Philips 315w CDM Elite (CMH)

[theLumberjack]

i can take one home from work later. thanks for the help.

 

[theLumberjack]

...

 

[Xrazor77]

If you plan on using the fixture just for vegging, you might want to consider the 942 lamp (4200k). Theoretically, at least, it provides a better veg spectrum and some people like it better for flowering. I find that the coverage works best up to 3x3 for flowering, at somewhere around 35-50 watts/sq.ft.. The coverage should be wider for vegging, but I veg under LEDs and don't have any direct experience with it. You might need that much headroom for a fresh start, but not for established plants. I've run anywhere from about 2' of clearance to brushing the glass with no issues. If you are running an open fixture, you would obviously need to stay a bit further away.

First complete flowering with a 930 Greenpower in a D'pap and I'm quite impressed.
Day 60
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315's are universal burn so they'll work in vert. Per rives & others they can run pretty close to the foliage. I just run mine overhead, keep the foliage 12-18" away.

Yep, go look at my thread. I have 7 going right now and a couple more behind them. Put them under a humidity dome with T5 for 2 days after they popped and then stuck them under the 315s. Kept them at 160 μmoles for a few days and then bumped them to 350 μmoles. I've been bumping the light to 650 μmoles for a few hours to get them acclimated quickly to high light levels and maximize growth. There are some pics I just posted in my thread. BTW, I'm using the 942s and adding a small amount of blue (440 nm).

A few more details. My lights are at least 50 inches from the seedlings, but the PPFD is at the canopy. The leaf temperatures are about 3 degrees lower than ambient, which is 80 degrees.

As an aside, I'm really annoyed that there isn't any info out there on light levels (PPFD and DLI) for seedlings. I measured the light from the T5 unit under the dome at normal distance and got 70 μmoles. I figured they could tolerate more light so I immediately bumped them to 160 μmoles. I wish more people had light meters or guys who write books had them. It would make all of this trial and error shit go away. Hopefully no error!

I'm planning on getting the Apogee MQ500 to get better readings. It's an expensive item but I think worth it

 

[Xrazor77]

I touch my Phantom hoods all the time there barley warm. IR gun indicated 82f..

After running plants under the SS LEC 630 I can def notice the foot print is not very big. I started with 9 plants in a 5x5 tent. The next 2 weeks I had to remove 5 plants. There was not enough light on the edges.. The 4 that are left is the max I could fit. I would not recommend vegging longer then 30 days to keep the plants short enough. Quality is on point yield can be a hit or miss depending on a few factors.. If I ever flower under the 630 again It would be 2 plants max.

I have the sun system 315's with vertical bulb and the ballast is not even warm to the touch.

 

[Xrazor77]

Thanks Rives … much appreciated.

I'm interested in the heat readings of all the cmh315 systems … especially running at 120 vs 240v.

cheers

Cool to the touch on the sun systems units.

 

[pug1010]

Thanks Xrazor77

Just wondering if you are running 120 or 240v?

 

[timmur]

Thanks Rives … much appreciated.

I'm interested in the heat readings of all the cmh315 systems … especially running at 120 vs 240v.

cheers

I'm late weighing in on this, but I read the surface temp of my PARGrow ballasts (240 volt) in a 90 degree ambient temp room and it averaged about 145 degrees. Hope it helps!

 

[pug1010]

Thx Timmur … much appreciated as always.

 

[Zeez]

For anyone still interested in this, I checked my individual ballast (Philips in an aluminum case) this morning before lights out. It had been on for 11-1/2 hours and the warmest reading on the housing was 92°, ambient was 72°.

I started out with the first gen Phantom ballasts and they were running very hot. There were also problems with the bulbs flickering.

 

[Ez Rider]

I started out with the first gen Phantom ballasts and they were running very hot. There were also problems with the bulbs flickering.

Cheaply made in china and RUSHED to the market From everything I've seen/heard about the phantom ballasts, I'm glad I only bought the hood. I have to admit, the hood performed well in my PAR tests, but the build quality is pretty poor. I know the demo phantom ballast at the local grow shop runs extremely hot compared to my pargrow's, and I doubt the build quality is any better than the hood.

 

[dbkick]

I started out with the first gen Phantom ballasts and they were running very hot. There were also problems with the bulbs flickering.

I only pointed this out months ago.

 

[dbkick]

Sunplix for features, quality and affordability . They've just released an digital LFSW for the allstart 860 too, equally as quality I'm sure.

 

[Avinash.miles]

Sunplix for features, quality and affordability . They've just released an digital LFSW for the allstart 860 too, equally as quality I'm sure.

how much are the sunplix units? (since you say for affordability).
my 860w CMH bulb just cracked sorry to see it go

 

[dbkick]

how much are the sunplix units? (since you say for affordability).
my 860w CMH bulb just cracked sorry to see it go

I can get 315 ballasts for 155, I';m in the process of getting a couple reflectors for the 315, dunno the price yet.
I'm totally in the dark wi th the 860 at the moment because the distributor I'm dealing with has been having personal issues .
What are you running your 860s on?

 

[dbkick]

Msrp price from what I've seen is high but negotiable , who pays msrp anyway?

 

[silverhazefiend]

Anybody running the new phantom II ballast ? As stated the original got hot looks like they fixed that problem ..and I wanna get a cmh but every day more brands come out and make it harder ..I'm leaning towards phantom for being AC and price ..there's a ceramic science ballast that's 140$ anyone tried that ? And the sunplix dimmable is like 250$ is cheapest I seen with the eBay ones at around 300$ ..the green beams are not putting out any more light or the ballast isn't special and being un air cooled and 500$ im doubt I'm going that route

One thing not mentioned is the customer service most people that had a problem with te phantom got replacements or was helped some way ..I've seen people complain about the green beam reflector inserts and we all kno sunplix is a mom and pop setup so getting replacements might be tricky same with ceramic science ..I can save 60$bucks now only to have to spend double if something breaks

 

[dbkick]

Anybody running the new phantom II ballast ? As stated the original got hot looks like they fixed that problem ..and I wanna get a cmh but every day more brands come out and make it harder ..I'm leaning towards phantom for being AC and price ..there's a ceramic science ballast that's 140$ anyone tried that ? And the sunplix dimmable is like 250$ is cheapest I seen with the eBay ones at around 300$ ..the green beams are not putting out any more light or the ballast isn't special and being un air cooled and 500$ im doubt I'm going that route

One thing not mentioned is the customer service most people that had a problem with te phantom got replacements or was helped some way ..I've seen people complain about the green beam reflector inserts and we all kno sunplix is a mom and pop setup so getting replacements might be tricky same with ceramic science ..I can save 60$bucks now only to have to spend double if something breaks

Where do you shop? I bought a pargrow at mom and pops hydro shop for 2 bills, I just bought 3 sunplix 315 ballasts and a remote to dim or boost for $485.

 

[dbkick]

oh plus the ceramic science may be a welthink rebranded but I've heard good things about them and also know welthink is solid.

 

[dbkick]

Sunplix is a branch of welthink.

 

[Avinash.miles]

ALOT of brands look like colored wellthinks....

I can get 315 ballasts for 155, I';m in the process of getting a couple reflectors for the 315, dunno the price yet.
I'm totally in the dark wi th the 860 at the moment because the distributor I'm dealing with has been having personal issues .
What are you running your 860s on?

that is a decent price for the 315w ballast.
i was running my 860w on a magnetic 1kw MH ballast
everything was fine until it got hit with some spray on accident, cold on hot and the bulb cracked, i turned it off immediately and all was well... don't think i'll be firing that bulb again tho.