Can a lineal mover handle 3 lights?

[Razer]

Hey there sports fans! and garden enthusiasts!

Upon your advice I am adding the MH to the 2 HPS in my flower room. The question I have now is...

Can my light mover, which is running the two lights now on a trolley, handle the extra light. The grow store says they are designed to handle two, but is three really pushing it? I know this will probably be mostly opinnions, but I'm interested in hearing them. Especially if anyone has had the bad experience of burning up a light rail motor.

Thanks in advance for the help, and like always, I will respond to your posts.

Razer Reviewed by Razer on 03-30-2004. Can a lineal mover handle 3 lights? Hey there sports fans! and garden enthusiasts! Upon your advice I am adding the MH to the 2 HPS in my flower room. The question I have now is... Can my light mover, which is running the two lights now on a trolley, handle the extra light. The grow store says they are designed to handle two, but is three really pushing it? I know this will probably be mostly opinnions, but I'm interested in hearing them. Especially if anyone has had the bad experience of burning up a light rail motor. Rating: 5

[sensiskunk]

i have a track myself, 7 footer as well. if ya had the ballasts seperate from the reflectors on the track, you could prolly very well do it! im not to sure though, i could ask my friend who works at the hydroponic shop! if you have the track itself screwed into the ceiling beams, i dont see why you couldnt, but i dont think the mover itself would be able to handle that much weight. its always worth a try!

[Razer]

Good to hear from you sensiskunk. I have read several of your posts and your advice is always welcome.

How many lights do you run on your rail? My rail is screwed in to the ceiling well, its just the motor on the mover that concerns me. It has no problem with two hoods (which are complete with glass pains and duct work). The ballasts are indeed seperate. Imagine moving those heavy bastards.

I am mainly curious just how they know how many it can move. They don't know what kind of hoods or bulbs I'm using or if they are enclosed for cooling. So the number 2 just seems arbitrary to me.

I am really hoping that if anyone has tried three that I could get a quick not on the results.

[sensiskunk]

I know at the hydroponic shop they have a pole with a wheel on it, the pole is connected to the railing, then it latches on to another reflector and itll move both of em at the same time! u can easily run two reflectors on the same motor with that. Im not quite sure on three though, try to find that pole and i bet u could pull it off! mine is screwed tight into my ceiling, right into the studs, so i could prolly hold as many reflectors as i wanted! Good Luck!

[Razer]

I have seen one at the hydro store too, but I adapted my own. It's not the weight I am worried about except as it relate to possibly overloading the motor on the lineal mover.

I am just about to go take it down and adapt it too a three way modular unit which will raise the MH in the middle of the 2 HPS (for heat reasons and distance from plant tips) but run them on the existing motor and trolley. I will post my results.

[Razer]

Apparently I smoke way to much marriage-you-wanna! As I was preparing the third light to connect to the others I realized that this MH had a long skinny bulb. Hmmmmm I thought. That pot I just tasted was good. Oh ya, the light. Aren't long skinny ones HPS? So, I go take a look at the balast and it says "use 1000 wt HPS bulb only." Duhhhhhh. Take another hit! All along I thought I had a 1000 wt MH and it was an HPS. Oh well, when all is said and done, I will still get over 300K lumens for about 18 cents per hour. Including my (2) 400 wt MHs for Mothers and Babies I will pay about $100/mo extra in electricity for the whole show. Still doing ok I say!

[sensiskunk]

so now u are combining a 1000 hps with 2 400 mhs, sounds cool. i dont think itll be 100$ a month though, with my 2 1000 hps the bill was runnin bout 60$ a month. get another motor and youll be fine! Good luck man!

[Razer]

Don't mean to confuse you Sensiskunk, It's adding a 1000 HPS to two 600 HPS. I also have two 400 MH for vegging. FIVE lights total. We pay about 8c per KW. Unfortunately the $100 is probably pretty accurate, but it is worth it!

Just got done hanging them, and I am going back to fire them up right now. I would say that my future is looking very bright.

[sensiskunk]

u should combine the mh rather than the 2 hps. ur plants ell love it if you had both spectrums. you should put those hps in your veg room, theyll grow a lot faster if ya had the 600 hps! sounds to me like you have a big setup goin on. how many plants you have currently and how much space?

[Razer]

Hey sensiskunk, don't take this the wrong way, but I think sometimes you should take a couple less hits.

The HPS are in the flower room, the origninal point was to add a MH to it, but the MH turns out to be another HPS, so all three in flower room are HPS now and IN ADDITION there are a couple of MH for veg and mothers. Five lights total in 120 sf.

Keep on smoking that good weed friend.