budman111
Well-Known Member
Never tried them mate but they seem a little low on blue spectrum for grow stage don't they? I use a 90w vipar LED UFO for veg and is really good.
The British Growers Help Forum. UK Based Grow Advice, Now With Added Witt, Irony, Sarcasm & Humour
- Thread starter Cl@rksville
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ValleyDragon
Well-Known Member
Didnt really look into it to much to be honest, need a cheap replacement for a t5 and thought id try 1 of these...i have an led light already, suppose to be same as 1200w hps and its a cob light but i thought it might be too intense for small veg plants.
budman111
Well-Known Member
better with houshold CFL's then or buy the ones more 4000k spectrum
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I put two modules running CXB3590 3500K CD bin chips in my veg and they absolutely blew the plants up, never seen anything like it. The chips are said to be rather better at bloom, needless to say I'm looking forward to that!
ValleyDragon
Well-Known Member
Just took a pic of the jungle before heading to bed..not looking too bad tho could do with more bud, hopefuly next time lol 
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Your very next upgrade needs to be a better light. HPS is doing you no favors and that magnetic ballast, tsk, tsk... allow me to explain;Just took a pic of the jungle before heading to bed..not looking too bad tho could do with more bud, hopefuly next time lol
View attachment 3607121
You see those dark bars in the pic you just posted? Those come from the interference pattern between the sine wave output of your magnetic ballast and the scanning rate of your digital camera. It's trying to tell you something!
That image takes a few hundredths of a second to expose. You can therefore effectively read the interference pattern and it will tell you how much time your light is dark (?!?!) WHILE IT'S RUNNING.
Careful measurement will confirm that your magnetic ballast is shutting your lamp off for about 30% of the total time it's running; you just can't pick up the flicker yourself and thus we need the camera to tell us.
This is the main reason why a digital ballast is better, and why a square wave ballast is the best of all. 315W CMH lamps provide excellent spectrum and run on low frequency digital square wave ballasts, and are roughly equivalent to between 400-500W of HPS lighting. Good growers will pull a pound a run from one.
That dim bulb and magnetic buzzbox is costing you dearly in terms of electrical consumption and yield, Sir. Out with it, forthwith!
ValleyDragon
Well-Known Member
U have shown me something that have alluded me ttystikk, i often take pics of my other room which has a digital ballast and that room never has the dark interference but until u pointed out the reason/problem i could not connect the dots!!
Thanks for the advice, after this grow im gonna make the changes to correct this problem which i didnt even know existed lol, just thought it was poor camera!!
Thanks for the advice, after this grow im gonna make the changes to correct this problem which i didnt even know existed lol, just thought it was poor camera!!
ValleyDragon
Well-Known Member
Also in all the posts on this site and loads of others i have seen u are the 1st to mention this problem so kudos to u sir 
theslipperbandit
Well-Known Member
Ttystikk knows his shit man. Super fucking interested in cobs aswell thats my next upgrade for sure.lots of great vids on youtube for building em n all
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
It's the guys in the LED section here on RIU who piqued my interest, then reading their threads, seeing their results and watching the videos that convinced me to drop over $10k on the tech.
Do drop by my vertical goodness thread, there's good stuff afoot!
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Call it a personal vendetta against magnetic ballasts and to a lesser extent, HID lighting in general. The blasted things have cost me a bloody ransom in power consumption!Also in all the posts on this site and loads of others i have seen u are the 1st to mention this problem so kudos to u sir
Your very best bet in HID lighting right now is the 315W CMH lamp running on a Philips low frequency digital square wave ballast. It's actually more efficient than most of the blurple LED panels sold, and it gives up nothing in terms of spectrum quality.
If COB LED is outside your price range or comfort level to DIY, they're the next best thing.
ValleyDragon
Well-Known Member
When u mentioned about the magnetic ballast it triggered a memory, a mate of mine had been growing for over 7 years with no problems, then he had to use 1 of these ballasts for some reason and it started interfering with neighbours sky tv and cb radio( yes still used here! lol)..
He was busted within months cos neighbour couldnt find out what was causing problems, we all assume he grassed but maybe police realised what was happening..
ValleyDragon
Well-Known Member
Have u any links for the light & ballast mate?..searched online and cant find anything or is it a U.S spefic product?
sowi
theslipperbandit
Well-Known Member
Nice to see u again robster
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
HIGH frequency digital ballasts, especially cheap Chinese ones, are often poorly shielded and cause RF interference with cable systems. LOW frequency (60-100Hz) ballasts do not have this problem. The cable guy might well have tipped the Bobbies.
Worst case scenario I've heard of was some guy using RF detection equipment cruising around the streets of his city. When he found a grow, he and his gang buddies would go do an armed robbery, safe in the knowledge the growers wouldn't call to rat themselves out. Didn't work; someone got hurt and they went to jail anyway.
tyke1973
Well-Known Member
Great set to f plants .
tyke1973
Well-Known Member
Too much bud blood ,it's bleeding dapper it's bleeding