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

[Trev]

im lookin to start up my 150 cab next month. with 70 watt HPS for side lighting, im wondering what kinda of venting im gunna need. ive been looking at 50 CFM fart fans and i found one at home depot for 15 bucks. thought about maybe 2 of those.. but imnot sure. what do you guys use?!

dont wanna use cool tubes or cooled hoods.

 

[sugabear_II]

if I had a nickel for everytime someone asked about ventilation... i'd have alot of nickels

so I'm gonna state a general rule of thumb for the 150 and invite people to agree or disagree

a 150 watt hps will require around 100-150 CFM of ventilation in order to keep temps under control. If you're ambient temps are higher then you'll want stronger ventilation. If you're cabinet is smaller (counter height like mine) then you'll want stronger ventilation - if your cabinet is bigger like pipedreams for example you'll won't need as much as there is more space for heat to disapate. Assuming you grow in an enclosed space the amount of ventilation needed to keep the temps down is more than enough to keep the plants happy with fresh air. Add a carbon filter and your ventilation requirements will increase.

Trev - with the additional 70 watter your ventilation requirements will be more. The 50 cfm fart fan from home depot might work ok if you have a closet or large cabinet and your ambient temps are under control (A/C)however if it's smaller you will want more ventilation than that - there was a guy who used a 110 cfm panasonic bathroom fan and swore by it as the most silent one out there - If you're not concerned about noise you can probably use one of those 100+ cfm bathroom fans at home depot.

I personally use a 134 cfm dayton blower - it was around $50 - it was easy to connect to a professional carbon filter - I have been running my blower 24/7 for over a year now w/o issue - temps stay around 5-7 degrees above ambient with lights on.

-suga

p.s. - pics in a minute... day 58 - oregon90 and trainwreck

 

[admiralcornport]

suga... lookin excelent dude!! whats the expected yield on that plant?!!!

 

[Guest]

Daaaaamn those are some big buds suga congrats!

 

[sugabear_II]

thanks guys - I don't own a scale but I guestimate around 3oz total. Each plant should yield around 1 and 1/4 to 1 and 1/2 ounce of really nicely trimmed buds + trim for bubble and cooking

The TW really bulked up in the last few weeks and the early bud samples are very strong and unique with a nice creeper 1/2 hour straight up high with visual effects that last for a little while and then stoney feelings set in. I can't wait to get the full effect.

The oregon90 is the really chunky biatch showing some purple tints. Alas this will be the last grow of this strain for me as I lost the mom when a mini-dwc bucket whent dry The good news is I crossed it with burmese pure so as she passes on she will pass on her genetics combined with a worthy studs' to produce a new generation - ah the circle of life renewed yet again....

-suga

 

[sugabear_II]

harvest pics

trainwreck








oregon90









both plants before the axe fell day 60 of 12/12



I ran out of close pins and there's some more little buds drying on the silk screen frame you see here. When trimming I rest this over a clea pyrex baking dish - after I'm done with a plant a layer of the absolute finest trichs can be scraped up - there's nothing like freshly fallen trichs that melt in your bong

-suga

 

[Guest]

righteous

 

[Jaxom]

Sugabear,

Here's a Cyber dollar.... Figure I asked that queston often enough myself. Point is i've got that part worked out now. I happened upon a store that carried 107 cfm fans for $5.00 each! Got two!!

Now that issue for me is solved, let's get on with my next series of questions.

Just recieved my 150hps I had ordered from Econolights via UPS today! Now I wanna get down to converting it to a remote balast. I just need to go over a few things before I start sniping wires and what all.

My first confusion is about the capacitor. These small lamps don't have a capacitor! Should I install one? What does it do really? Even more confusing, where should it go? I've downloaded three different wireing diagrams showning the cap inline on the hot, or between the hot and the com, or finally between hot and connecting to white com/x2/com socket lead.

To paraphrase Vinnie Barbarino...."I'm soooo confused!"

Also, just how big of an experimenter's box is recommended? I'm also tossing around the idea of using a second transformer and installing a small computer fan inside the ballast box itself. Has anyone tried this before?

And finally, a thread over in the design forum, the cabinet maker used a digital timer that gets hard wired into the outlet box. I priced these over at my local Home Depot, not bad for $20 and looks much neater then a power strip and mechnical timer. Howwever; i priced them over at a local electrical supply and lamp store, and they told me those type of timers are NOT recommended for lamps that use a ballast. Can anyone comment on that one?

Thanks all!

Jaxxx

 

[sugabear_II]

Jaxom,

You do not need to wire in the capacitor if one didn't come with it. Here's the wiring diagram you need




here's another - same thing though





I was able to fit the ballast and starter inside a 4"x4" junction box from home depot - the kind in the electrical section. These in my opinion are better than the radio shack project boxes because they're all set for romex connections.

