Anyone heard of this?

[LouieG02]

Going to buy a new system for £110 speaking to a guy from a hydroponics shop and he said there is a 400w flourescent bulb? never heard of one that size before never even knew they made them that big!
it comes with a ballast and a reflector thoughts anyone ?

 

[paladin420]

I hav lots of luck with my 200watts. I only use them in the beginning of veg, but very helpful.

 

[Hammerhead]

I know there's 200w.. Are you sure there not saying equivalent to 400w

 

[LouieG02]

That what i thought he meant or maybe 2 cfl 200w bulbs but i'm not sure .......... he defo said 400w cfl? i was pretty confused !

 

[habeeb]

did you try and replace the ignitor yet in the HPS?

don't step down to floro.. I suggest keep the stuff you have and work it.




I think the floro is a two bulb system???

 

[LouieG02]

hmmm thats what i thought 2 bulb system

 

[someotherguy]

did you try and replace the ignitor yet in the HPS?

don't step down to floro.. I suggest keep the stuff you have and work it.




I think the floro is a two bulb system???

i'm with habeeb, i agree you should first try and fix what you already have.

...if you absolutely MUST use CFL's then i'd strongly recommend you just use common 23 and 26watt bulbs, they are everywhere so easy as shit to find, they are cheap as hell, unlike those high-wattage bulbs, and they are more versatile than a single high-wattage bulb in that, with several bulbs, they don't all have to be the same spectrum so you can make adjustments to tweak the spectrum to your liking.

...plus, with a single high-powered bulb you only have one point of light, with multiple lesser bulbs you are able to spread your light more evenly over the top of your canopy while also more evenly distributing the heat making it less of an issue.

...here is a couple of shots of one of my CFL light bars which cost me under $5.00, plus $1.50 for each of the 4 splitters bringing the total to $11.00 for the fixture, ...then, with 23 and 26watters costing about a buck a bulb that means approx. 200watts of CFL power for under $20.00, ...not MUCH under, but a little, lol.

then if you get your HPS fixed you can just use your 23 and 26watters around the house, ...you can't do that with one of those high-wattage babies.

i grew under nothing but CFL's for about 2 years, maybe a little more, ...but i moved UP to CMH and HPS, ...not down to CFLs.

btw, magnetic ballasts only have 3 parts, a coil, a capacitor and an igniter, so if you have one that went bad, it is ALMOST certainly the igniter, that's not guaranteed but it is the most likely problem. ...it's also VERY easy to fix.

here's a shot of the outside of 2x 150watt ballasts i DIYed for my stealth cab.

...and a shot of the inside of the 400watt ballast kit i mounted inside a security box, lol.

...actually, here is a shot before i wired it up.

...and now wired up.

...

peace, SOG

 

[someotherguy]

...and a shot with it closed up, note that in both cases i wired it up with the igniter OUTSIDE the main box of the ballast, my intent was to remove the igniter from the worst of the heat.

SOG

 

[Milkyway]

never heard of a 400w fluoro before.

 

[gloryoskie]

Hey SOG, nice job on the remote ballast box. Mounting the ignitor outside is smart too.
I am just building my upgrade 150w hps and will copy your method. Do you use any particular brand bulbs? Mogul or medium base?

Good stuff.

 

[someotherguy]

Hey SOG, nice job on the remote ballast box. Mounting the ignitor outside is smart too.
I am just building my upgrade 150w hps and will copy your method. Do you use any particular brand bulbs? Mogul or medium base?

Good stuff.

thanks man and no, i just used the socket that came with the fixture and mounted the ballast components inside a standard double outlet junction box, ...putting the igniter outside away from the heat just seemed like the thing to do, lol.

peace, SOG

btw, i only used the twin 150's for about a year afterwhich i upgraded to the 400CMH so i never replaced the bulbs that came with the original fixtures and thier replacement bulbs were only $5.00 so if i'd continued using the 150's i'd have probably bought a case of the $5.00 bulbs and been done with it, lol.

 

[gloryoskie]

btw, i only used the twin 150's for about a year afterwhich i upgraded to the 400CMH so i never replaced the bulbs that came with the original fixtures and thier replacement bulbs were only $5.00 so if i'd continued using the 150's i'd have probably bought a case of the $5.00 bulbs and been done with it, lol.

I will look at your grows with the CMH lights, you like the CMH? Special ballast for the CMH?

 

[someotherguy]

I will look at your grows with the CMH lights, you like the CMH? Special ballast for the CMH?

yeah, lol, you'll have a hard time finding any current threads of mine as i spend most of my time trying to help newcomers as i was helped when i first arrived and keeping up with a grow diary is such a pain in the ass, lol.

...i do take a lot of pics though so you are more than welcome to take a walk through my albums.

...and yeah, i DO like the CMH although i recently bought myself a new tent and a 600HPS so the 400CMH budbox will now be used for seedruns and vegging and such.

...as for the CMH ballast, no, it isn't anything special, just a standard magnetic HPS ballast, ...i built it from a kit and if i remember correctly it was a S51.

here is a link to the CMH thread where you can find info on wiring as well as links to sources where you can buy the components and kits, plus, if you've a mind to, you will find links to some very nice grows.

[URL="https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=72215&highlight=ceramic"]Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH) [/URL]

hope this helps bro, SOG