Digital Ballast and Bulb question!!+REP!

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exidis

Active Member
Hi all .. Just got my Lumatek 600w HPS/MH digital kit with xtrasun reflector off ebay. Came with PlantMax HPS 600w Bulb and PlantMax 600w MH CONVERSION?? Bulb.

HPS fired great without any problems and its bright as SHIT.

MH bulb wont fire.... It just blinks once and doesnt fire. And now it doesnt even blink.
I tried a 250w REGULAR MH bulb i had and it fired no problem. Worked flawless.

1.Now my question is that is the MH conversion bulb bad or conversion bulbds doesnt work with my ballast?

2.Why would the guy send me a MH conversion bulb and not a REAL mh bulb?

3. I want to get a MH bulb while i wait for replacement but they only carry 100w/150w/250w/400w/1000w. I cant find any 600w mh bulbs.
Is it okay to put on lesser watt bulbs and put ballast on 50%?75%100%?

Any input or help or expereince would be nice.

+rep to spread!

Thanks!
 
Infamous313

Infamous313

Member
as far as i know they dont make 600 watt MH bulbs. i have a 400 watt switchable and when i first turned on my MH bulb it flickered and was kind of purple but i didnt have it screwed in all the way, i could be wrong but i dont think they make a 600 mh. as far as i know its only 400/1000 watters that are MH/HPS switchable. And on the switchables theres a switch on the back of the ballast for MH or HPS
 
super2200

super2200

Well-Known Member
Infamous313 said:
as far as i know they dont make 600 watt MH bulbs. i have a 400 watt switchable and when i first turned on my MH bulb it flickered and was kind of purple but i didnt have it screwed in all the way, i could be wrong but i dont think they make a 600 mh. as far as i know its only 400/1000 watters that are MH/HPS switchable. And on the switchables theres a switch on the back of the ballast for MH or HPS
Click to expand...

Here is a link to a cheap 600 Watt MH i am waiting to be delivered myself
http://www.dchydro.com/cgi/commerce.cgi?search=action&category=BLB0&searchstart=60

If you begin from the beginning of the bulb selections there is another brand for 85. I am going with the 30 dollar one upgrading from 400 watt
 
E

exidis

Active Member
The ballast i have is a DIGITAL ballast and has NOTHING on ballast that you switch other than a 50% 75% 100% super Lumen 4 sections where i can trigger the strength..

Dam anyone has a lumatek or had any same problems?

Wierd thing is the bulb looks brand new and doesnt work and my OLD regular MH bulb works fine and HPS bulb works fine. Only the mh conversion bulb they sent me doesnt work.

Since it fires up my 250w mh bulb without a problem. Can i use this 600 ballast and plug in a 400w MH bulb or lesser than ballast bulbs without a problem? It saids in instruction not to do that...

Help plz.!
 
E

exidis

Active Member
super2200 said:
Here is a link to a cheap 600 Watt MH i am waiting to be delivered myself
http://www.dchydro.com/cgi/commerce.cgi?search=action&category=BLB0&searchstart=60

If you begin from the beginning of the bulb selections there is another brand for 85. I am going with the 30 dollar one upgrading from 400 watt
Click to expand...

DAM those plantmax are cheap as hell!! LOL Just ordered a mh600 to be safe while i wait. $15 bucks for a 600w mh bulb is pretty dam cheap. I have seen the same one sell for $50 on other sites.
 
c5rftw

c5rftw

Well-Known Member
exidis said:
Hi all .. Just got my Lumatek 600w HPS/MH digital kit with xtrasun reflector off ebay. Came with PlantMax HPS 600w Bulb and PlantMax 600w MH CONVERSION?? Bulb.

HPS fired great without any problems and its bright as SHIT.

MH bulb wont fire.... It just blinks once and doesnt fire. And now it doesnt even blink.
I tried a 250w REGULAR MH bulb i had and it fired no problem. Worked flawless.

1.Now my question is that is the MH conversion bulb bad or conversion bulbds doesnt work with my ballast?

2.Why would the guy send me a MH conversion bulb and not a REAL mh bulb?

3. I want to get a MH bulb while i wait for replacement but they only carry 100w/150w/250w/400w/1000w. I cant find any 600w mh bulbs.
Is it okay to put on lesser watt bulbs and put ballast on 50%?75%100%?

Any input or help or expereince would be nice.

+rep to spread!

Thanks!
Click to expand...



