Philips 315w CDM Elite (CMH)

[RedReign]

Anyone with ceramic solutions experience ? They have a 630 de fixture with LFSW ballast for 270$ shipped. Sounds like a decent deal.

I own 14 of them, they're good lights.

I originally bought six to replace 6 mag ballast HPS's in a 12 light room, to lower my energy consumption. So there were 6 1k's and 6 630de's in the room. I didn't lose (or gain) any quantity or quality, so I was happy.

Since things went well in the first 12 light room, I bought 6 more 630de's for my second 12 light room.

Then I bought 12 Gavita 600/750's to swap out my remaining 1k HPS's. Again, I didn't lose (or gain) any quantity or quality, so I was happy.

So now I have two 8280 watt rooms that produce the same quantity and quality as they did when they were 12k watt rooms.

I also have 2 in a 4x8 tent that's looking good at 3.5 weeks in. It's my first grow using 630de's without HPS's next to them, so we'll see how the yield is in a few weeks.

 

[Hammerhead]

Quick Recap


1) Hammerhead claims the literature I linked is only at Growers house yet I linked direct to Growers Choice website, made this point clear, hamemrhead keep acting like not there


2) Hammerhead claims to visit GC website regularly, says for certain there's no such literature such as I mention there, knows this website like back of his hand, been there multiple times past couple days etc etc..., the spec sheets I'm sharing are dated, not there or fake, I'm lying, nope, wrong again....


3) I post a clear way to find the link on Growers Choice website (one anyone else could find in 10 seconds already), miraculously you are then able to find the spec sheet on GC website, hallelujah


4) You then claim the spec sheets say nothing about the bulbs being open rated. Total BS, it says plain as day on EVERY one of their CMH spec sheets open/enclosed - false advertising, funny how it always benefits sales when company does that, you know make a "mistake" in their favor, one that expands the target audience i.e. open or closed


5) Finally you see it's on the sheet after I again make it clear as day, you concede this but then go on again to say how you've been right, GC is the shit - bla bla bla


6) again above, even while quoting my post you tell me things in your post I said in mine, acting as if I don't know what I just typed, classic....


After #2 above you lost all credibility with me, by number six I'd bet most in here if they actually take the time to read thru the past few pages and verify this, even after the edits you've made. I don't expect them to nor care but you sir are a trip....

Thanks for the laughs, I needed a good 5 min break, back to it...... Light up at your own risk
......

If you think for a sec you losing respect for me matters your an idiot. I will use whatever bulbs I want to use. Nothing I posted was inaccurate. My post where obviously to complicated for you to grasp. 1-5 are all the same just worded differently lol. #6 was just added for good measure . You seem to think I'm telling people to not use them safely. I can see your delusional. your making shit up as you go. Like I said if I make an error I will correct it. GC bulbs are good. There's at least a few thousand of us that agree with that . When u start being a dick about stupid clerical errors on my part your just an asshat. I'm not gonna fuk up this thread with your kiddy games any longer. You just got added to ignore.

 

[Raho]

I own 14 of them, they're good lights.

I originally bought six to replace 6 mag ballast HPS's in a 12 light room, to lower my energy consumption. So there were 6 1k's and 6 630de's in the room. I didn't lose (or gain) any quantity or quality, so I was happy.

Since things went well in the first 12 light room, I bought 6 more 630de's for my second 12 light room.

Then I bought 12 Gavita 600/750's to swap out my remaining 1k HPS's. Again, I didn't lose (or gain) any quantity or quality, so I was happy.

So now I have two 8280 watt rooms that produce the same quantity and quality as they did when they were 12k watt rooms.

I also have 2 in a 4x8 tent that's looking good at 3.5 weeks in. It's my first grow using 630de's without HPS's next to them, so we'll see how the yield is in a few weeks.

Had my eye on those Ceramic Solution 630s for almost a year now.
I've seen and read about your setup in the 24k coco thread. What spacing between lights?
How did your yield turn out when you mixed them with the HPS 1ks?
The reflector on those units looks like it's setup for higher ceilings. How did it do with your 8 foot room?

 

[RedReign]

Had my eye on those Ceramic Solution 630s for almost a year now.
I've seen and read about your setup in the 24k coco thread. What spacing between lights?
How did your yield turn out when you mixed them with the HPS 1ks?
The reflector on those units looks like it's setup for higher ceilings. How did it do with your 8 foot room?

Raho, the lights cover 4.5'x4.5' each.
The yield with the 6 630's and 6 1k's yielded the same as the 12 1k's.
Those are IPower adjustable reflectors. Ceramic Solutions was out of complete lights at the time so I bought CS ballasts and bulbs, and the IPower reflectors. They work great, they have a similar spread as the CS reflectors.

