Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

[onegreenday]

foot candles

foot candles

people have said that the CMH users
need not worry about lumen output of the CMH
since it's spectrum is so full & complete.

I measured the light output of a 400 vertical (base up) CMH
using a decent foot candle meter.

I have a 32" Vertical base up parabolic reflector from Sunlight supply
and I'm getting about 3,000 foot candle just below the outer edge of the reflector.

That's a good lumen reading since I was getting 4,000 foot candles
from a 1000 watt Hortulux HPS at the edge of a 48" parabolic from Sunlight Supply.

So the CMH is putting out good lumen numbers.

Putting the 400 watt CMH in the 48" parabolic drops the foot candles down quite a bit to the 1400 foot candle range at the edge of the 48" parabolic.

That 32" parabolic tightens the light up quite a bit over the 48" parabolic

 

[simba]

heya solar,
ceramalux is the new name for HPS.. LOL.. Well its a type of HPS..
its there new arc tube and antennas etc..
Remember the arc tube in a CMH is borrowed from the HPS.but takes gases,salts,metals from MH lamps Long version Shortened..

psl ratings uh not really they all really take in account for the energy in 500-600 range.and dont do the math vs what plants take up in that area.. 1/3 that energy in par psl ppf range is bairly used by plants..

 

[onegreenday]

Phillips must test for skin damage

Phillips must test for skin damage

I'd be surprised if Phillips did not test their lamps for human skin
damage.

They'd be up for lawsuits if people's skin was falling off.

Any warnings about distance from lamp for safety;from Phillips?

 

[wastekan]

The only distance warnings so far has come from FreezerBoy...

 

[simba]

heres the thing onegreenday..
Most CMH are UV protected..
Most MH (metal Halide) lamps are NOT UV Protected.
CMH arc does put out UV.. (how much do the blocks block it is the Q.. At what distance a 400 watter was never intended by them to be used at 4' from floor 1 foot from head
There is a bit more to

 

[smokinshogun]

-

 

[asde]

ye cmh does glow too and i believe it glows more than hps because of the higher temperatures

 

[simba]

asde
your q is a good one..
im actually convinced far red to IR is needed for plants..
for many reasons

Yes a CMH arc tube stays Red hot for a bit..
the cmh arc tube is the same as a HPS but shorter and fatter and cmh arc tube burns hotter than hps and so i assume it holds its heat longer to while cooling I havent weighed an hps arc tube to see if there is more mass vs cmh..
i haven't compared the side by side cooling speed..

 

[m00nchild]

Hello all. This is an extremely long thread, and I tried searching through it to look for vendor or source info, but no luck.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to find the best, most affordable 70w CMH system? I don't even need a reflector... just a reputable source for the socket, ballast, and bulb? It's going in a micro-cab.

This new CMH craze has me feeling like a noob again. Can I just use a standard MH ballast? Or do the parts need to be specific to CMH? I need answers quick, because otherwise I'm gonna cop out and settle on a 70w HPS security light, and I don't want that.

Thanks.

 

[messn'n'gommin']

The 150w and smaller CMH's require a corresponding wattage MH pulse start magnetic, core and coil ballast. The 250w and 400w CMH's require a regular HPS magnetic, core and coil ballast.

They also sell the ballast kit you need for the particular bulb your buying or you can get them at most electrical supply stores (either brick and mortar or online). However if you don't feel confident in your DIY abilities, you will have to find somewhere to get the ready made ballast. But, as I went the DIY route (ATL has a downloadable pdf for super simple instructions for the electrical connections) for both of mine I wouldn't know where the best prices would be for those.

Hope this hleps a bit.

Namaste, mess

 

[m00nchild]

Actually I am very confident in my electrical capabilities, so that was all very helpful, thank you! Now a follow up question: I noticed that they don't seem to offer the double-ended variety of the tubular bulbs... does anyone know a place that offers those?

Reason I ask is I already have a reflector I could use which is designed for double-ended MH bulbs. It's for reef aquarium lighting. I'm pretty sure I'll need to replace the ballast with one that works with CMH, though. But if I can make this thing transition over to CMH from MH, it'll pretty much replace all my CFLs, and allow me to use one lamp from beginning to end.

 

[Aerohead]

Never seen an HQI CMH (double ended) before, doubt they make them in 250 400 range, maybe smaller wattages.

