Keep my see 1k hps or switch to cmh???

[stoney917]

9x3 is 27ft area for plants 4x8 is 32ft area more room more plants but that does not matter to much with some trellis and canopy management training... center your 3x9 row n 2 umbrellas , the main thing hurting ya is 3ft plants that 18-24in is a lot of weight per light...
Or if your only able to grow them that size a light change to 315z or 630s won't necessarily increase your yield it may but you will be a lot more efficient and bills will drop saving money growing more for less money

I'm not a big believer in "space to work" lol

 

[noknees]

Phatty where I'm at during the summer it's 100 plus degrees and still 80 at night so I switch to house ac as my intake bit even then I can only run 1k during the summer. I want to run 3 trays year round and not have to shut 2 down during summer.

forget all about the perception of CMH being cool. they're not.

stop balking at the initial investment in the lights. you can't see the forest for the trees! any money you save on the light, you're going to bleed fast trying to cool shit off.

if you're trying to run during the summer, QB at night is the jam. HPS? pffffffffffffff

if you do go CMH, don't mess with anything but air-cooled. not negotiable.

 

[Mengsk]

I am trying cmh this year with mh and hps. Excited to see what happens. I want to try LEDs but I have enough lights now.

 

[mean mr.mustard]

forget all about the perception of CMH being cool. they're not.

if you do go CMH, don't mess with anything but air-cooled. not negotiable.

This is misleading at best and bullshit in reality.

Cooler, yes. Cold, no.

Open bulb vertical applications with multiple lamps are very effective and don't require ducted reflectors.

Open your mind. It doesn't hurt a bit.

 

[sturgeongeneral]

My current setup isn't air-cooled at all running 2k hps in a 9.5 long x 7 ft room. With a 81.75 inch floor to ceiling. After doing all the math, in order to run a cmh and still keep 24 inches between light and canopy I'm going to have to some how drop my tray. Overall height is 81.75". tray/stand/res is 23". Canopy to light 24". That's what I'm working with...

 

[mean mr.mustard]

I've finished a lot closer than 24", to the tune of less than half that.

I'm not sure if that's against recommendations but it is simply the truth.

 

[sturgeongeneral]

Any sort of light burn???

 

[Itsmychoice]

I think close to 12” would be no problem. The only problem is when they get up near the reflector it cuts the footprint the light will cover. The best buds in the room are the ones next to the light. These are 8” and it will stress them a little but they will be beautiful, no discoloration.

 

[sturgeongeneral]

Is that just a single 315 ?

 

[mean mr.mustard]

About eight inches was what it took to get burn with mine.

 

[Dirt Bag]

We're torn. We want to switch to CMH too. Our flowering table is 4'x8' and our ceiling is 8'. We could go with two 630s and I'm sure it would be okay. But we're looking for optimal light coverage and I think we could do better. Five 315s, though costly, would provide much more even coverage as well as at least 20% more total light.
The rep from Sun System says the LEC 315 BOSS Commercial light, though horizontally mounted, actually provides more light than the vertical type and have the additional advantages of a lower profile as well as etelligent control and multiple voltage capabilities.
If money were no object, we'd definitely get five LEC 315 BOSS with the etelligent controller. These would use half the electricity as our current setup.
If we had 9 x 3 we'd just get three. Cross lighting would accommodate the extra few inches. I bet a quality 315 would be absolutely fine for 3x3. My suggestion to SG is, just get one 315 and see how it works over a tray.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

My current setup isn't air-cooled at all running 2k hps in a 9.5 long x 7 ft room. With a 81.75 inch floor to ceiling. After doing all the math, in order to run a cmh and still keep 24 inches between light and canopy I'm going to have to some how drop my tray. Overall height is 81.75". tray/stand/res is 23". Canopy to light 24". That's what I'm working with...

You still going to do 3 3x3 trays?


Ive been through a lot of what your trying to figure out. Heres some ideas I came up with.


First of all, go for the cmh and use phillips bulbs, if using the 315s or dual 315s. They will produce as good as hps de. Ive seen side by sides and they are close in total yield and quality. Cmh looked better to me. I told Isaac to go for them , and he crushed it, and replaced his whole room with them. They aren't light years ahead of any of the other light tech, but they are at the top with them in quality and production, and seem to produce superior resins, both trichomes and oils that are sticky/tacky on the leaf and bud itself.


Id go with 4 315s to cover 3x9. But if you want to match similar wattage as your 2k, then go for 6 315s, or 3 630s. ( im not against the 630cmh de's, I just don't have any experience with them, id refer to hammerhead in the cmh threads on those)


Now on the 7' ceilings and table height. Not sure what tables you have, but my quick fits can adapt to 4", or 12" with wheels. Also they can sometimes be flipped over to reduce height. Probably would have to do top feed dtw because of lowering the table, and maybe have to have a sump station for the drain water if you don't have a low enough access to drain plumbing.


