Advice on this 400w kit, order or not?

Dr. Grow Mo

Dr. Grow Mo

Member
Hello everbody

Ok heres the rundown, im currently finishing up my firstt grow. Its going great so far i have about 500 watts of cfl on about 4 females in a 2 x 3 ft area.

Since i started i knew about hid lighting but choose cfls bcuz they r cheap n pretty easy to.. Obtain. Haha
BUTT. Theyre getting huuuge n i need to upgrade to get better light coverage.

I just ordered a secret jardin 60, 2x2x4.5 ft so i cud fit my 4 plants snuggly with better light reflection offa the walls.



TO the point:::

Im looking for a MAGNETIC ballast, a real good one, because i plan on buying a CMH bulb to use it with. Neways i came across this on ebay n was wondering what others opinion on the product would be.

The ballast has no brandname that i see, the bulb is actually a dual arc hps+mh burning at the same time. The reflector is a basic shitty one but if the balast is ok then its a gr8 " looking" deal with only $20 for shipping

Let me know what you guys think:: http://cgi.ebay.com/400W-HPS-MH-Switchable-Ballast-Dual-Arc-400W-Bulb-/280578549206?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item4153c8e5d6#ht_2732wt_754

I need a reliable magnetic ballast because an electrical one would blow a CMH to pieces, operates at about 100~200 hz. So 60Hz is ok, 20kHz wud b a no no.

Thanks guys
 
Dr. Grow Mo

Dr. Grow Mo

Member
Oh please dont recommend htg supply's 400w kit thats for $118, lol they use all cheap chinese parts n ugh not even copper coils in their ballast. I need a reliable 1.
 
Little Tommy

Little Tommy

Well-Known Member
I bought an old used magnetic 400 watt HPS ballast that came with socket set and a bat wing reflector. I went to my nearby electronic lighting parts store and bought a new igniter and capacitor for about $47.00. I rebuilt it and it is as quiet as a mouse and bright as can be. It wasn't a very big job. The power supplies seldom go bad. I removed the parts from the ballast and took them with me to the place. They matched up the new parts and 20 mins after I got home there was fire in the hole. I then bought a used air cooled reflector with tempered glass and the rest is history.
 
420God

420God

Well-Known Member
You would probably have heat issues without it being air cooled in that small of a space.
 
bird mcbride

bird mcbride

Well-Known Member
Little Tommy said:
I bought an old used magnetic 400 watt HPS ballast that came with socket set and a bat wing reflector. I went to my nearby electronic lighting parts store and bought a new igniter and capacitor for about $47.00. I rebuilt it and it is as quiet as a mouse and bright as can be. It wasn't a very big job. The power supplies seldom go bad. I removed the parts from the ballast and took them with me to the place. They matched up the new parts and 20 mins after I got home there was fire in the hole. I then bought a used air cooled reflector with tempered glass and the rest is history.
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Congragulations!!! You are one of the 2.8% of the population that knows how to properly wire a lightbulb. I do all my electrical also. This is what separates the hydro growers from the dirt farmer. Happy to find someone else that knows what a cap and an ignitor is! One thing to keep in mind though, a hot cap can give you a real good jolt, could even be lethal. I usually deenergize the cap with a ballast resistor but if I'm in a hurry I'll just short it out. If the cap is still hot you can expect peices of metal to fly. If you are wearing thick rubber sandles and not grounded you are more likely to survive an electric shock. Standing on a concrete surface while it's raining outside will increase the risk of electric shock when working with high voltages.
 
Little Tommy

Little Tommy

Well-Known Member
Amen to that brother. I was trying to illuminate (pun intended) the idea that you don't need to spend all thet money if you are willing to invest in a little homework and sweat equity. Yes, do not lick a charged capacitor...... hahahaha.
 
bird mcbride

bird mcbride

Well-Known Member
Dr. Grow Mo said:
Helps that im an electrical engineer but i dont know where to find a used one.
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I probably shouldn't mention this but seeing how you are an engineer I'll tell ya. Where I live they converted the local landfill into a recycling depo. I have made buds with the workers and they let me salvage. I usually go up after I'm told the cops had been there because they dump hoods and ballasts and all kinds of grow equipment. My growroom is full of stuff that still have the court tag, name and address of accused etc. Sure they smash and dent the hid boxes but usually when I take the ballasts out of their boxes they're ok. Now everyone knows about the big warehouse where all the evidence is kept indefinately.
 
Dr. Grow Mo

Dr. Grow Mo

Member
ha i wanted that 1 but thats an electronic balast, i would need a magnetic one, and the length of that cooltube is 34 inches, i got 24 to work with, thanks for ur input tho rep
 
S

Spoc

Active Member
I picked up all my lighting equipment from an eBay store that has an extensive catalog. Check out thehydrosource.com; I've found them to be the cheapest from top to bottom and shipping was fast/discreet. I picked up a 400w Harvest Pro Elite HPS for $120.00 and have coupled it to a Super Sun 2 reflector. I got my CMH bulb from lightingsupply.com for $45.00 delivered(15% off new customer) Everything works flawlessly...Good luck man, lots of junk out there to sift through.
 
FootClan

FootClan

Well-Known Member
420God said:
How about something like this--> http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Light-System-Cooled-Growing/dp/B003JJ1HJM

It's a little more expensive but very easy to keep cool with good inline fan.
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I have that cool tube works great for cooling but i lost yeild vs when i had 6" daystar hood it didnt cool as well but cooled enough and the reflecton was way better.....i compinsated for having the hood vs the cool tube by getting an 8" fan and running it fullblast for my one light lol........now its coo enough i only have a 4 degree jump in ambient temps outside tent vs inside tent and thats with a 1000w light petty good huh?...granted i cant run that set up in the summer without air conditioner but the rest of the 9 months im good with just my 8" fan..........If i were going to use a cool tube i would only need a 6" fan to cool it but i like the hoods better.......I would how ever use cooltubes if i was going to use a bunch of lights togeather then i would use them because IMO the cool tubes work best in tandum with other cooltubes or lights and you can liturely push those cooltubes into the canapy there so cool.........I can lick the glass on my moms cooltube with her 600w in there and she uses a 6" dedicated fan to cool her tube vs me use one 8" fan to scrub/intake/and cool all at the same time all with my one 8"fan on a 6"daystar hood works great
 
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