trying to pick an hps lighting sys help plz plz

please click on these few links and see if these are worth it or if i need to pick some others.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120346852510&category=42225&_trksid=p4340.m212&_trkparms=algo=SI%2BSI&its=I%2BC%2BS%2BIA&itu=PSS%2BCRS%2BUCC%2BUCI%2BIT%2BUA%2BSI%2BUS-BWR%2BUCI%2BIT%2BUA%2BSI%2BUS-BWR&otn=5&ps=31

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120348133947&category=42225&_trksid=p4340.m212&_trkparms=algo=SI&its=I%2BC%2BS%2BIA&itu=PSS%2BCRS%2BUCC%2BUCI%2BIT%2BUA%2BSI%2BUS-BWR&otn=5&ps=31


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270323812645&category=42225&_trksid=p4340.m212&_trkparms=algo=SI%2BSI&its=I%2BC%2BS%2BIA&itu=PSS%2BCRS%2BUCC%2BUCI%2BIT%2BUA%2BSI%2BUS-BWR%2BUCI%2BIT%2BUA%2BSI%2BUS-BWR&otn=5&ps=31

any of these please help me choose one or even maybe someone could find a better one would be good..also some help if i decide to choose a air cooled how about do i connect it to a fan or whatever it needs to connect to..not sure about that thx

What light you want/need depends highly on the area you want to grow in,here are the dimensions that common grow lights cover if your not aware.

400 Watt covers 3ft x 3ft.

600 Watt covers 4.5ft x 4.5ft.

1,000 Watt covers 6ft x 6ft.

The 600 watt lights offer the best value because they have the highest lumen per watt ratio but the 1,000 watt lights give the best buds because of max penetration & high lumens,400 watts are perfect for very small grows,i'd reccomend stepping up to the 600 watt lights with air cooled hoods.

The light in the 1st link from htg is an excellent light,i own 4 of them myself that i no longer use because i bought bigger lights but ive had nothing but great luck buying from them & good durrability from their products.

The light in your 2nd link is the one i'd buy if i was choosing,infact when i buy more lighting this summer when my rooms are down i will be retrofitting them with the exact same air cooled 600 watt lights as in the link.


My personal opinion is that its worth spending the extra cash right off the bat & getting a 600 watt air cooled light,even putting room heat aside air cooled lights can be operated much closer to the plants which means better light penetration resulting in denser fatter buds,many people try to get off cheap when they 1st start out & upgrade later on to larger lights or add air cooled hoods later on & it costs them more cash,im very guilty of this myself.

This is the light you want right here if its in your budget.

http://cgi.ebay.com/DIGITAL-600-watt-HPS-GROW-LIGHT-w-6-AIR-COOLED-600w_W0QQitemZ120348133947QQcmdZViewItemQQptZHydroponics_Seed_Starting?hash=item120348133947&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:1205|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

Gimme a fw minutes & i'll dig up the information & pics of what you need to vent the light with & repost the info.

First things first. What size area are u gonna use to grow and how many plants? I WOULD NOT RECCOMMEND the one in ur last link. That was my very first HPS and it gets soooo hot! Next to impossible to keep that thing cool! I actually just ordered a new 400w from htg and it's identical to the one in ur second link(cept mines a 400 lol)..... But ya, I'd go with the 600 air cooled unless ur not growing that many plants and don't need all that, then I'd still get the same thing, just a 400...

.... Love those ballasts! EVen got a little fan in em to keep em cool.

Hooking up the air cooled function is easy as pie it just takes a little while to dial everything in,here are the type items you need,a simple intake/exhaust inline fan will work well to remove the hot air from the light,you just connect the inline fan to a run of insulated flexible ducting like you use for a clothes dryer.

Here are the type items you'll need.

Inline fan.



Flexible ducting.



You'll want to install the fan somewhere where it can bring in cool air,anywhere where the temp of the air is cool will work,i use 2 fans for each of my lights,one fan to pull cool air in to the duct & another fan on the exhaust side of the light to pull hot air out of the light,i prefer using 2 fans incase one fan goes down im still protected & the 2nd fan is still cooling the light.

Since you can bring fresh cool air to the light from pretty much anywhere now you need to figure out what to do with the hot air,you can vent this air anywhere you like,chimneys,soil pipes,attics,crawl spaces or the dryer vent from the house,as long as the hot air is leaving the room your good to go,the picture i posted of the ducting gives you a general idea but you'll want insulated or reinforced ducting,its stronger & wont tear.