 

[iBogart]

Did Philips stop making the "agro" version of this bulb? The spectrum is different than the 930 and the 942. Much higher output around the 680nm range.


Gavita has a paper on it. Scroll down to the 4th page and you can see the three spectrum charts for each bulb.



https://gavita.com/retail/app/uploads/Light-Matters-6-GCM-US15-2.pdf

 

[rives]

Did Philips stop making the "agro" version of this bulb? The spectrum is different than the 930 and the 942. Much higher output around the 680nm range.


Gavita has a paper on it. Scroll down to the 4th page and you can see the three spectrum charts for each bulb.



https://gavita.com/retail/app/uploads/Light-Matters-6-GCM-US15-2.pdf

As far as I know, it is still being offered. There is current literature on the Philips site and a quick search shows a bunch of vendors selling them. Philips did change the name to "GreenPower Elite Agro" several years ago.

https://www.amazon.com/Philips-Mast...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NTZSKWQES58YP0Z46BQ8

 

[Zeez]

Next week - Pot shops opening.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

This is one of the best deals ive found recently. Match it up with a phillips bulb, and you have a cheap, but quality cmh system. It is very shallow. Only downfall imo, is the small reflector. Ive found the ballast/reflector combo for around $100, and phillips bulbs are around $50, so a decent name brand ballast and top bulb for $150. Any better deals out there? Think im gonna pick some up for some small breeding rooms, and see how I like them.


https://www.horticulturesource.com/...ZDCQOIr_ZWg143CyZ1g-qpkSvuigc1YRoCGTgQAvD_BwE

 

[Snook]

This is one of the best deals ive found recently. Match it up with a phillips bulb, and you have a cheap, but quality cmh system. It is very shallow. Only downfall imo, is the small reflector. Ive found the ballast/reflector combo for around $100, and phillips bulbs are around $50, so a decent name brand ballast and top bulb for $150. Any better deals out there? Think im gonna pick some up for some small breeding rooms, and see how I like them.
https://www.horticulturesource.com/...ZDCQOIr_ZWg143CyZ1g-qpkSvuigc1YRoCGTgQAvD_BwE

Sounds a good deal but note that it's not available until December 14th. so right now, it's NOT available.. I've done the pre-release orders before.. not always the most satisfied with the products from this type of early order process..

 

[Dirt Bag]

This is one of the best deals ive found recently. Match it up with a phillips bulb, and you have a cheap, but quality cmh system. It is very shallow. Only downfall imo, is the small reflector. Ive found the ballast/reflector combo for around $100, and phillips bulbs are around $50, so a decent name brand ballast and top bulb for $150. Any better deals out there? Think im gonna pick some up for some small breeding rooms, and see how I like them.


https://www.horticulturesource.com/...ZDCQOIr_ZWg143CyZ1g-qpkSvuigc1YRoCGTgQAvD_BwE

Even comes with a decent bulb. Excellent find. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Sounds a good deal but note that it's not available until December 14th. so right now, it's NOT available.. I've done the pre-release orders before.. not always the most satisfied with the products from this type of early order process..

I didn't realize that. They are out though, my shop has them here in MI. I already picked one up. Ill let you know what I think.

Even comes with a decent bulb. Excellent find. Thanks for sharing.

For that price around 100 bucks, no bulb included. Just a heads up. they sell one with a bulb, but you can find the good phillips bulbs around 50 bucks nowadays.

 

[Hammerhead]

Sun System Flower Power 315 Watt 120 / 240 Volt - Fixture Only No Lamp (906298) Available Friday 14 December, 2018. $109.98 — Ships separately from H: WA, CA, CO, MI, TN, PA, FL USA (No USPS)


Don't forget to add shipping on that. Its $28.21 to ship to Sacramento Ca..It says no Lamp

 

[Miraculous Meds]

<a href="https://www.horticulturesource.com/sun-system-sun-system-flower-power-315-watt-120-240-volt-fixture-only-no-lamp-p27286" target="_blank">View Image Sun System Flower Power 315 Watt 120 / 240 Volt - Fixture Only No Lamp (906298) Available Friday 14 December, 2018. $109.98 — Ships separately from H: WA, CA, CO, MI, TN, PA, FL USA (No USPS)


Don't forget to add shipping on that. Its $28.21 to ship to Sacramento Ca..It says no Lamp

Correct, im not telling anyone to order from this site, I just posted it to show they are affordable compared to other cmh choices. I picked mine up locally, no shipping charge, even cheaper than this site is offering it for. So look in your local shops if your interested, and make them an offer compared to this price. Im sure they will work with ya if they can.


