Best DIY lighting

[bluter]

@bluter sorry mate, don't take it personal, but I'm pissed off with this prices and the european market and the fact that I cant afford, and another stressing fact is that you are not the only one who's sayin I'm using prehistoric lights, instead of leds... but they are simply not affordable... in this side of the globe....

Sorry if I took it personal also.... didint mean to

Also I wanna thank @Bill284 for re-opening this thread for me and thank you @bluter for all the advice and info, again, please dont take it personal, it's just me being foked up.... really sorry mate!

I will swap into LEDs asap as I'm not confortable anymore with HIDs. Even if I dont have too much options.... still searching and diggin the market...

Stay safe all!

it's all good. everybody starts somewhere.

i often recommend a builder who is one of the board sponsors - - even though i vocally oppose many of their business practices and associations. they just happen to have further market reach. sometimes it's the only choice.

it's something a lot of us face. no loss of dignity in that.

i do, however like to recommend many other board sponsors as well. if you get there i'd sure help you.

there are diy solutions as well. never forget that. there's a lot of folk who self built. myself included.

 

[HPS Only]

it's all good. everybody starts somewhere.

i often recommend a builder who is one of the board sponsors - - even though i vocally oppose many of their business practices and associations. they just happen to have further market reach. sometimes it's the only choice.

it's something a lot of us face. no loss of dignity in that.

i do, however like to recommend many other board sponsors as well. if you get there i'd sure help you.

there are diy solutions as well. never forget that. there's a lot of folk who self built. myself included.

hey mate, sorry again for bad attitude, bully and bad behavior.

First of all I dont trust myself to diy when it comes to this kind of stuff, so I wont try diy with leds, jeez, I'm newbie in all.

Second, believe me, I try all sponsors, they dont ship in here,or the best shipping price I got from Nextlights $131, or, if they have Europe retailers / official stores... you saw the prices on viparspectra, it's same situation with marshydro, vivosun(no shipping), growstar only usa and canada... maxsisun on amazon and we dont have delivery from all retailers from amazon and so on...
So our sponsors cover most of USA and Canada, and the shops in Europe have hot prices....

 

[KingJohnC]

The issue I encounter last night :
Purchase new HID sys
Lumatek 400w electronic dimmable ballast
Elektrox 400w HPS Super Bloom

Wire them as I use to wire in the past, also how I wire another HID sys I run (a600w).
10m distance between bulb and ballast (different room) with 15m total of cable from reflector to ballast.

Made all wiring on colours, firmly screw the bulb into reflector socket (not with bare hand, so I dont leave grease and fingerprints), set the ballast on 400w and plug it in.
After 10s of nothing, the bulb started to try and ignite, flickering and not getting stable for about 5s, panic so unpluged.
Made wiring again, screw bulb back in, plugin again to ignite, same result, flickering with a blue colour for 10s or more and than complete darkness. I unpluged all, waited few minutes and unscrew the bulb.
This time, the ARC inside was black on both sider, looking fry, like 1 year on and off.

Talk today on the grow shop, they offer to replace the bulb, but I was curious why this hapen?

The Lumatek High Intensity Discharge ballast incorporate hot re strike prevention circuitry which prevent an attempt to re strike an ark by the ballast from until sufficient time to allow the light bulb to cool. The light bulb's seal is defective and the blue colour verifies the contamination of outside air present inside the bulb.

 

[KingJohnC]

at this point i'd say you are looking for a massive fire.

at the very least make sure your bulb is rated for the ballast. that would be a bulb that is able to handle the max output, but is also dimmable. you might have got the wrong bulb as well. i doubt it, but i'd start there. i very much think you don't have enough power for a second room.

Blutter is correct!

The 400 watt light bulb is a part of the safety equipment to safely use a 400 watt ballast and should not be overwritten.
A 250 watt light bulb is not compatible with using a higher rate power supply. If you have been present and witnessed a catastrophic failure when a High Intensity Discharge light bulb exploded you would exercise caution. Please re read the safty instructions included with the Lumatek digital ballast.