There are 2 things to keep in mind,if your using the air in the grow room to cool the light you'll need to think about odor,the exhaust will push out dirty air for neighbors to smell if its not taken care of,this can be avoided by bringing air in from outside the grow room that dont smell like weed.

The other thing to keep in mind is your fans,if your not going to leave the fans on 24 hours a day its critical that you think about how your going to time them to go on & off,the last thing you want is for cool air to hit a very hot light bulb because the glass on the hood can shatter as well as the bulb,i have my fans timed to come on 1/2 hour before lights on & 1/2 hour after lights out, this way i know cool air will be in the system before the bulb gets hot.

richjames said:

.... Love those ballasts! EVen got a little fan in em to keep em cool.

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I gotta agree on the ballasts,htg does have some nice stuff,i find it odd that others bash them as being cheap,ive got expensive lights from hydrofarm that are no better than my htg gear but sure do cost alot more.

thank you so much for the information its been help..my area i am growning in is about 3 by 6 and im only going 4 plants now.. the other 3 died durning transplant..i also need to post the pics of my plants..this is my seconds grow and my first one was actually a while ago so i dont remeber anything from it or how the platns look..my plants were perky and about 7 to 8 inches tall...and now all the leaves are starting to look like they are in sleep mode..i dunno gotta see if i can find my camera..and good to hear about htg is good to buy from..i was kinda skeptical because of the prices..

Hey panhead, I was plannin on runnin a setup exactly like u were sayin.... with a fan at both ends-intake and exhaust, but hell, this new lights runnin so cool atm i may not need much flow at all. The guys from htg were sayin that it's more efficient to 'pull' air through the hood than to 'push' it so i may start out with one of those small inline fans(identical to ur pic) and just have it pulling air through the hood and out of the room. If needed, I got an ac going as well that I could run an intake to as well. So far, Im more than satisfied with htg.

Sleep mode? Sounds like ur leaves are drooping.... u may be watering too much, it's a common problem with small plants.

well i havent watered in awhile...and i have a moisture meter says its moist..should i just let them go and let the soil dry? they're gonna be alright?

That's exactly what u do, let em go til the soils dry. No worries, just back off a bit. Nest time u water, water til there's a little bit of drainage out of the bottom of the pot. Then, don't water again til u pick up the pot and it feels empty, u'll know.

richjames said:

Hey panhead, I was plannin on runnin a setup exactly like u were sayin.... with a fan at both ends-intake and exhaust, but hell, this new lights runnin so cool atm i may not need much flow at all. The guys from htg were sayin that it's more efficient to 'pull' air through the hood than to 'push' it so i may start out with one of those small inline fans(identical to ur pic) and just have it pulling air through the hood and out of the room. If needed, I got an ac going as well that I could run an intake to as well. So far, Im more than satisfied with htg.

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The htg guys are correct but im a belt & suspenders kinda guy when its something important,my grow op is an hour commute from my home so i can only visit every 2 days,i'd hate like hell to get there & see my plants roasted because a fan went down,i just figure the fans are so cheap i want to be double sure,i have my lights in the bud room damm near scraping the resin off the tops of the buds they are so close,if a fan went i'd be hammered.

yeah it was alot easier to leave my plants alone the first time..because the crop wasent near me..i still have to drive a lil bit to them but before it was alot futher..i know how that is..but thanks for the help with everthing...you dont think the 600 will be to much for that closet.. 3 by 6?

Quickee said:

yeah it was alot easier to leave my plants alone the first time..because the crop wasent near me..i still have to drive a lil bit to them but before it was alot futher..i know how that is..but thanks for the help with everthing...you dont think the 600 will be to much for that closet.. 3 by 6?

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The 600 will be perfect for that space,even though a 400 watt will work its better to have more light than less light,more light is more buds.

panhead said:

The htg guys are correct but im a belt & suspenders kinda guy when its something important,my grow op is an hour commute from my home so i can only visit every 2 days,i'd hate like hell to get there & see my plants roasted because a fan went down,i just figure the fans are so cheap i want to be double sure,i have my lights in the bud room damm near scraping the resin off the tops of the buds they are so close,if a fan went i'd be hammered.

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I hear ya there, not worth a whole crop over fan.

i should have joined the site earlier....