315w CMH. They work fine and dandy.

[catfish]

can i use a cmh with a normal magnetic ballast ?

what is the actual difference in end product , and watt for watt does cmh out yeild 400v hps ?(or what ever the 400v use) .

or is it all about quality of tric?

[Stoned Whale]

@@catfish

I don't think I've ever seen someone say they didn't out yield and also better quality for same wattage of HPS or MH.

630w is often put against 1000w systems, 400v gavita vs these, big discussions elsewhere on net.

The 315ws are claimed to not quite reach a 600w yield but close, maybe equivalent to 500-550w HPS.

I think these CMH systems (atleast the dimlux?) afaik are 400v aswell.

Atleast certain websites definetly advertise then as 400v.

About using them with a normal magnetic ballast. I'm not sure, I've definetly read lots of chat of people running some older Phillips 400w (I think?) CMH in 400w HPS ballasts. And chat of the smaller 150ws running on those ballasts aswell.

Not loads though, would go googling before trying that.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Stoned Whale

[catfish]

ive got a 60 cm tent and some gg#4 clones just itching to go .

i was thinking about a 150w or 4x 35 w cmh .

i can do the electrics as a pal is a cable monkey (he hates that) .

ive read that they do a 330w cmh that could in theory go into my gravita as it dimms to 300w .

looks like the cmh or daylight led`s seem to be the way forward at the moment . can anyone point me in the direction on smaller cmh please.

[Sapo]

@@stonerwizard

You can find them on ebay. Otherwise google :

They also have fixtures & E40 HID-esque bulbs.

If you still have trouble to find what you're looking for and are willing to import them within the eu, pm me.

Cheers .

EDIT:

@@catfish Yup 1x150W or 2x 70W are optimal for that footage. I wouldn't recommend 4x35W, you'll barely get any better light coverage, and your running costs increase massively having to buy 4 bulbs all the time. That's something that starts making sense with larger tents.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC0.A0.H0.XCDM-T.TRS0&_nkw=CDM-T&_sacat=0

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=CDM-T&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC0.A0.H0.XHCI-T.TRS0&_nkw=HCI-T&_sacat=0

Edited January 26, 2016 by distracted

[GSZZ]

@@Stoned Whale

I'm on my phone so I'll make it quick, but a 400v Gavita radiates 1170 umols, 630w of CMH radiates 1202.

So in short, yes, a cmh will out yield a 400v 600w system (also, all 315w cmh run 240v).

The spectrum also helps to enhance yield, but by how much I don't know and I don't know the technicle bits behind it. But you're right, in that 1 x 315w is equivalent to 500w of HPS.

[lazi]

@@lazi

I'm thinking about just swapping the E40 on a normal reflector for the PGZ off the maxi's, any suggestions on which reflector? Parabolics would be nice, but I don't have the space for 4 in my 1.2 x 2.4

I was thinking like you at first. Original plan was 2 separate open cabs, 1.2M square, each with 2 adjustawing knockoffs. Originals are spendy, can get decent knockoffs for ~ £40 each on the bay. That way, the width only has to cover 0.6M and the reflector can be adjusted to cover 1.2M long ways.

Then I realised that the Maxibright reflector is designed to cover 1 metre square and got confirmation here from GS that they do. So I'm going for 1.8 metres square and no cab. 3 trolleys on casters similar to my last (rather disastrous) grow but this time, no walls to stop the girls getting lots of fresh air. If any light from the reflectors misses the plants, so be it, I'm starting to like the open plan concept.

If you can find them, Philips do a 315w with Edison screw that will fit direct into a standard reflector. They're quite fat and cost about £100. The one man band American guy prefers them to the Agro. They give a lot more UV. Good for the plants but bad for your eyes and UV damage to eyesight is cumulative. UV eye protection must be worn at all with the Edison screw 315w bulb. The Agro is used by market gardeners because the lack of UV means less in the way of expensive law suits from workers.

A 60w incandescent bulb was on while the Double D was running. Of course it looked dim in comparison but the light from the incandescent was a pale orange. Indicates just how white the Agro bulbs are.

