Best light ever made!!!!!

Best light or perhaps cheapest ?

 

Nice one mate.

 

Why does it look like a MV bulb you're using?

 

no idea what an MP bulb is .. there are thee different kinds of HIDs ( well common ones anyways..)

MH- Metal Halide
HPS- High Pressure Sodium
MV- Mercury Vapor


now of em, the Mercury Vapor is useless.. not to mention getting phased out by law( which is why i'm kinda worried about your purchase).\

never heard of HPS/MP so i'm a bit worried as to what you purchased.

could you get a pic of the UL labels ( those two silver ones) feel free to pixilate ( or however you want to cover em ) any codes or marks that may let us know where you bought them (just to be safe)


High-intensity discharge lamp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The fixture itself looks like a MH high bay.

 

^^agreed^^

 

I would not call it best . It is outdated ( ballast) , it will create heat problems unless you grow in the relatively big grow space with grate ventilation .... And do you really think that people who pay few hundred dollars for quality lights are idiots? Honestly this light is nothing but creative ( I have to admit ) piece of junk . P.s. I just do not see anything BEST about it .

 

Its "best" because the OP spent very little, used a little ingenuity, and came up with something that will enable him/her to grow. What's best for you is not always best for everyone...

 

I started out using bay fixtures 14-15 years ago...... nothing wrong with em. A litter ingenuity and some wires and the ballast comes off......

 

Well, true, but the thread is misleading at best, as growers here usually relate "best" with actual results, not staring at pics of just homemade prep.

That being said, kudos to the OP for some stoner Macgyver tactics there...

 

Wow, we seem to have some cranky people on here that can't give credit where it is due.

YOU GOT A GREAT DEAL! OK?

Now, what you seem to have purchased is several 400W Metal Halide ballasts with the mogul sockets. Not a bad deal for $20 bucks! I believe the ballasts to be MH for in your picture of the ballast with the back off, I can see a capacitor but no starter. If there is no starter in the ballast you will not be able to run an HPS bulb. You, may be able to add a starter to some of your ballasts or switch it in to be able to run HPS bulbs.

As you stated you were going to add some cord I assume you are going to place your ballasts outside your GR so that will help with heat. You may have some heat issues with non-vented lighting - if so - I bet you could come up with some modifications so you could vent your made up hood.

Lastly - congrats man! I always make my stuff when I can or buy it used when it is cheaper that way. Don't listen to the bleats of the sheep who only think you can grow with the "best" expensive stuff.

 

Well.considering he still has to buy bulbs its not that cheap. I got a 400w air cooled system with both mh and hps.bulb.for 150 on amazon, i know its not the best quality but its sure as hell better than that. After the cost of bulbs he will be at the same price point.

 

you can pick up 400 watts bulbs for 25 bucks at home depot.. if you go "spectrum" it starts to cost. But for 25-30 bucks per pop they can have as good as the bulbs you got for free...

I'm betting he is still under a full "bill" per light ( more then likely per pair of lights..)

 

A 400W ballast and cord set is pretty much a 400W ballast and cord set to a plant. Doesn't matter if it is a digital or magnetic driving it. In addition, I would be willing to bet that the components of his ballast, although used, are of better quality that the 150 unit bought on Ebay. I repair ballasts and you can get all kinds of different quality components for them. High bay equipment like the OP has is normally very high quality.

OK, that is not EXACTLY true, but close enough for argument.

It look like that bulb in the picture could be a MH, did those come with the fixtures?

 

With a little searching on craigslist i'm sure he can get some good bulbs on the cheap. Where i'm at in socal 1000w eye hortilux are going for 25-30 per lamp. 400w should be the same.

Before the craigslist knocking begins I would like to state that I sell my lamps after 2 runs and that leaves plenty of life on them for someone who is just getting into this hobby.

 

hurtilux for $30? really? where in so cal?

 

I think he meant they were that price used. Same here in CO.