HPS lights from an areana

Just got my hand on some HPS lights that were in a hockey arena. Will they work for growing can i put different bulbs in them. the socket is mounted to an encased ballast. I figure that I can separate them and mount the bulb and socket in a reflector. I have a bunch is any body is interested in them if they will work.

are you sure they're HPS ? they usually use MH as they are closer to natural light.
HPS will work as is, no need for special bulbs but it would increase the efficiency.

maybw they are MH but you could use a HPS bulb in them right?

it should have a little tag on it that tells you what it is.

All my tag says is HID ballast does that mean I could use both MH and HPS?

No HID means High Intensity Discharge. They are probably Metal Halide lamps... But you still can use MH for growing your plant.... The ideal is MH for veg and HPS for flower BUT you can use BOTH in BOTH stage of the plant.

Whatever it is they will work for growing, they're identical to units made for growing just in a different shape. Mod it all you like, it'll work with a remote reflector or a cooltube. Stick a fan on the ballasts though, they run hot without proper airflow. Also you may just want to leave them alone and use as is but with the reflector off in a vertical grow arrangement.

They go pretty cheap all the time on CL and ebay, so they're not really that valuable.

If bulbs are in them that will tell you which type of fixture you have, so will the model number I can tell from that. Look at the bulbs, are they skinny or fat? Take one out and look for a marking like LU1000 or Lu400 or m59. It'll also usually say that lamp type on the ballast label. LU is HPS, M is usually standard metal halide.
If they're really new they could be pulse start halides, if they're really old they could be Mercury Vapor. Whatever it is, if it's not HPS and you want HPS, it could be modified by adding the appropriate HPS ignitor. (And maybe you'd have to switch the capacitor too.) They are all almost identical.

I should have added that if you need ignitors and want to trade...

The tag will tell you a model or serial number then you can google that that's an option but looking at the bulb is best idea IMO

Napolean420 said:

All my tag says is HID ballast does that mean I could use both MH and HPS?

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no you cannot, you can buy a conversion bulb that will mimic the light spectrem of a HPS but it's not as efficient a spectrum that a HPS puts out, but if you got the things free and you can get great results with a better bulb. The stock bulb used is probably a 4100 K which will produce pathetic growth. A 6500 MH bulb is outstanding though for vegging.
Where there's a will there's a way.
(see chart linked below)
https://www.rollitup.org/attachments/cfl-growing/240662d1226605588-5000k-vs-6500k-hortgraph2.gif

It's my understanding that a MH bulb can be used in a HPS ballast (matching the correct wattage), but a HPS cannot be used in a MH ballast unless it is a conversion bulb. Is this true ?

Krayven Sumhead said:

It's my understanding that a MH bulb can be used in a HPS ballast (matching the correct wattage), but a HPS cannot be used in a MH ballast unless it is a conversion bulb. Is this true ?

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I'm no expert but I believe that's right. Philips makes a ceramic MH that you use in with a HPS ballast only.

ok so they are HM I have 2 400 watts and 7 others not sure they are old and I cant read the tags
I should be able to replace the football bulb with a MH grow bulb right. I am thinking about an auto flowering dwarf in a seperate cabinet will prolly mount this verticle without a reflector or make a reflector from wood and cover it in mylar.

frmrboi said:

I'm no expert but I believe that's right. Philips makes a ceramic MH that you use in with a HPS ballast only.

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A halide ballast only takes halide or MV lamps, hps ballast only takes HPS lamps.
Conversion lamps are just that, made to convert lamps that otherwise wouldn't work.

But like I said before the difference is only this part, and they wouldn't be that hard to change them all and the price is right:
http://cgi.ebay.com/MAGNETEK-HPS400-3A-HIGH-PRES-SODIUM-LAMP-BALLAST-LOT-8_W0QQitemZ290305933556QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item290305933556&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

Buy all those cheaper than buying a single conversion bulb.

But like I said before the difference is only this part said:

http://cgi.ebay.com/MAGNETEK-HPS400-3A-HIGH-PRES-SODIUM-LAMP-BALLAST-LOT-8_W0QQitemZ290305933556QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item290305933556&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116[/URL]

Buy all those cheaper than buying a single conversion bulb.

Click to expand...

Just sent an offer we will see. took them apart all are 400 watters so i have 9 total not that I am going to use them all.

So do u have pics??? and how much were you wondering??

gdniel said:

So do u have pics??? and how much were you wondering??

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I do have pics. I have 2 of the white ones and I think those are the ones I want to keep. I have 7 of the other larger ones after searching I found a thread that shows what goes into the lights also that I would only have to add an ignitor to make run HPS. so i took the guts out and that is the last photo. As far as how much i want I have no idea. what would be reasonable. PM me if you are interested shoot me an offer worst case I say no.

That's a coincidence, I have 7 holophane fixes identical to yours except mine are 277v and yours are the nice multi voltage. I wish I had a couple of those transformers... But I can't buy anything, I've bought too much already lately.

I could trade new bulbs or something though, I have about 13 brand new and no fixtures for them.

just had a stoner thought. I think that I am going to mount a couple of these to an extension cord and a stand for some kick ass night lights. i think that it would be brighter than those halogens. working on the car at night in the drive way. Damn skippy. Diggin that idea.

guess they 7 are 277v so not much use to any one at least I 2 that are worth my while. I ended up winning that lot on ebay so I have a bunch of HPS ballasts to go into my 2 functioning lights.