Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

[Maj.Cottonmouth]

Anyone have a recommendation on a cheap hps ballast to run these? I'm thinking maybe htgsupply, but need to call as they don't seem to list their 400 watt magnetic ballast seperately. Anyone have a link for a how to and what to use as an enclosure for wiring up the advanced tech ballast kit? More work but would make it cheap.

I just got my second 400w ballast from HTG today and it was $150 with $30 shipping to the left coast, not nearly as cheap as the kits but it is turn-key and they work great

If you call you can get it for $20 less without the HPS bulb

http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=47929

 

[onegreenday]

i just put together the kit from advancetech, super simple instructions, and much cheaper. so, if you can read and have basic skills, i say just get the ballast kit. only thing is you will have to get a mogul socket for it. my home depot and lowes stopped selling them, had to pick it up from the hydro store.

http://advancedtechlighting.com/ballast.htm

These are American made & a 5 year warranty.
They have the mogul sockets
at bottom of page
also.
1 stop shop
and great service.

 

[perpetualnewb]

yea, homedepot had them cheap so i didnt order the socket. when my ballast from advance tech came in i went to get the socket from hd, and they stopped carrying them. next order im definitely getting the socket along with everything else from advance tech lighting.

 

[Maj.Cottonmouth]

What do you guys who buy the ballast kits use for a case?

 

[hoosierdaddy]

I use old electrical enclosures.
You could find a project box at radio shack that might work for small ballasts, and for the big ones, a metal mailbox will work well. Try to separate the ignitor and capacitor from the core, and put a piece of board insulation or something to shield the heat of the core from the other components. Keep them cool and it will live longer.
If I were to use a mailbox for a 1000 ballast, I would probably mount up a small fan to help keep it cool.

 

[bicyclebenny]

This worked for me. It fits so tightly I can just barely close the lid. Love it. $12.


http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=123887-296-QOE250GFINM&lpage=none

 

[bicyclebenny]

Oh yeah, mine's a 250w. Hoosier, tks for the insulation idea! I think I just have room between the cap, ignitor and ballast for about 1/2" of foam. Also I'm gonna drill a bunch of holes in it for cooling and to make it look even more ghetto

 

[Maj.Cottonmouth]

This worked for me. It fits so tightly I can just barely close the lid. Love it. $12.


http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=123887-296-QOE250GFINM&lpage=none

It says it is $110, was it a lot cheaper for you?

 

[bicyclebenny]

Oh, hey mine wasn't the spa pak. Looks just the same, though. It came with a 50a breaker that I trashed. $12.97 last mo. I guess it's not on their website. I noticed the same item @ Home Depot for like $25. DK why the disparity. I found another online @ Lowes that may be it:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=105525-296-UFP222RNM

 

[squirrelfooker]

So does the kit come with all the wire, etc.?
Do you need a special type of wire to go from the ballast to bulb?

 

[bicyclebenny]

No wire, but I just bought a 12" 14g extension cord and chopped it up. S

 

[bicyclebenny]

Hey, the ballast wires are each marked and the instructions on advtech website make it a no-brainer even for people like me with no brain.

 

[bicyclebenny]

I must have gotten the best deal in the world on that box, since now I can't find it anywhere online for under $20, but I did find an $8 project box at the shack that looks promising:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062285

 

[perpetualnewb]

i used an old computer tower, places for wires to go in an out, plenty of cooling in the case, filters on air intakes too. have 2 400's mounted in it. works great, clean appearence.

 

[john cutter]

I'm making the switch from 1000 hps to 800 cmh. This thread was the push i needed.

How easy is the ballast kit? I have two old 400 mag ballasts I'll use but if the kit is pretty simple I'll make the jump up to 1200. Any special tools needed?

 

[perpetualnewb]

wire caps, drill for mounting, screw driver. pretty sure thats all i used.

 

[john cutter]

Excellent. looks like im jumping up to 1200 haha.

 

[overmyhead]

is cmh better than mh for veg anyone? I know that a lot of you are using them straight through but I was wondering if the standard mh would be better for veg if one ahd an extra mh ballast laying around. Thanks!

 

[john cutter]

I havent gone CMH yet but there is more blue light with CMH than MH so I'd say its better for veg.

 

[ddd]

Does the 400w CMH need to be behind a glass shield?
Would the glass shield on a PL light contain the glass incase the 400 CMH blows?