Hps light 24/7

hey does anyone know if its safe to run a 250w hps light 24/7. I'm thinking of running the light for 24 hours a day for 3 months so i can do 2 grows at the same time..is there any chance this could burn the house down??.

The ballast etc is about a year old and its done 4 grows. The bulb is brand new and will arrive after the bank holiday. on top of that the grow rooms got a smoke alarm and will soon have a fire extinguiser fitted.

so what do you guys think the risks are..if any??

cheers

I don't believe in working the plants so hard for that length of time... Giving the plant darkness gives the plant time to respire, essential to great plant health, 18/6 for vegging is all you need. Many different lighting schedules have been tried over many years by many different people 18/6 and 12/12 are still the best....

Everyone always worries about fire, after this first grow, replace the ballast and you'll feel better.... Keep it free of dust and debris and it should last you a good ten years....

hi ya lacey thanks for the quick reply. Totally agree with what you say about the plants needing a little rest every night..Trouble is I need to finish my current grow. the plants are 3-4wks from harvest. Iuse a seperate dark room so for 12 hours the room is empty and the light unused.

I was thinking of starting the next grow early and using the sun for however many hours its available.. and the light for the 12 hours its not in use. That means running the light for 24 hours a day. Once the current grow is done I was going to split the vegged plants into 2 batches and flower them. Again that means using the light 24\7

I dont know how safe it is to run a light for 24 hours a day for 3 months. As anyone done this?.

btw lacey thats some nice ganja you got going

hps is not as hot as a mh. i run them 24/0..
i have did 18/6 and 20/7 and 24/0. i will stay with 24/0

thats good to hear. so they should be ok for 3 months?. I love your avatar btw. thats a nice big cola

scars said:

thats good to hear. so they should be ok for 3 months?. I love your avatar btw. thats a nice big cola

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thanks i like it too. i enjoyed smoking it even better...LOL
ya you will be ok. i run a 1000wtt mh buld in my hps ballast for veg sum times running it 24/0 for 2 months.. i also have a very good exhaust and a very good freashair system.. thats a must

mainly its about the circuit though right?

for continuous duty cycle figure 120% of actual amps, so 1000w@ 110=10amps actual=12 amp continuous duty

I would be more worried about burning out the ballest. When is it supposed to rest and cool off ? If your ballest burns out , will you lose or stress out two grows at the same time ? Maybe I'm just a paranoid neewb.

dadio161 said:

I would be more worried about burning out the ballest. When is it supposed to rest and cool off ? If your ballest burns out , will you lose or stress out two grows at the same time ? Maybe I'm just a paranoid neewb.

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my mh ballasts that i run 24/0 now for 3 years. no problems..

yea it's just a transformer, the other components only get used at startup

mygirls said:

thanks i like it too. i enjoyed smoking it even better...LOL
ya you will be ok. i run a 1000wtt mh buld in my hps ballast for veg sum times running it 24/0 for 2 months.. i also have a very good exhaust and a very good freashair system.. thats a must

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Yeh bet it was a nice smoke lol. Well thanks for the replies. I'm going to try and run the light all day and night tonight and see if i get a good vibe about doing it for 3mths. all should be good tho..and besides thats what smoke alarms and fire extinguisers are for!!..As anyone ever had a fire break out??

I just had a look at the seeds and 4 iced grapefruit have cracked open. That might mean its soon time to start a diary.. Its not worth doing one for the rescued plants, they are battered and bruised but I guess they are still flowering at an ok rate..hopefully theres an oz dry per plant.

anyways nice one for the replies, see ya'll around