can someone help me? its driving me nuts

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tiktak1297

Well-Known Member
A few months ago a saw a youtube product review video where he had a light controller flipbox style that would also randomize the lights on a timer. So for example he had 6 lights, but only 3 of them would be on at once, then 15min later (setting of his choice) the controller would randomly choose which 3 lights would be lit (some that were previously on might stay on).
The idea being that with only 15min between direct and indirect light it could be like a a cloud passing over etc and you could still get most of the yeild of 6 lights.

ProbleM is I dont remember the name of this miracle device nor can I find it again. Did I dream this and now gave my million dollar idea away or does this actually exist? Or am I crazy?
Ideas whether this actually works?
 
panhead

panhead

Well-Known Member
Sounds like another one of the hundreds of alternative light theories to using the standard 12/12 light regiment.

Weather it works or not any savings on electrical bills would be outweighed by the extreme conditions the bulbs & ballasts would experience going off & on every 15 minutes , that would work the shit outta ballasts & bulbs real quick .
 
R.Raider

R.Raider

Well-Known Member
I have a very hard time believing this theory would work as good as constant direct light.
 
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CannaReview

Well-Known Member
tiktak1297 said:
A few months ago a saw a youtube product review video where he had a light controller flipbox style that would also randomize the lights on a timer. So for example he had 6 lights, but only 3 of them would be on at once, then 15min later (setting of his choice) the controller would randomly choose which 3 lights would be lit (some that were previously on might stay on).
The idea being that with only 15min between direct and indirect light it could be like a a cloud passing over etc and you could still get most of the yeild of 6 lights.

ProbleM is I dont remember the name of this miracle device nor can I find it again. Did I dream this and now gave my million dollar idea away or does this actually exist? Or am I crazy?
Ideas whether this actually works?
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You can get any electrician to built you something like that. You can do it with relays like a flip fop using several timers and have the lights opposite of each other come on and off. I've only know two people over 11 years that have done something like that. Might as well get Light Rails to reduce amount of lights.
 
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tiktak1297

Well-Known Member
Thought it would be worth a shot.. as far as comparing it to light rails I dont think it the same. Lights rails only extend ur coverage up to a foot, yhis thoretically doubles it. And its not only about saving money on electricity. Its also about being less suspicious drawing 3k rather than 6k
 
GrowRock

GrowRock

Well-Known Member
Just a question what's the reasoning for the device example to save electricity, cut down on heat etc?
 
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CannaReview

Well-Known Member
tiktak1297 said:
Thought it would be worth a shot.. as far as comparing it to light rails I dont think it the same. Lights rails only extend ur coverage up to a foot, yhis thoretically doubles it. And its not only about saving money on electricity. Its also about being less suspicious drawing 3k rather than 6k
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If you want to save energy buy one Gavita 600 W Pro and give it a couple runs to figure out the growing under that light. I have a couple customers that get about 1.2 per one of the 600W Gavita Pro 600W. I know a few people who got less than an LB but I'd attribute that to the grower not the light.
 
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tiktak1297

Well-Known Member
I have my current setup pretty dialed in with 1000w. I am looking to move into a house In the a little further north. What I dont want is the hydro company being like "ahh think you can just move in and setup a 6 light show in your basement motherfucker? Got you now bitch:"
I really couldnt care less about ballast and bulb wear and tear and electric savings. I care about being low profile
 
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CannaReview

Well-Known Member
tiktak1297 said:
I have my current setup pretty dialed in with 1000w. I am looking to move into a house In the a little further north. What I dont want is the hydro company being like "ahh think you can just move in and setup a 6 light show in your basement motherfucker? Got you now bitch:"
I really couldnt care less about ballast and bulb wear and tear and electric savings. I care about being low profile
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If you are in BC, BC Hydro doesn't care obviously other provinces might. Any private company wont care, as long as you're not stealing power, that's the only things they care about. Only way tp reduce consumption is reduction on wattage ie go to Gavita Pro 600W or dial your ballasts down to 750w. I have several customers doing that with digital and still getting the same results just using Sylvania bulbs.

