Philips 315w CDM Elite (CMH)

[GoldenSyrup]

On a side note I do intend to do a bit of pollen chucking, and I would sooner the plants have UVB and a full daylight spectrum start to finish so they can express themselves to their full genetic potential, just shy of growing under the sun this is the best I can come up with.

Am I right in my thinking? Cheers.

 

[rives]

The space I have is 120 x 240 x 200 cm, I suppose my questions are is four lamps adeqeute, and can I expect to atleast hit the same as I would from 2 600? Or more?

I would think that you could easily match the 600's and probably exceed them. (4) of the 315's puts you just short of 40w/square foot, and that level of light has worked very well for me. The only issue that I can see is adequately distributing the light - from what I've seen, the 315's work well in approximately a 3'x3' area. You are at 4' wide, and the 315 is going to struggle with even illumination at that distance.

 

[GoldenSyrup]

I would think that you could easily match the 600's and probably exceed them. (4) of the 315's puts you just short of 40w/square foot, and that level of light has worked very well for me. The only issue that I can see is adequately distributing the light - from what I've seen, the 315's work well in approximately a 3'x3' area. You are at 4' wide, and the 315 is going to struggle with even illumination at that distance.

Thanks for getting back in touch rives.

This is something that has bothered me quite a lot, and the reason I asked the question. What would you suggest to combat this? I don't exactly want to use less space. Would lamp positioning be ok? Zig Zag them or put two in each 120 x 120 section head on? Or would I be encountering the same problem?

To be honest if I go ahead and get the lights I am hoping for a minimum of 15 ounces per light which seems more than doable from what I've read?

 

[rives]

Thanks for getting back in touch rives.

This is something that has bothered me quite a lot, and the reason I asked the question. What would you suggest to combat this? I don't exactly want to use less space. Would lamp positioning be ok? Zig Zag them or put two in each 120 x 120 section head on? Or would I be encountering the same problem?

To be honest if I go ahead and get the lights I am hoping for a minimum of 15 ounces per light which seems more than doable from what I've read?

I've run (2) 315's in a 4'x4' tent, which is almost identical to what you are talking about. It worked very well, but there was definitely a difference in the two axis of the tent relative to the light position. A light mover would probably work great, or rotating the plants frequently, but I don't think that either lamp placement or reflector design are going to do it.

15oz/per light is 1.33 grams/watt. It is probably doable if you are an accomplished grower, but it won't be easy and would probably take a while to achieve. You would need the right strain, and have the grow full dialed in.

 

[GoldenSyrup]

I've run (2) 315's in a 4'x4' tent, which is almost identical to what you are talking about. It worked very well, but there was definitely a difference in the two axis of the tent relative to the light position. A light mover would probably work great, or rotating the plants frequently, but I don't think that either lamp placement or reflector design are going to do it.

15oz/per light is 1.33 grams/watt. It is probably doable if you are an accomplished grower, but it won't be easy and would probably take a while to achieve. You would need the right strain, and have the grow full dialed in.

Thanks again dude - I'm up for the challenge, I can generally hit 20 ounce (give or take a couple of ounces depending on the strain) per 600w lamp, hitting both over and under the GPW which makes me think that I may be at a point where the plants determine how much I yield rather than my methods. Which sounds a bit big headed but I don't mean it to!

I'd be happy to hit the same per 2 315s as the quality would def be up but the initial cost puts me off. I'm lucky I pay trade price for them rather than retail lol.

I'm still musing it but I may order them Monday and get them up in the tent for Tuesday night as the plants I have in I want to express their full cannabinoid/terpene profile and not be hindered by just the lacking spectrum of sodiums.

 

[rives]

Thanks again dude - I'm up for the challenge, I can generally hit 20 ounce (give or take a couple of ounces depending on the strain) per 600w lamp, hitting both over and under the GPW which makes me think that I may be at a point where the plants determine how much I yield rather than my methods. Which sounds a bit big headed but I don't mean it to!

I'd be happy to hit the same per 2 315s as the quality would def be up but the initial cost puts me off. I'm lucky I pay trade price for them rather than retail lol.

20 oz +/- per 600w is .93 grams per watt. That is easily doable with the 315s. 1.33 gram/watt should be doable, but it is going to be several orders of magnitude more difficult to achieve.

