Ztelthys 100W HPS TV Cabinet Conversion (Pimped Out !!!)

[Ztelthy]

Nice. Very tidy. Personally, I would shape the screen a little. Here's a pic of mine. It's changed a bit now and the dish is even deeper. Bear in mind that my bulb is at 90 degrees to yours View attachment 2370671

I grow a variety of plants in there hence the shady, un-scrogged area on the right.
2x4x3 cupboard, 250w mh/hps, 6" 425 cfm&filter, flood/drain hydroton.
Didn't really cost me anything. Made up from stuff I used to have for vegging and a security lamp from a skip!

Hi Dude, cheers man I was going to arc the screen but changed my mind for the 1st grow in this cab... mainly because I am unsure of how much extra stuff I may be adding... no doubt I'll modify it eventually though Your setup looks pretty cool.. how much height has your plants got in there? How are you cooling your 250w in there ? I love finding useful things in skips..and you usually find them when you not really looking to hard either...I got my insulation strips for the door seals on my cab from a skip only recently ..its perfect !! and the best thing 'its free'

I am well happy I have my new ballast, the lowest wattage I can run now is 150W ..so its only 50W more than I was planning to use in this cab.. its funny I was originally only gunna use a 70w HPS but if temps allow it I am very glad to have my new 250W dimmable Ballast, I am still planning to use a Metal Halide to veg with...anyone know if there are any real differences between 'Metal Halide' and 'Ceramic Metal Halide' ?? ...also which is best to run on a digital ballast ?

- ZTELTHY

 

[Ztelthy]

• as many of you prob. know I am building a stealth cab.. and have decided to up my Watts, from 100W HPS, to a Dimmable 250W HPS... I plan to use a 250W metal halide for veg, but am stuck between 2 lamps... one of them is a 6500k metal halide........and the other is a 6500k & 8000k "Dual Arc" metal halide... !??
  
  My heads telling me a dedicated 6500k would be better, but I cant help but think having the extra spectrum of the 8000k arc as well ~ may be more benificial ??
  
  Another thought is I could use a Dual Spectrum 250w HPS, but whether or not this would be better than the MH for Veg is again a question I need to ask ??
  
  And lastly for best results in flowering should I use a 250w Dual Spec HPS aka: 1X 250w DigiLux Dual Spectrum HPS/Sun Master 250W, or a normal 250w Osram HPS Lamp
  
  I own lots of HPS and METAL HALIDE Lamps....but knowing which to use is becoming a bit of a nightmare and I am super high as well lmao..So my thinking process is running slowly at best today..
  
  Any 'light' shon on this topic would be very well received, (pun half intended

  

  lol) .. and +REP Will be rewarded in receipt
  
  Cheers - ZTELTHY

  
  
  
  
  

 

[Ztelthy]

• From what I understand the 6500k and the 8000k arc's fire up only 1 at a time ....so one-day the plants would be under 6500k then the next day they would be under 8000k then the next day back under 6500k...I dunno if this would be good or not but the lamp looks impressive just need to know if 8000k does anything extra for the plants....I mean it is a marine/coral life lamp with high PAR! but whether this would be useful for a land plant ? ? ? . - ZTELTHY

  
  
  
  
  

 

[Ztelthy]

 

[Ztelthy]

• I will try n find a kelvin color ratio chart n see where "8000k" (6500k and 8000k) is and hopefully find out how it will work in conjunction with Vegging and if a 6500k would be better or not!? - ZTELTHY ​
  
  
  
  

 

[Ztelthy]

• If I could find exactly how the 8000k will have an effect on the plant before I commit to buying the lamp, I plan to scrog under the lamp but also want lots of nodes etc.. - ZTELTHY

  
  
  
  
  

 

[polyarcturus]

7500k-8000k is fine for VEG will help with more compact growth and reduce the chances of herm.

CMH has to be run on magnetic ballasts at this point in time.

dual arc bulbs are cool but the general engineering philosophy applies well here, "the more parts the more likely to fail"

dual arc would be a good choice in flower though so you can reduce the stretch but keep a HPS for backup in case it fails.

 

[polyarcturus]

8000k will have more PAR than 6500k tecknically, but keep in mind land plants use yellow green light too. they are rated at 8000k because the chemicals to produce this light are changed to produce more blue, it still produces the same amt of red as any other MH. so goo light more compact growth good for veg, better than 6500k. i plan on getting 7500k my next MH bulb purchase.

 

[polyarcturus]

anything like 1000k will be too blue containing too much 420 nm anything past 8000k would pretty much be not as good for vegging though.

the difference between CMH and MH is the ARC tube in a CMH bulb is made from CERAMIC instead of GLASS.

but the ceramic has special properties that make it a more balanced light but at a lower intensity.

