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I'm going to be growing in this plastic storage shed: http://www.amazon.com/Outstanding-Solutions-Compact-Midi-Shed/dp/B000MS5QEK . Dimensions inside the cab are 25" W 15" D 58" H. If I went with a CMH, would you recommend 150w or 250w? And is it ok to run a CMH in a cooltube?
My space is 22x29x54. I'm running a 250. While I can cool it with an inline it was at the cost of my stealth. My 150 HPS was cooled by a 76 cfm axial. It wasn't silent but, the noise was so perfect for a banged up freezer it may as well have been.GanjaGoon said:
How important is stealth? If the grow is in a common room filled with visitors, 250 may be too big. If the grow gets a private room, authorised personnel only, an inline can be silenced to the point where it can't be heard through a closed door.
Tactical Farmer
Member
Hey guys I need some help - I was rocking my new 250 CMH & only after a few days of action it quit working.
The small tube in the middle of the bulb is producing visual (electric flash) but it wont fire ?
Is my ballast bad or bulb ?
The small tube in the middle of the bulb is producing visual (electric flash) but it wont fire ?
Is my ballast bad or bulb ?
nightcrawler
Member
Tactical Farmer said:
I had the same problem, a day after i came home from work it was on, then 4 hours later it was off, and trying to start, so i turned it off for 15mins, then refired it, and it worked. Now im trying to turn it off for at least 2 hours a day.
JohnnyToke
Member
Tactical Farmer said:
most likely, it is the ignitor in your ballast that is to weak to fire it up. I had the same issue on one of my ballast consistently firing up a cmh 400. replaced the ignitor and it works great now.
Do you have another ballast you can try and fire up the bulb with? Ignitors are about $12 - $15 and fairly easy to replace. you can get them locally at an electric supply house or online thru the 'bay.
regards,
JT
greenisgold
Member
^^^ Either IG or bulb. Mine did this from the start, replaced bulb and all was fine.
How far is the ballast from the light?
How far is the ballast from the light?
simba
Sleeping Dragon
Tac Farmer.. let the bulb cool for minimum 10-15 minutes..
what ballast brand do you have..? (ignitor issue possible)
and as asked how many feet from ballast to bulb.. ?
there is a posiblity of bad bulb but lets check others first..
remember you have a full warranty on cmh's so ur covered if thats the case..
ya the 250 wont be stealth but can be stealthy
id say if ur not concerned about growing the cab size soon get the 150 you could always just move the 150 to your veg area and get the 250..
FB, ya i dunno why i forgot to give a link to ur grow.. with the 250.. with the size it is.. anywaz saved link in favs now for future ref.. and ill post in post #2..
what ballast brand do you have..? (ignitor issue possible)
and as asked how many feet from ballast to bulb.. ?
there is a posiblity of bad bulb but lets check others first..
remember you have a full warranty on cmh's so ur covered if thats the case..
ya the 250 wont be stealth but can be stealthy
id say if ur not concerned about growing the cab size soon get the 150 you could always just move the 150 to your veg area and get the 250..
FB, ya i dunno why i forgot to give a link to ur grow.. with the 250.. with the size it is.. anywaz saved link in favs now for future ref.. and ill post in post #2..
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Will this work for a 100w cmh, http://www.businesslights.com/100w-venture-120v-hps-ccrhpf-ballast-kit-p-44.html?
NO! HPS ballasts are for 250 and 400.
Note the ANSI code for the ballast your link goes to. It's an S54 (S is for Sodium) Note the ANSI code for the bulb you want, M140 / M90 (M for Metal Halide) http://www.businesslights.com/100w-pulse-start-ballasts-c-62_106.html
Note the ANSI code for the ballast your link goes to. It's an S54 (S is for Sodium) Note the ANSI code for the bulb you want, M140 / M90 (M for Metal Halide) http://www.businesslights.com/100w-pulse-start-ballasts-c-62_106.html
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Thought I'd give an update.
I'm growing 2 plants from some not so dank nug as a test grow (this is my first ever grow) just so I can get a feel for how things are going to work before i drop 200bucks on seeds or something. I dont ahve any pics but so far plants are about 10days into veg in a DWC Bubble Bucket system. Nodes are about 1/4-1/2in apart which seems like it's going to be real bushy (CMH seems to have a lot less stretch than with other HID). I havnt had any probs with nute burn or heat so things are going pretty smoothly (i totaly roasted 2 seedlings being to close but that was sheer stupidity). Leaves are developing real well and large for such small plants, i take this as a good sign that they're absorbing a lot of that 400w light. Only thing is leaves slightly curl upwards towards the edges. Nothing severe and it doesnt seem like its causing them probs so i'm just not messing with them. That's about it. I'd like to take pics but no camera atm.
Not that any of you care but i'm pretty ecstatic that things have gone without any major problems so far. I had to tell someone and people i have no idea about are better than my friends
Thanks though to all who have added to this thread (esp. Simba) because it has been really informative and convinced me of my choice of lighting. I hope to get some 1/2 decent plants from this test grow so that should be good (as long as they're both female lol) but good luck to everyone else in their grows.
