Philips 315w CDM Elite (CMH)

[Hammerhead]

All that adapter does is change mogul base to PGZX18. If you have old hoods around no need to buy a new one. You will still need to get a CMH ballast.


Does anyone have a pic of the bulb with that paint on it??

 

[Jhhnn]

People who want a 315 in an existing mogul hood would probably save money using the 315 mogul lamp. Vendors seem very proud of those adapters. I'm sure a good adapter & a 315 PGZ would work basically as well if a person just wants to broaden their hands-on experience. I think it might be good to center the emitter in the reflector as well as reasonable possible which is probably easier with the longer mogul lamp & one of these, maybe-

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/161665109446?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82

Just an example. I'd shop around a little.

 

[oti$]

Thanks...

 

[The Wang]

My phantom ballast makes a humming buzz, it's not enough that it really matters but is anybody else experiencing this?

 

[GET MO]

mine was but then last time I checked it had gotten a lot quiter.

 

[Avenger]

Paint on tip of lamp

Paint on tip of lamp

For your viewing pleasure.

and no I did not apply the pictured paint dab, that is how i received it from Cycloptics, the clean lamp is from Hydrofarm.

 

[agent dank]

I also have 1. No issues....You can get the adapter on eBay.. I have 1 of these as well in use with phantom ballast...I used 1 of my old reflectors(Gavita triple star) works great

http://www.ebay.com/itm/E40-To-Pgzx...m-Cmh-Light-Bulb-T12-US-SELLER-/331752024173?

So you dont have the one I linked? Not sure what ballast that is but I know its not a phantom which you go onto say you had.

I have an xtrasun 6" i want to reuse so I dont have left ovwr equipment.

 

[agent dank]

For your viewing pleasure.View Image

View Image
and no I did not apply the pictured paint dab, that is how i received it from Cycloptics, the clean lamp is from Hydrofarm.

Is this only needed for vertical CMH setups?

 

[McKush]

View Image

My setup for now. In the future, the frame will be painted steel, the ballasts will be mounted underneath and all will be hard wired to a new breaker box. There is a definite hot spot directly catered under each hood, I'm ordering aluminum paint to put a dab at no of each bulb (as Cycloptics does) and hope this will fix the problem. Otherwise, happy with everything else. Ballasts are welthink (used) that I got for $100 each. Right around 325 each, all said and done. Plants love it after the initial shock of a ne light source!

Hiya Chef - When you get the correct type of aluminum paint can you please post a link to it on this thread or in the Cycloptics GB owners thread?

I wanted to do the same for replacement bulbs for my GB some point in the future.

cheers

 

[CHEFfy]

I'm assuming this is the stuff... Aluminum with a silicon base. I'll order some and give it a try.

http://www.zoro.com/rust-oleum-pain...gclid=CN69-KKP38oCFc5hfgod8WsHAA&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[sisterwilliam]

I've been reading this thread on and off for sometime and have a question that I know has been answered somewhere along the way, I just don't want to read through it again to find it. But first let me say thank you to all that have contributed information to this thread. Because of all of you I'm finishing up my first round with 2-315 cmh's in a 4x4 tent that I bought from advanced. I'm pretty damned impressed so far, enough so that I'm trying to justify spending the money to replace the rest of my lights with these!
I've figured out that it cost $20 less a month in electricity to run 2-315's compared to 1000 watt HPS's. My question is how often am I going to have to change out the bulbs compared to the HPS's? How often are all of you changing out the CMH's? I'm guessing I'll have to buy these way less but i'm not sure.

 

[40AmpstoFreedom]

Thanks for that, Avenger. It's important to understand actual power consumption if planning multiple light applications. They're apparently using a pretty beefy step up transformer which is a good thing.

It's interesting how that plays against standard house wiring in comparison to standard HID. A normal 15A circuit will only support one 1000w lamp following the 80% rule but it will support four 315's drawing 360w each. That's basically twice as much light. Anything else would need to be on a different circuit. Stepping up to a 20A breaker will run five 315's w/ 160w of headroom for other stuff but it won't run two 1000w lamps following the 80% rule. Four 315's on a 20A circuit + fans & pumps would be well within safe limits, for example.

It means a lot of growers can avoid additional wiring to get what they want using 315's. It also means they can use a variety of un-fused lighting controllers safely because the breaker matches the cords to the equipment.

Ok after reading this I have caved in. Shit you cannot beat the ease of wiring only needing to add 2 additional 15 amp lines to run 8 of these lights! I will be buying 4 phantoms to test out and a light meter. I am going with phantoms for one reason only and that is the option of air cooling. The Nano's price is very tempting but I see no way to air cool.

