ello peeps

my planned set up is for one/two plants growing scrog stylee in a wardobe with 1 red envirolight suplimented with 4 flouros, my question is does anyone know if I still need a contactor triggered by my timer to switch these lights, or do flouros and envirolights not have the same large surge across the timer contacts when switched on?

thanks all

Hi KidFix,

Im not too experienced, but I think that flouros have their own contactor (little white round thing in the unit) and Envirolites dont need a contactor because of the low wattage.
Ive read up somewhere that you really only need a contactor if going above 250W sodium.

someone correct me if Im wrong...
And keep us all updated in this thread. cheers

cheers wigz, sounds good
*crosses fingers*
anyone know any different?

You can plug them straight into a timer mate, no problem!

Take It Easy,

VRG

its only 125W the most a normal socket can take is 3120W so yoiu should be fine. i had mine on a timer. it lost 10mins every day but i think it is just old and cheap

Hi, slightly off topic:
can you run a 250w hps without a contactor or will it necessary, I seem to understand that you can do without but are'nt sure, could someone please illuminate me??

Thanx!

most timeclocks have 2 ratings,one for a purley resitive load (normal houshold light bulbs ect)and the other for inductive loads,florry tubes and hps are both an inductive load so the lower rating should be used.

im getin a red envirolight too and asked my m8 the very same question earlier this week. he ses a contactor isnt needed for em as far as he knows and he didnt use 1 for his 250hps either.

rocky

my timer says 13(2)A 250v~ on the back, does this mean i could run a 250w hps without contactor???

easy all,

this has come up so many times on the boards, and as far as i know, you DO NOT need a contactor for envirolights.

i would recommend you use a contactor for a 250w HPS ( i do), although the mechanical timer can just handle it, its only a matter of time before it blows. better be safe than sorry.

hopefully this thread will chuck some more light on the matter http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=1369

BB

All very interesting MadHippy...u a sparky?

If it is any help, I got a timer from Focus ... worked fine for a while then blew. The HPS has inductive load that is usually too much for household timers. Their resistiance is higher, but that doesnt help when you find that your plants didnt turn off last night

Hi I have two 125w envirolites in a twin reflector. So just the one plug.

I bought a 3 pack of timers from B&Q which are rated at 13(4)A.

The first timer failed after 2 days of 18/6.

Since purchasing a contatctor everything has been both hunky and dory with the second timer.

My little ladies (gawd I hope at least some are girls) are looking fine after 3 weeks of vegging.

3xWW and 3xNL all from Nirvana.

I always refer to them as girls in the hope that it will persuade them, you never know! Positive mental attitiude and all that.

To quote Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot, 'I'm a girl, I'm a girl, I'm a girl. I wish I were dead! I'm a girl'.

Hi all,

I've got a 125W enviro, a 100W equivalent energy saver bulb and 2 2' cool fluro's running off the one timer with no troubles at all.

It's been running since about June time I guess with just a coupla of breaks here and there. But as I say, I've not had any troubles.

Take care all

WEBBY

1 125 enviro and a timer. no problems. grow complete. 2oz

Blackout -howsabout more details of your grow? - there's a lot of people just starting out with envirolites- it'd be cool to know how you got on with them, and most important of all - how good was the finished product?

this is cut and pasted from overgrow in case anybody gets deja vu. smokes beautiful reminds me of sweet tooth from barneys in the dam


just weighed in at 2oz this morning. i thought it looked like 3. it is only my second grow. thats a yeild of slightly under 1/2g per watt. not too bad (but i was hoping for 3 or even 4oz) considering i had no ventilation except for opening the wardrobe door most days. had some beer brewing for CO2 and supercropped the plant. the top of the plant got badly hurt about 2 weeks into flowering, it stayed attached just barely. i vegged 2 weeks under a 11W cfl then 1 week under a 250W HPS then 2 weeks under a blue enviro 125W. then 60 days under a red enviro 125. strain was fem DP WW.
next time i may veg less, i didnt expect as much veg growth after flowering and the lower branches had small buds due to lack of light, all the plant energy may have gone into the veg on the plant not the buds. had about 10 nice tops all equal in size. it was in about 50l of miracle grow enriched soil, just used the bag it came in as a pot since it was nice and low. used only some ferts i blended myself and only at flowering stage. had to keep a pyrex dish of damprid in the wardrobe to combat humidity.

i was thinking of growing SOG style but in soil. grow from seed and take about 6 clones and start them flowering almost straight away. will reduce height and the hassle of tying down the plants. anybody tried this??

good read that Blackout,

Not bad, 2 oz from 1 plant

I've got 4 on the grow but will only have 2 in flower at any one time, do you reckon I could get close to what you had per plant?

Here's a link to MY GROW

Take care

WEBBY

you should be able to get the same yeild overall or more, mine is not fully manicured at 2oz but only good small trim was left. you may get 2 oz per plant. mine was big, i flowered for 5 weeks. even the best growers with CO2 systems and hydro are happy with 1g per watt the most i ever heard of was 2.25g/watt and that is with high watt HPS and all the works

it may be 1.5oz if i manicured really well including stems. . you have nice exhaust, i had none. i set up a similar grow as mine for my mate and we are starting flowering tonight. i want to brew even more beer, he has a bigger wardrobe so i can put a bigger brewer in.
nice pics, hope they all end up ladies, thats why i love fem seeds for a single grow, i wish you could buy one seed or a collection of 10 strains to find a favorite.

cheers Blackout - very interesting! - having read it a couple of times, it augers really well for the capabilities of envirolites - as you admit you made a few cock ups (and used miracle gro - tut tut!) - I reckon you could double it with good soil, nutes and venting - and I don't reckon anyone here would grumble at 1gramme/watt! Really nice to know we're not barking up the wrong tree!

Ref timers & Envirolites /MG 125w lamps ~

I use 3 x 125w MG lamps in my cabinet single wardrobe ~ one-large plant ! This gives over 60,000 lums ( with relector ) and over 375w of good PAR light over a floor area of aprox 5 sq ft (cabinet floor is less than 2' x 3' )

I use a normal timer ( have used cheap digital and mechanical timers ~ both from B & Q etc with no problems. I don't use HID or HPS anymore ~ to much heat for my cabinet !

These 125w lamps are self-ballasting, don't draw much current and don't need any heavy contactors etc ~ just wire them up ~ and plug them in. Cost during 18/6 is less than 30p per day ~ not bad really ! Use 2 x 6100k (white) & 1 x 2700k (red) for veg and 2 reds & 1 white for flowering ~ getting great results !

I use 1 x 6100k when I start to prop and when starting seeds ~ then increase to 2 x 6100k lamps ~ these lamps are really good for seeds and seedlings ! Nice light spectrum ~ good PAR and not so much heat