another light question..

[Bender]

ok my bloom box is 48" wide X 36" deep X 72" tall and I currently run a 400watt HPS light in it.. well I own a 1000watt MH and I am thinking about using it in place of the 400watt but I want to use a more bloom friendly bulb.. would I be better off with an HPS convertion bulb or would a AGROMAX bulb be better? Or is there something better that I haven't seen? I'm open to suggestions..;)

BTW heat is not a problem since the light isn't really in the grow area..;)

[Fillabong]

cool question. not many answers but it'd be neat to see how your blooms turn out:D

a little bit of red light or a smack load of blue! hmmm.... if i were in your situation I'd try a full grow using just the MH. overkill in 12sq.ft? NEVER:D

[Bender]

I have been thinking of trying the MH light just to see what happens, But I heard that the blue light will cause them to stretch and the way I have things set up I can't deal with a lot of stretching. so I was looking at conversion bulbs..;)


LOL OVERKILL would have been the original plan to use both lights in that same 12sq.ft.. :eek:

[Fred Lemonjello]

OK.... here's a question for anyone who would care to answer that may help you out Bender.

If a person had two 1,000 watt lights; one an HPS the other a MH.
What are the differences between the HPS and the MH ballast assemblies?

1.) Is it just an "Ignitor"?
Being that the MH ballast does not have an Ignitor as part of it's assembly.... could you just add in Ignitor and a toggle switch to the ON postition to fire a standard HPS bulb?
If you wanted to use the MH bulb, toggle switch from the Ignitor is OFF... then screw in your MH bulb?


2.) OR..... if there is a difference between the two ballast assemblies, HPS & MH.
Can this only be done with the HPS ballast assemblies?
By placing a toggle switch on the Ignitor...
leave switch ON for the HPS bulb.... switch is OFF for the MH bulb?


These questions may help you out with both of your ballast needs Bender.... I have no idea if these methods will work or not... but hopefully someone 'In The Know' will help us out by answering.

All that may need to be done is for you to buy a couple toggle switches and an Ignitor for your 1,000 MH...
and of course 400 watt MH and 1,000 HPS bulbs to switch out with the bulbs you have now.

Of course there's still the conversion bulbs, those are Guaranteed to work!

Fred

[Cranky]

have you got a ballast for each bender????

mh and hps?

cranky

[Bender]

have you got a ballast for each bender????

mh and hps?

cranky


Yes

400watt HPS w/ballast
1000watt MH w/ballast

Both made by SunLight Supply.

[Cranky]

coooool just got abit confused there with freds mumbo jumbo on electrics....(not meaning that in a funny way)just when it comes to electrics its all mumbo jumbo to me.:D

well,i aint used the mh before so i cant really help yas as the the diff between 400hps and 1000mh in flowering...maybe use the hps until they stop stretching and then throw in the mh???

either way...hope all gos well for yas.

cranky

[gorilla]

I'm using a 400 watt HPS right now. Your grow box is a bit bigger than mine, But if someone offered me a 1000 watt MH to use I probably would. 2 1/2 times the watts. Its not like blue spectrum is BAD, it's just not natural. But in a space that larger, bender, a 400 HPS is only going to bring you so far. ( With light coverage ) Mine's sunlight supply as well. Like, how many plants do you plan on having? How big you gonna let them get? If you've got 9 plants all around 2 feet tall you're going to start losing light intensity from a 400 watt like I did. I'm doing much better with 5 under my 400. But, something tells me, with a 1000 watt my closet would be BRIGHT. Lol.

I'm sure you already know all this stuff, just putting it out there. And, aren't MH supposed to give tighter nodes in veg? That stretch you're refferring to is for flowering, right? If so, won't the presense of a 1000mh in veg kind of differ the stretching, or make it "okay" for flowering? - Don't ask me.

[Cranky]

yep and as heat would be the only prob and you dont have that then id give it a whirl.....ya dont know untill ya try or so they say:cool:

all the best

cranky

[Bender]

the way I grow. I start all my clones in a phototron and as soon as they have a good amount of roots they are put into the bloom box. they stay short so I can put 4 to a tray and with 3 trays I can keep 12 plants in bloom all the time.. my main problem is the trays sit in a sliding table (I can raise and lower table) so all the trays stay the same distance from the light. when I move one they all move.. so when I have 1 tray about to finish, I have 1 just starting. the 1 that is just starting is to far from the light so it will stretch. I'm hoping the added light would stop that stretch. I have had these lights for a few years but didn't have the power supply to run the 1000watt light.. well I moved and have all the power I need so I want to give it a try. I think I will run the MH for awhile and see what happens..;)

[CB]

2.) OR..... if there is a difference between the two ballast assemblies, HPS & MH.
Can this only be done with the HPS ballast assemblies?
By placing a toggle switch on the Ignitor...
leave switch ON for the HPS bulb.... switch is OFF for the MH bulb?

from the research i did awhile back you can only do this with a HPS ballast....

think it was something to do with difference in volts of the transformer or something.....

