$50 HPS Guide

I posted this in Absolute beginners, but that thread got derailed, and it really belongs here anyway. so here it is


So after finding a 150w HPS for only $39.90 on e-conolight I had to see what the deal was with it. Shipping was only $10. I read some guides on older models that e-conolight doesn't carry anymore, so I thought I'd make a guide on this one.

here are materials list:
1. the light
2. decent length bits of good quality wire. i stripped mine out of a power cable for a cd burner.
3. any pc power supply or extension cord or other grounded ac plug
4. a nut and bolt (or a substitute, read the post)
5. screwdriver/scissors/electrical tape/derptools
6. (optional) clasps to make your ballast removable.

I didn't take pics along the way, but I have a lot of pics to demonstrate what I'm talking about. Here's the stock photo of the light, this is what it looks like when you get it, fully assembled.


you could hang the light like this but it'd get extremely hot and weighs almost 9 pounds. everyone prefers a remote ballast, and thats what this guide is all about.

when you open the glass and remove the bulb, there are three screws. two by the socket, and one on the other side. they're easy to find. once they're gone, the socket will be loose and the reflector will come out easily. with the reflector out, this is what you're left with (but with the socket in there instead of the bits of wire i have leading out, i'll explain those later)


The socket is attached by two wires, black and white.

cut them both, but leave length on both sides of your cut.

at this point i like to reattach the socket to the reflector. just line the holes up, theyre already there, and put a bolt through it and attach a nut on the other side to secure the socket in place.


I didn't have a bolt and nut and didn't feel like buying one, so i used a screw and a bit of wood. same concept.


now simply get your length of wire and attach one end to the socket


and the other end to the ballast where you cut earlier.


i opted to attach male/female clasps so that i could remove my ballast. this is recommended but optional.


now all thats left is to wire your a/c in, the easiest part. i didn't take pictures, but i'll still explain

coming out of the flood will be a pre-stripped black and white wire and a bare copper wire. all you do is strip down a pc power supply/extension cord/other grounded plug and it will yield a black, white, and green wire. attach black to black, white to white, and green to bare copper. wrap the rest of the copper in electrical tape. i like to wrap the wires together in tape all the way to the base of the flood to make it look better.

then just plug it in and make sure your bulb fires up.


now you can work on a way to hang it. you'll have to get creative here. i just screwed chains into the wood and connected them.




that's really it. the last step i suppose would be put it over your girls. here are a couple shots of this 150w next to my 400w




thats it. i hope this helps someone even though it is pretty basic stuff. thanks for checking out the thread.

 

nah. i soldered all my connections then wrapped the solder in electrical tape then wrapped the electrical tape in duct tape to make it flush.

i'm not worried about my connections. tbh i wouldn't even be worried if i'd simply twisted the wires and taped them.

heatshrink tubing would be a nice touch though, but i wouldn't consider it necessary by any means.

 

lerp herp.

by fine i meant my connections are safe

 

no you cannot.