth it because i had to move the light up about 4 inches. i think it will be okay because now i get better coverage around the edges.

Great picture; bad idea. That 4 vertical inches reduces lumens exponentially, when you were just losing a little bit to the shield, you're losing a lot more to this "inverse-square" ??? law!

 

[LazyGeezer]

You can take the glass of hold it under your light over some white card and see how much shaddow it produces.Im still Building my box at the mo (1st grow) so im no expert! But doing a few little experiments with a 400w hps i have and refering to light charts ect it seems glass,so you can get the light closer is the best option(and in my case for sure it allows my box to be smaller) Im also thinking the hot air from the lamp does not need cleaning(SMELL)so a smaller fan and (homade) carbon filter for the box.Still having no luck finding a cheap 150w,thinking about 2X70w and a couple of compact flous.Great thread by the way inspired me to get my arse in gear again(been building this box for 4 YEARS LOL)Cheers

 

[RuralRoute420]

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here's what i just pulled off a 175MH, i think i'm liking this E/F thing...

 

[sugabear_II]

nice buds ruralroute420 - very nice - what was the total yield? you know you could run a 150 watt hps conversion bulb in there

vern and user_name - on the inverse square rule.... hmmm how best to put this - yes light intensity drops off as the inverse square of the distance - but it's not because the light "disappears" into the thin air or something, unlike glass the lumen loss due to travel through air is not appreciable over such short distances. The light intensity drops off because you are lighting a larger area as the lamp is moved up the light is spread out further making it less intense but over a larger area. the inverse square is based on the light being a cone, as the lamp is raised the area of the cone grows at a rate which increases by the radius squared. now we construct a traingle with one leg being the radius of the circle and the other being the distance to lamp. since we have a right triangle we can use pathagorian theorem to show that area being lit grows by the inverse square of the distance. Therefore since the intensity is lumens per surface area and the surface area is increasing the intensity at any one spot under the lamp will vary by the inverse square of the distance.

right now you're probably pissed I brought you back to geometry class... but here's the point.

the lumens being emitted by the lamp are the same - you are only spreading them out further when you move the lamp up further often times achieving better coverage

when growing in a cabinet and using reflective white walls or other reflective materials most of the light is striking the surface of your plant whether the lamp is 2" away or 10" away.

Look at pipedreams cabinet - or my cabinet - our lamps are permantly attached to the roof - not right down on the plants all the time.

anyways my .02 that's all

 

[Guest]

Lazy, yes I agree, I dont think that its worth it to take the glass off, Im gonna slip mine back on in a minute when the lights turn.

suga, wow you are taking me backing to school! I have always understood this, but never saw the technicals of it. I got the glass back on in the C25 and moved the light down as much as I could while covering the canopy. Damn hydro super stretch! Im definetly going to try something new with the lights next round in there. Either a 250 or a twin v-scrog like Vern.

by the way Vern, how is everything coming along?

 

[SourDog]

hey 150 users... i got my 150hps ballast, but i still want more!

Has anyone come across a 150hps ballast that is digital/electronic?? or a sight where one could purchase one??

i actually have found 150w hps electronic ballasts, but they are from a source in china who only sells to people who buy lots of them at a time i guess...

i want the most efficient grow box possible... plus the extra lumens...

 

[sugabear_II]

wiring diagrams

wiring diagrams

Ok this will hopefully be the last iteration of this...

first the reactor ballast diagram from the PDF that Vern was kind enough to point me in the direction of. As you can see lines x2, the white out from the bulb, and the com wire all meet together whereas the line V black wire meets in ones spot with the cap wire.


next here is how I believe this would be wired. Please jump and and say if you think it's wrong or right.




SourDog,

I have been looking for a while for the digital 150 - all I've been able to find is digital 150 MH's for aquiriums by a company called icecap. they don't indicate if a HPS would also run in there but I doubt it. I would guess the closest one could get is a digital 175 MH for an aquarium and an HPS conversion bulb... but at that rate one could buy a nice 250 digital from lumatek... oh well some day they'll have the 150 hps in digital too. just not today.

