What's new
  • As of today ICMag has his own Discord server. In this Discord server you can chat, talk with eachother, listen to music, share stories and pictures...and much more. Join now and let's grow together! Join ICMag Discord here! More details in this thread here: here.

Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH)

BonsaiBud

Member
I'm going to fuse my 250 watter (Howard) at 5 amps. My power here is super-stable, but I may be using it else where and a large voltage dip...autotransformer will pull more current out of the wall, no?

The directions on my Howard just say to ground the outside of the cap. But, the caps they give you are the top-o-the-line "potted" dry plate type and. So I will just bolt the cap strap to the inside of the ammo box. (Ammo box is ground)
 
sweet, thanks alot Bud. Since, I'm only using a 70w guess I'll try and find a smaller 2-3 amp fuse. I've got an old metal flip top cd case that looks almost exactly like your ammo box! would you recommend cutting out a square big enough for a pc fan to cool?
 

b10narybud

Member
OK...

One last look over please.

If i'm going to buy my 150W CMH Setup i want you to check it over to make sure its all right before i drop the dough.

Alright...i'm planning on getting...
" Protected
150 Watt 4,000 Kelvin
MHC150/U/MP/4K/ALTO
$46.00 USD"
ANSI CODE M142/M102/O
This Page...


and this ballast kit which i hope i'll figure out how to house and put togethe when it gets here....


" 150 Watt Metal Halide Pulse Start Ballast Kit, Quad-Tap
(Core, Capacitor, Ignitor Included)
~ Part # M0150-71C-511 ~
Price $44.90 USD"

This One....

Alright then...if these 2 things are going to go together, work ok, and not have and "foreseeable" problems...please let me know and i'll get to buyin...if not please suggest what i need and where i went wrong with my selection

Thanks a billion.
 

przcvctm

Well-known member
Veteran
Sorry for adding another question, but...I'm assembling a box for my cab that will contain a delay on timer and a relay followed by the ballast timer. My question has to do with the best way to wire into and out of the box.

Since replacement power cords can be had easily, would there be any problem in dicing and splicing the ballast power cord to accomplish this or would romex and male and female plugs be safer/better, even though it would require using both the ballast power cord and an extension cord?
 

simba

Sleeping Dragon
splice and dice.. I like power cord better if the cord will be moved around (IE NOT a Ballast Wall -ya know a wall with 4+ballasts all open and never moving
make sure the delay timer is after the reg timer.. you want the on off cylce to stay same no mater what power fail.. its better to have less light time short version..
 
400w CMH v-scrog

29999dachop.JPG
 
Hey, so my 70w cmh and ballast arrived in the mail today. Looking at the diagram and doing mockup wirings it seems pretty simple, some quick questions though.

For my power cord, what gauge would you recommend (all other wires are 18, stick to that)? I have some of those 3-plug extension cords (no ground) would that work alright for the power and lamp socket?

When splicing my power cord the neutral goes to ballast COM, and hot goes to the 120v (in my case) insulated lead?

Also, on the capacitor (white battery-looking thing) does it matter which wire goes to the CAP and COM? I'm looking at the diagram and the wires but I don't see anything that tells me which wire to splice to.

Where Should I splice the fuse?

How many brackets should I get? I only got one, but diagram looks like it's using two. I also only got one circular bracket.

Last one, How do i wire the ground wire?

Advancedtech is great, fast shipping, and discreet packaging. The bulb looks great, can't wait to fire it up. Now if only my buddy would bring me back my 4" hole saw and my fan would arrive, I could really get this grow started proper. My bagseedlings are on their 4th nodes in 2 weeks, how would you rate that? Love watching em grow, literally, I can almost see them getting bigger. Thanks for bearing with me, but now I'm gonna pack a bowl of some OG Kush my buddy got from the club. Gotta love LA.
 
Last edited:

simba

Sleeping Dragon
50-150 watt Ballast NOT for 250 or 400 on page 102
for power cord id prefer 14G but 18G will do..(up to 100 Watt IMPHO)
an old pc power cord (also cheap at Radioshack) will work for power. Get grounded.. kind..
for ballast to lamp cord again same cord will work.. ground to ballast and reflector..
the fuse ill post a pic tomarow ..but it goes between the main (120V main and the ballast main wire)
yups un insulate that 120 wire and insulate the other inputs that arent used..
brackets just get that metal tape with holes (its like dam i forgot i think sraping) its cheap and strong..
that ground wire goes to the Bolt (the core mounting bracket)
ya adv tech isnt about informing ur neighbors u got some goodies..(realy its they are cheap and get Misprint Boxs Bulk.
ya the photo got bunked..
the cap/cap is suposed to read Com/Cap (meaning com connects to cap)
and cap/ballast cap meaning cap connects to ballast cap wire)

What this mean ((CAPCOM! FTW)? Cord sound okay?)


