First ballast - Help

A

Amphora420

New Member
first time grower ... using cfls .. so i ordered a 250watt cfl .. bulb was huge .. so i ordered a apollo normal hood .. n it came with baars or whaterver plug .. after research so it looks like only a ballast which i was waiting on buying till i switched to mh/hps will fit this plug .. so now i need a ballast just to run these big cfls .. im assuming .. moneys really tight at the moment n dont really want to invest on a good one untill i can actually buy the light system i want so im looking at these cheap $60 ebay ones 400 watt .. since i only need 250 watts . question is i,ve seen 240 chords as something they sell like people need to buy them extra to get the ballast just to plug into a normal wall socket .. so #1 do i need to buy that extra cord or anything else to get the ballast to plug into a normal plug .. n #2 they all come dimable n i read something aout it a 140 /240 setting maybe that was the extra cord .. any how i guess the switch was for hps or mw which i will neither be running at this grow ... so what setting do i use for cfl / high watts 125-250 apollo bulbs........really a pain in the ass , i just wanted to order these lights n plug them in ... now im in the begining of flowering short a few hundred watts ... trying to order this cheap ballast asap......... thanks
 
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Hi friend, with the big CFL'S all you need is an E40 CFL hanger which you can get off the bay quite cheap. You can get ones with in - built hangers to make placing them easier. The CFL'S have inbuilt ballasts, so like the previous post suggests the one you have purchased is for HID lights like MH/HPS. Hope this helps ☺

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damm , that looks like it would work except the plug looks different .. just trying to plug it into the wall socket
 
soooooo im looking at these E40 CFL hangers on ebay n they all come with uk plugs ... where n how to i get one to plug in a normal american wall socket .......
 
soooooo im looking at these E40 CFL hangers on ebay n they all come with uk plugs ... where n how to i get one to plug in a normal american wall socket .......
 
You can actually get reflectors specific for CFL lighting that come with standard plugs. I'm from the UK myself but you could easily search for a CFL reflector on the bay, and if it comes with a UK plug you can get a 3 pin - American (2-pin?) Adaptor. Once again you only need a ballast for MH/HPS lighting, the CFL you have already has one in built so it would be a waste of money to buy a ballast to use with the CFL... that and I'm not sure it would actually work. Your options are either what I just mentioned with a CFL reflector, or splashing out for a ballast and some HID bulbs to use with your current reflector. If you are going to be making the jump to MH/HPS lighting at some point in the near future you might just be better off taking the plunge now.

Sent from my SM-G800F using 420 Magazine Mobile App
 

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