threeeleven said:
I'm 22' x 29" x 54" and I'm cooling my 250 CMH with a 150 Elicent inline fan set to low. Cab temps average mid to high 70s but, my cab's in the garage with temps in the 50's-60's. Intake comes in off a cold concrete floor.
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I'm 22' x 29" x 54" and I'm cooling my 250 CMH with a 150 Elicent inline fan set to low. Cab temps average mid to high 70s but, my cab's in the garage with temps in the 50's-60's. Intake comes in off a cold concrete floor.
PurplePotion
Member
Aiee. The only mogul base that I could find locally was 4kv pulse rated. I went ahead and bought it. Will this be okay? Using a GE 400W Ballast w/ the 400W Philips CMH bulb.
PurplePotion
Member
Gotcha. It's only for my 400W CMH, so hopefully I won't have any trouble 
. I've read people having problems with the length of wire from ballast to lamp. I picked up some pretty heavy duty, insulated 14-2 wire.. would I be alright with 10', or should I go a bit shorter?
. I've read people having problems with the length of wire from ballast to lamp. I picked up some pretty heavy duty, insulated 14-2 wire.. would I be alright with 10', or should I go a bit shorter?
simba
Sleeping Dragon
you should be good..really depends on ignitor quality..
a standard ignitor is designed for 2-10 feet depending on brand
a long range can go up to 50ft if 10 gauge wire.
id honestly say keep it as short as posible. but dong go cuting it to short.. if that makes sense...
id try it with 10 and see.. most the issues where with TDC-HTG ballast (and those where minimul vs the number of cmh on TDC-HTG ballasts and some switchable's.. what brand ballast did ya have?
a standard ignitor is designed for 2-10 feet depending on brand
a long range can go up to 50ft if 10 gauge wire.
id honestly say keep it as short as posible. but dong go cuting it to short.. if that makes sense...
id try it with 10 and see.. most the issues where with TDC-HTG ballast (and those where minimul vs the number of cmh on TDC-HTG ballasts and some switchable's.. what brand ballast did ya have?
PurplePotion
Member
I have a GE ballast. S400MLTAC5M -5GEK. http://www.gelighting.com/na/busine...st/downloads/specs/HID/Sodium/S400MLTAC5M.pdf. In the spec sheet it says max distance to lamp 10ft.
slohemian
Member
hey SIMBA, im going for a perpetual grow with flowering cuttings that are 1-4" tall. Is a 250w CMH a good idea for this? Im thinking of a footprint around 20" deep x 36" wide x 58" tall. I havent made my growtent yet, but those are my MAX dimensions. Any suggestions?
Also.... where can i get a ballast that works with this 250w cmh and what kind?
Also.... where can i get a ballast that works with this 250w cmh and what kind?
PurplePotion
Member
Deft, have a link to the ignitor? I've been searching through trying to compare my ignitor to other known ignitors to try to determine if mine's enough or not. Thanks 
PurplePotion
Member
Just an update for you guys. I got everything wired up. Length from ignitor to lamp is ~10-11ft. My CMH bulb will be here tomorrow, so only time will tell! Haha. Pretty confident everything will fire right up, even though I've never wired a ballast in my life Ganja bless the internet
I'll post up pictures of my 'ballast' board tomorrow as well.
Ganja bless the internetI'll post up pictures of my 'ballast' board tomorrow as well.
simba
Sleeping Dragon
purp says 10' u should be Good..
sloh.. if u can god a bit deeper and and bring the width down a hair..
ur cuts take 5-8" and root(5-7 Days) then give 1 week max veg.. longer creates more bud sites..id say keep veg short.. and increase plant sites.. in short promotes more even light distribution therefor maxing out yield.. (if you have tall bushy plants the ones on the ends are going to get gipped on light on there sides unless you have allot of spacing..
Deft ya can happen.... thats one of the crapy things about Horti HPS/MH ballasts.. they dont use extended Ignitors.. (I would.. even if not maxing out)
Purp.. sit back light 1 up.. ur OK..
sloh.. if u can god a bit deeper and and bring the width down a hair..
ur cuts take 5-8" and root(5-7 Days) then give 1 week max veg.. longer creates more bud sites..id say keep veg short.. and increase plant sites.. in short promotes more even light distribution therefor maxing out yield.. (if you have tall bushy plants the ones on the ends are going to get gipped on light on there sides unless you have allot of spacing..
Deft ya can happen.... thats one of the crapy things about Horti HPS/MH ballasts.. they dont use extended Ignitors.. (I would.. even if not maxing out)
Purp.. sit back light 1 up.. ur OK..
