What's new
  • ICMag with help from Landrace Warden and The Vault is running a NEW contest in November! You can check it here. Prizes are seeds & forum premium access. Come join in!

Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

HairlessCaveApe

Active member
Imma orderin one up prolly rite after breakfast. I just never herd ofem. Im seein how yous feel aboutem so Im gettin me one too! Thanks for all the rec's!
 

simba

Sleeping Dragon
GE UltraMax is the only one id recommend and at $320+ not worth the elec savings from a Magnetic core at $55-150Ish



digital Ballasts only save you aprox @24.00 per year..
so it would have to run without fail for 13 years Ya right that's gonna happen..(especially the horti ones out there.. the advance MH electronic and GE ultra will last 7 years in a commercial application)
while the $50-110 ones will last for 5 years and when they need a part its gonna be 20 bucks..

the only time electronic ballasts are worth it are when you have 100 ish fixtures..
(when you figure the cost vs savings)
100 fixtures elec would save that person 2,149 a year and at a commercial application (cleaner power) they will run longer than at a house..

the reason Elect basalts are cooler basically they have a HUGE heat sink hooked up to the heat Pumps.> if you took a simple CPU heat sink and fan to your 400 mag ballast you can keep it cool to the TOUCH>> chit you not...


Forgot the other part of Elec ballasts While the Good ones advance and The Aquarium ones will provide Higher Lumen Maintenance Thus resulting in less relamping.. For the application above 100 fixtures that would add even more savings Less relamping Less labor for that relamping offest the high initial price .. in the end they end up saving... but thats not us.. well maybe a few with 10-20 ballasts.. But not the 1kw units they aren't for Home power EVER>>
 
Last edited:

minds_I

Active member
Veteran
Hello all,

Well, mines been burning for 14 days. The only thing I can tell you for sure is the temperature in my setup is down 2-3 degressF.

Also, I am using the CMH for vegging. I cannot make a comparison yet as the vegging plants were under 156w of cfl's. In about 10 days or so I will fill and then I can make a judgement call on its effectiveness in my box for flowering.

I can see significant growth over the cfls but that would be a given.

minds_I
 
so can phillips cdm-t 70/150w cmh bulbs be run on HPS electronic ballasts or do they need a cmh specific ballast?

EDIT: i have to run an e-ballast. Set up cost ain't really much of an issue, but wattage is, i need to keep the wattage down as much as possible. mag ballasts are 92-96w for a 70w lamp.
 
Last edited:

simba

Sleeping Dragon
captinstoner, Depends on the bulb..
these 50-150 Watt (Protected is what i recommend for horti or aquarium use)
ed17 on adv tech site in cmh section run on a Standard Metal Halide Pulse start (avail there to) or a E Ballast Specifically stating For Ceramic Metal Halide USE generally 150 (Adv tech has them but not in broken case)
most e ballasts are 400Hz cmh needs 40-144hz.. normal mag core ballast is 60hz
regarding the transition lens's.. yes the cmh does put out uv how much uv at 3 feet away is undecided.. but if they are tinting they are getting UV.. as to the sunburn.. its not from the cmh... Not unless you where playing with a magnifying glass on your skin JK
 

MostHigh

Member
I'm maybe on my last run with the 400CMH...I see me using it maybe 5-6 hours per photoperiod so the plants can snag some UVs. But as soon as I pony up for a Mega-Ray UVB lamp...the CMH will be headed for a box in the corner.

It is, by far, the hottest lamp in my grow. Much hotter than my 400 PMSH (in excess of 275F hotter), hotter than the 430 Agro (nearly 200F hotter) ...hotter even than the 600 watt HPS I shelved when I began using the 400CMH. (not by much, but it is hotter)

If I have to deal with 600 watt temps...I might as well take advantage of the more intense source of light.
 
150 watt temperature.

150 watt temperature.