I allso dug up some google cash from the OG faq on doing this with a HPS ballast for use with a MH bulb and most of the post was warnings of fire's and ballast that blow up :eek:

seems from what i have read the conversion bulb is the way to go or do a DIY 1k hps kit or buy one....

grow safe bro

[Fred Lemonjello]

Ya see... there's that BOOM factor!
So I take you've never "Switched" an HPS ballast assembly then CB? *WARNING* *WARNING*

At this point I am hesitant to "Switch" a ballast myself.... there's gotta be a difference in the ballasts themselfs, other then the Ignitor.... right?
I mean it can't really be that simple can it?


Fred

[CB]

no fred never tried myself....

i did find this conversion kit (http://www.gssdist.com/convert.htm) for HPS to MH but they dont really have much info on it :rolleyes:

this time around i tried something new in veg....

used 4 foot flo's then like 10 days or so of veg i fired the 1k hps right above the flo's :eek: seem'd to work just fine and the added heat was a bonus fo me ;)

grow safe

[Cranky]

now im learning here to folks....all i know is that a hps has an igniter.....dose a mh also?i know one off them dont or is that hid:o

infact forget i ever said anythng...the way i see it is if ya aint 100% in the know then theres no point risking it....

could never forgive myself if somit happend to my family as a result of a fire just to save a few bucks.

ill stick to buying that kinda stuff ready to go;) i advise peeps to do the same if they dont know 100%....

stay safe

cranky

[WilliamClarkeQuantrill]

I agree with cranky, and I consider myself 100% in the know. :dapimp: :rofl:

I have made a homemade 250 watt HPS onto a switchable fixture. The MH bulb doesn't last long and has problems getting the arc to ignite(the open circuit voltage ohf the hps ballast transformer is too low to reliably run the MH). Not worth the trouble IMHO. I still use it some, but wouldn't reccomend it to anyone as a cost saver of any sorts. The 1000 watt ballasts are closer to the same open circuit voltage, but still don't think it is worth the hassle.

The regular MH ballasts (meaning probe start) from 100 watts and up don't use an ignitor, so there is no where to attach the third wire on a three wire HPS ignitor. So you can't add one to a MH ballast to switch it to HPS.

Ballasts won't blow up, unless you add explosives. Neither will HPS bulbs, but Metal Halide bulbs might (especially if run on marginal voltage). It is the arc tube that ruptures, because it is under contained pressure of 5-30 atmospheres. So keep those bulbs behind a glass lens or use a HPS conversion bulb.
http ://www .budgetlighting.com/shat-r-shield/pdfs/arctube.pdf


toke it easy :smokin:

[Bender]

could never forgive myself if somit happend to my family as a result of a fire just to save a few bucks.

ill stick to buying that kinda stuff ready to go;) i advise peeps to do the same if they dont know 100%....

stay safe

cranky


I Agree that's why I was just looking to convert the bulb.. But for now I am running the MH and just going to see how my plants like it. if it don't work out I will get something else..

[Fred Lemonjello]

Thanks for all of the input CB & Q..... (Hey isn't that a RailRoad Company?):rolleyes:
anyway....
I don't think I'll be doing any modifications to my ballasts now that this has been explained a little better.

YES it can be done.... but with risks.
Better off just getting a coversion bulb.



Fred

[midwestbluntman]

maybe i should put in a disclaimer on my DIY,I hadnt try'd it.I did however write that i hadnt try'd it in the DIY.

[Fred Lemonjello]

Yea MW maybe you should just eliminate that switch part.... outa sight, outa mind kinda thing..... Stay with-in specs/ codes... be safe.


Fred

[Bender]

what i have noticed since I changed from HPS to MH is the plants are staying shorter and the nods are closer than before. but the buds don't seem to be as fat as they were under the HPS.. I'm going to give it a little more time and see what happens.. but I'm still looking for a different bulb type that will work..