Different bulbs/ballast question

After checking my local craigslist, I see that there is a 400 watt grow light for sale that would obviously work with the 400 watt hps that it comes with but my question is... can I take that bulb out and use a lesser wattage bulb? I tried searching for this answer with surprisingly not much help... Thanks guys!

Depends on the ballast box mate why would u want less more is better
Id get a 400w hps mh dig ballast box cause there dimmable u can get a hood a dig ballast and timer 2 yoyos and a mh 300w and a hps 400w for about 160

Only because it's used in a cab, not a grow room. Thanks for that info, got a link to that?

I did some reading on this days back. As long as your ballest is rated below your bulb you'd be ok the opposite I guess is a big risk for fire. Used in a cab? Cabinet? If your growing in some thing that tiny not much need for a light that needs a ballest I'd guess it would get to hot in there and burn the baby's.

4Life2style0 said:

Only because it's used in a cab, not a grow room. Thanks for that info, got a link to that?

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Mader89 said:

I did some reading on this days back. As long as your ballest is rated below your bulb you'd be ok the opposite I guess is a big risk for fire. Used in a little grow cab? Cabinet? If your growing in some thing that tiny not much need for a light that needs a ballest I'd guess it would get to hot in there and burn the baby's.

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Does a 150 watt hps not need a ballast though..

I'm not to sure I've never worked with a 150w if it can fit in a regular house hold lamp I'd say no need for a ballest, if not I'd guess that it would need one but if you can find a socket with a straight to wall outlet give it a shot. I would suggest just getting a little regular house hold sized light bulb socket and throw an LED light in it, cheap, not very hot.

Can I ask why your growing in such a small sized space.

4Life2style0 said:

After checking my local craigslist, I see that there is a 400 watt grow light for sale that would obviously work with the 400 watt hps that it comes with but my question is... can I take that bulb out and use a lesser wattage bulb? I tried searching for this answer with surprisingly not much help... Thanks guys!

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4Life2style0 said:

Does a 150 watt hps not need a ballast though..

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Yes. All hid bulbs (HPS, mh) need a ballast.

Get a dimmable then you have options.

Mader89 said:

I'm not to sure I've never worked with a 150w if it can fit in a regular house hold lamp I'd say no need for a ballest, if not I'd guess that it would need one but if you can find a socket with a straight to wall outlet give it a shot. I would suggest just getting a little regular house hold sized light bulb socket and throw an LED light in it, cheap, not very hot.

Can I ask why your growing in such a small sized space.

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I need it to be somewhat stealthy... So the grow room/tent is out of the question. Gonna be working with a larger size hollowed out dresser for flowering. Gonna veg for short periods in a hollowed out stealth night stand... Been leaning towards a 250 watt after seeing spankys grow on here with his 250 watt HPS. Inspiration is so awesome lol

4Life2style0 said:

I need it to be somewhat stealthy... So the grow room/tent is out of the question. Gonna be working with a larger size hollowed out dresser for flowering. Gonna veg for short periods in a hollowed out stealth night stand... Been leaning towards a 250 watt after seeing spankys grow on here with his 250 watt HPS. Inspiration is so awesome lol

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Just don't get one of those all in one deals with the ballast attached to the fixture. Too much heat. You want one with a remote separate ballast so you don't have the heat from it in your grow space.

Not sure how stealthy your trying to be but those lady's small or not are gonna reak up the place in veg and flower. Not telling you what you can and can't do but a 250w in a large dresser is going to get very very hot, which means your gonna need a lot of air moving through it and then havin a big dresser with wires and ducting sticking out isn't gonna be very suspicious. Should worry more about your plants accommodations then what size light to use. I still also strongly suggest the LEDs. They would leave you with only wires and a massive stench to worry about.

4Life2style0 said:

I need it to be somewhat stealthy... So the grow room/tent is out of the question. Gonna be working with a larger size hollowed out dresser for flowering. Gonna veg for short periods in a hollowed out stealth night stand... Been leaning towards a 250 watt after seeing spankys grow on here with his 250 watt HPS. Inspiration is so awesome lol

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Mader89 said:

Not sure how stealthy your trying to be but those lady's small or not are gonna reak up the place in veg and flower. Not telling you what you can and can't do but a 250w in a large dresser is going to get very very hot, which means your gonna need a lot of air moving through it and then havin a big dresser with wires and ducting sticking out isn't gonna be very suspicious. Should worry more about your plants accommodations then what size light to use. I still also strongly suggest the LEDs. They would leave you with only wires and a massive stench to worry about.

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Your so very right, will be using two four inch fans for exhaust and intake on my flowering cab. I am currently brushing up on my carbon filter making skills lol

Honestly, I don't ever intend on vegging for long at all, if not just turning that small box into a clone box..

As far as accommodations go, I figured with both fans for my flower cab plus a carbon filter to my exhaust, plus a small clip on fan for inside of course. I feel they will be well accommodated... The main reason you hear me talking about lights, is I was always fond to the cheapness of cfls but realized I can get a hps set up for about the same..

Thank you for the heat tip. I will now make sure that I get one not attached. The one on Craigslist is not attached. It's a 400 just figured that's too much for a dresser grow. LEDs are out of my price range, for now... I have looked at them though and can understand the joy I would get from no heat.

People that live here know I grow but visitors are expected to be fooled. And they will be

Dresser will be properly positioned in my bedroom to achieve the stealth appearance even though I am doing some cab mods...

Hell my stealth night stand passed the test for a couple weeks to everyone I live with until I finally showed them lmao

Since I took these pics, I altered the bottom of the night stand so that I have an additional 6 inches of height added to what you see

4Life2style0 said:

Dresser will be properly positioned in my bedroom to achieve the stealth appearance even though I am doing some cab mods...

