hps pro needed

plantz

plantz

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, im buying a HPS im thinkin 250 or 400 watt.. i want the 400 watt but i have questions... i found alot of expensive ones labeled "grow lights" al over google. Then i found a site that sells just the ballast... no reflector.. no bulb.. the bulbs are cheap right? anyways this is it.. http://www.1000bulbs.com/400-Watt-High-Pressure-Sodium/34226/
please check it out and tell me if i should buy that... is it not intended for growing? Can i build my own reflecter out of sheet metal? Is there any tricks to this? seems to good to be true!!!
 
timsatx1

timsatx1

Well-Known Member
it all depends onhow creative you ge. i would say buy a ballast and hood from a hydroponics store and save yourself the headache of making one yourself they arte only about 200 buks for 400 watts
 
Detchord

Detchord

Active Member
plantz

plantz

Well-Known Member
anyone else.. more interested in an answer for my question..ty though and +reps to you for your input
 
communistcannabis

communistcannabis

Well-Known Member
sheat metal is not as reflective as the reflectors, bulbs are 40-250$ depending on what you want, i perfer higher quality bulbs like hortilux, i got my 400w hps for 300 with a reflector and hortilux super hps bulb and it kicks ass, good luck
 
plantz

plantz

Well-Known Member
communistcannabis said:
sheat metal is not as reflective as the reflectors, bulbs are 40-250$ depending on what you want, i perfer higher quality bulbs like hortilux, i got my 400w hps for 300 with a reflector and hortilux super hps bulb and it kicks ass, good luck
Click to expand...
this bulb is alot less cheaper than 40$... anyone hels here know anyhting
 
tat2ue

tat2ue

Well-Known Member
O.K. let see ...the ballast you want to get is around 70 bucks plus shipping...Then there is the cordset and mogal socket (25-30 bucks) then you have to get a plug at home depot (5-7 bucks) then you want to build some type of reflector I, I guess you could use some sheet metal(15-20 bucks ????guessing) and 10 bucks for incidentals (tools, screws,nuts & bolts and maybe some alum angle or brackets to secure your socket to the DIY hood. And a decent grow bulb (30-50 bucks) plus all the running around and piecemilling it together...pretty soon that 70 ballast is gonna cost you about 150 to 175 dollars and there is no warranty if it shits out on ya. I got five 400 watt conversion grow lights from them last year. comes with everything, including a HPS and a Metal halide conversion light for around 175.00 bucks more or less. JMO
 
tat2ue

tat2ue

Well-Known Member
tat2ue said:
O.K. let see ...the ballast you want to get is around 70 bucks plus shipping...Then there is the cordset and mogal socket (25-30 bucks) then you have to get a plug at home depot (5-7 bucks) then you want to build some type of reflector I, I guess you could use some sheet metal(15-20 bucks ????guessing) and 10 bucks for incidentals (tools, screws,nuts & bolts and maybe some alum angle or brackets to secure your socket to the DIY hood. And a decent grow bulb (30-50 bucks) plus all the running around and piecemilling it together...pretty soon that 70 ballast is gonna cost you about 150 to 175 dollars and there is no warranty if it shits out on ya. I got five 400 watt conversion grow lights from them last year. comes with everything, including a HPS and a Metal halide conversion light for around 175.00 bucks more or less. JMO
Click to expand...


Forgot to write in HTGSupply.com
HTG Supply
 
DownOnWax

DownOnWax

Well-Known Member
Detchord said:
id recommend this. http://cgi.ebay.com/High-power-2x50W-112-led-grow-light-panel-Hydroponics_W0QQitemZ180344012407QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item180344012407&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14

140 bux plus shipping. no ballasts, hoods, bulbs, reflectors, ducting, fans to buy. 2 of those panels or 100watts of led will blow away a 400w hps and last u 10 years! oh and its only burning 100watts per hour instead of 400. check out my pics for proof that led's do in fact work.
Click to expand...
LED's work but there is no way those piece of shit LED's on ebay will blow away a quality 400 watt HID.
 
danksmoker77

danksmoker77

Well-Known Member
Plantz,

To answer your question YES, only buying the ballast is a good idea. You can actually just buy a ballasy kit it's the tranformer, capacitor, and ignitor. These are the same components inside a pre made ballast. All you need to do is follow the directions and wire it up. If you dont mind taking the time to tinker this is the way to go. Keep in mind these kits are not electronic ballasts. Meaning they will use more power, and maybe a little flicker. I bought a 600w ballast kit from:

Highpressuresodium.net I found them to be the lowest price after extensive research. I bought the You can save alot of money making lights this way with your larger lights. Keep searchin though you can find some pretty cheap 400w complete setups. and when you feel like goin bigger you could then just buy a kit and convert. Oh yeah unless your space is smaller than 3.5' x 3.5' I would consider 600w
 
olosto

olosto

New Member
Save yourself the hassle. Goto that site posted a few posts ago.

People always try to get creative and thats great and stuff, but there are some things that if your not an expert (talking about buying a ballast in kit form and doing the wireing and make your own case), why mess with it? You could easilly spend more money trying to half-ass something than by doing it right the first time.
 
plantz

plantz

Well-Known Member
thanks guys. anymore? i was thinking buying like 6 85 watt cfl's...thats like 130$...dont really have space for 400 watter
 
Brick Top

Brick Top

New Member
plantz said:
thanks guys. anymore? i was thinking buying like 6 85 watt cfl's...thats like 130$...dont really have space for 400 watter
Click to expand...


I am not saying this is what you are doing but many people look at a HID light and then CFL’s and if they pick the CFL’s they look at wattage and if they get roughly the same number of watts or somewhat more they believe they will have the same area of coverage with the CFL’s.

Consider just a comparison of HID lights. A 1000-watt HPS will cover an area 8ft. by 8ft. That is 64sq. ft. of coverage. A 250-watt will cover an area of 3ft. by 3ft. That is 9sq ft. of coverage.

Using watts to watts someone could say four 250-watt HPS lights equal one 1000-watt HPS but if you figure sq. footage of coverage you are looking at 7.1 250-watt HPS lights needed to cover an area 8ft. by 8ft. Even then you will not get as much/deep light penetration as the 1000-watt HPS so there really is no accurate way to compare lower wattage lighting to higher wattage lighting and then comparing CFL to HID the comparison becomes even more inaccurate.

Scrap the CFL idea and buy HID lighting, preferably a dual MH/HPS model so you have both a MH and a HPS light spectrum so you are covered for both vegging and flowering. You will be happier if you take that route instead of going with CFL’s.
 
Brick Top

Brick Top

New Member
plantz said:
dont really have space for 400 watter
Click to expand...


I am curious what size space you are using? A 400-watt hood from HTG is:

Dimensions: 15.5" long x 12.5" wide x 6" deep

That is not large. Are you growing in a drawer or shoebox or something?
 
plantz

plantz

Well-Known Member
Brick Top said:
I am curious what size space you are using? A 400-watt hood from HTG is:

Dimensions: 15.5" long x 12.5" wide x 6" deep

That is not large. Are you growing in a drawer or shoebox or something?
Click to expand...
growing in closet.. its about 2' wide 8' long 8' high
basically a rectangular closet with high ceiling.. its not wide enough for hps right?
 
Detchord

Detchord

Active Member
shit i had a 1kw in a closet that big... wasnt a problem untill july, then it got up to 95 degrees for a few days in there n i got some mold. Id do 1 400 hps over a 2x4 tray for flower, and stick to t5 or led for veg and rooting just to cut down on the heat in the closet. u should be able to pull 8 oz per harvest that way
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top