i got a street light thats about 20 years old, i think its MH or MV i dn but its a 400w bulb about 6-8" long and its white looks like this: would it be good to grow with what kind of bulb is this? (it gives of a pinkish light)
Without a picture I'd have to guess. But I know of low pressure mercury lamps that produce pinkish light (especially when cold). So I'm guessing it's a low pressure mercury lamp. With these lamps you can usually see liquid metal drops inside the bulb stuck on the glass if the lamp is cold. I do hope it's a mercury lamp for you! The spectrum of mercury lamps is actually very good. It's just not the most efficient lamp you can get. This is the reason they are becoming less and less common. And ofcourse because mercury kills.
And you before one of you HPS/MH loving stoners wants to debate the 'very good spectrum' of mercury bulbs with me, check this out and be silenced forever. :
ill try to get pics up with my webcam, i lost my camra cable... so if its a pinkish light then it should be good for flowering right..? i already have 4 cfls so that should do it for the white/blue spectrum right?
No and no. No, Pink does not mean good per definition. I said I know some lights that can produce pink which should be good. This does not mean that your bulb is a low pressure mercury bulb. Every bulb has markings on them so you can identify them and buy another one once it needs replacement. Photograph that to be sure. No, just because you have 4 CFLs it doesn't mean that would 'do it' for the blue/white spectrum. That would depend on the type of CFLs you already have.
i said that the light gives off a pink hue, would this added with my 65k cfls make a well balenced spectrum for growing? i looked at the bulb and the words are so worn off u can read them, the one word u can make out is mercury meaning its a mercury vapor not a Metal Halide correct?(ive heard metal halide has mercury in them to) i have the whole thing dissasembled because i had to replace a fuse in it, the ballest is very basic, its just 2 caps and a transformer.
the bulb looks just like the picture so i dn what u mean about no pic http://www.1000bulbs.com/images/Mercury_Vapor_400w_ED37_wh_mog_270.jpg thats the link to the pic if u cant see it
MH lights need to be replaced after about 6 months to 1.5 years old. HPS lights need to be replaced every 2-3 years. And you are talking about a 20 year old light here? I would be shocked if it even worked and if it does I can guarantee it is not putting out its maximum potential output. Also, urgr8estfear, MV lights are an inferior light to MH and HPS and also get pretty hot as well. Don't grow with MV.
Agreed. Inferior indeed. When you look at the bulbs spectrum, power, and efficiency. But the spectrum alone is pretty awesome indeed. All your needs into a single bulb. Neither MH or HPS offer this. He asked for the spectrum alone I think. If he : a.Actually has a MV bulb. b.Can fire up that thing. c.Has a bulb that isn't worn out yet. d.Has a bulb with a high enough power W rating. and e.Doesn't care about enery efficiency. then he can grow some kickass plants under such a light.
well it had a blown fuse witch i didnt have a replacement for so i just rewired it without a fuse. the light seems to works great ive only had it running for about 10 min tho, ill run it for a full 18 hr tomorrow. its a 400w and im only growing 6 plants. thaks a ton for all the help i thought i was gonna have to get new lights... look for my grow jurnal in a few weeks if u want to see how the light works.
OMG! Dude! Tell me you figured out WHY THAT FUSE WAS BLOWN in the first place? I'm certain it didn't fall apart for no reason. If the fuse has blown out before because there is something wrong with the bulb or the fixture YOU COULD BE HEADING FOR A MELTDOWN! NEVER BYPASS FUSES LIKE YOU DID!!!!!!!!!!!! NEVER I guess this rules out you applying for a job at the fire department!
HE HE HE .....dont MERCURY VAPOR lights emit MERCURY VAPOR??? doesnt sound too healthy for an indoor grow...... i tried one it started giving me BAD headaches and making me naushious everytime i went to the room ...... I WOULDNT grow with one no matter how you tried to convince me it was the best for geowing inside... besides ... YOU CANT TOP THE DUAL SPEC LIGHTS THAT ARE ON THE MARKET THESE DAZE...
lol i no i shouldnt bypass fuses, i put a new fuse on the cord to plug it in... i hope thats good enough. i didnt no about the whole emmiting mercury vapor! mabey i shouldnt grow with it, does anyone know if that is true? i didnt run it for the whole 18 hr thing today just because of these comments, as soon as these problems have been cleared up ill do the test.
i have 4 42w cfls 2 14" 30w aquarum tubes and this light... ive only paid like $30 for all my crap! PWNED!!! STFU N00B!!1!1! lol j/k
well i cant test it today even if i wanted to cause im going to a friends and dont feel like burning my house down while im gone...
Mercury vapor bulbs DO NOT EMIT mercury vapor! They'd have to lose vacuum to leak mercury. If they lost vacuum they do not work. If you break those bulbs however, they will leak mercury, so don't. For Mr. Muffin its very possible to keep this bulb intact, but it will end up on a garbage heap or so or maybe some kind of governmental storage facility. Ofcourse these bulbs will not last as long as the pyramids so they must break at some point in time and spill all over the place. This is THE reason they stopped MAKING these things. Using them is not the problem. Either way, mercury poisoning is permanent. You cannot cleanse it from your body and will cause nervous system damage. Permanent damage. So this whole 'feeling sick' when close to the bulb thing cannot be mercury poisoning. What you say sounds more like glue/paint solvent fumes working on your brain.... A temporary effect in any case, so no heavy metals.... Good to hear Mr. Muffin decide to stick with the fuse. As long as you replace the fuse with a fuse of the same current/voltage rating you'll be good. So in short Mr. Muffin : If you are not bothered by the power rating of this bulb, by all means grow some decent plants for us with this thing!!!!! Drop us your pictures please!
ya sorry about the loss of pics i lost my camra cable and its like $40 for a new one, my mom is going to be buying a new camra (my current one is only 1.8 mp)... im at a friends right now, with some green of course ill check it when i get home, but while if i could find any of these bulbs on ebay or somthing about how much would they cost i still like to use this light if the bulb dies after about an hour or w/e (i have a feeling it wont last that long) if the bulb does work well ill be starting a grow in the next few weeks and hope to have it done be october...
ok im home now, i was gone 4 days and my little ladies are fine thanks to my bro... anyway ill be testing the light tomorrow and ill try to get a new digicam tonight so that i have a signifacant update, sorry this has been going so slow. anyway i looked online and these bulbs are really cheap heres my best 400w find (here) i no its a bit more expensive but it has the best lumens; 24k http://homeharvest.com/conversionbulbs.htm is the HID Conversion thing on that site that says u can use hps conversion bulbs in MV fixtures true...?
ok im starting the test in 20 min and the light will be running until 9 am tomorrow, i will have the update by 10 am... i just hope the extra hours doesnt kill the bulb