HPS newbie questions

[Eldo]

Hi uk420

 

Just dug this out the loft and have a few questions (in the loft as bought it a couple of years back and never used)

Firstly I guess is how ancient is this unit....it's free from external damage so I guess no obvious safety hazard?

 

The bulb is by lumii and used before so will replace before use. Can anyone recommend a 400w bulb for flowering?

 

Heat: will be I'm 90x90x170, have a 6ince AC infinity fan and will only be used during colder months (oct-april) I imagine this will be ok or am I understanding the heat these things put out?

 

Led/HPs difference - anything I need to know I understand humidity may be higher and temps don't need to be as high with HPs and they do led

 

Any other advice appreciated

 

Thanks

[MistYGr33n]

The ballast isnt ancient i dont think. Its adjustable too. For bulbs i used Sunmaster last time had no problems. Metal Halide for veg.

 

As for heat its gonna be hot in the tent but depends on how you vent it really. Ive used tents and HPS bulbs for years in the past,so long as you keep the plants far away enough from the light, have a fan blowing across the canopy you should be fine, thats how i ran my setup anyway. 

Keep an eye on RH during flower. Warm moist air caused me to get budrot on more than one occasion.

 

ATB

 

MistY

[Eldo]

Thanks @MistYGr33n, is that a dual spectrum bulb and how often are you changing bulb?

[Amnesialocal]

Someone say:

Philips invented the HPS and t-son is still an amazing bulb for full cycle.

 

One comment:

The ballast seems digital, very new school in my opinion:)dimmable I guess.

If this is the case and you have AC infinity controllers like T69 you may have some issues due to radio frequency or something similar ( magnetic ballast doesn't have this issue) and the controller will get a bit crazy if the probe and the ballast are close.

 

Regarding heating...that could be a good point in winter helping to avoid too many extra heating...but in summer could be more complicated ( not tested yet here, but thinking to switch to LED in summer and CDM not HPS in winter).

 

Another topic to me still very open is HPS vs LED yeld and quality results.

LED apparently ( still researching it) produce better aroma, terpenes but not bud density ( not sure about it).

LED seems the top for clone seedling and vegetative, but not for flower ( topic to discuss in my opinion)

 

I hope this could be of any help.

Edited December 26, 2023 by Amnesialocal

[MistYGr33n]

2 hours ago, Eldo said:

Thanks @MistYGr33n, is that a dual spectrum bulb and how often are you changing bulb?

 

it was duel spectrum im sure. The metal halide i used for veg only. Iirc the bulbs are cheap,im not sure often to change them. Maybe anually. 

[Satchitananda]

Metal Halide deprecate fast. I think annually is fine for HPS...

 

[bubbly82]

The bulb I have used the last 2 times is a Sylvania grolux was about £25 (dual spectrum) 600w, and i use a dimmable ballast too

 

Worked well for me

[KC]

I've always gone for branded bulbs, Sun master, Phillips or Osram and never had any bother with them. Change them once a year (ish). 

They don't kick out that much heat, I used a 400w in an dr80 with just a 4 inch rvk and never had temp issues. 

Digital ballasts do wear over time even when not in use, one of the electrician dudes did explain why, but I can't remember technical shit like that

 

It's a shame they don't really sell many coil ones anymore, they last decades. That's probably why come to think of it. 

[GreenVision]

As already said the ballast isnt that old in terms of HID lighting, had you have pulled out a massive plastic box or large white steel box then maybe you could have labeled it ancient

 

 

The ballast is a 600w so I wouldnt recommend putting a 400w bulb in it, although technically yes it may work, for me it's a no go, 600w bulb will cost the same, yield more, and in temrs of consumption and heat there's very little in it, plus the intensity difference isnt massive either, its not like LED's where an extra 200w is a difference over the canopy.

 

Phillips make the best bulbs imo, but there are a couple that come really close, Sylvania have been around for bloody ages and are really good, Osram were one of the best but I'm not sure you can still get them in the UK but more than likley.

 

LED to HPS difference, if you mean heat its severe. A 600w LED will produce much less heat than a 600w HPS. Be prepped to have to get that heat out during lights on whatever time of year tho, you will not be able to have that light on be it 400w or 600w without removing the air constantly. I may have missed what your saying about it being on during colder months etc but a tent / groom of that size will need to have an extracion system running 24/7 with any light in it, but with HID lighting even more so. It will become an oven if not.

 

I'd get something on the ballast to clean off all that dust, old toothbrush works really well. Plus straighten out the reflector on the kitch side and give that clean and polish. Then just test run it for 3 hours to make sure its all good and your away really.

[badbillybob]

those black ballasts came out around 2015.

 

[Eldo]

Thanks all for setting my mind at ease regarding the ballast

 

@GreenVision it's actually adjustable and can run at 250 400 600 or 660

 

400 just seemed the right size for the 90 x 90 alcove I'm thinking of using

 

Now I'm debating a 1.2m tent and 600w - I imagine that will yield a fair bit more?

 

Looking into bulbs and think I'd be better vegging with 250/400w mh as opposed to my 50w led I had planned -i assume the is ballest/lamp will take both HPs and mh?

 

Only just realised how bad reflector was will see how it straightens out. Did use a fone app to check light intensity and spread before and the light spread was awful. Would an adjusta wing or parabolic be a better option?

 

[inceywinceyspider]

I've used one of those ballets with all kinds of lamps 250w to 600w halide and hps, it worked fine, the lamp seemed to kick out a lot more heat on the boost setting but anyway it worked and would use it again sometime if there was a reason to.

I'm not sure its worth getting mh for vegging but can be good for finishing.

[Devon Cream]

Lumii blacks irc came out about 2016-2017give or take a year . Tried loads of bulbs for flower over the years green powers grolux etc found the grolux the better option but that was just my thoughts 

[KC]

A 1.2msq tent will give you a shade under 15sq ft as opposed to just over 8sq ft in a 90cmsq, that's a massive anount of difference so yes you could yield way more in a 1.2. Do you need to though? Factor in the cost of tent, the cost of the bulb and the electric and a new reflector. Only you know how much weed you need, something to ponder anyway.

It's nice to veg under MH, I liked the Phillips Hpi t myself but it's another expense, you can veg under hps just fine.

 

I've seen a growshop online selling these ballasts with a lumi bulb and a reflector for under £50, how is that even possible? A decent bulb is £25 on it's own

 

 

 

 

[Eldo]

@KC they literally giving them away right now

 

2024 going to be very stop start for me so want a decent yield from this as potentially could be the last one before next autumn

 

I'm going to go for a cheapo 1m tent and see that temps and light spread are like with an old 600w dual spectrum then make my mind up about what bulbs to run

 

Can get a "prolite" 400w mh bulb delivered for £12. Does MH veg faster or just have tighter nodes?

 

Think I'll make do with the reflector I have for now unless it's going to make massive difference to efficiency