 

[cues]

Hi Dude, cheers man I was going to arc the screen but changed my mind for the 1st grow in this cab... mainly because I am unsure of how much extra stuff I may be adding... no doubt I'll modify it eventually though Your setup looks pretty cool.. how much height has your plants got in there? How are you cooling your 250w in there ? I love finding useful things in skips..and you usually find them when you not really looking to hard either...I got my insulation strips for the door seals on my cab from a skip only recently ..its perfect !! and the best thing 'its free'

I am well happy I have my new ballast, the lowest wattage I can run now is 150W ..so its only 50W more than I was planning to use in this cab.. its funny I was originally only gunna use a 70w HPS but if temps allow it I am very glad to have my new 250W dimmable Ballast, I am still planning to use a Metal Halide to veg with...anyone know if there are any real differences between 'Metal Halide' and 'Ceramic Metal Halide' ?? ...also which is best to run on a digital ballast ?

- ZTELTHY

I learnt flat scrog. Not doing any better with the shape but I suspct it's cos I changed lights and gone from a 600 hps (more efficient) flat scrog to a 250 u-scrog and still stuck on 0.75 gpw. Vertical next!
I wonder about using a timer to change the dimmable light? As in nature? I mean darker mornings and evenings and full sun at midday? I wonder how that would affect the gpw?
Thoughts?

P.s Cupboard is 36" tall, floor to roof and I got 12" to the screen in that pic (about 13 and a half now though, it was too tight and I deepened the dish). Venting is a 425 cfm 6" fan and filter. Didn't mess about cos I was worried about mold in what I knew would be a tight scrog. I love the challenge of tight spaces! I could save a lot of head space by stripping the security lamp of it's ballast etc and mounting it in another reflector (I have one lol!) but atm it works well and is only temporary so don't see the point.

But yeah, probably best sticking with flat for now. A U-scrog would be better suited if the bulb was at the other angle. All-in-all though, I think that is the better way to go (due to the light output pattern of an HPS). It just wouldnt fit in your cab I think.

Still, reckon these vertical peeps are blowing us both away.....

 

[Ztelthy]

Having my screen horizontal, I'am hoping for at least 3 oZ, anything more would be a bonus I too have touched on the topic of mimicking nature and dimming the lights where necessary and peaking them at mid-day (High Sun) .. But after much debate.. it was decided its more benificial to deliver (High Sun) 'all the time' and towards the end of the grow add a dose of UV-B and some super lumens to make the buds get the Amsterdam appeal

Eventually I'd like to do a vertical scrog with 2x vertical 8" cool-tubes ...a high red 600W HPS on top, and a Dual Arc 400W beneath, and UV-B hung even around the plant in the budding area's..Still thats a while off yet

I did think about installing my lamp the other way around..but your right I had too limited a space to do so..n I figured if I ran pretty much any HPS lamp in there its such a small space,covered head to tail in Mylar the light should bounce around all over the place so it should't be a problem....I hope lol

How come your only doing a temporary cab atm ??

If and when I get round to doing a vert. grow...I'll be wanting a very tall cab/cupboard (at least 8' tall) I've seen one on RIU that was great...I cant remember the dudes username atm. but I am pretty certain 'Sir Verde' commented on that post a-lot too!?

..anyhow I hope to add my new ballast today, my new 12v transformer plug just arrived so I should be able to get the lighting rig completed today..pics will follow by the end of today...hopefully

I am just off to roll my Wake N Bake as I am still bleary eyed..it should hit the spot n set me up for the day (got some B.B - Blue Cheese) its pretty good stuff...However when I do my 1st run in this unit I wanna do a Banana Kush....and then cure it with Banana peal just to really set it apart from the rest !! - ZTELTHY

 

[Ztelthy]

anything like 1000k will be too blue containing too much 420 nm anything past 8000k would pretty much be not as good for vegging though.

the difference between CMH and MH is the ARC tube in a CMH bulb is made from CERAMIC instead of GLASS.

but the ceramic has special properties that make it a more balanced light but at a lower intensity.

Does the Ceramic Arc make a difference to the way the plant/s grow under it ? as opposed to being under a normal Metal Halide ? I'am running a Lumatek Digital Ballast, so I guess I will have to go with a normal Metal Halide ...but I will defo be going for the 6500K version (although they are kinda hard to find with an E-40 fitting...I've seen one with an E-39 fitting but dunno if that'll work or not ?? - ZTELTHY

 

[polyarcturus]

mogul base is a mogul base so it will probably fit.

as far as the ceramic arc tube, it affects the light not the plant lol if its good light the plant will grow since it could be considered perfect spectrum its a great light the downside is a 400w which would normally cover a 3x3 now covers a 2x2.