5xxhighreactanceHXBallastdiagram.jpg
 
Last edited:

enigmatik

Member
Question for all the CMH buffs out there.........

If you had a veg cab that measured........
55"wide, 22"deep, 42"tall

Already had 6 65w CFLs (cool white 4100k) and had space for 2 lamps........

Would you run 2 70w, 100w, or 150w CMH set up???

Thanks in advance :)
-enigma
 

messn'n'gommin'

ember
Veteran
I have a closet 54"wx21"dx8'h and I am about to start 2X250w CMH and all I have to do is get my power cords done (tomorrow!) but, I am already second guessing myself whether or not I should have gotten 2X400w! Four 3 gal. buckets in soil about to start 3 weeks in veg under 80w's of cool whites but I am going to use the CMH's late next week the rest of the way through (I am using the DP method of increasing females); you going HPS for flowering? Placing your lights may be a bit of a challenge if your wanting to use both at the same time because you can get those kinds of wattage CMH's ALMOST as close as you can with flouro's. Do you have a way to setup your flouro's along the sides? If yes, then I suggest you go with 3x150's. That would be 105w/sqf!!!
 
Hey thanks for the diagram Simba, jused used an old heavy duty extension cord had lying around, still need to get a socket tho. Forgot to get one when ordering from AdvancedTech, like my eyes completely ignored the bold lettering for the sockets..
 

messn'n'gommin'

ember
Veteran
b10narybud said:
alright...question still arised....what can I do to neatly house all these ballast parts? Something that'll be neat, cool, and efficient?

Found these bread/loaf pans while looking for a stock pot to make soup. You can get them cheap ($2-$3) at wally world. This is a mock-up and just one method. It's a bit crowded, but will work for me. Just make sure they have handles so you can use screws to secure them together.




Namaste, mess
 
Last edited:

enigmatik

Member
messn, did you order your lamp and ballast kit from the advancedlighting website????
what is the DP method of increasing females all about??? Got 30 beans chillin in a bag with some banana peels right now.(crossing fingers)
btw, I'm really diggin your loaf pan set up, lookin clean, bro!!

simba, would it be possible to run 2 150w CMH lamps in a cab that measures 55"x22"x42"
or would it be better to stick with the 100w?

how close could the plants get to the 150watter?
 

Huggie bear

Active member
messn'n'gommin' said:
Found these bread/loaf pans while looking for a stock pot to make soup. You can get them cheap ($2-$3) at wally world. This is a mock-up and just one method. It's a bit crowded, but will work for me. Just make sure they have handles so you can use screws to secure them together.




Namaste, mess

Very interesting idea I might have to adapt this in to my PC build..
 

Huggie bear

Active member
enigmatik said:
messn, did you order your lamp and ballast kit from the advancedlighting website????
what is the DP method of increasing females all about??? Got 30 beans chillin in a bag with some banana peels right now.(crossing fingers)
btw, I'm really diggin your loaf pan set up, lookin clean, bro!!

simba, would it be possible to run 2 150w CMH lamps in a cab that measures 55"x22"x42"
or would it be better to stick with the 100w?

how close could the plants get to the 150watter?
I ordered my 100 watt set up them that site I must say I am more then pleased!! When I ordered I requested a socket which was over looked wouldnt you know they sent it out free of charge and free shipping!!
I will be ordering all my lighting upgrades from there for sure.
 
A

Azeotrope

Just some random CMH buds. Mystery strains from Reeferman on the big ( and sadly burnt colas) and deluxe mix girl from CanaBiogen (they rock!) on the right. Very lanky and very musky smelling. I can hardly wait!










 

messn'n'gommin'

ember
Veteran
enimatik:
No, I bought 2-250w Advance ballasts on e bay for $33 and $38 (one was open box, both new old stock). 2' igniters, but am using 12AWG heavy duty extension cord for power and 10AWG (couldn't find 12AWG) high temp leads. But I was in no hurry at the time and if the bidding hadn't gone my way I would have gone with them. Almost have them put together. All I need now is to connect the power cords and the fan Because I am expecting my bulbs......tomorrow!!! :hotbounce

Dutch Passion put out a bulletin a few years ago explaining why they changed their marketing strategy from "Female Seeds" to Feminized Seeds," and how to provide the environment to up the ratio of female to male plants grown from seed. Are a few threads about it. It's mostly just an experiment, so we will see how it goes. Besides it's only four plants from bagseed.

Huggie Bear:
As of right now I am building a Bonsai mom/clone PC cab, no hurry with that either. I hadn't thought of that but you have an interesting concept. but Freezerboy had advised me to just use CFL's instead of the 39w-70w CMH I was wanting to do. But it makes more sense for me, as I am not going to veg or flower in it. I would save on power and don't really need all that light for a bonsai anyway and the clones will only be a few weeks out of every 3 or 4 months.

Yeah, is my understanding that the people at Advanced Tech are standup guys.

Namaste, mess
 

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top