My Home Depot has clearance sale on security lights

panhead

Well-Known Member
Mmm....does that really work well/reliably enough? They installed freaking photo/motion sensors on the light switches in my office at work and tape wasn't enough to defeat them.

If I didn't feel I had to disable the photosensor, the security lights would certainly be more attractive.

Also, while I'm bitching, a pox upon Intermatic for deciding that everyone needs "security timers" with fifteen minute randomization and for refusing to sell additional trippers anywhere. (3 settings my ass. I see the notches and the switch mechanism plain as day.)
On cheap photo eyes like on security lights a few layers of black tape wrapped in a layer of duct tape works perfectly,the sensors in the light switches are not based on the same principal as photo eyes,they dectect movement.
 

GNOME GROWN

Well-Known Member
the 70 watt hps i bought from hd, has that "photo sensor" and all i did was put 1 piece of duct tape over..besides that im getting one of those temp. cc. and buy a 600 watt sysytem.. High Tech Garden Supply

lemme know what u think..with the bulbs im getting it comes out to $302.97 w/shipping
 

raeman1990

Well-Known Member
Go to Rite Aid drug store & buy a Blue Dot Mastercard,then register it under the name Frank Zappa or Elmer Fudd,you can put the exact amount you need on the card for whatever you need to buy online.

Call your local UPS store & get their address,they are a franchise & not connected with the UPS corporation in any way & will receive any & all packages for you,they will hold packages as well until you can get them,they do this for a very small fee like $5 or some shit.

Forget Ebay,call HTG Supply on the telephone & place your order direct,give them the Frank Zappa credit card info & use the shipping address of your local UPS Store to have the package shipped to.

No paper trail with your name on it,no address with your name on it,no credit card with your name on it,no sweat.
really sweet idea, i never thought about using the UPS store.. i might have to go try that
 

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
If ya wanna go DIY, just call Grainger or Mc MasterCarr. They have the ballast/ignitor kits. (its not a finished product at all, but its what you would rip out of the HD 70-150W lamps. Add in a bulb and socket and your golden. And those places won't raise any eyebrows. They have them to 1000W last I checked.

HPS and MH are used all over factories and such for lighting.
 

Maccabee

Well-Known Member
If ya wanna go DIY, just call Grainger or Mc MasterCarr. They have the ballast/ignitor kits. (its not a finished product at all, but its what you would rip out of the HD 70-150W lamps. Add in a bulb and socket and your golden. And those places won't raise any eyebrows. They have them to 1000W last I checked.

HPS and MH are used all over factories and such for lighting.
Good stuff. I've been wondering who I can call for parts like that.

Thanks!
 

GNOME GROWN

Well-Known Member
i got my 600watt digital hps/mh system in today! thanks for the idea panhead!..everything worked out great and the people at HTGsupply r wicked friendly!
 

Bamm Bamm

Well-Known Member
Panhead thats a great ebayer(the credit card one)\



for the light sensor I've used tape it works but sometimes falls off I just paint the sensor cover with black paint or permanent marker
 

Maccabee

Well-Known Member
What's the heat dissipation like on that 70W HPS at Home Depot/OSH? And would a Dremel be sufficient to cut holes in the enclosure so that I could ventilate it with something like an automotive vacuum hose? (Keep in mind that I have the worlds lamest Dremel skills. The thing puzzles me.)
 

Maccabee

Well-Known Member
The enclosures and bulb orientation tends to be different. Most security lights are in light dissipating (think milky patterned plastic) unventilated hoods, they almost never have a remote ballast, they are typically vertically oriented (although that may not matter depending on the bulb) and some have inconvenient mounts (like a pole mount.) They are almost never white, and they are not engineered to avoid heat buildup. Many have light sensors to turn the fixture on and off with sunset/sunrise, but people in this thread have been saying that such sensors are easily defeated (which I had not thought to be the case.)
 

oldschool

Active Member
I have two setup.

First, it's easy to defeat the photosensor - just pop the clear cover off and put some electrical tape on the photosensor. You can also spray paint it - works fine.

Second, I've used a 1" drill bit to bore out a 2x2 inch hole in a sheet of thin plywood. I mount the top half on the plywood with the socket protruding through the 2x2 hole. You can screw the reflector to the plywood and into the mount.

So far two 70w work fine. I'm supplementing with a few 42w spiral flor. bulbs. Seems to work so far - but this is my first grow.
 

Maccabee

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the comments, Old School.

Have you had any luck modifying the enclosures for ventilation, or is that not a necessity for your situation?
 

GNOME GROWN

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the comments, Old School.

Have you had any luck modifying the enclosures for ventilation, or is that not a necessity for your situation?
i had a 50,70,and 150watt hps lights from home depot..the only one that really builds up heat is the 150w..a small fan pointed on the lights kept them all cool..
 

oldschool

Active Member
No problems on heat build up. The only modification I made was to tear the plastic diffuser off the reflector and just use the metal reflector. No head problems on the ballest enclosure - it's warm but not hot. I can hold my hand within ~2 inches of the light and it's not too hot, but would recommend a fan just to keep aire moving.

I'm curious to see results with this setup. Has anyone else used these lights successfully?
 

specialkayme

Well-Known Member
Years ago I took a 70w hps security light and ripped it appart. My electrical skills are somewhat lacking, but I'm good with puzzles. when you pop the top off, just take a look at the components. There is a ballast, a starter, some other round thing that I don't know what it is, the photo sensor, the socket, and the power cord. Just remember what lines connect to what lines and remove the photo sensor, connecting the wires around it like removing a middle man. I chose to then bundle the starter, ballast, and other round peice together, add a little more wiring and turn it into a remote ballast. Not very good looking, but works just fine.

As far as it working goes, I had no problems with the light. I did, however, have some problems with the heat it produced. Looking back I think I had very shitty ventilation, if any at all, along with a very small space and a shitload of insulation around it. There really wasn't anywhere for the heat to go, so it got up to 90 in the small ass cab I made. but hey, it was my second grow and my first attempt to grow stealth. Not too bad all and all.
 

Up4anything

Active Member
I'm getting one of these to experiment with -
Fluorex Super HO Fluorescent Grow Light HPS Hydroponics - eBay (item 330217810197 end time Apr-06-08 03:33:33 PDT)
available at HD but I'd rather buy from Growalot - best customer service around!
WTF!?! I just bought 3 of these from Home Depot, but with tax and everything it was about $48/light. I wish I saw this post about two weeks ago. Fuk.

BTW - although I'm a bit butt-hurt about what I paid, they are super bright! I was amazed. I guess I didn't have high hopes for them, but they were less than the Sunleave's CFL, and i got the whole fixture w/ bulb. But when I fired it up I thought 'wow, bright!', then as it warmed up it got even BRIGHTER!

I think I'll probably get 2 more for my yard, but definitely not fro HD! :roll:
 
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