lighting questions

[kaylix]

if i have a 70watt hps and i put in a 175watt hid bulb should it work if not what kind of ballast would i need

kaylix Reviewed by kaylix on 09-14-2007. lighting questions if i have a 70watt hps and i put in a 175watt hid bulb should it work if not what kind of ballast would i need Rating: 5

[whatsthatsmell]

i'm not an expert on the lighting like your talking about, but the ballast is what fires your bulb, you will have to look at the ballast and see what it says, most times if you have a hps bulb, you will need another hps bulb for that hood. there are inter-changeable ballasts out there, but you have to do some research and find what you need for your closet, about 50w or greater per plant, but also keep in mind that the more the light the bigger the bud. My recommendation is go down to your hydro shop, look at the lights they have, most of the will be HID lights and those will give you the best results. I am running a 400w MH (somewhere in the 40k lums) for veg and when they go to the flower room i use a 1000w HPS (somewhere in the 140k lum's). This makes it very easy for me, one light for each room and they all came as a plug and play, no looking for an electrician or anything, plug the light into the remote ballast and then plug the ballast into the wall after the hood is hung....


hope that helps ya

[kaylix]

thank for the help. will a hps work for vegtive groth or is it just for flowering, I thinki have a decent lighting i have two 15w energy savers spotlight, one 150w hps, and two floresent 18in plant lightsone is red spctrum and the other is a blue and they ar both 15w. im trying to get about six plants in my closet. would that be enought light for vegtive growth? what should i do with the hps? shouldi kept it on with the other light or without?

[whatsthatsmell]

you should be ok with that for veg, i dont think it would be very good for flower stage tho. What about the heat from those lights, you got enough vent for the small place? Doesnt that 150w HPS give off alot of heat?

[PharmaCan]

if i have a 70watt hps and i put in a 175watt hid bulb should it work if not what kind of ballast would i need

You need a 175 watt ballast - either digital or specifically for HPS/mh, depending on which hid you have.

PC :smokin:

[ProGroWannabe]

Pharmacan is right as usual.

Here's the thing to remember with any light requiring a ballast----the ballast accepts a certain voltage from source---to make it easy, we'll use 120 volts as our example. In your 70 watt light, that ballast takes the 120 volts from the outlet it's plugged into, and the current (expressed in Amps) and steps it UP. Thats the function of the transformer inside the HID ballasts. Then the starter, also in the ballast housing, gives the bulb much larger "shot" of current than is available at the outlet it originally came from, to get the bulb started----you still with me here?

Now for the "juicy" part--hehe ....If you have a transformer that is engineered to run enough output juice to run a 70 watt bulb, and a starter that is only hot enough to start a 70 watt bulb, your 150 will not even come on. Why?----Because it takes way more juice to start AND run your 150, than the 70 watt ballast assembly puts out.
At most, you'll get a lot of humming, and if you happen to somehow get lucky, your bulb will flicker---attempting to start, but never will get past "start mode".

My two cents. I'm no electrician, but thats MY understanding of HID lighting.

[kaylix]

thanks guys this is a lot of help i am venting the room with the carbon scruber i mad from this site it is a little bigger i have a 6in inline fan expelling bad air i working on makeing an intake for fresh air