Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

[Pinball Wizard]

400 CMH

400 CMH

this threads been up for almost 4 months, where are the harvest pics?

Two white widows. low effort, experimental grow. No lst, no fim; just let them puppies grow. Grow pics in my gallery....

 

[JackOneill]

led doesn't have shit against CMH. My plants thank me for the glorious full spectrum light I have provided for them. My HPS and MH bulbs are collecting dust in my dresser and it will probably stay that way. Thinking about another 400watt HTG HPS ballast and CMH bulb to compliment the one I already have.

 

[SoEx]

led doesn't have shit against CMH. My plants thank me for the glorious full spectrum light I have provided for them. My HPS and MH bulbs are collecting dust in my dresser and it will probably stay that way. Thinking about another 400watt HTG HPS ballast and CMH bulb to compliment the one I already have.

Send 'em over to me

I am considering adding a 150W CMH to my grow, the only problem being that 150W doesn't have much penetration power so it may be pretty useless.

 

[PharmaCan]

Pharma -

The rambridge bulb is just a halide + hps arc tube in the same bulb. The problem there is the lack of full spectrum. The HPS arc tube does not give the far red and the halide does not give the full blue end. They both leave out a lot in-between and at the ends. So what you get is the "spike points" that they would both normally put out.

I believe that they are acknowledging the need for a more complete spectrum, but to cheap to start up manufacture of a CMH lamp. Not to mention the heat load from a HPS/Halide combo in one bulb and the fact that the halide arc tube's life span would naturally be much shorter than that of the HPS's. Good line of thinking though.

The big draw to 1000w lamps excapes me still. 2x400w is a very suitable replacement for a 1000w.IMHO

Thanks for participating and have fun growing!

Thanks for explaining this, Az. Hope all works out well for you!!!

PC

 

[FreezerBoy]

Send 'em over to me

I am considering adding a 150W CMH to my grow, the only problem being that 150W doesn't have much penetration power so it may be pretty useless.

Till I read that T*Haze doesn't care for strong light, I had the reflector of the 250 about 2" above my canopy. How far down you gotta go?

 

[C21H30O2]

Two white widows. low effort, experimental grow. No lst, no fim; just let them puppies grow. Grow pics in my gallery....

I'm guessing you used a 400. what was your final yield?

 

[przcvctm]

The reason I bought a Lumatek in the first place was for stealthy quiet. As I posted a couple of pages ago, combining my CMH w/ the Lumatek ended in darkness and a puff of smoke.

I've researched Advance's magnetic lineup and one of the ones recommended for quiet operation indoors is a model they call "Encapsulated". $240 from a local supplier. Does that sound right? If it's that much BUT very quiet, it will be worth the money to me. I thought I'd get some opinions before I lay down the cash.

 

[iLLperception]

Was there a specific reason that the 400W CMH can't be used in switchable ballasts? Or were there just some compatibility issues and people are shying away from them? The hydro store guy tried to convince me that a switchable on HPS mode will fire just like a normal HPS-only ballast. I ended up buying the older SunSystem X HPS ballast to be safe, but could have had one of the lifetime warranty XTreme ballasts for the same price.

So.... what was the reason that these won't fire in switchables? Yes I've read the whole thread, and seem to remember some discussion on this, but don't have another 3 days to go back through it all lol

and btw, przcvctm, my sunsystem X 400w is very quiet and small too!

 

[Poker_Toker]

honestly magnetic ballasts arent that bad with noise, it is all how you mount them. That sucks with that lumatek bro, really shitty. I was 2 clicks away sending 230 bucks for a lumatek 400 system when this thread caught my eye and i went magnetic and spent 60 bucks shipped for a sun system 400, and i will be needing a bulb soon so 60 more shipped not bad. I opened up my sun system and i am amazed at the organization of the wiring and the fact it has a nice hangle to carry it around lol

And what breeder white widow did you grow out pinball wizard??

 

[Pinball Wizard]

And what breeder white widow did you grow out pinball wizard??

Nirvana...

I'm guessing you used a 400. what was your final yield?

Yes ...a 400 CMH. ...Yield? ..whatever 7 quart jars fill with dried bud weighs? I don't have any scales.

 

[iLLperception]

Ha well I just noticed the first post updated which answers my question about the switchable ignitors... glad I bought the HPS SunSystem!

Been running now for 2+ days straight (24hr) and my plants are LOVING it!!!

 

[Guest]

Very nice Pinball Wizard, thank you

Does anyone have another pics of harvest ?