 

[GoldenSyrup]

Well we'll see I certainly don't want a reduction in yield. I think with the limited diaries, reviews etc available on these lights. Lots of discussion don't get me wrong but not many people using them - I might just have to bite the bullet and grab three more units and dedicate. Thanks for your time, I'll post back here with pics.

Here is a picture I did of Ice Cream - I have the CMH in the middle, you can see the middle plants are shorter than the outer plants - the buds were far more dense too.

 

[Unclecrash]

Well I purchased another ballast on the bay for cheaper than you can get them from the lighting stores. Going to see if itbeats Thomas's here. So I will have two to start with. Wondering how the Gavita hortastar 600se reflector would do on one of these. Can get them cheap

 

[Jhhnn]

Well I purchased another ballast on the bay for cheaper than you can get them from the lighting stores. Going to see if itbeats Thomas's here. So I will have two to start with. Wondering how the Gavita hortastar 600se reflector would do on one of these. Can get them cheap

Probably work just fine.

 

[Unclecrash]

I will give one a try here once I get the lights all plumbed in.

 

[Unclecrash]

...

 

[Unclecrash]

Wondering has anyone run a mogul bulb against a pgz based bulb yet?

 

[Unclecrash]

I think you want the timer between the wall receptacle & the voltage converter. Otherwise there's idle current going through the converter even when the lights are off. It's just a transformer.

An Intermatic T101 timer would do nicely.

I was thinking about this and was curious if a 20 amp will fire all four lites and the converter with the timer in front of the converter. Im just trying to be cautious, could this be why Thomas said best place was at the converter where ballasts plug in. I understand the converter will always run but there wouldnt be a big surge to fire the four lights and the converter do you think this will be a problem? Whats your thought's on this? Thank's UC

 

[Jhhnn]

I was thinking about this and was curious if a 20 amp will fire all four lites and the converter with the timer in front of the converter. Im just trying to be cautious, could this be why Thomas said best place was at the converter where ballasts plug in. I understand the converter will always run but there wouldnt be a big surge to fire the four lights and the converter do you think this will be a problem? Whats your thought's on this? Thank's UC

Dunno for sure. I think the breaker will handle it, maybe not the converter. I think that if you buy a T103 timer you can always run the timer at 120v & switch either 120v or 240v. Experiment.

http://www.intermatic.com/products/timeswitches/mechanicalswitches/24hour/t100series/t103

I just don't like the idea of having the converter hot all the time.

I had the luxury of being able to bring in a 240v circuit rather easily. I'm not sure I would have graduated to CMH otherwise.

 

[Unclecrash]

are you saying the T103 is switchable either 120v or 240v can be input?

 

[Jhhnn]

are you saying the T103 is switchable either 120v or 240v can be input?

This gets a little weird, so bear with me. The T103 120v clock motor needs to be wired separately from the contact terminals to switch the 240v output from the converter. One of the clock wires is normally connected to a contact terminal & must be wired separately to the 120v input for the converter. There's no terminal for that.

Their WHQ4 timer might be a better choice because it already has separate terminals for the clock motor.

Chase down the manuals online to understand.

 

[s20]

what is penetration on the cmh's like, what would be the max plant height you would flower

 

[HUGE]

Lights do not have a penetration spec.

 

[Unclecrash]

This gets a little weird, so bear with me. The T103 120v clock motor needs to be wired separately from the contact terminals to switch the 240v output from the converter. One of the clock wires is normally connected to a contact terminal & must be wired separately to the 120v input for the converter. There's no terminal for that.

Their WHQ4 timer might be a better choice because it already has separate terminals for the clock motor.

Chase down the manuals online to understand.

Thanks man I will chheck out the whq4 and download the files for it.

 

[Unclecrash]

This gets a little weird, so bear with me. The T103 120v clock motor needs to be wired separately from the contact terminals to switch the 240v output from the converter. One of the clock wires is normally connected to a contact terminal & must be wired separately to the 120v input for the converter. There's no terminal for that.

Their WHQ4 timer might be a better choice because it already has separate terminals for the clock motor.

Chase down the manuals online to understand.

I just found a good diagram that shows the wiring on the T103 It says the nuetral gets hooked to A to run the clock on 240 and on 120 it shows the nuetral coming in to terminal a then carried out to load. I think Im way over thinking it. Im going to try the 103 on 120 first then if itwont work that way I can always hook it 240 .