Club 315w lec

AlaskaRob

Well-Known Member
I like hillbill's explanation of cmh lighting better than mine. I went to school for electrical work.
But yes, if made to run a certain way, then why try to save money by cutting corners. If it says square wave ballast, you should adhere to that. Lol
The lines in your pic shouldn't be from the bulb going bad, it's a sign of the frequency wave that's powering the bulb. Check your ballast for sure, and then look into your power going into the ballast. How many hertz? How much voltage? If your area is prone to brown-outs (dimming of power from overloaded powergrid) thst might do it also. But ballast is most likely the issue.
 

coocooforkush

Well-Known Member
I like hillbill's explanation of cmh lighting better than mine. I went to school for electrical work.
But yes, if made to run a certain way, then why try to save money by cutting corners. If it says square wave ballast, you should adhere to that. Lol
The lines in your pic shouldn't be from the bulb going bad, it's a sign of the frequency wave that's powering the bulb. Check your ballast for sure, and then look into your power going into the ballast. How many hertz? How much voltage? If your area is prone to brown-outs (dimming of power from overloaded powergrid) thst might do it also. But ballast is most likely the issue.
Yea. What is said.
 

Logan Burke

Well-Known Member
I'm using a Barron Growlite 315 CMH digital ballast and bulb. The bulb is different from the Philips because it is a screw-in type with an old style mogul. This is my second round with it in my 3X3 tent using GH nutes in Promix BH and I could not be happier. My first round was a learning experience but my Critical Kush and Hawaiian plants were very impressive. One thing I noticed this time is that the addition of CalMag+ with every feeding has possibly solved a deficiency. It seems as though some of you have discovered this as well. This time round I am scrogging and I think that this setup is just perfect. I believe, however that next time I will switch to Coco Coir, but other than that I can't think of a setup better for my needs. My reflector is just an open El Cheapo wing style but it seems to provide excellent coverage.
I too noticed that supplementing with Calmag is an absolute must for me ever since switching to cmh lighting. I'm sure there are other factors at play, such as me being in DWC, but I've never had to supplement with calmag before switching to these lights. I don't mind though, some calmag is more than worth the results I get with these :)
 

AlaskaRob

Well-Known Member
Hmmm, so with these purple buds coming out for early summer/late spring, I'm thinking of growing upon theme based releases. Lol
Next batch would go in around beginning of July and crop out in October, so......black dog strain for Halloween? What's more appropriate than black plants with black buds and orange hairs?! Lol
And then batch after would be in late October, so....scarlett Johansson strain for some pink buds for Valentine's day?
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
I like hillbill's explanation of cmh lighting better than mine. I went to school for electrical work.
But yes, if made to run a certain way, then why try to save money by cutting corners. If it says square wave ballast, you should adhere to that. Lol
The lines in your pic shouldn't be from the bulb going bad, it's a sign of the frequency wave that's powering the bulb. Check your ballast for sure, and then look into your power going into the ballast. How many hertz? How much voltage? If your area is prone to brown-outs (dimming of power from overloaded powergrid) thst might do it also. But ballast is most likely the issue.
Hmm not sure I will check the ballast later and see, but you got me thinking it could be my power strip it has a built in timer and was convenient but have had issues where it only fires one of the 315s (have to 3x3 side by side) most times it fires em both but at least once a week I’ll go in and will have to unplug the one that didn’t fire for 30 seconds then it fires. I would say it was the ballast but I replaced it under warranty and it still happens occasionally. So I’m thinking it’s the power strip maybe.
 

AlaskaRob

Well-Known Member
Hmm not sure I will check the ballast later and see, but you got me thinking it could be my power strip it has a built in timer and was convenient but have had issues where it only fires one of the 315s (have to 3x3 side by side) most times it fires em both but at least once a week I’ll go in and will have to unplug the one that didn’t fire for 30 seconds then it fires. I would say it was the ballast but I replaced it under warranty and it still happens occasionally. So I’m thinking it’s the power strip maybe.
Any idea how many amps you're pulling from the circuit? Or even from that one outlet? 2 lamps can pull 5 amps to run, and slightly more to fire up. Standard household wiring in the states would either be a 15 or 20 amp circuit breaker. Rms (root mean squared) of that is 75%. Once you get to 75% of a circuit, it's only a matter of time before heat from the amperage running through the wires heat the breaker enough to pop. I only bring it up because maybe you're pulling too many amps but not enough to fire both lamps at the same time?
 

