315 cmh vs led

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
I've been running my LEDs along with a 400w old school mag ballast CMH lamp (Philips CDM Retro-White), but the newer 315w square wave lights are so much better, and I also really want th be able to dim my cmh when needed, so I pulled the trigger on a new 315 to supplement my LEDs with. Decided to get a new reflector too instead of the socket adapter for my E39 Mogul Base..

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DaFreak

Well-Known Member
There are plenty of frosty plants that aren't potent though. I've grown with CMH, LEDs and CMH + LEDs. The best results were with the latter.
There are no potent plants that aren't frosty. In this thread you probably have close to 150+ years growing experience and you're gonna come out with "Not all frosty plants are good." I very much doubt that he would have put up a pic of a shitty plant that just happened to be frostier than anything you have ever grown. Why the fck people can't speak to others on a grow site that they are speaking to peers who know their shit is beyond me. Wait, combined lights and spectrums had the best results? WOW. You don't say? Throw in a MH and you'll see even better results.
 

DaFreak

Well-Known Member
It's definitely not. And if you don't want to do it, you've got loads of cheap options for Led strips these days so it's no biggie. But don't be put off by scare stories by people like him above. It's the choice of any grown man whether he trusts himself to wire up a plug, or change a light bulb. If Rikky wants to call in Mr Miyagi cause his fuckin toast won't pop before it's the wrong side of brown, that's fair enough.

If, like him, you think you'll fry your dick attempting the high stakes gamble of putting a positive wire one end of a strip and a negative the other, or you don't trust your IQ to handle the task of putting the right colour wires in the right place in the plug whilst being personally guided through the entire process, then for sure steer the fuck clear of this space age shit. Or if you just don't have the time, buy a Kingbrite, they're cheap enough.
Whatever you do, go for it and let us know how you get on
I own properties and manage thousands of units. I am continuously shocked to see the level of shoddy work performed by professional electricians and the down right dangerous work done by amateurs. Most recently I somebody put in their own chandelier and used tin-foil to wrap the wires together. You are correct, it's very easy, anybody can do it. Most manage to do a sloppy job. Besides, if you aren't broke, the warranty from a bought light is a nice thing to have.
 

DukeFluke

Well-Known Member
I own properties and manage thousands of units. I am continuously shocked to see the level of shoddy work performed by professional electricians and the down right dangerous work done by amateurs. Most recently I somebody put in their own chandelier and used tin-foil to wrap the wires together. You are correct, it's very easy, anybody can do it. Most manage to do a sloppy job. Besides, if you aren't broke, the warranty from a bought light is a nice thing to have.
You've got to keep what I said in the proper context and not let drama queens like @rkymtnman distort the actual message. It's what people do on message boards because they've got a lot of time for that sort of wasteful shit.

I say it's easy to encourage anyone in doubt about being able to do it, giving it a go. Having had no prior experience with stuff like this, I've just built all my own lights... I wouldn't have thought I'd be typing that out this time about a year ago.

But the most important part of what I advised is to post a thread and seek out the guidance of the people on this section of the forum. There you'll have the one to one guidance, like I had, with diagrams and safety checks and double checks and every single step laid out for you.

After that point it's al about your own competence and ultimately like every human being in this world, nobody can save you from yourself if you choose to half ass something and not get the relevant information when it's being given to you.

But the irony there is, if that's the type of person you are and you're willing to wing it with something like electrical work, then how safe is your grow room in the first place with all that water and ballasts and high intensity lights knocking about together?

My point is; we could say the exact same thing about growing weed as we could about electrical work. Don't do it because it's dangerous on so many levels. And we can use horror stories about burned houses and armed gangs - or police - bursting through your door. Or taking the roof clean off your house because you filled the fucking loft with solvents doing some half assed extraction process and not taking the proper care.

I appeal to the good sense of people when I give my advise and do so on the assumption that if you follow what I've said and listen to the good and knowledgeable fellas on this site, and follow their step by step guides and approval of your every step, you will be ok. If you are competent enough to do that much due diligence, you're not the type to be wrapping your wires in tin foil and flipping coins as to where your wires should be. That's how I see it.

And if you don't follow that way of doing things and decide to throw shit together without a blind bit of care, then you're not following my advice and it's got nothing to do with me if you fuck it all up.
 

DaFreak

Well-Known Member
There are people who will got out and get the proper tools. And there are those who will use scissors and duck tape. Personally I don't care, but I wouldn't give people more credit than what you see for yourself every day of your life. There are lots of very stupid people out there.
 

DukeFluke

Well-Known Member
There are people who will got out and get the proper tools. And there are those who will use scissors and duck tape. Personally I don't care, but I wouldn't give people more credit than what you see for yourself every day of your life. There are lots of very stupid people out there.
That's not in our control. We give our advice on the basis people will follow it as it's laid out - listen, check twice then check again, follow, ask, and use the amazing tool that is the internet and a free one to one tutorial.

Do we shut all electrical workshops on the basis there are some stupid people out there who will come in and do the necessary work to get their qualification then walk out and bodge every job? The professionals you alluded to in your post obviously got their spark qual somewhere. So someone showed them the proper way to do the job and they had other clever ideas.

