High bay MH to HPS conversion

[StreetninjaP]

Hello my fellow Cannabinites,

 

Scored a few 400W MH high bay lights the other day, which was pretty lucky condidering I was given some grow lights by a mate, but of the four setups, two just shorted out the house the moment i plugged them in, the third lasted 2 days before following suit, then the last one only lasted about 3 hours before packing it in. So anyways, did a bit of web surfing and found that the MH ballasts can be converted to HPS (now before everyone falls over there laptop to let me know exactly how bad it is to do, I am aware that it is not ideal, but fuck it, the lights cost me $19, so, if they cop a bit of a flogging this grow, fuck it, I will be better set-up next time and it's time to get some growing done). I've got some fairly detailed instructions and I am certain the conversion won't cause me too many probs, but I just wanted to hear from anyone who has/had one and getting they're opinion. So if you have one, I'd really like to hear from you.

I am aware that this is probably taking it too far, but would it be possible to recycle the igniters (if still operative) from the dead HPS ballasts, they don't seem to be damaged in any way, and there is obvious oxidization of the wiring to the capacitor on all 4 ballasts, so I'm figuring that is the problem.

[ConvexConepiece]

Ain't that a bitch... one moment i'm jealous you were 'given' 3600k of lighting and now your back to needing to convert MH's?

 

Personally I wouldn't dick about with ballast electronics, when MH lights do a fine job by themselves - possible slight yield decrease but increased trichs and aroma apparently.

[jimbojones5678]

I've got some fairly detailed instructions and I am certain the conversion won't cause me too many probs

 

Maybe it would be a smart idea to post the instructions so that those with an electrical knowledge can give their thoughts on the instructions? plus if the guide is any good it would benefit others wanting to do the same.

 

I do agree with CC though, there have been plenty of good grows using just MH right through flowering, they run a lot cooler and will still give great results.

 

Jimbo

[StreetninjaP]

Oh ok, I had been given the impression that the MH were no good for flowering. If it's not necessary, then I don't really want to fuck around with them. I know enough about electricity to wire in a light and not fry myself, but I'm figuring it would take an extended period of concentration to rewire the first one without juicing myself, starting a fire or having a bulb explode on me, and to be completely honest, I've really noticed that my attention span has shortened considerably since I pulled those couple plants a month or so ago..... Coincidence, I think not. Nah, if i can get away with using MH and still getting some nice bud out of it, then I think I'll just do it that way. Always comes back to Occam's Razor doesn't it? Besides I think I've currently got like 4x 400w per plant, so even if the HPS ballasts had worked out, i suspect that any difference would be negligible, and wouldn't have ended up with anywhere near the same amount of firepower. I still intend to separate the bulb and make them remote (there is a very good tute in the cannavirsity regarding this very issue), and the ballasts will be located in a well ventilated room beside the grow to dissipate heat. Im probably going to go NFT, simply because I've got all the bits and pieces to build one down in the shed. All I have to really get is some nutes, build a little bubble-cloner and the NFT setup, then I can post my first grow diary, looking forward to that, should be fun. Got a really lovely bagseed mum there, so I figure I'm just going to use that for this grow, when I'm rich again, I will get some good seeds sent over, in the meantime, bagseed will just have to do for now. Glad just to have it all finally coming together really.

[Cyclone]

From what I learned recently, Buying new lights over

6 months or less is the norm.

 

How do you know your lights aren't used and abused and have little juice left in them?

 

Don't kid yourself about costs.

Electricity Is a motherfucker!

And if your running a lot of electricity through the ballasts,

they will still run the full 400 / 600+ W.

 

PPG, what are your thoughts?

 

Cyclone -

[pisspotgrower]

Second hand ballasts are all good as long as they work if they r shorting the house they just go in the bin. for less than 100 bux for a brand new 600 watter ya fuckin kidding ya self if ya trying to rewire and ya not a sparky.

 

second hand globes go in the bin

 

ya never gona get around electricity costs thats why we grow weed cause its always worth more.

 

Flowering with MH id ok, i find that ya just loose abit of bud density.......ie..bit more fluffy buds

 

Besides I think I've currently got like 4x 400w per plant, ..................Where they fuck ya got that posted

[jimbojones5678]

. Edited April 14, 2011 by jimbojones5678

[StreetninjaP]

Hey guys, well I finally got a final count on the lights. All up I've ended up with just over 50 x 400w MH ballasts of varying shapes and sizes, going to toss the bulbs and get some new ones. I was wondering if I introduced some red LED's during flowering, would that improve the spectrum available to the plants? Also, a number of these ballasts have got igniters, even though they say MH on the capacitor, I understood that MH bulbs did not require ignitors.

[Frazz]

i thought we had bashed the idea of LED's out of you Ninja ... to suggest led's might supplement MH is bordering on funny humor .. sorry, but it really is

IMO there is nothing wrong with MH from start to finish, mh can produce excellent nugs provided globes are new and the strain is a proven yeilder

MH spectrum

HPS spectrum

 

unless im dreaming again i beleive this is your 1st grow,

so why not go with a simple basic easy setup which will teach you far more than we ever can in theory, and members are here to guide you all the way along,

rather than trying to have everything perfect for your 1st grow

then come your 2nd grow you can fine-tune the whole grow show to suit

 

whatever you do, enjoy your Easter eggs

 

[The Hash Nibbler]

Street Ninja dude, Wtf? You play with the the zappy stuff, you gonna get burnt. What the hell do you need 50 x 400w ballasts for? Now you just got a big pile of .

Ignitors can still be in MH ballasts, some companies make them all the same and then wire them differently for MH or HPS.

L.E.D's...........Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.............. be better off putting some red cellophane over ya MH.......... .

If ya got a MH ballasts why not just buy a conversion globe for it, to convert to HPS, don't go messing around inside ballasts unless ya know what ya doing, or we'll have to start calling you 'Crispy Ninja' . Lmao Gh72