Bulbs

[NCDude]

Geeez....400 watt Metal Halide and HPS are expensive at my local garden stores, $60 to $90 bucks. I know 'reliability' is a factor, but the on like bulb stores sell them for 12-20 bucks....whats the difference?

Also, what are MH 'conversion' bulbs?

I'm no expert, I have been growing for a couple of years, I'm having fun and my results are getting better and better, thanks to posts on this forum. I'm a bit insulted at the hight prices of fertilizers from online and my local garden stores, and have a cabinet full of 1/2 empty bottles of the $tuff...I'm getting better results with better soils, and it's cheaper...so, I was wondering if I was getting gouged on the lights....


10-4

 

[JJ Bones]

Re: Bulbs....

Depends on the brand for pricing really. Sunmaster and Hortilux tend to be the most expensive. The difference is where and how they're made. Some are just cheaply made in a Chinese factory. Others are made with more quality and specifics in mind.

Conversion bulbs are metal halide bulbs meant to work on hps only ballasts

 

[The303Stoner]

Re: Bulbs....

I know around here Ultra Sun 400w hps $15-$30and Plant Max are Cheap 400w hps $15-$30 and $30-$40 MH

 

[The303Stoner]

Re: Bulbs....

I have read a few times conversion bulbs don't last long I've never used them

 

[GeorgeFoster]

Re: Bulbs....

I use ebay and get Sunmaster 600W Mh or HPS for $30 each, free shipping.

For $30 a pop I can use em 1 or 2 grows and toss em.

I have since switched to T5's for vegging to conserve overall power during 18/6 cycle and ballast hrs.

I don't use conversion bulbs, if not mistaken Conversion bulbs require a special ballast?

 

[MacEFL]

Re: Bulbs....

Conversion bulbs are used when you have a HPS ballast and want to run Metal Halide. Or, if you have 600 watters, like us. I have seen 1 bulb that claimed it was true MH for 600's. Of course I forgot to bookmark. I currently start with a CFL array I built and finish vegging with HPS. But the question is, why no true MH for 600's?

I went searching and found this. Digilux makes a true MH lamp. They report 75,000 lumens. That's better than any conversions I have seen. At $70.00 plus electricity I will stick to what I am doing now. I love the short internodal length. Here is a pic.

 

[brotherbuddz]

ipower also has bulbs for 600w either in MH or Super HPS but they are pretty cheap about $20 and from the reviews I have read they work well