 

[VetSmoke85]

Building a light isn't all that difficult. Check some videos on it and you may find it's something you'd actually be okay doing. I have a Nextlight core sat doing nothing. If shipping from UK to wherever you are isn't too bad maybe we could sort something out.

 

[HPS Only]

The Lumatek High Intensity Discharge ballast incorporate hot re strike prevention circuitry which prevent an attempt to re strike an ark by the ballast from until sufficient time to allow the light bulb to cool. The light bulb's seal is defective and the blue colour verifies the contamination of outside air present inside the bulb.

So what you sayin is I had a defective bulb from begining?

Blutter is correct!

The 400 watt light bulb is a part of the safety equipment to safely use a 400 watt ballast and should not be overwritten.

I havent supply more W, I had the ballast setted on 400w,same with the bulb

A 250 watt light bulb is not compatible with using a higher rate power supply. If you have been present and witnessed a catastrophic failure when a High Intensity Discharge light bulb exploded you would exercise caution. Please re read the safty instructions included with the Lumatek digital ballast.

I havent witnessed such thing, and I dont want to also....

If I had to light the new bulb I've just recived, the 250w, you are sayin that bulb can explode, even if I set the ballast to 250W?
I mean, I still wont light second room. I wanna know for my Information...


To be honest I can't hardly wait to finish current grow and swap into LEDs...

 

[bluter]

hey mate, sorry again for bad attitude, bully and bad behavior.

relax. no worries at all. you weren't being nasty as far as i'm concerned.

First of all I dont trust myself to diy when it comes to this kind of stuff, so I wont try diy with leds, jeez, I'm newbie in all.

there are resources you can access. don't be afraid. it's really not that difficult.

Second, believe me, I try all sponsors, they dont ship in here,or the best shipping price I got from Nextlights $131

the @NextLight would be worth the shipping depending on model.

Building a light isn't all that difficult. Check some videos on it and you may find it's something you'd actually be okay doing. I have a Nextlight core sat doing nothing. If shipping from UK to wherever you are isn't too bad maybe we could sort something out.

for reference try led gardener dot com. i can't link direct. it's not a cannabis site, it is dedicated to diy led builders and has many tools and example builds.

also ask @Nunyabiz .. he builds incredible led strip lights which is what the thread is supposed to be about.

So what you sayin is I had a defective bulb from begining?

very likely. or a wrong match up.

If I had to light the new bulb I've just recived, the 250w, you are sayin that bulb can explode, even if I set the ballast to 250W?
I mean, I still wont light second room. I wanna know for my Information...

you need a dimmable hps bulb rated for the max power of your ballast. if the max power of your ballast is 600w you need a 600w dimmable hps bulb.. everything else is gonna blow up. the igniter will take them out, and a straight 600w won't fire.

To be honest I can't hardly wait to finish current grow and swap into LEDs...

it makes environment management much much easier.

 

[bluter]

i got turned around for a minute .. you should be able to run either the 400 or 600w no problem on the ballast. it might be the 250w that is the issue. but the 250 should still fire on the lowest setting.

 

[KingJohnC]

So what you sayin is I had a defective bulb from begining?


I havent supply more W, I had the ballast setted on 400w,same with the bulb

I havent witnessed such thing, and I dont want to also....

If I had to light the new bulb I've just recived, the 250w, you are sayin that bulb can explode, even if I set the ballast to 250W?
I mean, I still wont light second room. I wanna know for my Information...


To be honest I can't hardly wait to finish current grow and swap into LEDs...

Most people are not familiar with labelling practices and the seal degrades from the day manufactured. Most pot grow shops are not known for reading important life altering directions! When the stores purchase High Intensity Discharge High Pressure Sodium or Metal Halide light bulbs either through middle brokers or foreign supply manufacturers fail to read the date of production and use by dates. Commonly grow shops do not sell high enough volume and rotate their inventory fast enough instead allowing light bulbs to sit indefinitely before sale. If you received a light bulb from a grow store which has sat for over a quarter year the seal is degraded allowing outside air contamination from harmful environmental conditions of storage. The nearest comparison I can make is to camera film rolls which have a use by date and develop by date must only be stored in controlled conditions to prevent degradation otherwise the film is ruined by distortion, off colours or streaking across every photograph. There is a great difference between a seal and a cap for containers.