 

[asde]

the best 70w is philips cdm-t elite 930 and maybe also the cheapest including ballast but i think its not available in the us regularly

 

[simba]

m00,
Double ended RX7 Style.. is on adv tech site go to cmh pages for them.(there nice specs vs mhc series but mhc are way safer.)
only go after them if your reflector has a glass panel..
(none of the Tubular Style are open fixture rated)

ya im still on the fence about the 930 series.
there 3k (better than the current 830 series but not quite 940 series (4K) 940 has more blue energy which i do not want to cut..

BTW, CDM-t elite 930 70 watt
USA part number is CDMElite70/TC/930 , CDMElite70/T6/930
they have higher lumen output (wich is bad for us (super short version,as it gets its pump in lumen's from an big increase in green,yellow, and decent bump in red range (i haven't seen the benefit yet vs the 4k 942 series. im still looking for the best bulb..)

i will give them they have a nicer white or warm white for architectural/nice lighting use. (they are nice warm but with hint blue white light, the cdm 830 are ucky yellow.. to me and the 4k 942 series could be a bit warmer (for every thing but horti, aqua)

another reason i like the MHC series they have a 20k hour life all the tubular ones are 9-12k hours so about Half the life.. so in the end i say its cheaper/safer to go with MHC.
(the bigger the Jacket on CMH the longer the life)

 

[ThinkGREEN]

Hi,..
I just did a 150W CDM-TD (830) test grow and I was surprised by the result.
A while ago, I uploaded some pictures, showing the double-ended CDM-TD.
I also put glass under the CDM, which you can`t see on those pictures...

here`s the links

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=2126799&postcount=2292
&
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=2168082&postcount=2342

now, I`m testing to see how much I can squish out of the CDM-TD.
I have tested the 942 & 830...
imho, the 830 did better and the bud was thicker.
In about 2 months, I`m planning on comparing 2x 150W CDM-TD against 1x 400W HPS simultanesly, side by side.. with the same strain...

this picture is from yesterday, with the real color-temp of the 830 CDM-TD,.. nothing modified...
btw...Here you can see the glass under the CDM...the glass I used was from a normal HQI aquarium lamp.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Leafy bud grown under 400CMH/150HPS

Too bad CMH grows crappy, leafy bud.

 

[asde]

simba the elite is almost as effective as the 942 physically seen (around 0.6w less light) but its spd is better no question.. the green and yellow peaks at over 150µW/5nm but therefore other wavelengths (those we dont want) peaks are higher for the 942
the elite outperforms the 942 in the red part the same way the 942 outperforms the elite in the blue part so that in the end the ~0.6w less light overall is nothing to talk about as the red part is more fficient - without calculating im sure to say that there is just a very small difference in the ppf
so in the end the signal function counts and i tend to believe the elite is better here

 

[m00nchild]

So they DO have double-ended bulbs! Guess I missed em before. This is great, thanks guys! Simba, the reflector I'm using is glass-protected, so I think it's reasonably safe to go with the double-ended bulbs here. I just like how small I can keep everything, even if it means buying bulbs more often. Here's the reflector I use:

So which spectrum of the RX7 bulbs should I go with, the 3k or the 4k? I want to be able to use this from beginning to end. Well, clones and seedlings would still go under CFLs, but everything else I wish to do under one light. The 3k seems to have higher lumen output, so should I go with that one, even though the 4k might possibly keep the growth shorter?

 

[OsWiZzLe]

Leafy bud grown under 400CMH/150HPS

Too bad CMH grows crappy, leafy bud.

wow...i should go run out and buy this lamp asap!@!! look at the super dank huge nug !!!!

 

[guanito]

beautiful pics HoosierD!

I have a computer fan hanging on the end of my reflector blowing on the bulb.
I noticed some rattling noise and couldn't figure out what it was.
It was the bulb itself. I had to turn it 1/4 turn so it wouldn't rattle.
I jostled the reflector and the bulb turned off.
I noticed the glowing core.
The bulb turned itseld back on in 20 minutes or so, just as advertised.
Otherwise doing a great job so far.
The ballast stays cool. Just dialing in the ventilation and cooling issues still.
I'm replacing my pc fans after 5 or so years of use.
Not a biggie, just checking in.
cheers!