lights lights help!! what to do??

[ms4ms]

My room is appr. 36"tall x 30"wide x 30" deep. I am changing it from 2 seperate rooms to one. I have 1 250w hps and I can't decide what would be the way to go. I am close to adding a 250 mh to have equal spectrum. I also am trying to figure out how to have 500w of each without having to change bulbs all the time. I was told by HTG supply that I can burn a mh bulb iin my hps fixture. I read on this board that you can burn mh in a hps fixture but you cant burn a hps in a mh fixture. Anyone want to chime in here???/. I have found conversion bulbs but do not know if they are reliable????

 

[Killertea08]

yeah you can get a conversion bulb for your HPS ballast just make sure its equal wattage. Then when you need to veg put in the MH bulb and when you need to flower put in the HPS bulb. Im thinking of doing this myself because I cant afford 2 separate lamps. I hope you have good ventilation in there with a 250w lamp I had heat issues with my 150 and my room was 2x2x3 good luck

 

[clanchattan]

www.specialty-lights.com/901540.html

here you go. these split the diff. between a m.h. and an h.p.s. my lil sister is using the 430w in her 400w h.p.s. right now and reports no problems. she has around 3500 hrs on her lamp.

 

[ArtVandolay]

I have to mention this in case you didn't see it. 150 watt HPS for $20. Someone mentioned MH is available for same price. I bought 2 HPS. It's worth mentioning based purely on price.

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29779

 

[Killertea08]

Clanchattan

here you go. these split the diff. between a m.h. and an h.p.s. my lil sister is using the 430w in her 400w h.p.s. right now and reports no problems. she has around 3500 hrs on her lamp.

__________________

So your saying that your sis is using a 430w bulb in her lamp rated at 400w's right? If so I wouldn't do that her ballast is not rated for it and because of that the bulb is not working to its "Full" capacity. Sure it works but not what it could do full strength. Plus Id be worried it start a fire. I hear stuff like this and it worries me. Just be careful please

 

[clanchattan]

im a master electrician bro. the lamp is designed to work on a 400w hps ballast. it's a "conversion bulb" that introduces a little mercury into the sodium vaccum tube inside the outer vaccum tube that gives a broader spectrum light.

 

[ms4ms]

thanks guys/gals for reading and more so for answering.My wife went to work and I went and cut a hole in my garage for my impending new structure. I need fresh air and exhaust to make it all work. My current system is no good. I think the lite and bulb clan was referring to is rated to burn in a 400w system.It still burns at 400 watts though.Maybe a switchable 400 would be the answers to my prayers. this is what I am contemplating? http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=48930

 

[Killertea08]

Make sure you try and get an air cooled lamp that way much of heated air doesnt end up in the grow space. Good luck buddy. If you have a 400w HPS then get a 400w MH conversion bulb.

 

[andy52]

clanchattan,what size breakers and how many would i need to have to run my 2 4oowatt lights and all my fans and blowers,ac unit?i am thinking of moving my grow to the basement and will have to get a electrician to do the wiring.the power boxes are right close to where my grow area will be in the basement.only 1 outlet i can use at the moment.thanks.sorry to butt in your thread

 

[BuddyLuv]

You need a 20 amp circuit. Each lamp should pull about 4-5 amps max, your fans (1 intake, 1 exhaust, and 1 to cool your hoods) should pull about about 6amps. Pumps and ocilating fans pull less then 1. I am running an aero unit, two ocilating fans, intake and exhaust, an XGC-1, and one 1000w lamp of of one 2 amp circuit. I then have a my other 1000w and the the fan to cool my hoods on a Cap UCM-1 on another 20 amp circuit.

 

[clanchattan]

20a will do.

