Pros & Cons: 2 1000W vs 3 600W

[badugi]

I've never heard of wires melting. What type of ballast & lamp cord? What gauge wire is the lamp cord, and how long is it?

Edit: Just realized you said wires inside. Where are your ballasts placed? Is it adequately ventilated?

 

[yamaha_1fan]

Only thing that sucks about 1000watts is they ballast and wires inside sometimes catch on fire. so its good to check them after every run. Ive never had any problems with the 600 or 400 watters. Ive had a few 1000 melt wires but never catch on fire.

Give us more details? One brand of ballast, ballast kits, etc? Were the wires inside the ballast that melted?


I am with Badugi. I have NEVER heard of a ballast melting wires unless it was outside the ballast and something was done wrong.


1000W ballasts just dont melt wires unless you run them in a 3" thick safe 24/7 with no cooling

 

[RockyMountainHi]

I have 1 1000W ballast that developed excessove resistance n the "power in" plug -

120 volt system, 1000W HPS/MH switchable ballast running 1000W Hortilux HPS.

I found it by feeling the power cord and the connections - it was WARM - I had a spare 1000W ready to go, "just in case".

I have to fix that unit soon; - I will try to get photos and a thread going.

I'm sure it's been covered, but I doubt there is a problem that hasn't been covered here several times.

I am upgrading from a single 1000W to dual 1000's with air cooled hoods. I also use a light mover - and I'm convinced the light can run MUCH closer to the plants than with a stationary system.


I'd agree- each applicaion will have unique variables.

Size of room, shape, heat and cooling - make that COOLING

I will be running AC and cooled hoods next summer - I finaly gave up on swamp coolers and fans - the grow room gets ac and I can afford cold beer.

 

[manwithnoname]

first i must point out that i have 1k and 400w lamps. i have a room size of about 4x6 ft. just a 1k running the show in there. for reasons that piss me off and i dont need to go into, these girls got way, way larger than planned. 6 wks into flower they are almost 5ft tall. talk about sog, kinda looks like i planted a hedge of bushes in there. no need for screen cuz they hold each other up. anyway i thought that i would have nice plant up top and a bunch of dead business on bottom b/c no light would get through. didnt do any trimming. i have not found one part of any of the plants that are wilting or turning brown. never experienced 600w, but i just dont see how you could get that kind of penitration with a 600, being 3/5 as many watts. i know most people wont let there plants get this tall, but i have buds all the way down. gonna be some kind of harvest. my 1k is homemade, i bought all parts off net and for really cheap. my bro is an electrician and he put it together. should be no reason to have wires melting, if you do something is not set up right. the wires should not even get warm. the ballast yes, the lamp yes, wires no. oh and the reason i got a couple 400w is cuz they are sun system 2 and really practical with the ballast in the hood. i like it.




also these are under a 400** what about a 400w vs. 600w discussion??


she seems happy

 

[melissa420]

1000w=penetration
600w=even coverage

If your canopy is deep, you will need 1000w to get the light to the lower part of the canopy. However, since all horizontal bulbs produce more light directly under the bulb and it trails off towards the edges, multiple 1000w are going to give you a very uneven coverage vs. the 600w in a SOG setup.

I'd simplify and say that in general, if your canopy is around 18" deep, like most SOGs, you'd be well off with 600w lamps. If it is any deeper, you'd benefit from the penetration of the 1000w.

See, everybody looks at the area (sq ft) being covered, but nobody ever mentions the height. You're not growing a 2 dimensional plant, you are covering 3 dimensions with light, even in a SOG. This should be the determining factor in dialing in lighting, IMO.

 

[badugi]

1000w=penetration
600w=even coverage

Bah humbug.

1000w + mover = penetration w/ even coverage

One sure as hell way to test would be to do one cycle w/ 6 x 1000w's on movers, and another in with 9 - 10 x 600w's stationary (5.4kw - 6kw).

If your canopy is deep, you will need 1000w to get the light to the lower part of the canopy. However, since all horizontal bulbs produce more light directly under the bulb and it trails off towards the edges, multiple 1000w are going to give you a very uneven coverage vs. the 600w in a SOG setup.

I'd simplify and say that in general, if your canopy is around 18" deep, like most SOGs, you'd be well off with 600w lamps. If it is any deeper, you'd benefit from the penetration of the 1000w.

See, everybody looks at the area (sq ft) being covered, but nobody ever mentions the height. You're not growing a 2 dimensional plant, you are covering 3 dimensions with light, even in a SOG. This should be the determining factor in dialing in lighting, IMO.

My canopy isn't really deep. About 1/3 of my room is a small-plant SOG.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

I am actually considering testing the 600 versus 1000 out in the next spot. Probably 4 4x8 tables using SS2 hoods with different combos of lights and movers. Probably will be a while before it happens


One thing I keep hearing is with 600's you can keep the light closer. Well if you put the light too close, it seems to me that you would lessen your footprint. If you have the hood 12" from the canopy, I dont think its going to light up a 3x3 area.

 

[vindiesel]

600s better. cooler. more efficient. more lower wattage, better distributed 600s better than less 1000s.

