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Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

Azeotrope

Well-known member
Veteran
Wow! Nice skills. I am wondering if you heard my jaw shatter when it hit the floor?LOL

Thanks for the update!
 

mahalo

New member
Better pics coming later tonight but took a night shot while they were just before 50% flower. So far I have already overgrown the bud size of some finished plants of the same strain, same soil, same room. Just the added .8Kw of CMH spectrum.
If things continue as they are I will easily increase yield by 30-50%.
When I get done I will get organized and go thru my records and do a weekly comparison by photo of the same room under 2Kw HPS and then with the added .8Kw of CMH. It is rather eye opening.
Tiger Bomb @ 50% of 65day flower, again sorry for the crap pic, I will get the good cam out for some close ups and post some comparo photos of HPS vs HPS/CMH


I am happier than a boar in a peach orchard!
WR:tiphat:
That looks impressive, would you share with us which CMH bulb, HPS bulb and the configuration you use including reflectors and hieght above tops?
:artist:
 
W

whiterasta

That looks impressive, would you share with us which CMH bulb, HPS bulb and the configuration you use including reflectors and hieght above tops?
:artist:

It is all in my sig. Bulb brands are phillips alto retro white 400w and cheap chinese 1K HPS( plusrite, pulserite....36$ a bulb)I bought several cases of.
Hoods are ventilated and siamesed parabolics(see sig link) and they run ~1' above the plants at finish and ~3' during veg.
Venting and light movers prevent any light burn in fact I can hold the tip of the CMH in my hand while it is burning due to vigorous base venting.
I loaned my cam and am waiting to get it back to post some Pron.
WR:tiphat:
 
WOW I am running 5 400's on GE ballasts (off ebay), 1 for veg and 4 for flower. for first half of flower I run all cmh, change to 2 hps/2cmh 60% thru flower. compared to before, (mh veg, 1 mh: 2 hps flower) my super skunk and ppp r hardly recognizable. ppp was so much more dense and sticky I had to run dehumidifier to dry and still got mold on the meristem during drying. for those still using old school halides/hps (even simultaneously) w no cmh, there is simply no comparison! flowr clusters so close together that hps light is more efficiently used by plant w little stem waste. Also started w digi 600's and I will NEVER use anything but magnetics again, so user friendly and more reliable. plus cheaper and easier to repair if they do go kaputt! I will say that in early flower, w cmh, be sure to use 1:2 p-k ratio, w ascophyllum kelp, this is where cmh really shines and ur yield will be just as high as 600 hps' and way more dank. I saw a CMH go for 41$ shipped on ebay...spread the word about CMH it seems to be a forum secret...That lousy excuse for a magazine SKUNK was really putting the CMH up, they tested it and it did great. Then a few issues later they said 'no don't use it' w.out specifying a reason, saying stick w EYE blues (standard arc, over priced metal halides). Protecting their interests no doubt! I LOVE THIS BULB!
 

hoosierdaddy

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
HTG sells digital ballasts, and they won't work with them. HTG also sells magnetic core ballasts and the correct size bulb (250, 400) will work with them. The 150 take a pulse start metal halide ballast. The lamps will work on a digital ballast, but only one that is specifically designed for use with the CMH. HTG does not have these.
It doesn't matter who makes the ballast, it must be the correct ballast.
HTG doesn't make ballasts anyway, they have them made and label them for resale.
 

real ting

Member
Got a question for anyone knowledgeable about ballasts:

The HPS ballast I'm using (SOLA) has a distance to lamp of 5 feet. Does this mean I need to have the cord from the ballast to lamp less than 5 feet long, for use with hps or cmh?

If so I have no idea how I'm going to use it, with a flip flop in between the ballast and lights that's gonna be at least 15-20 feet of cord. I had never heard of distance to lamp before reading this thread so I didn't check it when I bought the ballast.
 
yous might be f*cked. there are many things that could happen but your manufacturer will most likely know best.

i think your best case scenario is that you have a "harder" start and lose some life on the bulb. which isn't that bad if you switch bulbs after a crop or two.

worst case, as you already know, fire waiting to happen.

consult the manufacturer.

i'm not mega familiar about the logistics of a flip flop, but you could mod the "starter" (might be the wrong word, but its in the thread. your ignition source) to the reflector assembly.
 

messn'n'gommin'

ember
Veteran
Got a question for anyone knowledgeable about ballasts:

The HPS ballast I'm using (SOLA) has a distance to lamp of 5 feet. Does this mean I need to have the cord from the ballast to lamp less than 5 feet long, for use with hps or cmh?

If so I have no idea how I'm going to use it, with a flip flop in between the ballast and lights that's gonna be at least 15-20 feet of cord. I had never heard of distance to lamp before reading this thread so I didn't check it when I bought the ballast.

Sola makes a quality product, you should be alright. Most ballasts come with an ignitor rated for 2' and still fire the lamp at 10' NP.

But, if it would make you feel more comfortable, you can do like binaryfission suggested, and just remote the ignitor on the reflector hood.
 

usah111

New member
CMH in Europe

CMH in Europe

Hi

I haven't found appropriate CMH light bulb that works in Europe. I am looking for 400W CMH with E40 base.

The highest wattage I found was 250W from Osram...

any european grower here with CMH 400W and E40 base?

tnx
 
e39/e40/mogul base are all the same. There is no euro/american spec difference; you can use the same lamp as your American counterparts. GL
 

Delta223

New member
guys, I finally have my lights in the correct position and working. There is only one issue: I turned my bottommost light upside down to bring it closer to where the plants are (I should note that I am doing vertical grow and my lights are arranged in a vertical column). When the ballasts fired today, the bottommost light did not turn on. Is it safe to assume that the Philips 250 W CMH cannot be mounted vertically upside down? I figured they could be mounted either direction.
 
CMH vertical OR horizontal

CMH vertical OR horizontal

guys, I finally have my lights in the correct position and working. There is only one issue: I turned my bottommost light upside down to bring it closer to where the plants are (I should note that I am doing vertical grow and my lights are arranged in a vertical column). When the ballasts fired today, the bottommost light did not turn on. Is it safe to assume that the Philips 250 W CMH cannot be mounted vertically upside down? I figured they could be mounted either direction.

Hey Delta

It seems that only the newest CMH can be omni-directional. In the manufactures number code there should be a V or HO in the string...

vertically upside is stated to be the same thing. I wouldnt think that moving a light around should hurt... new or old bulb? A HO bulb that worked for a while V?

Damb, I hope you let us know how/what happens/ed



The only reason I think I know that is because I've been wanting the hell out of one an have read till my eyes bled finding out all I can. None of our local shops stock them.... mmmm K... to 'new'.

Good luck on that Vertical grow... Im only 24 inches tall. I have hight envy.
:wave:
 
Last edited:

Delta223

New member
thanks Emperor,
here is the exact string I see above the bar code:

CDM250S50/V/O/4K/ALTO

Below the barcode it says: manufactured: January 12, 2010

I bought this light one month ago directly from the Philips website, so I would be surprised if this is the old model unless they only recently came out with a new one.
 

1776

New member
couldn't someone wire the ignitors close to to the lamp so as to not have the "won't fire" problem which looks like its a cord lenght problem
 

Delta223

New member
What I ended up doing was unplugging the ballast to the problem light, and then weaving the wire connectiongs tighter together (I would take off the wire nut and twist the wires directly into each other, then cap it again) The last time the ballast fired the light came on! So all is well now
 

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