newbe looking for best deal on hps

:rasta: first post. looking for a place to get hps lights (son agro). ive seen so many different prices out there any help would be apprecieated

It is my honor to be the first to welcome you. I hope your first post goes well.

I suggest a digital ballast. They are a little more money up front, but they run cooler and flicker free, take less energy, and make the bulbs last longer. Eventually the price difference is more than made up for. Or so they say, I bought one and it is much cooler and the light seems to come on easier and faster. Keeping your grow area cool is a big concern with HID lights and a cool ballast will help. I haven't measured electricity though, and I probably won't.

As far as the best deal, they are usually on the internet, often on Ebay. Go to several online hydro stores and compare prices and policies (I'd try searching "lights hydroponic"). Sorry I can't help with specific stores. I usually just end up going to the real life hydro store and spending a little more money. I get my stuff now, and it's fun to browse. Also you can use cash, if that's a concern for you. And if it is, you can be stealthy with your online purchases also. This isn't a concern for me because I have a medical permit, but I am rambling.

Of course if you are really on a budget, you may want to consider building all your stuff from scratch. If you search forums like these you will find how to build your own HID lights for much less money.

I don't know how much planning you've done, but be sure to drop some coin on ventalation. Like I mentioned before, HID lights run hot. You will be sorry in the future if you don't ventalate now. Also don't do like I did with regards to co2. If you are thinking of ever adding this, be sure to research it so you will know how to arrange your ventalation accordingly. (You can't have room exhuast on, while the co2 is on, but the HID light still needs to be cooled.)

hey thanks for the info. i have 4 plants now that are about 5-6 inches but i started them outside and have ben bringing them inside for extended light periods in the closet under some shitty light that doesnt seen to do a damn thing. so ive been trying to find good info on the right lights, ive read so many different ideas its mind boggling. any idea on the best solution thanks again

http://www.insidesun.com/index.php?a...=2&prevstart=0

copy and paste this link. 400 watter for a c-note.

The best solution is a cool tube. The faqs show how to make one for cheap, or you can buy a good one for about $120. If you have a 3' x 3' closet or something similar, 400 watts would be great. I used to have that but recently upgraded to 600, and started a separate veg area with the old 400. I highly recommend a setup like this because you can harvest twice as often. I was sick and tired of going through all the effort and still not having enough weed.

You'll also need a good fan like a 4" inline fan. I think good inline fans are much quieter than blowers. I use Can Fan brand becuase for the same supposed CFM, one of theirs outsucked two of the competition.

Some shitty light that doesn't do a damn thing will do just that. Take a little money and effort and do it right the first time with HID lights. If you choose flouros, you'll need a shitload of them to get any results, but it is possible. Nothing like HID though.

thanks dimebonic333 best deal ive seen yet

thanks opie ive heard that i can get away with a 400 hps through the entire cycle rather then a hps and a mh ???? thanks again for the info

That does seem like a good deal if you are on an extremely tight budget. But consider:

- It's not digital. Digital will pay for itself.
- It's not ventilated like a cool tube or enclosed hood would be. You will not be able to get it very close to your plants, so it will greatly reduce it's efficiency. With my 400W cool tube the plants can touch the glass with no harm. Since you are a newbie you probably have not researched how much intensity goes away when the light is at greater distances, but it is very important to consider. That 400W may have the same intensity as a 200W cool tube would have, when you consider how far away you will have to keep it. Just my opinion, but it happens to be right.
- I've found that you nearly always get what you pay for. What about warrantee, references, shipping, returen policies, etc.?
- Zandor, moderator of this forum and evidentally the all-being, master of time space and dimension, says that if you go cheap you'll grow cheap. I happen to agree with him.
- Non enclosed hoods can be dangerous, especially with HPS bulbs. Spray a little water on it and it may explode.

I didn't see your last post before I posted mine. As far as the same bulb for grow and veg I highly discourage it. It will work and you will get weed, but not nearly enough for yor effort. If you go this route, make sure the emphesis is on the flowering (more red spectrum like HPS), because after all, that's the important part. Anything will work for the veg stage, just not as well as MH. There are switchable ballasts, and their are conversion bulbs. Either of these would be a much better choice than one bulb. I think (not sure) all digital ballasts allow you to use conversion bulbs, so they are similar to a switchable ballast.

I think if I were to buy only one HID ballast that were not conversion or switchable, I would buy it for flowering and use blue spectrum flouros for vegging. You would probably get about the same results for much less electricity. There is a formula or two to figure this out somewhere.

Let me warn you about cool tubes...they are only as good as the 500 bucks worth of fans you really need to make them cool...the homemade units help, and will work great...If, you have the centrifugal fans to push enough air to keep them cool.

for all my lighting needs I buy from bghydro...and they have the support/service after the sale. lw

What about the Phototron?
Has anyone here ever used one or seen one up close & personally?
I like the concept very much but they are pricey...and I don't know if they are practical.

http://www.phototron.com/

Deff get Hortilux bulb. Those who use swear by them. Also, as someone said about distance from plant, for every foot you are away, you loose roughly 50% of your intensity. Here is a great chart to give you some info.
http://boards.cannabis.com/attachmen...2&d=1148175556


b0nger

horti is the best hps on the market, but I also use master Son T in my 250hps It kicks butt, also.
and for my metal halides I use agrosun gold and sunmaster. they are the same bulb,,made for 2 co's.

and check out that intensity link...goof info

lw

Let me warn you about cool tubes...they are only as good as the 500 bucks worth of fans you really need to make them cool

Latewood, what are you talking about? I have one 4" inline fan (Can-Fan brand because it outsucks two of the competion for the same supposed CFM). I paid just over $200 for it. That one fan cools my cool tube plus supplies ventaltion for my veg side and my separate mother area. That is my only fan in my veg and mother area except for a computer fan blowing on my ballast, and a real small inline fan (about $40 for 50 CFM) way down the exhast line by the opening in the wall.

Maybe you bought the competition's brand and that's why you needed $500 worth of ventalation. I would say my $250 worth of ventalation is sufficient for my veg area, since my plants can actually touch the glass without getting harmed. A good breeze also keeps the plants moving in the veg area and mother area. This is supplied by a very technical and ingenious array of pvc pipe with small holes drilled into it. This in itself is an interesting story about different hole sizes playing different music, which I will address in a later post.

Don't let Latewood fool you. Most everyone agrees cool tubes are the shit. Latewood I am surprised at you.

for every foot you are away, you loose roughly 50% of your intensity
According to that chart it's much more than that. That's if I'm reading it correctly. Those are inches, aren't they?

yeah you get the point. spend the money and do it right. Most shops will DO THE SAME as EBAY if you bring in a pic. Mine does so i dont have to wait for the damn thing and deal with ebayers. Electronic ballass are DEF worth the money once you get to two or more lights..especially if heat is going to be a problem. One ballast alone can raise the ambient temp of a well vented room ten degrees. Much cheaper to just get the more expensive ballast. and good luck