Have any of you DIY COB Growers finished a crop under 1000W DE HPS? - POLL

Have any of you DIY COB Growers have actually finished a crop under 1000W DE HPS?

  • Yes

    Votes: 32 29.1%
  • No

    Votes: 78 70.9%

  • Total voters
    110

sixstring2112

Well-Known Member
Can a digital ballast be used with a double ended bulb?
Thanks, I was talking about a gavita reflector on amazon. Found a good source of info tho.
http://www.greners.com/expertadvice/ballast-reflector-compatibility.html
you need a certain type of ballast to run a de lamp,not just any digi ballast will run these lamps correct because they run higher volts and mhz.there are some cheaper versions out there like phantom & galaxy.the galaxy like this one has 2 types of lamp cord connections built in.
https://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/galaxy-de-select-a-watt-electronic-ballast.html
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
you need a certain type of ballast to run a de lamp,not just any digi ballast will run these lamps correct because they run higher volts and mhz.there are some cheaper versions out there like phantom & galaxy.the galaxy like this one has 2 types of lamp cord connections built in.
https://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/galaxy-de-select-a-watt-electronic-ballast.html
Yet low frequency square wave can drive a DE just fine. Isn't that right, @Revolution Micro ?

Y'all might giggle at this news; the ONLY direct competitor I am aware of to your square wave tech at the 1kW output level has discontinued their product. Yes, the Horti Platinum thouie is no more! Dumb move, if you ask me.

Guess someone else is just going to have to step into that market with an affordable, powerful, efficient, technically advanced product. Any ideas who might fit the bill? :bigjoint:

So when am I getting a call from your engineer, anyway?
 

sixstring2112

Well-Known Member
Yet low frequency square wave can drive a DE just fine. Isn't that right, @Revolution Micro ?

Y'all might giggle at this news; the ONLY direct competitor I am aware of to your square wave tech at the 1kW output level has discontinued their product. Yes, the Horti Platinum thouie is no more! Dumb move, if you ask me.

Guess someone else is just going to have to step into that market with an affordable, powerful, efficient, technically advanced product. Any ideas who might fit the bill? :bigjoint:

So when am I getting a call from your engineer, anyway?
can you do it,maybe for a while.should you do it,no.how many de lamps are you running this way tty lol.wait,how many de lamps are you running at all ?
we dont really need an engineer to grow weed in michigan,i know you colorado guys are cutting edge though hahaha.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
can you do it,maybe for a while.should you do it,no.how many de lamps are you running this way tty lol.wait,how many de lamps are you running at all ?
we dont really need an engineer to grow weed in michigan,i know you colorado guys are cutting edge though hahaha.
I'm skipping completely over the DE level of light performance and efficiency and straight to COB LED. I believe it's a cost effective move for me.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
can you do it,maybe for a while.should you do it,no.how many de lamps are you running this way tty lol.wait,how many de lamps are you running at all ?
we dont really need an engineer to grow weed in michigan,i know you colorado guys are cutting edge though hahaha.
Everything you do every day inside your grow tent or out of it was designed, created or improved by engineers. Laughing at them doesn't make you look any smarter at all.
 

sixstring2112

Well-Known Member
Everything you do every day inside your grow tent or out of it was designed, created or improved by engineers. Laughing at them doesn't make you look any smarter at all.
bro i dont use tents for growing,and no engineers were harmed in the making of my buds so easy does it with all that techtalk.again you CAN do it,doesnt make it right OR smart lol.just having seen the output from a ushio lamp in my gavita fixture tells me they dont have a clue what gavita is doing inside the lamp and ballast because a used phillips 750w lamp(13 months) is brighter than a brand new 1000w ushio in my gavita ballast.so i know somethings not right even though its says right on the side of the box its made for de.it reminds me of this hahaahahaha
 

Traplife

Well-Known Member
Not what I am saying at all. What I am saying is the electricity cost is not justified enough for the overall cost.
COBS are great for smaller grows, but not warehouses. Especially when we are talking ROI.
DE can pull 2.5-3 a light, If cobs can do that then great, but for 1500 I can get 3 DE fixtures.
So , 3 DE fixtures pulling 2.5-3lbs vs one COB...very hard to justify that in energy cost alone.

again i dont see why people underestimate electricity bills as a cost. not only does HPS pull more itself, but the AC you have to run to cool them uses just as much as the light. It all depends on where you live, if you live somewhere with high electricity rates + hot weather (like myself) COB technology is the way to go.
 

Revolution Micro

Well-Known Member
again i dont see why people underestimate electricity bills as a cost. not only does HPS pull more itself, but the AC you have to run to cool them uses just as much as the light. It all depends on where you live, if you live somewhere with high electricity rates + hot weather (like myself) COB technology is the way to go.
COB is LED for people who don't have access to automated assembly equipment. As we say: LEDs is LEDs. You can make your own COB modules if you've got the right toys in the shop! Cree does, Osram does, we do too. I like LEDs.

That said, the HID vs. LED thing is going to be an ongoing discussion for the next decade, so we may as well settle in for a nice long yakk. Both have their place, both can be used to advantage. Sayinh LED is good HID is bad is like saying Aluminum is better than Steel -- for aircraft, hell yeah, but for bridges not so much. Right stuff, right application, right price and you get to keep your engineering gig... Like Henry Ford said: A good engineer can do for a dime what anyone can do for a dollar.
 