If you go with horizontal positioned bulbs and hoods, then you can use the shallow hoods, or adjustawing types, that only sit about 6" from the ceiling.


Screw air cooled imo. Don't need the extra glass between bulbs, and you can cool efficiently enough as is with 2k of lights.


What else, distance from bulb to canopy... 24" would be nice, Isaac just mentioned he'd like to have 36" running a whole lit room of cmh. In your situation with a little more room space but not totally lit, 24" might be fine, but you will get heat or light intensity stress directly under the bulbs if you get much closer. You should stay around 18" away on the 315's.


Any more questions just holler.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

We're torn. We want to switch to CMH too. Our flowering table is 4'x8' and our ceiling is 8'. We could go with two 630s and I'm sure it would be okay. But we're looking for optimal light coverage and I think we could do better. Five 315s, though costly, would provide much more even coverage as well as at least 20% more total light.
The rep from Sun System says the LEC 315 BOSS Commercial light, though horizontally mounted, actually provides more light than the vertical type and have the additional advantages of a lower profile as well as etelligent control and multiple voltage capabilities.
If money were no object, we'd definitely get five LEC 315 BOSS with the etelligent controller. These would use half the electricity as our current setup.
If we had 9 x 3 we'd just get three. Cross lighting would accommodate the extra few inches. I bet a quality 315 would be absolutely fine for 3x3. My suggestion to SG is, just get one 315 and see how it works over a tray.

In your situation 2 630s on the ends and a 315 in the middle might do well, but springing for 3 630's would kick ass.


For sg, 3x3 is a bit of stretch in flower for 315s. Maybe if you had a grid of 9 in a square formation, but you will not be happy with outer performance of a 3 x 3 canopy over 1 tray. Ive ran 315s side by side in a 3 x 6 foot print and its not enough light intensity to develop the bud fully. This was tested with long held strains that I know like the back of my hand. Ive also ran 2'x3' footprint with 6 315's, and had to be 24" away or id get severe light intensity stress. Ive also tested 4 630s in a 8x8, and was very happy with the performance of the entire canopy. Got light stress when closer than 24" on those runs too. 30" light distance seemed perfect for that light pattern.

 

[Scrappy-doo]

You could also get a dimmable ballast, in case 630 is too much for your space. That's what I got and I'm in a tent with a similar dilemma. If it's too much I can turn it down to 490.

 

[Itsmychoice]

Is that just a single 315 ?

Yeah in the middle of 4K de. Best buds in the room are around that bulb.

 

[Dirt Bag]

Hey MM, Which do you think is preferable: two 315 fixtures or one 630?
Seems to me the better coverage would come from separate fixtures, but would that lessen penetration?

 

[Dirt Bag]

In your situation 2 630s on the ends and a 315 in the middle might do well, but springing for 3 630's would kick ass.


For sg, 3x3 is a bit of stretch in flower for 315s. Maybe if you had a grid of 9 in a square formation, but you will not be happy with outer performance of a 3 x 3 canopy over 1 tray. Ive ran 315s side by side in a 3 x 6 foot print and its not enough light intensity to develop the bud fully. This was tested with long held strains that I know like the back of my hand. Ive also ran 2'x3' footprint with 6 315's, and had to be 24" away or id get severe light intensity stress. Ive also tested 4 630s in a 8x8, and was very happy with the performance of the entire canopy. Got light stress when closer than 24" on those runs too. 30" light distance seemed perfect for that light pattern.

Light stress is one of the primary reasons for our desire to switch. 30" clearance would leave us 30" for plants. That's doable.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Hey MM, Which do you think is preferable: two 315 fixtures or one 630?
Seems to me the better coverage would come from separate fixtures, but would that lessen penetration?

To me its a canopy footprint decision. If you want to cover more of a 4x4 or a little less, then id go 630 in one hood. If wanting a different footprint, say 2.5 to 3' wide, id go with individual 315s.


You would have more versatility with the 315s, but more equipment, cost, setup... Pretty equal, just which works best for your situation.


As far as reducing penetration, it depends. If you place your 315s close enough in distance between reflectors, you should be able to match penetration. For example, I stuffed 6 315s in a 6x6. And I had to be at least 24" away, like 600s or the 630s, or id get light stress in that tight of a formation. I did a bunch of par meter testing as well. And on 4 630s in a 8x8. Both had to be 24" plus away with grid lighting like that. In fact, I remember a bottom bud on the 8x8 a good 48" away form the bulb in the corner being dense, trichome laden, and dank. Penetration is amazingly well, if the room is lit up completely.

 

[sturgeongeneral]

So I picked up one nanolux 630 with 2 3100k 315s to try over a tray and see how it does. If it works out I'll pick up more. If not ill go back to hps and keep it moving. Hopefully the 630 will work out with the 3x3s. Cheapest I found was planet natural for 298 on nanoluxes and Amazon for the 315s at 59 per. $418 complete.

 

[Itsmychoice]

They will be badass over a 3x3.