How to Use an Industrial Low Bay Light Fixture?

[BlackRoses]

 

[smoke and coke]

hello everyone thanks for the comments. i havnt been around much lately just very occupied. if anyone has any questions please ask or im me and i will start checking in daily again.
i find that maybe the electronics ballasts are more efficient , but the magnetic ballasts will do a great job. and if only using a 400 watt HPS magnetic isnt going to cost all that much to run versus the the results from the finished product.
smoke on

 

[littlegreenthumb420]

hey i have a 1000 watt hps light from high bay cant find any articles on it. can i grow with it without a reflector cause i cant find the one it came with online or is there another reflector i can get for it

 

[smoke and coke]

hi depending on how high the ceiling is will decide if you need a reflector. i found that with a 7 foot ceiling, and hanging 2- 400watt hps lamps with reflectors, seemed to bleach the plants because of concentrating too much light in certain spots. this year i will try without a reflector but i have the ceiling covered with reflectixs so that should act like my reflector.

 

[That 5hit]

cant i just extend the white and black cords that leads to the socket to make it remote (lets say 8ft long) without doing all that other shit

 

[smoke and coke]

hi yes you can extend the wires to the socket and it will work. the reason i install an electrical box on the ballast is for safty reasons and to allow for grounding of the reflector if using one.

the reason for taking the light apart is because the model that i am showing is factory wired for 270 volts and in order to change the input voltage, is to take the light apart to rewire the ballast taps. most fixtures have a juction box and to change the wires is very easy, but this model is harder so i showed how in detail.

 

[That 5hit]

The GENLYTE fixture comes pre-wired for 277 volts. So lets take note of the wire. We have the green ground connected to the case of the light. The white from the cord is connected to the white or common or com. of the light. These 2 connections are good to go, just give the wire nut on the white a little twist to make sure it is tight. The rest of the wires to the light will be the voltage selector. On the side of each of the wires it will be printed the voltage it is. The black is connected to the 277 so we need to unhook it. Find the wire from the light marked 120 and connect it to the black wire from the cord using a wire nut. Use your cutters and cut off the exposed wire on the 277 wire and put a wire nut on the end to protect it.




Now carefully tuck the wires back inside and pulling the cord back out through the hanger. Install the cover with the screws. A longer cord may be needed, just install the way as described above.

man i know this is to much to ask
but can you
(if or whenever you have free time)
hand draw (or use paint brush app) out what you have done in this step
the wires in the pic look all the same colors

 

[smoke and coke]

the color of the wires will be slightly different depending on the manufacturer of the light. the wires should be printed on the side of them with the voltage.
if the light is only made for 1 voltage then that is all it can be.
if the light has a multi tap ballast then each wire will be labeled the specific voltage and then 1 wire will be labeled as comm or neutral.
so the black wire from your cord will connect the voltage you want and the white will connect to comm/neutral. and dont forget to ground it.
also the unused voltage wires need to be capped off with a wire nut.

 

[smoke and coke]

man i know this is to much to ask
but can you
(if or whenever you have free time)
hand draw (or use paint brush app) out what you have done in this step
the wires in the pic look all the same colors

it may be easier if you post a pic of your light and i will tell you what you need to do to make it work. sorry i havnt been here much but really busy. will try and come in more often cause i do miss it here.

 

[blackcat2323]

Hi, found this thread by accident with your signature, its a great thread cause tomorrow i pick up my first lowbay HPS that i bought on ebay for $aud61..

I have 3 plants in flower under 7x24w CFLS - they are in week 2 but look nothing like the ones i see at the same time but under hps, i cant wait to see the jump in a week with the different lighting...

I have sent you a Private message with the link of the item i bought... ( wont post here as it IDs my ebay username)

I have never of course used hps before or a lowbay.. how far do i keep it above the plants? details of grow area in private message...

Have subscribed and rated this thread

 

[smoke and coke]

here is a chart that i have used as a reference and depending on your setup, you will have to make adjustments as for how far away by watching how your plants are responding.

 

[<Grasshopper>]

thats a sweet deal! i run digital ballasts for the simple fact that they are really only juicing my powerbill hard the first three minutes of start-up. magnetic ballast would be alright if i was starting out from scratch, due to the cost overall vs. savings. imo someone could have a sweet garden with a very low start-up cost. i also really dig the fact that these lights are being recycled, or put to use, rather than melted down or landfilled.

The digital ballasts save that much money? So my new 1000 watt magnetic ballast is more then twice as much to run? Is there some place to see the actual power used? That would be the way with digital ballasts with the power saveings. I do like this thread with the industrial lights. I see them on craigslist for 35 bucks eack with a whole bunch for sale.

