Question on Building your own light.

[sn0]

Just wondering if any of you have built your own lights..i found a thread on this somewhere but it seems to be lost now. I don't mean buying a ballast and a hood, slapping a bulb in there and plugging it in. I'd like to know how to build my own ballast, and where a good place to get parts would be. As for a hood im looking at a Growzilla dual bulb air-cooled hood. Anybody with any knowledge in this area please help me out. Will i need to build two ballasts? Or is it possible to build a ballast that can power two bulbs? Any help will be greatly appreciated. -sn0

 

[sn0]

So I've just stumbled upon EuroSystems twin setup...now i know it is possible to run 2 bulbs with one ballast. Unfortunately they're in business to make money so i dont see them telling me how to build my own dual bulb ballast. Those fkrs eh? oh well im sure there has to be someone out there that is willing to 'show me the light' so to speak.

 

[tokeAcola]

Hey sn0,

You can find ballast kits at www.1000bulbs.com, and ebay has some as well. For a HPS (High Pressure Sodium) you need a ballast, capacitor and an ignitor, these all come in the kit. For MH (Metal Hailide) you need just the ballast and the capacitor. However, some "pulse start" MH do require an ignitor as well, but they're not as common, if it needs the ignitor it will more than likely be included in the kit.

If you buy just the kit you should be able to buy a metal box from Radio Shack (or other similiar place) that you can use as a ballast housing. I'd recommend buying two seperate kits for two seperate bulbs, and if you can find a housing big enough, just put them both in the same housing and run a cord out for each bulb.

Good luck!

-- tAc

 

[sn0]

Thanks for the help Toke. Do you think the heat inside the box would get too high with two ballasts in it? should i throw a small pc fan in?

 

[sn0]

For anyone who came here looking for answers to questions similliar to mine...i found <a href="http://www.businesslights.com">businesslights.com</a> to have better prices

 

[sn0]

oops guess the forums dont take html figure it out -=c]

 

[tokeAcola]

Yeah, definately a good idea to cool down the ballast box, the cooler they run the longer they will last.

ps check the link in my sig if you are having trouble with making links

 

[Guest]

I use remote ballasts, with two or even three bulbs mounted in my cabinet. You can mount MH and HPS bulbs side-by-side with seperate ballasts located remotely. very easy to do. I use a SunLeaves Reflector with air cooling. You can purchase electronic ballasts online for as little as $25 -400w hps and up to $75 -1000 hps. Easy to remote wire. Use orange extension cords from Home depot and cut off the ends, easy and quick.

Good Luck growing!

Avid

 

[sn0]

where do you find ballasts that cheap?

 

[Guest]

I got two 250 MH ballast kits (capacitor and core) off ebay for $20 each. I think it was a rare find but you could probably get a good deal. I used some thin sheet metal for hoods and remote wired it using some info from OG and sharprubberduck.com

 

[sn0]

Thanks for taking the time to help Toke, Avid, and melvin. I should be all set now

 

[Pepin]

All together I paid 70.11 for 2 400w ballast kits and 4 HPS bulbs, 5.50 x2 for the sockets, 1.98 for the pipe strap, and 18.00x2 for the reflectors, and 12.00 x2 for the ballast boxes. Nothing that radio shack has will accept a 4000w ballast, cap, and ignitor.

Now i have a backup light.

I put it all together myself.

Here is an action shot...i'll get a better pic tomorrow...