I'm growing 2 plants from some not so dank nug as a test grow (this is my first ever grow) just so I can get a feel for how things are going to work before i drop 200bucks on seeds or something. I dont ahve any pics but so far plants are about 10days into veg in a DWC Bubble Bucket system. Nodes are about 1/4-1/2in apart which seems like it's going to be real bushy (CMH seems to have a lot less stretch than with other HID). I havnt had any probs with nute burn or heat so things are going pretty smoothly (i totaly roasted 2 seedlings being to close but that was sheer stupidity). Leaves are developing real well and large for such small plants, i take this as a good sign that they're absorbing a lot of that 400w light. Only thing is leaves slightly curl upwards towards the edges. Nothing severe and it doesnt seem like its causing them probs so i'm just not messing with them. That's about it. I'd like to take pics but no camera atm.
Not that any of you care but i'm pretty ecstatic that things have gone without any major problems so far. I had to tell someone and people i have no idea about are better than my friends
Thanks though to all who have added to this thread (esp. Simba) because it has been really informative and convinced me of my choice of lighting. I hope to get some 1/2 decent plants from this test grow so that should be good (as long as they're both female lol) but good luck to everyone else in their grows.
when will there be 600w an 1000w CMH Bulbs? an i have read over an over about the veg being a+ but i have seen people flower with the bulb, but do they yeild more then HPS?
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Tactical Farmer
Member
Its an older Sun System 250 HPS with the built in ballast inside the reflector.
Its been sitting for a few days now & it still wont fire. Just hums & the little tube flickers.
Put in a standard HPS bulb & it fires right up ?
It worked the first time & ran 24hrs a day for like 3 days then just stopped working.
Should I send the bulb back & how does the warranty work ?
Thanks Fellas
Its been sitting for a few days now & it still wont fire. Just hums & the little tube flickers.
Put in a standard HPS bulb & it fires right up ?
It worked the first time & ran 24hrs a day for like 3 days then just stopped working.
Should I send the bulb back & how does the warranty work ?
Thanks Fellas
simba
Sleeping Dragon
tact warranty depends on who u bought it from..
Email or give them a ring. and im sure they will take care of you..
it could be the ignitor still but let whoever u bought it from u need a easy start 250
the yield question is debatable.depends on setup etc.. 2 400 cmh would equal to outperform a 1 1kw on overall yield.. (ya the ones under the 1k will be big but the edges will be nothing compared to center.. CMH will be even and quality)
IMPHO & IMPHO if u do it right same yield overall. and with better qaulity than hps or even hps mh combo as full spd beats partial.. peaks..
Obv but the one thing that cant be questioned is the Qaulity..no matter the yield outcome..
Email or give them a ring. and im sure they will take care of you..
it could be the ignitor still but let whoever u bought it from u need a easy start 250
the yield question is debatable.depends on setup etc.. 2 400 cmh would equal to outperform a 1 1kw on overall yield.. (ya the ones under the 1k will be big but the edges will be nothing compared to center.. CMH will be even and quality)
IMPHO & IMPHO if u do it right same yield overall. and with better qaulity than hps or even hps mh combo as full spd beats partial.. peaks..
Obv but the one thing that cant be questioned is the Qaulity..no matter the yield outcome..
greenisgold
Member
Thought I would post this hair-raising experience since I started a cmh grow and have not updated in a while. One week ago we get a letter in the mail stating that the place we live in was never issued a permit of occupency and that five inspectors will be out to inspect each unit. HUH? After numerous emails there is not a damn thing I can do, and the main room that they want to inspect happens to be my grow room. So the night before I get five big boxes and place each and every plant (20, one gal grow bags and 2, 3.5 gal ladies) into the boxes. I place ONA in each box, tape it up, place garbage bags over them, tape more and place them on my deck. Then I have to rip apart grow room which has a light mover, carbon filter, vortex fan, controller and a whole bunch of other crap. Takes all of about 7 hours to do. Each inspector shows up and each inspector checks the grow room which is also the utility room. Construction inspector checks deck. Now here I am sweating major bullits the whole time which takes about 6 hours to complete. The good news is that they did not suspect a thing. Bad news is that there are violations that have to be fixed which I hope can be done after the harvest or one month away. Or I will have to do it all over again and maybe lose the crop. Plants look okay, but were not happy with 24 hours of darkness.
Oh yeah, it was fun as hell puting it all back togther which took even longer-not!
Oh yeah, it was fun as hell puting it all back togther which took even longer-not!
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Tactical Farmer
Member
simba said:
Thanks Simba - I got the bulbs from Advanced thanks to the info here
Doing some major light changes now - Already replaced my switchable digi 600 with a Coolstar 400 HPS & somewhere else getting 2 more Coolstar 400 HPS to replace a 1000W cooker.
Looking forward to the upgrades