I mounted the junction box to the back of the cabinet so the heat is not in the grow space. I punched out a few extra holes for ventilation. I never considered a fan but I imagine that could keep it running cooler = brighter but probably not needed.

Don't know about the timer - I use a heavy duty digital intermatic - I used a mechanical intermatic before and I don't like them as they seem to lose time and don't keep an accurate 12/12 cycle. The digital one IMHO is the best. I don't know why you can't use the wired in one with the ballast except that it may not have the proper amp rating. Either way you will want some kind of overload breaker between the timer and the house current.

 

[Guest]

Nice harvest sugabear! Real niiiiiiiice

 

[Ctcoyote16]

Hey 150 W club!

I am going to be purchasing my first real light system in a few months. Problem is, the best deal I found was the 85 $ 250 W HPS from Insidesun.com

That is one hell of a good price, but, I dont need that much power and want to opt for a 150 W. Problem is, I cant find anywhere that is charging around that price range, and if not, lower. All the ones I found are like 160. Can anyone point me out to a good site where I can purchase one from?

Thanks

P.S., pics not working for anyone else???

 

[Holdin']

www.e-conolight.com. I think it's like 50 dollars after shipping and tax.

http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EProductDetail.asp?ProductFamilyID=3&FGNumber=E-HC1H151Z

 

[Holdin']

Jaxom,
Don't know about the timer - I use a heavy duty digital intermatic - I used a mechanical intermatic before and I don't like them as they seem to lose time and don't keep an accurate 12/12 cycle. The digital one IMHO is the best. I don't know why you can't use the wired in one with the ballast except that it may not have the proper amp rating. Either way you will want some kind of overload breaker between the timer and the house current.

My assumption is the guy told him not to use it because it didn't have a ground...

 

[sugabear_II]

Ctcoyote16,

Not too many grow light manufacturers make 150 lamps anymore - they instead push large wattage CFL's as the solution... as holdin said you can order a kit at econolight or there's another place on the first page of this thread that sells a venture kit with capacitor that is better quality for around $10 more. Either way it will run you around $50~60 bucks. If you prefer cash and carry you can get a security light 150 hps at lowes for $78. We'll help you get it all wired up without a problem.

but yeah if you go to a hydro store expect to spend $200 for a 150 HPS unit.

-suga

 

[Trev]

i just bought my 150 off of ebay, 25 bucks shipped, booyah, deal if you ask me.

 

[iamhigh]

ebay is scary ive always read to be careful with them as they report such items to police departments. but thats just whta ive read.

I have some updates on my girls i just gotta wait for lights on before i show..

[edit]

ok the first girl up is gunna get the chop in a few days to a week probaly. Her trichs are still tellin me there is time. been flushing for about a weak and a half and she is turning a nice dark purple tint on her calaxys.






2nd up is the fruity girl, has a nice citrus smell and pretty strong at that. Nice tight buds with a good amount of frost. this one seems to be maturing the quickest with about 80%cloudy 20% clear prolly got 2 more weeks to fatten up and flush. cant wait for this one.




and the third one up is a sweet one as well. giving off that citrus smell but definatly not as a strong just a hint of it. It streched for a good while but finally stopped after it wasnt gettin much light to its top. the middle buds are nice and tight already but i think she has at least 3 weeks to go.





next run isnt going to be a trial run with bagseed. its too hard to try and give each plant what they need. one was being underfed while the other was being overfed it was no fun to work out but i think they are doin OK for my first go. What strain to you guys suggest for a good scrog and good overall high?
thanks for checkin out my pics with my shitty cam. hopefully my sister buys a new digi cam so i can borrow it. happy growin everyone!

btw sugga nice frosties you got there!

 

[Jaxom]

Sugabear,

Thanks again! You came through for me once again! I agree, those RS boxes are cheap. Luckily I have a Fry's near by, and they have a much larger selection of boxes of better quality. It's either that or I was also tossing around the idea of using a small breaker box. Those also have the knock outs for romex.

Fyi...that's the same pic I copied too. Just being curious, how hot does your ballast box get? I'm tossing around the idea of mounting all my controlls at the bottom of one portion of the box, and using the rest of the space as drying/curing racks.

Jaxxx

 

[Trev]

its just a ceiling light for a shop. so no suspicion about grow lights.. would never buy from a hydro store or anything plant related on ebay. also just bought a 265 CFM dayton pole blower. should get both next week sometime. got a couple buddah clones that should be ready the week after that, gunna fire her up.

doing the V-scrog method proposed by underground.
also growing in a dresser like him.




thats what i have done so far. just takin it slow measure 678099600 times cut once or twice should be a nice cab when im done.

 

[Natural]

Soiless mixture, all organic.
White Rhino from Nirvana.

Pics are of day 42 flowering... sorry, I'm no photographer...

 

[Artie Lange]

good news fellas, the 150 is outta the closet,and ready to go. im picking up my old c-22 sunday. booyah.