 

[justlrnin]

With 1000's heat is more of issue but you get harder fuller buds from what I've seen . I run 2 600's in my flower room and will replace 1 of them tonight with a 1000 . Zoolander



This is with a 600

 

[CMoon]

Bah humbug.




My canopy isn't really deep. About 1/3 of my room is a small-plant SOG.

so you normally use a sledge hammer to crack a peanut?

 

[melissa420]

Bah humbug.

1000w + mover = penetration w/ even coverage

One sure as hell way to test would be to do one cycle w/ 6 x 1000w's on movers, and another in with 9 - 10 x 600w's stationary (5.4kw - 6kw).


My canopy isn't really deep. About 1/3 of my room is a small-plant SOG.

Define "isn't really deep". IMO, if your canopy is 18" deep and you are keeping your lights close enough, you are likely wasting light as it passes through the canopy.

And no, that would not be a "sure as hell way to test", because there are so many other variables. You completely neglected what I'd just said and reverted back to generalities.

Why do you not consider LpW efficiency? 600's are more energy efficient - cut and dry.

I personally do not believe that a light on a mover is going to produce the same results as stationary lights of the same power. IMO, there has to be an affect on the plant receiving intermittent light - mind you, this is just my opinion, however.

Do you really think that having the lights reach the deep canopy (only as the light moves over it), but then receiving almost no light for most of the time would be more effective than having 'some' light hitting it all the time?

Funny thing, You are the one that initially mentioned setup expense, but then you just slip a light mover in there - like no one would notice

A 600w penetrates well into an 18" canopy, when set at the proper height. I wouldn't use one on anything taller, and I wouldn't bother with the 1000w at this height.

Bah Humbug my ass...

 

[melissa420]

One thing I keep hearing is with 600's you can keep the light closer. Well if you put the light too close, it seems to me that you would lessen your footprint. If you have the hood 12" from the canopy, I dont think its going to light up a 3x3 area.

I think the footprint is extremely dependent on the reflector.

Also, It's not the way the light lands just on the top of the canopy, it radiates outwards and downwards. Just because the top very top of the canopy isn't really covered, there is a lot of light getting to the plants. This is the downfall of all HID lights, they just don't lay a flat layer of even light. This is also more expressed with the 1000w light than any other.

 

[NiteTiger]

Flip the 1 kw vertical, sit those girls within about 6 inches, and solve all your problems

 

[melissa420]

NiteTiger, Nice setup. What is your best GPW with that vertical?

 

[manwithnoname]

true that 600 can be closer than 1k, but my 400 can practically sit on a plant and be ok. This would be very benefitial for that plant but the others would suffer imo as not as much light would get to them. it would depend on the hood somewhat. also, 1k's do put off a lot of heat, and where i am from heat is a precious commodity as my ambient air is not the same as in the home i.e. garage. i dont waste that heat during the winter months instead i use it to heat the growroom by not venting hoods.

 

[Snagglepuss]

Another option to consider,Buy 2 x 1000 watt "dimmable" ballasts and run them at half wattage or a little greater.Then in the last couple weeks turn them all the way up for bigger yields .

Im gonna try this on my next ballast purchase ,just something to think about .Its like having 2 sets of lamps

 

[darthvapor]

Give us more details? One brand of ballast, ballast kits, etc? Were the wires inside the ballast that melted?


I am with Badugi. I have NEVER heard of a ballast melting wires unless it was outside the ballast and something was done wrong.


1000W ballasts just dont melt wires unless you run them in a 3" thick safe 24/7 with no cooling

1000w sunsystems mh/hps switchable wired 220v wires melted inside where connected to ballast. the ballast sit on a shelf inside a rectangular box that has passive intake from the outside and exhaust connected to the plenum that exhaust the light as well thru a vortex 10 fan. the whole run is less than 6 feet so I know its more than addequate for 5 lights and the ballast box.

the other light was a eurosystem 1000watt. the issue was inside the reflector where the cap is connected to the cord. the wires melted.

an electrician friend of mine said to just cut back the melted wire, strip, attach heat shrink to wires and also to heat shrink the whole wire before re connecting.

apparently my problem was turning on all 5 lights at the same time was causing amperage drain even with a 30 amp 220v breaker. It only affected the 1000watters tho and not the 600.

 

[swampdank]

I say go with 3 1ks and one helluva exhaust fan. Trust me on this, if you ventilate well enough, you can squeeze in another 1k. Remember that HPS doesnt burn anywhere nearly as hot as MH. It is doable. I run 2 1ks in my homebox. The homebox measures 4.5x9. It says it is designed for 2 1ks but I see room for another one and I plan to get it going in the next few weeks. As long as you keep the exhaust fan moving tons of air, you can squeeze in another bulb. My expirience is 3 degrees hotter overall with every lamp. I know this is highly subjective but like I said, thisis just my expirience.

 

[Billygoat]

I personally like the 600HPS. I've had great results with them and less heat then a 1000HPS. Great thread and lots of info.
Take care,
BG

 

[darthvapor]

from personal experience I get bigger buds with 1000watters, but I get more and better resin crystals with 600 and 400. I guess it matters if you want quantity or quality.