Skip the CFL's: The $20 150w complete HPS with ballast and bulb Link

i received my 150 hps from econolight with bulb, ballast, and reflector hood yesterday. It hooked up and worked all fine initially, but today I wake up to find the fixture not turning on. It makes a buzzing sound when plugged in, but the bulb does not ignite. Could this just be a bad bulb or a bigger problem? I rechecked my wiring to the power cord and it was all fine.

Rambunctious said:

Thank you la9. I kyped a couple of photos from icmag and posted them in my journal (not to highjack this thread but, you're welcome to chime in). It's probably not as difficult as it is intimidating, right?

Click to expand...

Not intimidating at all, just removed the sensor from the circuit no big deal. I usually just put a piece of electrical tape over the sensor, that way you can switch it back in mere seconds if you need to.

starlightfury said:

i received my 150 hps from econolight with bulb, ballast, and reflector hood yesterday. It hooked up and worked all fine initially, but today I wake up to find the fixture not turning on. It makes a buzzing sound when plugged in, but the bulb does not ignite. Could this just be a bad bulb or a bigger problem? I rechecked my wiring to the power cord and it was all fine.

Click to expand...

Just do the normal stuff first, unscrew the bulb and then plug the cord in, see if it still buzzes, screw the bulb back in and see if it comes on. Unscrew the wire nuts and take the wires apart and re wire them again with the wire nuts. Let it run for a half hour to make sure it has a chance to ignite, then call them and get a replacement if you are still having problems.

Why are you removing that sensor? What purpose does this serve?

Usually the sensor is a photocell in a security light and it keeps the light from turning on during the daytime hours, so if you put it in your grow room with all your lighting it won't let the light come on because the sensor won't let it.

So I can just cut it out and splice the wires back together?

Would I need to do this if i'm using two of these as my only source of light?

Like I said before instead of splicing wires you can cover the photocell with a piece of tape and the light will think it is dark out and will light. If at a later date you wish to use it for a security light just pull the tape off and you are done. There is usually a little clear window on the fixture so it isn't a big deal to do. Much easier than taking it apert and cutting wires.

sweet info. thx guys!

la9 said:

Like I said before instead of splicing wires you can cover the photocell with a piece of tape and the light will think it is dark out and will light. If at a later date you wish to use it for a security light just pull the tape off and you are done. There is usually a little clear window on the fixture so it isn't a big deal to do. Much easier than taking it apert and cutting wires.

Click to expand...

Awesome. Thanks, and +rep.

Are you clear on what I'm explaining ? I want you to understand completely if you are trying to learn.

Yeah, I put a peice of electrical tape over the clear window on the fixture so that it reads that its dark out. By blocking off the light sensor, the fixture thinks its night time, and will work; as opposed to leaving the tape off, and the sensor thinks its daytime.

Cool, you got it !!!!! You can MOD it or UN MOD it in a matter of seconds and without taking it apart, that is the coolest thing of all.

Glad I could help, you have any other questions just ask.

Alright, well here goes then.

My room is a crawl space in an attic, I plan on mounting these horizontally on the wood beams that support the roof. Since the roof is a 45 degree angle, i should be able to move them up or down the beam to adjust the height. How high can I mount them from the plants without losing effectiveness? I'll have the whole area wrapped in mylar (just bought a 55" by 25' roll of 1mil mylar). Id like to be able to mount the lights without having to adjust them frequently (like my last grow with cfl's, where I adjusted daily).

Also, how much flouro light should I use with these during veg? I have over 550 REAL watts of CFL's left from my last grow- should I veg entirely with CFL's? Or use 1 HPS and some CFL's? Or both HPS's and some CFL's? In total, I have the two 150w HPS's, about 14 or 15 warm light CFL's of varying sizes, and 4 cool light CFLs (also of varying sizes). I also want to have a clone box eventually, but that wont be until I start flowering the seeds I have now. I havent yet started germinating (just got the seeds yesterday, still waiting for the light and mylar).

Well, looks like everything you do will mainly be for personal preference, it's just going to be what works out best for you. Personally I use jack chain on my stuff. You could place 2 nails somewhere and then use jack chain, slip it over the nail, and adjust it as needed. Quick and simple. That solves your height problems.

Light distance, you want to keep the lights pretty close without burning the plants as I'm sure you already know. They can stay warm. You might want to stay with the HPS because you still be effective at a further distance than the flourescents. You won't have to adjust as much. For veg I'd definitely mix the 2 so you have some blue light in there.

How many CFL's do you need ? It's all up to how you grow how reflective the area is. Just have to base it around what you used last time, try a little less and see what happens or try a little more, there is no right or wrong answer, just what works for you. If they start stretching add more light.

Hope that helps but like I said it is mostly personal preference for you.

When I flowered under CFL's, they didnt stretch much, but didnt really bulk up as much as I'd have liked. My large sativas yeilded a little over a half ounce each, with very big colas that werent very dense. Im thinking I'll use 1 HPS and a bunch of CFL's for veg, then swap out the remaining CFL's for the second HPS for flowering, and move the CFL's to the clone box.

Thanks again for the help.

Well I bought three of these guys. I'm going to use some fluorescent tubes with them for vegetation. I think this is really going to help me. Thanks a lot for reposting this OregonMeds . If nothing else these will make GREAT side lights for when i get my 400 watt hps.

Where in Oregon you from OregonMeds?

How much does an HPS light change your electric bill? I'm using CFL's because I don't want my electric bill going up.

misshestermoffitt said:

How much does an HPS light change your electric bill? I'm using CFL's because I don't want my electric bill going up.

Click to expand...

Watts are watts, it doesnt matter what type of light theyre coming from. A 250w HPS will cost EXACTLY the same amount to run as 250w of CFL light, and the HPS wil be MUCH more effective for growing.

Senor, sounds like you have a plan worked out and it should be pretty good. I'd see about getting a 400 watt HPS in the future if you want more bud, plus switching over to something more indica dominant instead of stativa. What are you planning on growing in the space right now ? Might try some White Widow or something similiar.

la9 said:

Senor, sounds like you have a plan worked out and it should be pretty good. I'd see about getting a 400 watt HPS in the future if you want more bud, plus switching over to something more indica dominant instead of stativa. What are you planning on growing in the space right now ? Might try some White Widow or something similiar.

Click to expand...

White Skunk. White Widow x Super Skunk. Its a 50/50 Indica Sativa hybrid. I ordered White Dwarf, but the Attitude sent me White Skunk. Whatever. I was looking forward to to the autoflowering trait, but at least now I'll be able to take clones.

I was planning on a 400w, but I'm afraid my room doesnt have enough vertical clearance for it. Ive got about 4 feet from floor to ceiling to work with. I just recently moved to where I am now- my old room was 6'x6' with 8 foot ceilings.