Extreme Hazard Danger!

The 400 watt light bulb is a part of the safety equipment to safely use a 400 watt ballast and should not be overwritten.
A 250 watt light bulb is not compatible with using a higher rate power supply. If you have been present and witnessed a catastrophic failure when a High Intensity Discharge light bulb exploded you would exercise caution. Please re read the safety instructions included with the Lumatek digital ballast.

I am outright stating do not override the safety rating of the equipment. The light bulb is an integral piece of the safety tolerance of equipment and any variance will not work! The amperage is increased in the higher rated ballast output and will cause catastrophic explosion and very likely fire and or exposure to harmful gases.

Lumatek's 400 watt Digital Electronic Ballast which is only safe for use with a safety rated 400 watt High Intensity Discharge light bulb.

You may see I use the Lumatek 400 watt Digital Electronic Ballast in my KingJohnC's 400 Watt LA Confidential Seed Cabinet Soil Indoor Grow Journal.

here is the power bar, Lumatek digital 400 watt ballast, timer, air pump for Deep Water Culture

Lumatek as well manufactures a 250 watt Digital Electronic Ballast which is only safe for use with a safety rated 250 watt High Intensity Discharge light bulb!

 

[KingJohnC]

i got turned around for a minute .. you should be able to run either the 400 or 600w no problem on the ballast. it might be the 250w that is the issue. but the 250 should still fire on the lowest setting.

Advises against overriding safety ratings of High Intensity Discharge light equipment! Those fires on the news reports You read and hear reports on grow operation are results of incompetence where overriding electrical safety!

 

[meejay]

Far as I can tell this LED is the best light out there for the cost.

This one in the video is 4 x 4 and 650w
Mine is the same but I split it up into two lights that are 24" x 26" and 325w each to fit my space.

This is an instructional video on how to build the 48" x 48" light.
Super easy.

Should be somewhere around $800 for 16 strips in what ever configuration you need.

One thing I concluded from your design is 650W of LED light is enough for a 4X4. Can you or anyone might confirm this? or is there a rule of thumb for LED light source? Also I would love if you provide units of 4x4. Sorry we use SI here and I am used to it.
Cheers!

 

[Nunyabiz]

Yes 650w of efficient LED is plenty for 4x4.
Thats 40w per sq/ft and with a strip/bar light its evenly spread.

 

[bluter]

One thing I concluded from your design is 650W of LED light is enough for a 4X4. Can you or anyone might confirm this? or is there a rule of thumb for LED light source? Also I would love if you provide units of 4x4. Sorry we use SI here and I am used to it.
Cheers!

i actually run 600w at the moment. i'm going up in power soon though. a lot of the newer rigs are more efficient, meaning they produce more lumens per watt consumed, so the 600 - 650w figure is dropping. it really depends on the mfgr and the rig.

 

[TorturedSoul]

A 400-watt Lumatek ballast should be able to reliably fire a 400-watt bulb at 10m, but that assumes the ignitor circuitry (whatever the electronic ballast version of an ignitor is properly called) is in fine condition, the bulb is generally within specifications vis-à-vis firing voltage/etc., rest of ballast is in good condition and not preventing the full starting voltage from occurring in the first place, no corrosion on the socket (or its connection points), and... correctly sized wiring for your ballast-to-socket run.

I'd look at the last thing on that list, first. But also consider that some Lumatek ballasts had issues with some brands of bulbs. No, I don't recall which. I haven't even looked at mine in years. It fired every bulb I used (but most of them Lumatak brand 400-watt HPS), except that the crappy "whatever" general purpose 250-watt metal halide bulbs I bought at the hardware-themed department stores (Lowes and Home Depot) for $14.99 didn't last very long.

Try a better (or at least slightly shorter) known good cable. If you still encounter issues, but a Lumatek "high PAR" bulb. Or a Ushio, which also used to have a good reputation with Lumatek HID ballasts when more people still used the things. Not an Eye Hortilux, but about the next best thing (and the EH might "sing" when powered by a Lumatek, but the Ushio probably won't).