Grasshopper

 

[smoke and coke]

someone asked a few quetions about the cooltube in a message so i am also pasting it here so it is saved on my thread.
i picked up stuff from home depot for the parts. to mount the socket was these flat metal strips with holes that were predrilled, i had to make a new hole or 2 to match the socket holes. i beleive the metal strips were called strapping and they came in different lengths and i just cut the length i needed plus extra on both ends so i could make a bend on both ends of the strapping. the plastic ends of the cooltube are heavy pvc plastic fittings that are a 4" to 3" reducers or adapters. i also had to get some thick gasket material to wrap around the cooltube ends so the glass would fit inside the 4" adapter a little more snug. i fit the bend socket strapping inside the 4" adapter end and secured with screws and nuts. i also cut about an inch or 2 of the 4" adapter end so that it didnt cover the glass as much but may not have been needed to cut it. i had some steel fishing leader and a couple small turnbuckles to pull the 2 plastic adapters together to keep the glass inside the both adapters. the flexable 4" aluminim dryer ducting will fit over the 3" end of the adapter and secure with a 4" hose clamps. i made 2 of these and use both of them hooked to the stanley blower. its a 6" duct from the blower to a metal 6" to 4" reducer then installed a 4"metal wye fitting so i could connect 2 ducts to go to the 2 lights. i also drilled some holes in the 4" to 3" metal reducer so it will also take some heat away from the ceiling area instead of everything thru the lights.

 

[TommyHobby]

Great thread !

I got one question though. Do you know how to replace the insides of those ballasts in order to upgrade them to bigger WATTAGE ? ie.. toss out the old 400w core and replace it with a 600w or 1000w. Are the wires the same and amperage stays the same also?

 

[smoke and coke]

Great thread !

I got one question though. Do you know how to replace the insides of those ballasts in order to upgrade them to bigger WATTAGE ? ie.. toss out the old 400w core and replace it with a 600w or 1000w. Are the wires the same and amperage stays the same also?

basically yes you could swap out all the components and upgrade it to a higher wattage. the only problem i may see is the transformer size will be a little bigger and may or may not fit properly. i have replaced the parts in other types of fixtures and the wires are usually the same as far as the label on the wires, but the color of the wires may vary slightly due to manufacturer. on lowbay and highbay lights like these, there is usually a label on the ballast housing that says factory sealed and do not open. so if i am working on lights that are not mine, i will just replace the whole ballast housing with a new one.
the MH lights i have were taken down from a job that was getting all new ones, i ended up with a couple for free.
the HPS lights i purchased from ebay were brand new and i got 5 of them for under 35 bucks a piece.

if your going to upgrade to a higher wattage, dont throw out the old 400watt, just save for a spare.
if going with a higher wattage, the amperage will go up. watts divided by volts = amps

 

[infinitescrog]

Just wanted to say that I bought a NEW 6-inch cooltube w/ batwing-like reflector for $60 shipped off ebay from a company called GROWLUSH. Figured I'd spend near that much to get the $20 tube off e-bay and all the necessary hardware, so I'd save myself the hassle. Just thought I'd throw this up here for anyone that isnt a DIYER.

Edit: I couldnt find the same one that I bought, but there are others, many that are selling the cooltube only, are only charging around $60 as well.

 

[kingme]

I thought you cant use this kind of MH light, because the bulb is not a grow light. and u can not put a grow light bulb in this socket because the socket is different. please clear this up because im about to spend like 300 dollars on grow light and i have like 6 of those commercial 400watt lights laying around.

 

[That 5hit]

I thought you cant use this kind of MH light, because the bulb is not a grow light. and u can not put a grow light bulb in this socket because the socket is different. please clear this up because im about to spend like 300 dollars on grow light and i have like 6 of those commercial 400watt lights laying around.

you can grow with that light
but grow light system that you buy from grow shop tend to come with hoods made for growing some even having the ability to be cooled

if you want to use the commercial lights you will be fine, use that 300 for something else, like converting those lights to remote ballast (which is another + for store grow light systems)

 

[smoke and coke]

I thought you cant use this kind of MH light, because the bulb is not a grow light. and u can not put a grow light bulb in this socket because the socket is different. please clear this up because im about to spend like 300 dollars on grow light and i have like 6 of those commercial 400watt lights laying around.

i have used these lights for a few years. the metal halide for veg. and the HPS for flower. the grow bulbs you buy from the hydro stores are better but all i use is the bulbs you can get from home depot or anyplace like that and they work fine. use the commercial light and make it remote like i have explained, and use the money to buy a reflective hood and connect it to the remote ballast. if high temps will be an issue get a hood that can be air cooled.

 

[streets]

would it be possible to make it remote and mount the socket into a aircooled hood and have it horizontal??