Hell my stealth night stand passed the test for a couple weeks to everyone I live with until I finally showed them lmao

Since I took these pics, I altered the bottom of the night stand so that I have an additional 6 inches of height added to what you see

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Nice well good luck then. Hope those fans are inline fans and not just duct boosters. In the mean timed id say come up with an excuse for the fan noise coming from inside the dresser. our going through a bit of trouble for such a small yield, if you want stealthyness just don't let any one you don't want knowing go in your room go hang out in the living room or their house. Seems silly to me to have all this going an money invested and getting nothing for it. Have a feeling your just a young buck, having a secret grow box you made out of inginuity is cool I get it but it's not a secret when you show people after a few weeks an when they flower your gonna wanna show off your baby's to everyone. Go Big er Go Home Baby. Also not to sure what LEDS you were looking at but they are very inexpensive nowadays. Well good luck

Mader89 said:

Nice well good luck then. Hope those fans are inline fans and not just duct boosters. In the mean timed id say come up with an excuse for the fan noise coming from inside the dresser. our going through a bit of trouble for such a small yield, if you want stealthyness just don't let any one you don't want knowing go in your room go hang out in the living room or their house. Seems silly to me to have all this going an money invested and getting nothing for it. Have a feeling your just a young buck, having a secret grow box you made out of inginuity is cool I get it but it's not a secret when you show people after a few weeks an when they flower your gonna wanna show off your baby's to everyone. Go Big er Go Home Baby. Also not to sure what LEDS you were looking at but they are very inexpensive nowadays. Well good luck

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Why go big if I only need enough to supplement myself...

And according to the grow journals on RIU alone, I can get 1-2 oz per plant at least in my dresser.. Where I come from an oz is 300-400 for some dank so it would pay for itself in one successful grow.

In regards to me being a young buck... Sure. Although I see that as being irrelevant. Where as my experience should be more important to my success and not age. I am going for stealthiness so I do not see where it would be a plausible assumption to say that I would show off my ladies to anyone. In regards to the people I live with, it is family. They are aware of what I do and find it respectful to share with them the activities that go on in the home. Plus, one is a smoker so he was genuinely interested.

I do not have many visitors nor any visitors often. I do not entertain people.

I do apologize for my hastiness, although it's unsettling that after I have gathered my plan and feel it is a good one, that I get frowned on as wasting time or money. Or have my age judged. Maybe I am not as young as you take me to be. It is still irrelevant. I did not even mention that I will be going hydroponically with all this. Is that also frowned upon. Maybe I should throw it all way and just get myself a 25 gallon pot and some super soil lol

I will make the best of my conditions to successfully reach my goal. I will add another cab if needed, but I refuse to be convinced that it is not worth it. thank you for the help that you do give though

Mader89 said:

Nice well good luck then. Hope those fans are inline fans and not just duct boosters. In the mean timed id say come up with an excuse for the fan noise coming from inside the dresser. our going through a bit of trouble for such a small yield, if you want stealthyness just don't let any one you don't want knowing go in your room go hang out in the living room or their house. Seems silly to me to have all this going an money invested and getting nothing for it. Have a feeling your just a young buck, having a secret grow box you made out of inginuity is cool I get it but it's not a secret when you show people after a few weeks an when they flower your gonna wanna show off your baby's to everyone. Go Big er Go Home Baby. Also not to sure what LEDS you were looking at but they are very inexpensive nowadays. Well good luck

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Maybe you could find a link to a 250 watt or less LED that compares on price? That would help

I'm very sorry if I pushed my ideas for you to hard. I was not discrediting your age what so ever when I first started I grew in a little speaker box with a computer fan and pressboard door and some light stand flo's. It was cool it was awesome no disrespect to your age or your knowledge for that matter. I was saying go big not for enormous yeilds, I was saying go big because plants like room they like to breath a little they show their appreciation for it. Ive run into problems like too bushy then you have to chop it to much an it stresses her, she gets to tall and there's no room to pull her down, it's to small and gets to hot, ect. Be excited for what you have going it's a great way to go and I'm sorry if made you feel otherwise.

4Life2style0 said:

Why go big if I only need enough to supplement myself...

And according to the grow journals on RIU alone, I can get 1-2 oz per plant at least in my dresser.. Where I come from an oz is 300-400 for some dank so it would pay for itself in one successful grow.

In regards to me being a young buck... Sure. Although I see that as being irrelevant. Where as my experience should be more important to my success and not age. I am going for stealthiness so I do not see where it would be a plausible assumption to say that I would show off my ladies to anyone. In regards to the people I live with, it is family. They are aware of what I do and find it respectful to share with them the activities that go on in the home. Plus, one is a smoker so he was genuinely interested.

I do not have many visitors nor any visitors often. I do not entertain people.

I do apologize for my hastiness, although it's unsettling that after I have gathered my plan and feel it is a good one, that I get frowned on as wasting time or money. Or have my age judged. Maybe I am not as young as you take me to be. It is still irrelevant. I did not even mention that I will be going hydroponically with all this. Is that also frowned upon. Maybe I should throw it all way and just get myself a 25 gallon pot and some super soil lol

I will make the best of my conditions to successfully reach my goal. I will add another cab if needed, but I refuse to be convinced that it is not worth it. thank you for the help that you do give though

Click to expand...

4Life2style0 said:

Maybe you could find a link to a 250 watt or less LED that compares on price? That would help

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*http://m.rakuten.com/product/258123958?listingid=317329116&adid=18172

http://m.alibaba.com/product/1779301257/Wholesale_high_lumen_high_par_value.html?s=p

http://m.alibaba.com/product/1793981906/Full_spectrum_integration_best_250_watt.html?s=p

http://m.alibaba.com/product/1205678104/250_watt_led_grow_light_red.html?s=p