URGENT HPS LIGHTING HELP NEEDED

errm i dont quit know wot to do.
so i jus got me a 600 watt hps lamp to go in with me grow know ive connected the ballast to the lamp but i have an earth wire that runs from the reflector part but has nowhere to go on the ballast there is only 5 sockets for wires the one earht is connected up right but wot do i do with the other earth???????/
do i even need it??????????
also the bulb i got doesnt seem to fit in very easily i cant actually get it to fit properly in the lamp holder there is no connection how can i fix this
and one other thing i have 3 envirolights can i use one of the lamp holder from one of those will it still power the hps bulb properly??? they do look similar??
and how do i hang it or some how fix it wots the best way ive got some small chain given to me by a local grow shop and a poll that goes from one side to the other in my cupboard im jus cant figure the best way to do it if you get me
I NEED AN AWNSER ASAP IF ANYONE CAN HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, good luck. Sounds pretty complicated to me.

this is why most of us buy our lights in the kit so all the needed componants are in one box. trying to piece together high amp electronics is dangerous for the layman and best left to the pro's. if it were mine i'd pack up everything and take it to a licensed electrician...or send back to the company you bought it from and ask for a complete kit.

Oliwog,
You can attach the earth wire to any metallic part of the ballast that is not in contact with any of the other wires. The earth wires are used mainly to discharge small stray electrical currents. Also make sure that there is an earth wire running from your ballast to the socket plug.

As for the reflector it looks like the standard reflector with a mogul socket. And your lamp looks like it should fit fine. I had the same problem with my lamp, it is a little difficult to screw in, you feel like you are gonna break the thing, but its actually quite strong. Just make sure you apply enough force to keep the lamp in your grip but not too much lije the glass is going to break. Just keep screwing :-) It WILL fit, if it feels like its screwed in place, check to see where the metal part of the bulb is in relation to the socket, the metal part should be completely in the socket, if its a little out, screw some more :-)

Regarding the envirolights, im assuming you are talking about compact fluorescent lights, some of them can fit into the socket and run without a problem but make sure your envirolights have an auto ballast, if your lights look like this: http://www.agrolite.com/espanol/agrolite.php
and have a greenish thingy at the end where it connects to the socket then you should have no trouble screwing it into a proper ballast because the lights contain their own, which will just reducde the current/wattage that end up going to the lamp.

About hanging lights, chains work, good against heat and such, i personally use strong nylon rope found at almost any do it yourself store, as long as what you are using fits, and can support the weight of the lamp it will work.
Good luck with the grow man! Peace

right i got the fitting sorted the one problem i got now is that theres a lot of current coming throught the earth and the bulb doesnt light properly is the ballast supposed to buzz anyone

the earth wires go together at the unit, and at the lamp, to the shade where you will find a nut and bolt, or maybe even a crimp conector!
simple enough for the layman! duh!

tried both earths together on the ballast jus tripped out the power so thats not it whys it not workin anyone know

this is rather urgent otherwise my plants will have to flower in darkness i dont think thats gonna happen no matter how much i want it to
i changed the holder for the bulb it fits in easily now
all connections are ok i think apart from the second earth still lotsa sparks when its touchin a metal part of the ballast and still no propor light jus a slight blueness goin dwn the middle help me please

Turn it off and either call an electrician or take it to your grow shop and ask for help. Don't fry yourself or set fire to your place for the sake of one night.
Peace

I don't know if this will help you or not looks like a digital ballast to me but heres a link to how to wire hps and mh http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room...ing-howto.html

You need to give us some better pictures. I am confused by the ones you have, as I have never seen a ballast like that. Most ballasts have 3 connections. 2 hot, 1 ground. White, Black, and Green. There is a ground spot inside the ballast (where the connection comes from the wall), the green gets screwed to the ballast (make sure this is bare, no paint). Then there is a ground inside the light fixture itself. This is an easy one to miss. It too must be bolted to the inside of the fixture, bare metal no paint.

Does your ballast have a metal case?

On my digital 600s, I have 3 connections coming into the ballast (white, black, and green) and then only 2 connections coming out of the ballast (white and black). It works fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oliwog

this is rather urgent otherwise my plants will have to flower in darkness i dont think thats gonna happen no matter how much i want it to
i changed the holder for the bulb it fits in easily now
all connections are ok i think apart from the second earth still lotsa sparks when its touchin a metal part of the ballast and still no propor light jus a slight blueness goin dwn the middle help me please

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The lights starts off blue and then turn orange in about 1 minute, did you know that?

ok thanks im gonna post more pics in a min i have left it on for a while but nothing happened and as for finding bare metal on the ballast well the main part is built of plastic with a metal casing that goes round it although this has paint on it

the ballast is a high performance fast mover
the blue bit is the plastic and the white is bit is metal
ive left it and the light satyin blue

right fuck it ive jus had to blow out me new job (i started yeaterday)
in order to sort out this light situation the thing is i have 11 plants in the middle of flower well 10 an 1 is almost done so i must have these lights workin asap
the 10 i got for some reason are fuckin huge comin up to a metre tall if not taller i had em on veg for 3wks and been on flower for 3 wks so i dont know why so tall maybe stretchin which is why i need lights sorterds cos if i leave em for another week as they are growing with envirolights il run outta height space they gettin like 2 inches taller every day
if anyone knows how i can stop this let me know
hopefully they will stop auto when flowers come through more
il post some pix on me grow thread as i jus got a new digi camera so can put some nice ones up for u all wont be untill later though

ok so some of you may think im stupid for blowin out a perfectly good job but its either that or il have to throw away 10 perfectly good female plants not to mention all the time an effort i put into growin em
so i think im quit justified
theres plenty more jobs out there
but not enough weed
:rasta:
so its off to me local grow shop with me lights an ballast to see if they can help
wish me luck

Yeah your right, there ain't enuff weed.
Good luck, let us know how you get on

:rasta:

guess wot peps its all all good and workin
you will all laugh when i tell ya wot it was.............
...................i didnt screw the bulb in far enough...
...well i thought it was cos i couldnt screw anymore so i tried it with a cloth over an got it a bit further in and it worked so i jus spent hours tryin to fix somethin which wasnt even broken
sounds jus like me and something id do.
the only problem now is the heat
if anyone has any ideas how to solve this let me know
i cant buy a bigger fan as dnt have cash at the mo
some of my plants are drooping slightly is this cos of the heat????
il post a seperate thread about this too
but heres some pics so u know wot im dealing with
it does get rather hot in there tho

.

I had huge heating problems, fans and ice in buckets etc only brought the heat down a notch each time.
So after checking the light transmission properties of 3mm plexiglass (better than glass, allows 97% through), I built a wall to wall shelf of plexiglass just beneath the lamp, with enough room for the exhaust to lay there.

Worked like a dream, dropped 8C straight away.

.

..get a digital themometer..one that records high and low temps and humidity..that way you can see the extremes..when you get home. Try to stay between 70-85 degrees...around 50% humidity.

Glad to hear you got your light sorted. I'm using cfls and am having trouble keeping my grow warm enuff! Few ideas for you, have your lights on at night, have your exhaust sucking directly from the reflecter and think about getting active intake if you haven't already. Hope this helps.

:rasta: