Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

[Tynehead Tom]

so looks like I am finally going to turf all my old school MH and HPS lighting. Happy with the performance but ballasts are past thier prime so figured I'd look at modern options.

I have followed the HLG LED tech and am impressed with the results but the cost drives me away. Over a grand a light (canadian)for 550rspec and I would need several.

my idea is 4 x 315cmh kits to light a 7x7 foot print in a flower room and 2 x 315cmh to light a 5 x 6 veg room
ideas? critics? and advice on veg and flower bulbs?
I was looking at Vivosun , nanolux, and the phillips bulbs but have zero knowledge and was hoping some good folks here could offer some CMH lighting advice.
Been growing for 30+ years now and figure it's time to catch up and adopt some new lighting tech.

 

[sturgeongeneral]

I used the nanolux 630s and had zero complaints. Had a low profile mounting height as well so I .could try to maximize my height.

 

[Tynehead Tom]

The flower room is 8x8x8 and I want a 1 foot walkway around the whole room so am lighting a 7x7 growing area/canopy. That's why i was thinking 4 x 315W cmh
Right now I run 2 x 1000W HID in that room, vertical.
I am hoping to switch out the 2000K HID with 1260W of CMH
I could also run 5 x 315W with 1 in the center of the footprint, bumping me up to 1575W of cmh.
I dunno.
My friend who is the only guy i know using them, has one 315 W in a 3x3 tent and he has excellent yield and quality so I figured 4 x 315 cmh over the 7x7 footprint would be adequate???

am I wrong?
throw some ideas at me for a 7x7 canopy

 

[gladysvjubb]

The flower room is 8x8x8 and I want a 1 foot walkway around the whole room so am lighting a 7x7 growing area/canopy. That's why i was thinking 4 x 315W cmh
Right now I run 2 x 1000W HID in that room, vertical.
I am hoping to switch out the 2000K HID with 1260W of CMH
I could also run 5 x 315W with 1 in the center of the footprint, bumping me up to 1575W of cmh.
I dunno.
My friend who is the only guy i know using them, has one 315 W in a 3x3 tent and he has excellent yield and quality so I figured 4 x 315 cmh over the 7x7 footprint would be adequate???

am I wrong?
throw some ideas at me for a 7x7 canopy

I do believe you are wrong. what are you going to do with all that heat the lights produce? I dumped all my energy wasting HPS for the LED's I got from Home Depot. As posted above. Do it. You will not regret it. Later on you will be looking at your old lighting gear wondering how to get rid of it.
My plants love the LED's.

 

[zachrockbadenof]

am I wrong?
throw some ideas at me for a 7x7 canopy

i have a 4x3.5ft tent- i have '2' 315's bought off ebay and phillips bulbs (they come with hydro crunch, which i never heard of)- the ballasts sit outside the tent - i've done '2' grows with them and i keep adding 'cheap' led's for side lighting- coming from 1000w MH, in a large room, cmh's don't impress me all that much - last grow i had '2' cheap led's on each side of the tent for side lighting- i'd like to try a 'real-deal' led light, but the cost....

 

[p0opstlnksal0t]

I just switched from cmh to hlg550rspecs. This will be my first run with them so it'll be a trial and error sort of thing. When I ran 630s, I was happy with them at a 20 inches above the tops. Any lower and I'd get some bleaching.

You got a thread with your new hlg550 grow? These meijiu boards are real close to those.

 

[p0opstlnksal0t]

i have a 4x3.5ft tent- i have '2' 315's bought off ebay and phillips bulbs (they come with hydro crunch, which i never heard of)- the ballasts sit outside the tent - i've done '2' grows with them and i keep adding 'cheap' led's for side lighting- coming from 1000w MH, in a large room, cmh's don't impress me all that much - last grow i had '2' cheap led's on each side of the tent for side lighting- i'd like to try a 'real-deal' led light, but the cost....

Look at meijiu 288 v2 boards using lm301b diodes. I'm looking at ordering 58x of these 240w folux boards with custom 90cri lm301b diodes. They're about 125.00 after sea freight shipping each

 

[sturgeongeneral]

You got a thread with your new hlg550 grow? These meijiu boards are real close to those.

Check my pp thread. I just started with the 550s so nothing under them yet, just finished room build out.

 

[Tynehead Tom]

I have priced out LED units for my grow and the cost is too prohibitive. I live in a very small town and there is no market for me to sell my crops like others do to fund equipment purchases. Like i said before I have seen the LED gardens of people I know and respect so I am a believer in thier capability and potential energy savings ..... but I can't sell my crops to pay for multiple lights that cost 1200 to 1600 canadian.
I would love to put 3 x 660 HLG Rspec lights in one room and a 550 in the veg room but that would cost me 6000.00 + tax and any shipping involved.
That's crazy talk

so lets put aside all the advice about LED..... there are threads for that. I am hear to be enlightended.... hopefully.... by guys here that use CMH lighting and how they would equip a room with CMH lighting that will have a 7x7 canopy and a veg room with a 5 x 7 canopy. Heat is not an issue, I have a kick ass environment control system and my exhaust system is dialed way down even for 2K HID. It gets -40 here in winter with average -10 to -20 C for 5 months of the year.
back to LED for a moment..... the energy savings I could potentially see from running LED would be wiped out by the increased cost incurred to heat the room properly. This is another reason I will either switch to CMH or just go and refit my rooms with new HID kits.

 

[mexicani-ar]

Cmh

Cmh

Thinkin bout getting a 500w growers choice cmh light, anyone got experience wit um?

Hey GET MO , I recently purchased the Master Pursuit 500 Cmh, really bright light, the electric in my place couldn't handle the power though, need to get this old wiring repaired, however my plants were very happy at 18 in from the plant tops.

 

[Bmac1]

Each 315 would be great for 9 sq ft and ok for 16 sq ft. At 49 sq ft 5 would be good and 6 a bit better. Just my 0.02.

 

[lamenamenumbers]

I've had great results lighting a 5x5 space with a sun system 630 ( has two horizontally oriented 315 watt bulbs). There are certainly cheaper options for CMH lights out there, but I decided to splurge a little. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think I use the Phillips 3100 bulbs. Phillips also offers the 4200. If I remember correctly one is more oriented towards veg and the other is more full cycle. I think a 7x7 space with 4 315s would make for very happy/ well lit plants and one proud plant papa. You can go with a cheaper light system to save some money if you want and invest in some nice bulbs, like the phillips ones.

 

[coxnox]

I did try 2x315 in a 150x150 and found that was not enough...now i have them in a 150x90 and it's just perfect !
So to answer you no i dont think 4x315 will replace 2x1000...you will need 5or6 for that and need to grow less big plants as you will loose pénétration of the 1000's

 

[sturgeongeneral]

I'd keep the 315s to a 2x2 for decent coverage. A 630 per 3x3 barely seemed like enough.

 

[zachrockbadenof]

i have '2' 315's in a 4x3.5ft tent.. the intensity is ok rite under the light (18/20''), but the plants to the side aint getting enough lite.. raise the lite and you lose penetration .

 

[mexicani-ar]

Need Help / Advice

Need Help / Advice

hey icmag fam, currently my grow has come to a halt, i wanted to ask you fellow growers if a dryer connection can be used for growing? I have a 500 cmh Master Pursuit, is there a type of adapter that can be used ?

 

[Substitute]

I still have a box of the old retrowhite 400's AND a box of the 860 watt cmh's.

I still love the old retrowhite 400's.

 

[sturgeongeneral]

The dryer connection is 220v/240

 

[Azeotrope]

I do believe you are wrong. what are you going to do with all that heat the lights produce? I dumped all my energy wasting HPS for the LED's I got from Home Depot. As posted above. Do it. You will not regret it. Later on you will be looking at your old lighting gear wondering how to get rid of it.
My plants love the LED's.

LEDs are a joke compared to quality CMH. You'll never get the full spectrum coverage. I believe you need to cover/include every single wavelength. LEDs just don't do that very well.

 

[Horselover Fat]

LEDs are a joke compared to quality CMH. You'll never get the full spectrum coverage. I believe you need to cover/include every single wavelength. LEDs just don't do that very well.

I changed from a 315w cmh to 320w leds. Not looking back. I did like the cmh, but leds are just so much more efficient. I get over 300 umol/s more light at the same wattage.