Its obviously just a hps ballast. Its not a switchable ballast. weird, i figured all digital ballast were. Well anyways, yah Conversion bulbs are believe to not be ideal for the ballast. If i were you, i would just put in the HPS instead of the MH bulb. yah it is working its just that it is not designed for it. I just like to get things so i dont have to worry about them. thats 600w HPS will put about 90,000 lumens and a 250w MH puts out 22,000. yes the plant uses the MH light about twice as effectively as HPS during EARLY VEGGING, but then uses the HPS light twice as effectively as MH light around and during flowering
 
c5rftw

c5rftw

Well-Known Member
I grow with 2700k from seed, I also uses 12-12 from seed. wait so it is a HPS/MH ballast. damn, that is weird that you got a conversion bulb. maybe they sent you the wrong thing
 
E

exidis

Active Member
Yea man.. It sucks.. I ordered a plain MH bulb since the 600 ballast DID fire my 250w MH bulb but not the conversion. So i think it is a dual ballast but bad bulb but i didnt want to keep a 250 in a 600 ballast so ordered a cheap ass 600 mh bulb. If that doesnt work. 600 HPS is going in... I am in 2 weeks into veg.. Would HPS being on 18/6 keep it in veg ?

Thanks REPPED
 
S

SativaGreenThumb

Active Member
exidis said:
Yea man.. It sucks.. I ordered a plain MH bulb since the 600 ballast DID fire my 250w MH bulb but not the conversion. So i think it is a dual ballast but bad bulb but i didnt want to keep a 250 in a 600 ballast so ordered a cheap ass 600 mh bulb. If that doesnt work. 600 HPS is going in... I am in 2 weeks into veg.. Would HPS being on 18/6 keep it in veg ?

Thanks REPPED
Click to expand...
Yes, 18/6 under an hps bulb will keep it in veg. You can use an HPS for both cycles of growth. Its just that the MH bulbs are better for vegetative growth and HPS is better for blooming plants.
 
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exidis

Active Member
SativaGreenThumb said:
Yes, 18/6 under an hps bulb will keep it in veg. You can use an HPS for both cycles of growth. Its just that the MH bulbs are better for vegetative growth and HPS is better for blooming plants.
Click to expand...
Thanks man.!

Are the growth alot slower during veg under HPS or what cons am i looking at using just HPS?

Also would it be ideal/effective to have my plants vegging under 250w MH or 600w HPS? Since i had two ballast with one grow space.

Talking about 10~20 plants in a 4x4x6.5 feet tent.

Thanks! repped!
 
c5rftw

c5rftw

Well-Known Member
exidis said:
Yea man.. It sucks.. I ordered a plain MH bulb since the 600 ballast DID fire my 250w MH bulb but not the conversion. So i think it is a dual ballast but bad bulb but i didnt want to keep a 250 in a 600 ballast so ordered a cheap ass 600 mh bulb. If that doesnt work. 600 HPS is going in... I am in 2 weeks into veg.. Would HPS being on 18/6 keep it in veg ?

Thanks REPPED
Click to expand...

The color of light has nothing to do with the plants vegging/flowering "decision" . The light cycle does. as long as it has a good bit less that 12 hours of dark, like 18/6 it will be forced to stay in the vegetative state . yah with 2 weeks i would just keep them under the 250w until the big guy comes in.. young lings dont need much light.
 
E

exidis

Active Member
/thread.

LOL Thanks guys. REPPED.

Problem solved. 600w MH on order. As well as waiting on replacment. HAve it under 250w mh right now until they come in.
Using underwattage bulbs NOT recommended.

THANKS!
 
S

SativaGreenThumb

Active Member
exidis said:
Thanks man.!

Are the growth alot slower during veg under HPS or what cons am i looking at using just HPS?

Also would it be ideal/effective to have my plants vegging under 250w MH or 600w HPS? Since i had two ballast with one grow space.

Talking about 10~20 plants in a 4x4x6.5 feet tent.

Thanks! repped!
Click to expand...
Well metal halides tend to produce shorter plants with closer nodes during veg as opposed to an hps which will have taller plants with nodes not as closely packed together. MH's are just better all around for lush, green, vegetative growth.

As far as a 250mh vs 600hps, I would probably go with the 600hps considering the number of plants and grow space. But a 250mh would work fine for 10 plants{even 20 if they are small enough} in my opinion as long you didn't plan on vegging for too long and you could put the light close enough to keep the lumen levels respectable without burning the plants. So you could start them on the mh and then as they get larger if you want to veg for that long switch to the 600 to give you the light intensity and canopy penetration you would need.

Hope this helps and good luck.
 
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