Only thing I would worry about with the flip floping lights is plants getting stressed and hermaphroditing. The loss of light several times per day might not be good
 
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tiktak1297

Well-Known Member
CannaReview said:
If you are in BC, BC Hydro doesn't care obviously other provinces might. Any private company wont care, as long as you're not stealing power, that's the only things they care about. Only way tp reduce consumption is reduction on wattage ie go to Gavita Pro 600W or dial your ballasts down to 750w. I have several customers doing that with digital and still getting the same results just using Sylvania bulbs.

Only thing I would worry about with the flip floping lights is plants getting stressed and hermaphroditing. The loss of light several times per day might not be good
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I am in ontario. Not sure if they care....dialing down the ballasts is not a bad idea, just not sure how it would affect yeild. Ive considered the stress however since the plants and lights would be spaced relatively close together, I think wven the indirect light would be strong enough to prevent hermaphrodites. Thanks for the input
 
OLD MOTHER SATIVA

OLD MOTHER SATIVA

Well-Known Member
i have a bc built unit that has 5 lights on it
one on all the time
two lights cycle on/off each hr.
it was not cheap ..but it worked well..it does not extend bulb life lol
Seimens controllers inside i think
thankyou Darryl, good jobl!
 
GrowRock

GrowRock

Well-Known Member
Ya for example if you had say 3 1000watters you could have three seperate timers so that only 2 bulbs run on 2 hour then one of the running bulbs turns off and alternate around through all lights until the 12 hours is over. So at any given time there are two out of three bulbs on. The side lighting from the other lights should give enough light while the one is off for 2 hours One of my buddies has his settup like this because he added a couple more lights and the ac couldn't keep it cool enough. Just an idea. I hope it helps

Peace
 
leaffan

leaffan

Well-Known Member
CannaReview said:
If you want to save energy buy one Gavita 600 W Pro and give it a couple runs to figure out the growing under that light. I have a couple customers that get about 1.2 per one of the 600W Gavita Pro 600W. I know a few people who got less than an LB but I'd attribute that to the grower not the light.
Click to expand...
Whats the going rate for a Gavita 600 w pro?
 
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CannaReview

Well-Known Member
leaffan said:
Whats the going rate for a Gavita 600 w pro?
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Well the older style are no longer available from the wholesaler and only the Gavitas 600 Pro E (which can be activated by a special light module or by a normal ltimer board) Local in store price probably $340-350+tax. Online price probably higher to compensate for any returns that might occur with defective equipment.

Replacement lightbulb around $65-74 for the screw in bulb more for the double ended version of the ballast which is a 750 switchable to 600.
 
torontoke

torontoke

Well-Known Member
Well if money isnt an object why not buy a pile of 6 volt forklift batteries and wire them together. Use a large battery charger to keep them juiced and run a 1500w invertor off of each bank.
The hydro company will only see the charger coming on sporatically instead of straight 12 or 18 hours.
Throw on a few solar panels or a small wind turbine and you could even get the charger off the grid.
It would cost alot for all those batteries but it would be stealth
 
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tiktak1297

Well-Known Member
Ive thought about it. However the upfront cost of solar panels is prohibitive. I dont mind replacing a $200 ballast every few crops or a $40 bulb. However 15k plus for the solar system is quite the investment. Plus the batteries take up a fuck ton of space. Not to mention getting them in there in the first place. I like the timer idea, I just like the randomness of the other thing. So one light may stay on for w few hours. Good suggestions, lots of thinking to do
 
redi jedi

redi jedi

Well-Known Member
Dont worry about how much power you use...just pay for it.

If the cops are looking at your power consumption...which they need a warrant for...you've already fuct up.

Something you could do to mask the 12/12 pattern is run 2 rooms on a flip. 6 lights in each room. Your constantly using 6kw/h 24 hours a day.
 
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