Uncle Remus
Member
First off, I posted this for you Purp, just for reference:
And a quick update on my grow...250w CMH...Rez' Dbl Strawberry Diesel...Prettiest IMO...Day 28 of flower:
This pics is just under the main top...Wanted to get a pic of the dense lower growth I think is attributed to the CMH:
Very resiny, large amounts of crystal already!!!...When I rubbed a few lower leafs between my fingers, and the rubbed the fingers together, it was sticky as hell!!!
So far I'm VERY IMPRESSED with the CMH...Soon as funds are available, I'm ordering a 400w ballast kit and a few 400w CMH...These things ROCK
And a quick update on my grow...250w CMH...Rez' Dbl Strawberry Diesel...Prettiest IMO...Day 28 of flower:
This pics is just under the main top...Wanted to get a pic of the dense lower growth I think is attributed to the CMH:
Very resiny, large amounts of crystal already!!!...When I rubbed a few lower leafs between my fingers, and the rubbed the fingers together, it was sticky as hell!!!
So far I'm VERY IMPRESSED with the CMH...Soon as funds are available, I'm ordering a 400w ballast kit and a few 400w CMH...These things ROCK
PurplePotion
Member
Thanks Remus. That's the diagram I pretty much went off of .
Okay.. so.. there's a freaking blizzard here
. Won't get my bulb til Monday now. Oh well. Haven't had a blizzard here in a long time 
. Just for kicks.. here's a week old pic of my mini mums in progress inside of their stealth speaker cab 
.
Purple Rhino, and 2 Love Potions
.Okay.. so.. there's a freaking blizzard here
. Won't get my bulb til Monday now. Oh well. Haven't had a blizzard here in a long time . Just for kicks.. here's a week old pic of my mini mums in progress inside of their stealth speaker cab .Purple Rhino, and 2 Love Potions
iLLperception
Member
Here's the two test plants I have under CMH, I am so impressed with this bulb so far I think I am going to buy another 400W ballast setup and run two of these instead of my 1000W HPS in flower...
G
Guest
Sorry no pics but my 400W CMH is working really nicely. See you later HPS and MH setups, lol.
PurplePotion
Member
Got my bulb today. Let it run for 15 minutes or so. Damn that lamp is bright. Interesting to watch the color change when it's warming up.. but I was damn near blind afterwards haha .
.
PurplePotion
Member
Here's my ballast and lamp-- no reflector just yet . Used a standard power cable (from a PC), for 120V supply. 10ft. 14-2 600v rated wire from ignitor to lamp with standard heavy duty 3 prong connectors (total of 11-12ft. including leads from mogul base and leads from ignitor). Took a second or two for the bulb to fire up, but it was gravy from there .
I mounted all of the ballast components on a scrap piece of plywood. Used a 2in. hole saw and cut out a spot for the capacitor. There is a solid sheet of steel on the underside of the plywood. The capacitor is glued (guerilla glue) to the top of the sheet metal and the sides of the 2in hole-- everything is super stable and compact .
All connections were properly soldered with proper heat shrink around all connections. (I'm super picky about my wiring, so all connections are done right and clean as a button).
Ballast and components are GE-- made by Universal Lighting.
. Used a standard power cable (from a PC), for 120V supply. 10ft. 14-2 600v rated wire from ignitor to lamp with standard heavy duty 3 prong connectors (total of 11-12ft. including leads from mogul base and leads from ignitor). Took a second or two for the bulb to fire up, but it was gravy from there .I mounted all of the ballast components on a scrap piece of plywood. Used a 2in. hole saw and cut out a spot for the capacitor. There is a solid sheet of steel on the underside of the plywood. The capacitor is glued (guerilla glue) to the top of the sheet metal and the sides of the 2in hole-- everything is super stable and compact
.All connections were properly soldered with proper heat shrink around all connections. (I'm super picky about my wiring, so all connections are done right and clean as a button).
Ballast and components are GE-- made by Universal Lighting.
iLLperception
Member
just thought I'd mention that one of my two CMH bulbs takes about 10 full seconds from when you plug in the ballast to when the bulb starts to light. during that time there is no sound at all and nothing seems to be happening. this is from a complete cold start. it's nothing i'm worried about just wondering if others have seen this. It is a supersun ballast. I am using a 15 foot cord from bulb to ballast, and 6 from ballast to wall. bulb lights perfectly every time, just takes a few extra seconds to get goin. i don't know how you guys keep your ballast so close to the bulb, i'm using the full 15 feet of cord!!!
PurplePotion
Member
Yeah.. mine did that, too. Pretty sure it's normal. As long as you're not having any issues beside this, I'd say it's fine. Are both ballasts identical?