 

[greenisgold]

Got my new bulb and it works. Now I have a few ?'s. Here's what I have light/bulb wise. I have a custom made super sun reflector with bulbs at each end. For the past 2 weeks I have run the 400 watt eye blue and the 250cmh end to end on a mover. I know that the eye blue has more blue then the 400 cmh. I will be vegging for 1 more week. Should I stick with that setup (400 eye blue and 250 cmh), or should I change out the eye blue for the cmh now?
First weeks of veg (the stretch). What bulbs should I run (thinking of sticking w/the 400 blue and 250cmh?
Last but not least, I also have a 270 watt super agro bulb. Should I pull the 250 cmh at some time during flower and throw that in with the 400 cmh?
Thanks all.

 

[MoleMcHenry]

Just wanted to post a quick compliment about Advanced Lighting. I ordered a 400w CMH from them on 2/21 and received it today 2/23. That's fff'in fast!

I'll let you know after my lights go on whether it worked with my HTGsupply magnetic ballast.

 

[jdubz206]

i just got off the phone with Hydrotech http://www.hydro-techn.com. the store has been mentioned in this thread before, by Azeotrope or one of the other regulars. the owner of the store seems to know his stuff and has even written an article in maximum yield regarding cmh bulbs. i told the owner that i had just purchased a new 600 watt magnetic ballast and i was wondering if he had heard anything regarding 600 watt cmh bulbs being available. his response was that the Philips Mastercolor 400 watt bulb is able to run in a 600 watt ballast. he has told me that he has several customers running this with great success and that he would guarantee my bulb for 1 crop. has anyone heard of this? this goes against everything i've ever learned or read regarding NOT combining bulbs and ballast that had different watts. i would like some input on this if anyone has any. the owner of Hydrotech has been quoted in this thread of being very knowledgeable. i just bought this ballast and don't want to fuck anything up.

 

[simba]

im sorry but any one recommending overdriving a lamp is not responsible..
(that really makes me wonder.. bout them..)
not trying to start something but.. no way overdrive a HID LAMP especially by 40%
and says he garentee the bulb for one grow so about a 1,000 hours when its supposed to last 15,000 hours thats a big loss.. it would be so cheaper to run 2 400s upfront costs and within the 2nd grow your saving so much by having 2 400s over 1 400@600
and it WIll shorten ballast life and the ballast will be HOT.
lets figure this off his pricing.
lamp 80.00 and you get one grow if you grew 4 harvest per year thats 80*4 plus the ballast so 320 for bulbs.. per year.. (good ballast 100+) so $420
you could get 2 400hps ballast, 2 cmh from adv tech. for 53 each so 106 .. and ballasts for 60*2 for 120 for a grand total of 226.00 and not have to replace any thing for 1 full year..i can garentee that 400 driving at 600 ballast wont last 3 years and thats giving it credit IMPHO 1-2 years berfore ballast goes POOF>>

and changing the wattage (overdriving)will change the SPD output.. Fact.. and we dont know what you will get when u overdrive./he dont have the results either..


there is 600-1k coming dont go Jerry rigging any thing till then.. not worth the risks..(philips has them and so does Adv tech with there own label)

if he garentees the lamp for one grow and it Blows up and burns the house down. will he pay for that..

side note.. i have converted many 600 and 1kw users to 400 Philips CMH and they are LOVING IT.. (ya some changes in there grow IE shorter veg,plants but the overall yield quality is what they are after)
another variable that plays in even if they go more watts with cmh from hps they use less AC cuase they allot easier to manage the heat..and they dont HEat up the whole room like hps..
2 400 cmhs will obv outperform 1 600 just by the watts
but allso cause inv sqr law of light so infact your getting more energy.
if you could find 2 300 Philips CMHs they would Outperform 1 600 hps or even 1 600 cmh.. (soley cause the inv sqr law of light)

 

[Guest]

Simba, when are the 600's going to available? Any time line?

 

[Poker_Toker]

lmao i cant believe he said that either, is he a fucking retard? Just wait of get a mixed spectrum bulb for now, dont take the risk

 

[jdubz206]

yeah...i figured it was bs or just a move to try and make a sale. kinda shitty... i always liked that shop in the past. anyways, i'll just stick with my 2 400 watt cmh ballasts\bulbs that i already have and i'll drop a 600 watt super hps in between them. thanks for clarifying guys

 

[MoleMcHenry]

My 400w CMH works perfectly in my HTGsupply magnetic ballast. I've only had it on a few hours, but I can attest to the lower temps. And darn, the thing is bright as hell. I got a little headache after working under it for about half an hour.