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I'm using a CMH for the first time. I put it in right before I switched to 12/12. Previously I used a standard MH for Veg and into the first 2-3 weeks of 12/12, switching to a HPS thereafter. So far I haven't really noticed any differences, but time will tell. Last grow I pulled 9+oz out of my C13, but I had pretty high yielding plants.
unfortunatly i'm a first timer, but i can say that there are buds a pair of inch from the cool tube and getting quite well. The plants seem to love it, but i cannot tell for sure, bcuz i nevere grown before.
Ok i was going to go with a complete lumatek 400 digi with eveything for 170 (ballast, cord, socket, bulb, and batwing) and i had to find this thread lol. I am impressed at the pics and info people, great job!
I will be growing in a cab and would of had the mh or hps in a cooltube or vented hood. I wanted a stealth grow hence the digi ballast, just wanted to know if magnetic ballasts make a noticible difference in sound compared to digis. how power efficient are they? i want my ballast to take up 400 watts, no more, i know the lumateks are good for that
How big is the heat difference compared to a hps or mh? Can i get away with using a cmh with an open reflector with a small fan blowing on it, then have a 125-200 cfm on a scrubber venting the cab? This would save me from buying a 450 cfm vortex that i was planning on getting to cool the hot hps and cab all at once through a 450cfm odorsok. my cab will be 6 feet tall, and a footprint of 2x3 feet.
How many inches penetration into the canopy does this have? Is it the same as a standard 400 hps?
sorry i am going to need some convincing considering the bulbs are 50 bucks compared to standard 8 dollar hps's. That and the thought of a magnetic ballast scares me for some reason, lol.
Anyone else got flowering pics? post away people need convincing lol
Ang, as to how safe it is.. who knows.. if you push on the bottom tab does it crumble. or feel firm.. id say swap it out.. better safe.. your call.
That Black Glass Does Crack easy and a few do come cracked direct from Philips that, but not busted like that..
Poke, CMH run Cooler than HPS and MH.. as far as how much depends on the MH and the HPS.. but cooler..
if you have a small fan blowing up into the reflector and a venting system you will be good.. (providing your not in the desert, or tropics without climate control. )
as far as Digi/Elec ballasts.. (lumetek, etc)
they dont save that much Elec Vs Mag.. (way over rated)
as far as noise thats only with Sheetmetal Cased Ballasts (cheaper kind) and is easily fixed.. (go to bestbuy and get Dynamat for license plate and put on case in midlle on top and sides and bottom..) or higher end case..
its not the actual core until its life IMPHO.. (they hum then but not Bad) the case resonates it..
as far as keeping a mag ballast cool like a Elec put a CPU heatsink with fan on the Core. (keeps temps about 10' over ambient)
a 400 lumetek uses over 400 watts.. as does mag..
also mag is safer than Elec as Mag is UL cert and Elec/digis are NOT>
and lumetek even warn u it will leak resin
(this actually good timing asking this.. This past week was a Big push to Match a reflector to the CMH>> I will personally be ordering one for myself monday..(wel Tuesday) to see for myself, as i have just recommended a few to a New CMH user.Requiring Truly Effeciant Reflectors.. and id like to know if i overextended that Recommendation.. (i typ never recommend) without trying myself however the SS1 has proven itself in theory and with the limited hard Specs we have..
as far as 2x3 your going to need to get a Sunlightsupply SuperSun (not the 2)
(it has the best Footprint, Providing the final data coming monday is as expected based of Pico's Prelim Results) (he dont like cause 4" vent, we like that u dont need huge vent and most want to mount to where its not End to end like SS2) and NOt full DIMPLE >> (oh SS said the full pebbled reflectors are only because cust demand NOT because its better for Plants.
No Batwings Unless White and even then. Uhk.. if your limeted get the Unifier from SS.. its 60 bucks and will do 2x3 or 3x4 but if 3x4 get SS1
as far as square where in the air still.. as to what reflector to match.. but lumen max 2 , 3 lookin good..(not looked into deeply), Most efforts are on new Reflectors.. but the need is here now..