First grow with the Agros, he chopped the Jackies at 8 weeks 2 days, a strain I flower for 10 weeks under hps. Next time he chopped the Jackies at 9 weeks. The toke took my legs from under me. Used a loupe and the trics were 35 to 40% amber. I'd rarely get a single amber tric at 10 weeks with hps. So if growing a strain you already know with these lights, keep an eye on the trichomes as the finish time will be less than you are used to.

[Stoned Whale]

@@Stoned Whale

I'm on my phone so I'll make it quick, but a 400v Gavita radiates 1170 umols, 630w of CMH radiates 1202.

So in short, yes, a cmh will out yield a 400v 600w system (also, all 315w cmh run 240v).

The spectrum also helps to enhance yield, but by how much I don't know and I don't know the technicle bits behind it. But you're right, in that 1 x 315w is equivalent to 500w of HPS.

Yeah I'm definetly wrong with the comment about it being 400v.

Quick google and there is a couple of hydro shops on net selling the d pap or dimlux as 400v but majority and official sources say 240v.

Interesting, wonder if the CMH given more market share and thus R&D will end up with 400v units out, can only imagine what they'd put out. Extra 15-20%?

The 400v DE units are very impressive aswell, wonder where the future of lighting lies?

[Guest]

The future will surely be LED once we've learned to grow them right.

[Subliminal Criminal]

we will all have a mini-sun ball of hydrogen that exists only within our tents

[~Sanctuary~]

@@Stoned Whale

I'm on my phone so I'll make it quick, but a 400v Gavita radiates 1170 umols, 630w of CMH radiates 1202.

So in short, yes, a cmh will out yield a 400v 600w system (also, all 315w cmh run 240v).

The spectrum also helps to enhance yield, but by how much I don't know and I don't know the technicle bits behind it. But you're right, in that 1 x 315w is equivalent to 500w of HPS.

Are you sure? I think your math is of, the 315w cmh outputs just under 600 umol and a 600w hps outputs around 1100 umol.

Edited January 22, 2016 by ~Sanctuary~

[GSZZ]

@@lazi

I've seen those, but they cause the mastercolour to output more UV? Interesting really, but it puts me off as my eyes are already well on their way to being fucked from being under HID lighting all the time so I think I will stick to the original plan of bodging a reflector (I might even get in touch with Bill @ Maxigrow and see what he thinks regarding the reflectors, I emailed them a while ago before purchasing and he was really helpful). In regards to plants finishing earlier, I don't even need to look at the trichomes to see they are finishing earlier - a whole week ahead of schedule!

@@Stoned Whale

Yeah I don't know why they do that, maybe because it makes them sound fancier or maybe just misinformed. So many grow shops are ran by profiteers now its sickening.

As for where the technology will go - who knows? There are real low wattage CMH lamps (infact isn't @@Sapo using one?) that are DE so the possibility is there, it's just making the lamps a higher wattage safely without worrying about setting anybodys house on fire should a lamp pop.

The tech will probably go where the money does, but they seem a lot more popular in the states than over here so maybe their popularity over there will slowly start to come over here. As you say imagine what 400v de CMH might be like... I dunno if HPS is gonna be able to beat that!

e2a @@~Sanctuary~ in terms of umols it isn't, but with the spectrum and whatever else I think it is, I dunno how they weigh in the spectrum to calculate an output but thats what I'm seeing and what others are seeing?

Edited January 22, 2016 by Golden Syrup

[Sapo]

Yup these are the seedlings from my first picture post in this thread under 150W 942 12/12 from seed.

[~Sanctuary~]

@@Golden Syrup

Photosynthetic response to differing wavelengths is what I think your on about, it's still conjecture for the most part but if you get 500 gram for each of those 315w cmh units I'll doff my cap to you sir

[GSZZ]

@@~Sanctuary~

From what I'm seeing on other forums and from the people I speak to, who are using them and from my own (limited, granted) experiences I think it can be done, I've heard as high as 18 oz per 315w lamp! I guess we'll see in the coming years what coloured photons do what for cannabis, I know the info is limited atm but I'm sure we'll see something soon!

[~Sanctuary~]

Oh yeah I definitely agree @@Golden Syrup they're capable of those numbers as I've pulled 70oz from three 600w hps lamps myself and I've seen growers pull 1.5gpw - 2gpw with hps fixtures, VRG pulled 103oz from Two 1kw lamps, so it should be doable with cmh close to the efficiency of 1kw de lamps.