Quote Originally Posted by mainegrown
i have always wondered about those black lights.. but i read somewhere that they are only good for about 100 hrs and that is what like 9 days of flowering?? not a very cost effective way to hit em with 730 nm..
i may be wrong but thats what the GE site said..
~MG
I did not know that.
Thanks MG.

Makes sense.
They drive the filament hard to raise the color temperature to get some UV, then filter out most of the visible light which makes it run very hot.
Course you don't run the 730nm. source for more than 20 minutes before, and 20 minutes after the main lights.
(Leaving them on with the 660nm. is counter productive.
As I understand it, the 730nm. is a phytochrome toggle of sorts, not an energy source.)
That's still only 150 days on average.

I wonder if wiring 2 of 'em in series would solve several problems at once. Hmmmm...:detective1:

Need some way to measure the Far red output.
Any suggestions? anybody?
Don't be shy.

Logic tells me there will still be plenty of far red at a lower voltage but almost no UV and less than half the heat.
(2 X R. = .5 X A., and, since V. is also halved, the W. per bulb is X .25!)
The spectral "curve" of these pups is more like a steep ramp.
Got one somewhere. I'll try to find it for ya.
Ah! Here 'tis;
[attachment=o234818]

L8r
W.



This is going to be an informative test.

Aloha, Y'all

Weeze