PL. sucked for giving info.. after many hours, Odd hours and all there Locations.. (high and mighty)
as far as flower pics sorry thats the only thing u wont get from me..
GreenTea, 400 3x3 ya no prob.. get reflectors mentioned above..
NO COOLTUBES>> they suck and NOT Needed with CMH> Vs SS1
If I have my CMH bulb 2 feet from the plant tops but in a very confined and high gloss white paint cabinet should be okay keeping it this distance all the way through flowering? It is optimal this way because of the ventilation system I have set up but I am concerned I will lose lumens and UV since I know that illuminance deteriorates to the power of 4 with increased distance. So far internode length and vegitative growth in veg and first week of bloom has been phenomenal, hands down no comparison to HPS stretch and monotone spectrum...
I have experimented and just left one bulb 3ft up and found that if you have plenty of light for the area, you may bennefit by getting good results and not stressing them. Take it slow as far as lowering or raising the bulb, read the plants over time (may take a cycle or two or three), but if you error on the side of caution a little you will do better than if you scorch/bleach them.
On a side note folks, I am kind of upset with myself. I had not caught on to the fact that if I upload new pics from my cam (to gallery), I need to rename them every time or the camera (having been wiped every time) will repeat generic names. When the pics are uploaded they overwrite the older one. Not to mention this reflects in all my posts that have pics. Screws me up a little and puts pics in the thread before they were taken and they are not as relevant.
ok thx for the reflector info.
Can someone tell me a couple of good quality magnetic 400w hps ballasts that are practically quiet from the box? (In other words the best quality 400w ballasts money can buy)
I am not going to cheap out on something that is 400watts. Anyone know from experience.
Also what is the cheapest source for these cmh bulbs? i really dont like the 50 dollar price on them and can get hps bulbs at 8-10 bucks a peice. How many 3 month 12/12 cycles you think you can get from one of these suckers
So of I've replaced the (2) 400 watt Horti Blue bulbs with the Aqualine 10000 Bulbs....they operate on a normal ballast and had no issues firing up....the blue light is actually 13000k not 10000k?? according to that study of 400 watt bulbs..the Aqualine Bushke was 10000k...but they dont make a 400 watt 10k bulb...the only 400 watt bulb they make is the 10000 13k...so this has to be it...anyways...it made my eyes feel funny looking at it ....hopefully this bulb dumps out as much UV as that study indicates...I'm in week 5 of flowering a 10 week strain...1600 watts....(2) CMH and (2) Aqualine Bulbs.....the Co2 is set 1500 PPMs...lets see what all this experementing pays off
I just picked up a 400 watt MasterColor 4k today. This is my first HID grow (cfl's before). It was between the MasterColor and a Hortilux HPS. I'm still not 100% sure if I made the right choice, but time will tell.
I've been vegging up to this point under 2 48" 6500 t8's. Couple of questions:
What size space should I use for this light? I have a lot of room to work with and I'm going to put up a few 4x4's and panda film with mylar lined on the inside. In the next 2-3 months, I'm going to be buying another 600 watt system unless I get sold on these CMH bulbs and then I'll end up grabbing another 400 watter.
Thanks for the help and for being a great source of information. All of the other forums out there are pretty clueless regarding CMH bulbs.
I'm loving the CMH light. No more silly yellow color streaming out my window when i check on the growroom. I do notice now how yellow all the other lights in my house are. They are mostly old style(filament) lightbulbs so i figure i should replace em anyways to help keep the electric bill from jumping with the new grow. I'm curious though what color temperature CFL's should i buy to closely match the CMH? what i'm going for is that when i open the closet in my bedroom the light making it out the window(has to bounce off wall first) will just be a brighter white, not causing my window to change from yellow to white