My main reason for holding out so long is that I am worried about killing all my seedlings again and having bad initial veg growth like I did with my 600 SE Gavitas. I am going to attempt to cover this problem by buying one of these:

http://growershouse.com/sun-system-handheld-par-meter-w-integrated-sensor

From another thread:

I'm also planning on running the hoods at a fixed height. The plants should start veg at ~700 umoles, and finish flowering at ~900 umoles. On paper, it's just about perfect. Hopefully real life will work too.

Anyone happen to know what umol is safe for seedlings and small plants? I suppose I could use my light reader under a t5 which safely does seedlings and find out?

 

[Jhhnn]

Is this only needed for vertical CMH setups?

Yes. I'm not sure it's really "needed"- it's just something cycloptics does in line with their philosophy of obtaining very even omni-directional light for research horticulturalists.

It doesn't apply to T9 lamps, either.

 

[Hammerhead]

So you dont have the one I linked? Not sure what ballast that is but I know its not a phantom which you go onto say you had.

I have an xtrasun 6" i want to reuse so I dont have left ovwr equipment.

No, I have a Phantom, welthink and SS 630 FIXTURE . The welthink was a kit came with a adapter. I bought another adapter from ebay for the Phantom ballast. I already had 5 bulbs as spares.. If you don't have a bunch of these bulbs on hand then just buy a Mogul base 315 bulb.. you don't need to buy an adapter if starting from scratch. I have never used the Mogul 315 bulbs no clue how they compare to the PGZX bulbs. .

 

[agent dank]

No, I have a Phantom, welthink and SS 630 FIXTURE . The welthink was a kit came with a adapter. I bought another adapter from ebay for the Phantom ballast. I already had 5 bulbs as spares.. If you don't have a bunch of these bulbs on hand then just buy a Mogul base 315 bulb.. you don't need to buy a adapter if starting from scratch. I have never used the Mogul 315 bulbs no clue how they compare to the PGZX bulbs. .

I read in this thread you cannot get them in 3100k. The mogul base ones.

 

[Hammerhead]

I don't know, I seriously doubt you would see that much of an improvement if any at all using 3100 vs 4100..

 

[Jhhnn]

I read in this thread you cannot get them in 3100k. The mogul base ones.

I don't know, I seriously doubt you would see that much of an improvement if any at all using 3100 vs 4100..

Agreed. I've only used 930's so far & that was only because they were cheaper at the time. Performance differences are likely slight & of little consequence compared to the huge difference over ordinary HID.

 

[Jhhnn]

Ok after reading this I have caved in. Shit you cannot beat the ease of wiring only needing to add 2 additional 15 amp lines to run 8 of these lights! I will be buying 4 phantoms to test out and a light meter. I am going with phantoms for one reason only and that is the option of air cooling. The Nano's price is very tempting but I see no way to air cool.

My main reason for holding out so long is that I am worried about killing all my seedlings again and having bad initial veg growth like I did with my 600 SE Gavitas. I am going to attempt to cover this problem by buying one of these:

http://growershouse.com/sun-system-handheld-par-meter-w-integrated-sensor

From another thread:




Anyone happen to know what umol is safe for seedlings and small plants? I suppose I could use my light reader under a t5 which safely does seedlings and find out?

If you're running new wire, I'd recommend #12 & 20A breakers. You'll never regret it.

I can't offer anything scientific about seedlings but just a point of reference-

These are 3-1/2 weeks from seed. The one front & center is a few days behind. The surface of the soil is 36" from my twin 315 930's. I could have put them at 24" but I'd just need to move 'em down an extra step. They got 24/0 for the first 5 days or so & 18/6 thereafter.

 

[40AmpstoFreedom]

If you're running new wire, I'd recommend #12 & 20A breakers. You'll never regret it.

I can't offer anything scientific about seedlings but just a point of reference-

View Image

These are 3-1/2 weeks from seed. The one front & center is a few days behind. The surface of the soil is 36" from my twin 315 930's. I could have put them at 24" but I'd just need to move 'em down an extra step. They got 24/0 for the first 5 days or so & 18/6 thereafter.

Hmm looks good enough for me. I think 48 inches will probably be the best for seedlings. I will find out when I put my light meter to it I suppose.

 

[Hammerhead]

I have a light meter if anyone wants readings ??

I took a few readings.. From what I see the LEC is doing a great job getting the light down to the plants. its 35" from the canopy I get 422 umol m s

The 315 using a cheap wing reflector is 18" with 200 umol m s..(I will get another 315 for this area or a better hood.)

other 315 using Gavita Triple star has a much wider range larger foot print used. This is used for all seedlings, rooted cuts, and the domes. I have it set to 22" for all the rooted cuts. I get 208 umol m s right under it.. The seedlings and domes are much farther away..

There is another 8 bulb t5 set to 10" it has 187 umol m s

Hope this helps ..