You'll never be able to guard against stupidity mate, guarantee that. You'll find that out many more times over the course of your life and I'm sure you already know it. All you can do is make sure your own advice and guidance is solid, and the help you'll get on here is exactly that. If people choose to wing it or go on guesswork there is absolutely fuck all you or I can do about it and that will never change.

But imo it's a moot point anyway because they're not the sort who'll be asking a hundred questions in here in the first place.
 

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
A good electrician is the hardest thing to find in some places. I live in a rural area and there are 3 electricians to choose from and I'd classify two as dangerously incompetent, while the third just moved here and people consider him like a "gift from god" because the community has suffered so long having to deal with these total incompetents. The only problem is the guy is booked 6 mo out now because everyone needs their wiring fixed LOL.
 

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
A good electrician is the hardest thing to find in some places. I live in a rural area and there are 3 electricians to choose from and I'd classify two as dangerously incompetent, while the third just moved here and people consider him like a "gift from god" because the community has suffered so long having to deal with these total incompetents. The only problem is the guy is booked 6 mo out now because everyone needs their wiring fixed LOL.
What about the old school electricians who rigged up radio towers way back during the Viet Nam war? Guys like them are super competent (albeit not necessarily to code), and also do super dangerous shit.
 

Norml56

Well-Known Member
A good electrician is the hardest thing to find in some places. I live in a rural area and there are 3 electricians to choose from and I'd classify two as dangerously incompetent, while the third just moved here and people consider him like a "gift from god" because the community has suffered so long having to deal with these total incompetents. The only problem is the guy is booked 6 mo out now because everyone needs their wiring fixed LOL.
Almost as hard as finding potent weed that isn't frosty.
 

DaFreak

Well-Known Member
A good electrician is the hardest thing to find in some places. I live in a rural area and there are 3 electricians to choose from and I'd classify two as dangerously incompetent, while the third just moved here and people consider him like a "gift from god" because the community has suffered so long having to deal with these total incompetents. The only problem is the guy is booked 6 mo out now because everyone needs their wiring fixed LOL.
If you think electricians are bad you should see what really goes on with plumbers. I've had to pull more than one plumber from a job. One company sent 2 of their guys to fix a boiler with heat going off over the course of 2 weeks in an elderly property in the middle of winter. Finally I got pissed and demanded they pulled anybody under 50 off the job, told them I wanted their oldest knows everything guy. He found the problem within 30 minutes. The others had changed so many valves and sensors that had nothing to do with the problem. I didn't end up paying for it, which was in the thousands, but it still blows my mind that the majority of plumbers are just guessing. Change a part and it doesn't work, go on to the next part.
 

DukeFluke

Well-Known Member
Almost as hard as finding potent weed that isn't frosty.
Or a 315CMH that yields as much as a similarly priced LED, depending on your definition of similar obviously. And did I mention DIY?... that means doing it yourself... electrical work that is... hmm... not sure if it's been mentioned anywhere..

ahh......I'll miss threads like this when the dinosaurs finally go extinct and the last of the wobbly little overpriced ceramic dildos go into storage
 
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hillbill

Well-Known Member
In my flower tent now Old 2015 Optic 120, 2014 A51 RW75, HLG 135 and 250 watt CMH Retrofit 4000k. Guess I’m no purist.
That CMH will turn “Transitions” lens near black in a few seconds, been using a year and trichs seem more “perfect”.
 

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
In my flower tent now Old 2015 Optic 120, 2014 A51 RW75, HLG 135 and 250 watt CMH Retrofit 4000k. Guess I’m no purist.
That CMH will turn “Transitions” lens near black in a few seconds, been using a year and trichs seem more “perfect”.
That's so interesting, I've heard that from a few different people-about the transition lenses. Totally agree about the CMH, my cousin turned me on to them a few years ago. I was dubious at first but the quality of bud he produced in a 3x3 tent just amazed me. CMH bud seems the closest to outdoor bud. I'm not saying it's stronger, denser, whatever, than LED, it's just the whole package-terps, colors, everything is so nice. I haven't ever seen LED+UV supplemented bud in person, so maybe that's the sweet spot for LED.
 

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
I've been running my LEDs along with a 400w old school mag ballast CMH lamp (Philips CDM Retro-White), but the newer 315w square wave lights are so much better, and I also really want th be able to dim my cmh when needed, so I pulled the trigger on a new 315 to supplement my LEDs with. Decided to get a new reflector too instead of the socket adapter for my E39 Mogul Base..

View attachment 4843257
You're not supposed to dim CMH. I heard it changes the spectrum or something. I thought about getting dimmable ballasts too before I found that out.
 

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
You're not supposed to dim CMH. I heard it changes the spectrum or something. I thought about getting dimmable ballasts too before I found that out.
Yeah, I know it changes the spectrum a bit, but I'm OK with that. Dimming any HID type light will change the spectrum. I've dimmed HPS lights in the past, and it hasn't drastically affected growth. I know that dimming HID lights will shift the spectrum towards more green, but my understanding is that this shift is less pronounced with CMH vs HPS or MH. Really, I just need to be able to scale back when it gets hot during summer. Also this will be run next to my OB96's which have a lot of red and blue, so I think even with a bit of s green shift on the CMH, I'll still be solid.
 
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