I am planning a 1'x1'x2' grow. I am very handy with the D.I.Y. idea so keep this in mind. Only issue was lighting. I love hps, but there is no way I could cool it and have a good spectrum of light in such a small space. So, hps is out. CFL's where my bet; I have always had good results with them. That was until I caught this forum. I have seen CMH around the forums for a while now, but I never knew what they were refering to, nor did I care. I have been playing since the days of O.G. just never on such a small scale. I have a 100 cfm inline duct fan which I could directly connect to a cool tube for the light. I want to make it a verticle light setup and run a perp around it. The incoming temperature will be 67-70 degrees. The inline fan will be blowing through a carbon scrubber. I would say making the actual cfm of the fan around 60-80. Is this going to be enough to cool a 150 watt CMH? Anyone with experience?
 

simba

Sleeping Dragon
Most high, that sucks
i myself am having to find i need a small 250 hps just to get my room up to temp.. (chilly here and this current setup is not in HVAC'ed room)

We have always said the CMH has a Hotter Arc tube And that simply blowing air over it will keep it and room cool
That heat is Not Radiant heat rather (forgot the word) so it mixes with the air flow..
also hps and MH both THROW more heat even threw aircooled hoods while cmh's heat rises up not thrown down (every direction realy)..

CMH 400 HPS retro White Max. Permissible Bulb Temp. 450ºC (842ºF)
MH 400 Pulse start Max. Permissible Bulb Temp. 430ºC (806ºF)
400 watt HPS Max. Permissible Bulb Temp. 400°C (752°F)

no way do i find a 400 hps cooler than a 400 cmh at 4" away (down) above ya cmh hotter but suck or blow that heat outa the room (even a simple 3" pipe directly above the lamp would pull 75%ish of the heat away..

Could ur bulb be defunk (is it operating on a 400 hps ballast or a 430 sonagro ballast)
 

MostHigh

Member
S51 Ballast. The 430 has a digital. I'm going attempt mounting a fan closer to the lamp. I altered the grow recently with a different reflector...perhaps that's contributing to the 87-92°F temps the canopy is suffering with 14'' from the lamp.

ftr...the heat aside...I do prefer the CMH results over comparative MH and HPS. It's the constant running of an AC that truly bugs me.

Whoever said CMH produces fluffy bud...must not have grown with CMH.
 

minds_I

Active member
Veteran
Helloall,

Simba, the 250 cmh I am using has brought my cab temps down 2-3 degrees. If the CMH burns hotter as you say then the only other thing I could think of that would reduce temps is that the arc tube is not as long as in a hps.

Just my thoughts.

minds_I
 
Last edited:
I am planning a 1'x1'x2' grow. I am very handy with the D.I.Y. idea so keep this in mind. Only issue was lighting. I love hps, but there is no way I could cool it and have a good spectrum of light in such a small space. So, hps is out. CFL's where my bet; I have always had good results with them. That was until I caught this forum. I have seen CMH around the forums for a while now, but I never knew what they were refering to, nor did I care. I have been playing since the days of O.G. just never on such a small scale. I have a 100 cfm inline duct fan which I could directly connect to a cool tube for the light. I want to make it a verticle light setup and run a perp around it. The incoming temperature will be 67-70 degrees. The inline fan will be blowing through a carbon scrubber. I would say making the actual cfm of the fan around 60-80. Is this going to be enough to cool a 150 watt CMH? Anyone with experience?
 

minds_I

Active member
Veteran
Hello all,

Colorado, check out the designs forum. I think you will get better results there.


Good luck.


minds_I
 
I know a lot about designs and such. I have no experience with CMH nor do many on the design forum. I need my question answered here. I have to have full spectrum lighting in my cab, that is why I haven't gone with HPS. I need to know the heat specs of a 150 watt though, and if 80 cfm will be enough to cool with 70 degree air entering the cab.
 

FreezerBoy

Was blind but now IC Puckbunny in Training
Veteran
No tube. Exposed reflector. One 4" active exhaust. Two 4" passive intakes. Canopy temps at the moment are about 14º F over ambient. Growing in the garage leaves ambient anywhere between 40-100º.
 

simba

Sleeping Dragon
Colo..
i tried to let others answer but they taking long.. FB got in there.
a 150 cmh will be easy enough to coo Have Active Air flow (in and out of the cab) a fan Directly on the Lamp and that will do just fine..
u said 1x2
 
Top