 

[GanjaGoon]

Today was harvest day for my first grow... made many mistakes along the way, but still came out with some bud. 2 plants were flowered under a 150w hps. Strain is NL X BB from Nirvana. Below are some pics -

 

[senseless]

great job man it looks like you got some fat nugs. showing once again than 150s can still produce big buds. have you started clones for your next grow?

 

[GanjaGoon]

Thanks dude... unfortunately, I'm moving very soon, and I won't be able to grow in my new living space, so no clones. I hope to continue some time in the future, though!

 

[senseless]

dude you never know...... i never thought i would grow in my apt. but stealth is posibble. nobody knows about my grow. keep it low key and your alright. but if you dont still grow, keep in touch and ill try my best to keep you going if you start up again.

 

[green_grow]

did a test run of my 150hps in my cabinet with no exhaust set up yet. temp was 82F and humidity was 40 pct. (note: no plants or anything in there, just a test run to make sure the light works and take a look at temps) . when i make the ballast remote i expect the temp will drop a wee bit, but that will be countered when i install a pair of floros. what ranges are we shooting for with temp. and humidity ? also, the ballast hums a bit, which i wasnt expecting. is that normal ?

 

[senseless]

the best growing temeprature is 75 degrees or within 10 degrees of that is acceptable. if growing in hydro try to keep a water temperature of 75 degrees or less.

humidity is acceptable up to 70 in veg and 40 or lower in bloom to prevent mold or budrot.

the ballast is humming is because something is not secured inside the ballast properly or it is loose. take it apart and tighten the crap out of all the screws and bolts. when everything is tight you should be able to pick up your ballast and shake it without hearing anything.

what type of fan do you plan to use to cool your lamp? i suggest building a diy cooltube for your 150, its super easy and cheap (under 30$).

 

[Guest]

Week 4

Bwahaha, peace everybody!

 

[green_grow]

looking nice, user !

thanks for the info, senseless. as for the fan, i think that because my cabinet is so small (16 cu.ft.) and because my temps look to be manageable, i might just go with a couple of little computer fans to draw air out from above the light. later, when smell becomes an issue, i may have to consider an inline and some kind of home-made scrubber.
would you happen to have a link to directions for a DIY cool tube ? i think i get the basic idea, but want to avoid making a rookie mistake in building one if i can.

 

[Guest]

skeet!

 

[sugabear_II]

nice shots user name!

how's the rest of the 150 club today?

 

[senseless]

im doing pretty darn good. how about yourself?

ill take some detailed pictures of how i built my cooltube, its super simple.

 

[Guest]

Best I got for now.

Best I got for now.

Hello fellow growers,just wondered if I could hop aboard your train and post a few pics of my own.It's not much but it's mine and it's workin.I'm growin in a 2x4x4 foot box with 2 150 HPS's.The two clones are 37 days into flower.They are an unknown strain from a buddy.They look very sativa ish to me but are looking very nice.Last pic is of a stem that did a loop before growing up.Anyways on with some pics

 

[sugabear_II]

cabinet current setup

cabinet current setup

hey boxbud welcome aboard - nice growing by the way

howdy to the rest of y'all glad to hear folks are doing ok.

it's been a while since I've had any pics to share so here in the meantime is a pic of my current cabinet setup.

I've labeled most things, I've currently got the 150 and two t8 undercabinet fixtures in there for around 18,000 lumens.






as you can see I have some of that astrofoil stuff forming a refletive wall off of the fan. I plan to also line the back wall with this stuff.

you'll also see I've got these little 4" fans in there - these I got at walmart and they're really great for cabinet grows. I've got one mounted in the corner and the other I move around. I use those little brass pipe holders to mount the fan and it works perfectly.They're at walmart now for like $6 but they usually only get them in the spring and then you can't find them 'till next year.

-suga