Im toying with the idea of 9 315s in a 8x8. I need to throw these fixtures under the par meter to see how they will spread first I guess. Reflectors are tiny on these new fixtures, about 9.5"x10". I like that they are only about 5" tall though. They weigh about 22lbs too, so if putting a bunch in a tent, I guess you'd have to watch out for weight issues. Im thinking phantoms in the corners for the canopy edges, and these in the middle for spreading. Ill throw up some pics when I get it set.

 

[White Beard]

Have passed the halfway point on your thread, Rives - one hell of a bit of service you’ve done and are doing here.

This is one of the best threads ever, on any topic, any forum. Hat’s off to you. No exaggeration to say I have spent days pouring through it, learning at a great rate and having a grand old time doing it!

Thank you and all the other major participants for the education I am getting on lighting and equipment. This is great, I’m saving my questions until I’ve made through.

Happy Thanksgiving, I hope you’re enjoying your holiday weekend as much as I am!

 

[dank.frank]

This thread is responsible for me picking up 2 x 315 growers choice units. Can't wait to see how the first round under them does.



dank.Frank

 

[rives]

Have passed the halfway point on your thread, Rives - one hell of a bit of service you’ve done and are doing here.

This is one of the best threads ever, on any topic, any forum. Hat’s off to you. No exaggeration to say I have spent days pouring through it, learning at a great rate and having a grand old time doing it!

Thank you and all the other major participants for the education I am getting on lighting and equipment. This is great, I’m saving my questions until I’ve made through.

Happy Thanksgiving, I hope you’re enjoying your holiday weekend as much as I am!

Glad to hear that you are enjoying it, there have been innumerable contributions by lots of people and I'm kind of proud of the impact that it seems to have had.

The best part of the holiday thus far is that we have finally gotten some weather and the Camp fire is officially out. I have lots of friends that have lost everything and were lucky to make it out with their lives. Unfortunately, many were not that lucky...

This thread is responsible for me picking up 2 x 315 growers choice units. Can't wait to see how the first round under them does.

dank.Frank

Glad to hear that you finally jumped, Frank. Keep us posted, I think that they will work well for you.

 

[dank.frank]

I'm glad I held off a bit. 2 years? LOL. I wanted the Cycloptics originally, but upon seeing the reviews and how much better they performed in grid vs in more singular type settings, it didn't make sense to spend the extra money when only running two lights. Really like the compact all in one style unit of the Grower's Choice model. When it dropped below $300 after shipping included, I had no logical reason NOT to. I'm fairly certain I'll be able to pull 1.25-1.5 with them once the room is dialed and I'd never imagine saying that with confidence if I had plugged in old magnetic 400w'ers.

Thanks again!



dank.Frank

 

[Snook]

I'm in. I had a brand new in the box but now out of production Growzilla dual lamp hood sitting on the shelf for years. Bought the adapters, ballasts (315w - phanntom) and bulbs earlier this year and started a small grow. Everything was going very good but I had my shoulder replaced and the day after, I had a water transfer problem and noticed that a plant had hermied (my fault). Not being able to fix these problems, I shut'er down at day 38 or risk it all going really bad.. the buds were beautiful but small, still managed to pull 9 ounces dried out of 4 not fully grown girls.. current run is going off beautifully. Thank you rives.


I now run PPKs, Jacks+C with CMH lights.

I'm done! Fukn'a Freddie.


Thank rives for opening my eyes...

 

[madalasatori]

Anyone used omega bulbs in 4000k for.veg?

 

[White Beard]

Rives, your comments on outproducing your needs with a single 30x30 tent and single 315 have shifted my thinking considerably. Have you harvested as much as a pound from a single such grow? What’s your average weight on a grow?

Thinking about single-plant grows, heavy training. Multiple tailored environments rather than ‘how many can I squeeze in this tent’. Contemplating that setup, augmented by a 36x36 under a DE 630.

It seems that the market has stabilized on dimmable ballasts, which fits with my plans. Some places only sell dual-bulb 630s, others only sell double-ended 630s - which can be had for well under 300 complete. Basic SE units going ~150 with bulb some places, copycat bulbs *everywhere*.

486 pages was a lot, and I took it in marathon doses, so still sorting thru what I’ve taken onboard.

Care to step back for a minute and assess the current state of the market, and how the various CMH formats have niched themselves with growers? What do you see going forward? How are things shaking out?

Gotta thank you again for one hell of an informative ride, thanks to Jhhnn wherever he may be as well, and so many others....