AlaskaRob

Well-Known Member
Anyone know how much heat can expect a 50 pint dehumidifier to put out as it pulls moisture from the air?
My situation is that the person staying in the room where my rent is located has been closing the window at night and thereby cutting off the exhaust from escaping the room. Humidity levels in my flowering tent has hit over 70% each morning I check the security camera looking at the climate controller.
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
Any idea how many amps you're pulling from the circuit? Or even from that one outlet? 2 lamps can pull 5 amps to run, and slightly more to fire up. Standard household wiring in the states would either be a 15 or 20 amp circuit breaker. Rms (root mean squared) of that is 75%. Once you get to 75% of a circuit, it's only a matter of time before heat from the amperage running through the wires heat the breaker enough to pop. I only bring it up because maybe you're pulling too many amps but not enough to fire both lamps at the same time?
I’ll try moving some stuff off that circuit and see if it changes, that very well could be the issue and I’d run a new outlet but this is last run in these tents, so I’ll just relocate some things for now.
 

Logan Burke

Well-Known Member
I don't have a dehuey or I'd be happy to offer advice AlaskaRob :/

On a seperate note, I just got two 315w CMH's installed in my 6x6x6ft tent, one on each side of the 1000w HPS. The light is pretty intense, and I am very pleased. I am hoping that the extra 630w of cmh lighting will at least increase my yield by 50%...anyone think that will happen versus just my 1000w hps?
 

TintEastwood

Well-Known Member
I’ll try moving some stuff off that circuit and see if it changes, that very well could be the issue and I’d run a new outlet but this is last run in these tents, so I’ll just relocate some things for now.
Had a similar situation with staggering startup for two 315's. Had chitty timer relays fail on me as well. Invested in a lighting controller and no more frustrations since. Titan Hades 2 fit my needs.
 

TintEastwood

Well-Known Member
Anyone know how much heat can expect a 50 pint dehumidifier to put out as it pulls moisture from the air?
My situation is that the person staying in the room where my rent is located has been closing the window at night and thereby cutting off the exhaust from escaping the room. Humidity levels in my flowering tent has hit over 70% each morning I check the security camera looking at the climate controller.
When the compressor is running on my Black and decker 50 pint....it's constantly kicking out hot exhaust.

I run a sealed 4x8x8. Dehuey exhaust increases the load on my AC. I run the dehuey stand-alone 24/7, not connected to a controller.
 

AlaskaRob

Well-Known Member
Yeah I setup the dehumidifier a half hour ago. Within 30 minutes on the low setting, it dropped from 65% to 40%! I set the humidistat at 40, but didn't realize that fans keep blowing on that thing but just blow cool air when not sucking moisture out of the air actively. What hurt was when I watched the temp, within that same half hour, climb up to 85°F. I inched the light timer forward an hour so I can move slowly towards only running the lights when the fans are sucking in air from the shaded side of the house. At least the humidity is under control now? I don't think the heat will be so bad now that the humidity is at the point of regulation but only time will tell.
 

AlaskaRob

Well-Known Member
I had a thought tho:
Hot air rises, so I put exhaust duct, fan and filter at the top of the tent. I pull cooler air in at the bott9m of the tent.
If I swapped the ducting around and pulled the cooler air in at the top to rain down from above and pull out from the bottom to the outside......would that work better for regulating heat over the canopy?
 

AlaskaRob

Well-Known Member
Holy hell Logan! I dare say you might melt the walls! Lol
I'd like to see what you're temps get to, if you don't mind sharing sometime. I think I'd like to add a second light, but I don't think another 630w cmh would be right for in there. In hindsight, altho I love my lights versatility, the hood just doesn't give the spread I want. Got a great guy in Australia that showed me the equivalent of a raptor xl hood but for dual bulb cmh. 60$ plus shipping. I think I'm going to Frankenstein my light with it. And I noticed screws that can easily be removed to separate the ballast from the hood I have now, but the cord to the bulbs would need to be lengthened for sure. A remote ballast, a raptor XL equivalent hood for cmh, AND 630w?! That could be a serious win for the heat battle, hot spot area, and light sprrad!
 
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