 

[Ztelthy]

mogul base is a mogul base so it will probably fit.

as far as the ceramic arc tube, it affects the light not the plant lol if its good light the plant will grow since it could be considered perfect spectrum its a great light the downside is a 400w which would normally cover a 3x3 now covers a 2x2.

Ah..ok .. I will just stick to the 6500K standard MH and hope the E39 lamp fits the E-40 Mogul ... Then my next challenge is to figure out which Dual Spectrum 250W HPS lamp offers the highest PAR and get that...then lastly I want to get an extreme RED HPS in there for late flowering - ZTELTHY

 

[cues]

Having my screen horizontal, I'am hoping for at least 3 oZ, anything more would be a bonus I too have touched on the topic of mimicking nature and dimming the lights where necessary and peaking them at mid-day (High Sun) .. But after much debate.. it was decided its more benificial to deliver (High Sun) 'all the time' and towards the end of the grow add a dose of UV-B and some super lumens to make the buds get the Amsterdam appeal

Eventually I'd like to do a vertical scrog with 2x vertical 8" cool-tubes ...a high red 600W HPS on top, and a Dual Arc 400W beneath, and UV-B hung even around the plant in the budding area's..Still thats a while off yet

I did think about installing my lamp the other way around..but your right I had too limited a space to do so..n I figured if I ran pretty much any HPS lamp in there its such a small space,covered head to tail in Mylar the light should bounce around all over the place so it should't be a problem....I hope lol

How come your only doing a temporary cab atm ??

If and when I get round to doing a vert. grow...I'll be wanting a very tall cab/cupboard (at least 8' tall) I've seen one on RIU that was great...I cant remember the dudes username atm. but I am pretty certain 'Sir Verde' commented on that post a-lot too!?

..anyhow I hope to add my new ballast today, my new 12v transformer plug just arrived so I should be able to get the lighting rig completed today..pics will follow by the end of today...hopefully

I am just off to roll my Wake N Bake as I am still bleary eyed..it should hit the spot n set me up for the day (got some B.B - Blue Cheese) its pretty good stuff...However when I do my 1st run in this unit I wanna do a Banana Kush....and then cure it with Banana peal just to really set it apart from the rest !! - ZTELTHY

Cab is temporary as I only moved in here as an 'in-between'. I need a house with a garage. There was a built-in cupboard so I just through some of my old veg stuff in there. My electric is on a coin meter that the landlord empties monthly so If i tried to run my full 900 watts, I think it would be noticeable. (600+250+some cfls)

 

[Matchbox]

Could just say the missus runs the hairdryer a LOT lol

Looking good Stelthy!

I did have an opinion on the lights but polyarcturus pretty much covered it good that your sticking with the 250, they are very nice lights for small grows and own it in a cool tube XD

Hows your grow turning/turned out Cues anyways?

Stay Frosty!

 

[ddimebag]

i think you're gonna like that lumatek ballast...I have a 400watt one, and it's been working great! Efficient, quiet and stays cool...plus dimmable

 

[Ztelthy]

-UPDATE-

I used my glue-gun to seal the CPU fans in-place within the ducting connectors

The new 250w lamp looks huge within the DIY 3.7" Cool-Tube, I will now have to make a bigger reflector wing...oh well! that's pretty easy

I have installed the new 250W Dimmable Lumatek Ballast.... just waiting on a female PC power-lead to arrive so I can modify it to become the lamp connector lead.

I didn't realise the CPU's had blue LED's in them lol... its ok, I can't see them doing any harm when you consider I'll be running a 250W MH and then a Dual Spec HPS, and when the main lamp turns off for the night so will the CPU's and the LED's on them... *looks PIMPIN' eh!? Lol !!

Thats pretty much it so far... I have also connected the ducting on the left hand side..but didn't have enough 4" ducting to do the right...I'll get some more this week...Hopefully in time for tommoz official MONDAY UPDATE

And this is the small C02 Tank etc that I may and may-not use... but it'll be sweet if I do.... I just need to work out exactly how much actual C02 I am going to need for the whole grow..then I'll decide if this tank will be ok...or whether a bigger one will be needed..and how big etc... I dug it out of my garage earlier and would love to have C02 in the Cab.. its design is perfect for the grow-gas !! - ZTELTHY

 

[SteezyDee]

YES! AN UPDATE! Looks like you got those fans to fit the cooltube nicely. Are those odor sox any good btw? the 250w doesnt look too big for the cab either.

Cheers!

 

[polyarcturus]

dont know how the co2 will help if your constantly exhausting. there will be way to much heat if you dont exhaust. am i missing something? light looks good an ballast placement is a good spot too.