20a x 120v = 2400w

2400w - 20% = 1920w (safe starting point)

1920w - 900w = 1020w (450 per ballast to be safe)

leaves you 1020w to run other stuff like fans etc.

if you are gonna run a a.c. id put it on a seperate circuit
if it kicks the breaker while your lights are running you wont
lose your lights. itll just get a little warmer.

it's allways a good idea to put stuff on its own circuit

lights on one, heat/cooling on one, pumps/fans on one

this way if one part fails there is no effect on any other part
of your grow.

if your gonna get an electrician to come in go for three new 20a circuits
since they're close to the panel. not that much extra work involved
2 hrs. tops

 

[clanchattan]

thanks guys/gals for reading and more so for answering.My wife went to work and I went and cut a hole in my garage for my impending new structure. I need fresh air and exhaust to make it all work. My current system is no good. I think the lite and bulb clan was referring to is rated to burn in a 400w system.It still burns at 400 watts though.Maybe a switchable 400 would be the answers to my prayers. this is what I am contemplating? http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=48930

you can pay for the switchable ballast, or you can get the conversion bulbs.

cheapskate wise i think the conv. lamps are the way to go. at $65 for a 250w. ive never priced switchable ballasts but i bet theyre more than $65 over a regular ballast and you'd have to grow for years to make up the difference in cost

my sis runs a regular hps to flower, but she runs the conv. and it definatly encourages stockier vegitative growth than the hps does.

 

[TokeWithHope]

http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=48930

haha im planning on buying the exact same setup! i live in florida so im driving like 2 hours away to go to melbourne and pick it and some other supplies up!

 

[TokeWithHope]

and clanchattan i also got a question for you. if ms4ms doesnt mind i but in... but im growing in a closet box, and there is no outlet in my closet so i was just gonna run an extension cord into the closet to a power strip to run a vortex 6" 449 cfm fan, a 6'' oscillating fan. a 400 watt mh/hps, 3-6 25 watt cfls, would this be safe/ possible? if not off of one outlet could i use 2 diff extension cords, like from seperate oulets into the box???

 

[clanchattan]

yeah the ex. cord will be ok. if you want two find the breaker for the first outlet and turn it off. (plug a radio into it so when you turn the breaker off youll hear the radio turn off) then, with that breaker off start plugging the radio into different outlets to find another circuit. (the radio will turn on when plugged into a live circuit) then run extension cords from these two outlets and you have two 20a circuits to play with. just make sure the ex. cords are at the least 12 gauge wire. 10 gauge is even better.

 

[TokeWithHope]

ok. but do u think i need 2 outlets or could i get by with one? because one outlet in my room is vdry close to my closet and the rest are far away on the opposite wall. also is it bad to run like a bunch of splitters like for my cfls like ex. cord to a power strip, power strip to a 1-3 splitter running 3 cfls etc. is this bad?

 

[PUFF MONKEY]

here ya go...... http://www.hydrowholesale.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=hydro&Category_Code=VAIRX these guys are in georgia..if you live close it'll get to you the next day..i got mine the next day in tennessee

 

[Killertea08]

TokeWithHope

ok. but do u think i need 2 outlets or could i get by with one? because one outlet in my room is vdry close to my closet and the rest are far away on the opposite wall. also is it bad to run like a bunch of splitters like for my cfls like ex. cord to a power strip, power strip to a 1-3 splitter running 3 cfls etc. is this bad?

Two circuits sounds better just to be on the safe side but I think one might work. Plug it all in and have everything on and see if you pop your breaker. No big deal just unplug something. No its not bad to run a cord to a power strip to a 3 N 1 plug in. just one power strip not one into one right? I did this and ran 8 42w cfls a 6in vortex and a 4in squirrel cage fan. Why do you need your CFL's if you have a 400w HPS

 

[TokeWithHope]

ok . because i have a somewhat 2 box in one setup. ive got the 4 foot high section in the middle. and underneath that section i have a 2 foot high space where i will germ seeds, grow clones, and start growing my plants, considering its said its better to start their early growth through cfl's. so i planned on having maybe 6 down there. and my 400 mh/hps up top for when my plants get bigger. but also with the hps if i added a few cfls it could help increase yield correct?

im thinking of these cfl's what u think?
http://htgsupply.com/products.asp?categoryID=4&subcategoryID=84&typeID=79

 

[Killertea08]

Yeah but you really wouldnt need to add cfls' to your plants under your 400w lamp. The 400w will do, just keep your cfls for your germinating and you will be ok. Make sure you have your cfls as close as possible with out touching. raise and lower your cfls as needed. I like 42w cfls bigger the better I say though you might not find them in the color spectrum you need I think its daylight you need. The ones I have are warm white I guess there good for flowering but Im not flowering with flouros I just like more light and as long as there as close as possible they dont stretch to much.