Revolution Micro

Well-Known Member
you need a certain type of ballast to run a de lamp,not just any digi ballast will run these lamps correct because they run higher volts and mhz.there are some cheaper versions out there like phantom & galaxy.the galaxy like this one has 2 types of lamp cord connections built in.
https://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/galaxy-de-select-a-watt-electronic-ballast.html
Ah, not so!

DE bulbs are not unique in any way but one -- acoustic resonance. Like a guitar string, everything shakes at some resonant frequency. Single-ended bulbs come apart in the upper audio range since they were designed for core & coil at 60 Hz. Hence, Digital Bulbs are just regular bulbs built a little stiffer (or floppier!) to not resonate in the 35-55 kHz range of common electronic ballasts. That's all there is to it.

A DE bulb DOES resonate in that range, so you can either go up to 100 kHz (welcome to EMI hell, but lower cost) or down to 120-200 Hz (problem solved, but cost goes up). Hortilux did a nice low frequency ballast, but it was Bucks Deluxe. Our Revolution Deva light is priced about middle of the range since it's very different tech and is still ow frequency, square wave. Can light just about anything from HPS to Mercury Vapor.

So -- you can light a DE lamp on an old Quantum if you want. It'll just shake itself to bits fairly quickly because the 55 kHz output of the old ballast is just perfect to blow it up.
 
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Revolution Micro

Well-Known Member
Yet low frequency square wave can drive a DE just fine. Isn't that right, @Revolution Micro ?

Y'all might giggle at this news; the ONLY direct competitor I am aware of to your square wave tech at the 1kW output level has discontinued their product. Yes, the Horti Platinum thouie is no more! Dumb move, if you ask me.

Guess someone else is just going to have to step into that market with an affordable, powerful, efficient, technically advanced product. Any ideas who might fit the bill? :bigjoint:

So when am I getting a call from your engineer, anyway?
Was I supposed to call you? Man ... Email me your number. Sorry if I fubar'ed that!
 

a mongo frog

Well-Known Member
again i dont see why people underestimate electricity bills as a cost. not only does HPS pull more itself, but the AC you have to run to cool them uses just as much as the light. It all depends on where you live, if you live somewhere with high electricity rates + hot weather (like myself) COB technology is the way to go.
Who's underestimating electrical bills are not a cost?
 

Revolution Micro

Well-Known Member
again i dont see why people underestimate electricity bills as a cost. not only does HPS pull more itself, but the AC you have to run to cool them uses just as much as the light. It all depends on where you live, if you live somewhere with high electricity rates + hot weather (like myself) COB technology is the way to go.
No matter what the technology, LED, SED or HID, Watts into the room is Watts AC has to remove unless you have them ducted outside. There's a common fantasy that an 1000w LED is somehow cooler than an 1000w of anything else, but watts is watts. Unless the light is doing some mechanical shaft work, watts into the light is watts of heat in the room.

LEDs win where you tune the spectrum to delete parts of the curve you don't want, so you can get away with less power for similar amounts of plant-growing light. But watts in is heat in.

-Greg
 

sixstring2112

Well-Known Member
So -- you can light a DE lamp on an old Quantum if you want. It'll just shake itself to bits fairly quickly because the 55 kHz output of the old ballast is just perfect to blow it up.
exactly ,never mind all the extra rf you will get running it wrong,kinda like saying you play guitar then picking up an untuned axe and hacking your way through smoke on the water,it sounds like shit and your friends will say that sucks lmao. @ttystikk your gunna need more backup :lol:
 

Traplife

Well-Known Member
Who's underestimating electrical bills are not a cost?
i never said anyone claims its not a cost.. i'm saying some people do not understand how high your bill can get if you live in a densely populated area. therefore, making Electricity cost a more important factor to consider depending on where you live.
 

a mongo frog

Well-Known Member
i never said anyone claims its not a cost.. i'm saying some people do not understand how high your bill can get if you live in a densely populated area. therefore, making Electricity cost a more important factor to consider depending on where you live.
I think that depends on the farming situation. But your right in so many ways, but there are some who don't blink twice at paying lets say a 3000.00 electric bill. and there are some that don't blink at paying 200.00 electric bill. Beyond the electric bill i believe whats most attractive about cob fixtures is the foot print one gets vs the wattage. I mean its unreal. But if your replacing a 1000 watt hps lamp with 800 watts of cob your still paying some good bucks towards electric. Just my thoughts bro, every one grows different and has different ways.
 

Traplife

Well-Known Member
I think that depends on the farming situation. But your right in so many ways, but there are some who don't blink twice at paying lets say a 3000.00 electric bill. and there are some that don't blink at paying 200.00 electric bill. Beyond the electric bill i believe whats most attractive about cob fixtures is the foot print one gets vs the wattage. I mean its unreal. But if your replacing a 1000 watt hps lamp with 800 watts of cob your still paying some good bucks towards electric. Just my thoughts bro, every one grows different and has different ways.
very true, also "comfort" is a factor in my grow. my roomate has to sleep in the same room as the tent, our house does not have AC and it gets in the 100s in the summer and an HPS would just make that room unbearable! I just ordered 800w of cob "equivalent" to 1600w of HPS, we're putting it in a 4x4 flower room, installing and flipping by the end of the week, ill post the results!
 
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