Buying a CMH, anything I should aim for before making the purchase??

[NugHeuser]

Well I did a little more reading and also stumbled upon a thread that you were a part of @Dynamo626 over the growers choice 630 watt cmh de bulbs.

I think I'm going to go with the Growers Choice 630 with the 3000k-red double ended bulb. I'll probably get a second one within a couple weeks. I appreciate all the help guys!!!

 

[Dynamo626]

Well I did a little more reading and also stumbled upon a thread that you were a part of @Dynamo626 over the growers choice 630 watt cmh de bulbs.

I think I'm going to go with the Growers Choice 630 with the 3000k-red double ended bulb. I'll probably get a second one within a couple weeks. I appreciate all the help guys!!!

yep as the manager of a hydro store there are some pretty awesome perks. had that fixture a month before release

 

[NugHeuser]

yep as the manager of a hydro store there are some pretty awesome perks. had that fixture a month before release

What's your personal rating on that out of 5 stars?

 

[Dynamo626]

4 stars. Needs a bigger hood ( ive already swaped mine out) also needs a light spreader. The hot spot is pretty intense light spreader helps alot

 

[NugHeuser]

4 stars. Needs a bigger hood ( ive already swaped mine out) also needs a light spreader. The hot spot is pretty intense light spreader helps alot

I see. I still havent made the purchase yet so I'll take that into consideration. What are the specs for the size of the fixture (length, width, height)? I can't find it on growers choice website or the growershouse site that I was gonna buy from

 

[rkymtnman]

I see. I still havent made the purchase yet so I'll take that into consideration. What are the specs for the size of the fixture (length, width, height)? I can't find it on growers choice website or the growershouse site that I was gonna buy from

hey, i just saw what space you are gonna do. if anybody hasn't said it, i'd go 3 315w over that space. it would be 4ishx3 per light which is perfect IMO. 3x3 is awesome but 3x4 would still be really good.

 

[Dynamo626]

Like the hood it comes with its very low profile hood is abought the same size as the govita reflecter. The hood comes off very easly so you can run is as a remote and swap hoods if you want. Really i think all lamps need a spreader. They all have a hot spot

 

[NugHeuser]

hey, i just saw what space you are gonna do. if anybody hasn't said it, i'd go 3 315w over that space. it would be 4ishx3 per light which is perfect IMO. 3x3 is awesome but 3x4 would still be really good.

Won't the penetration be hurt though running only 315s? And also that would only make 26w per sq ft which I know they say 50ish is optimum, if I were even going to go that route then I would want atleast 4 315s. I'm worried about overall umph with running the 315s, smaller buds, less penetration.. typically how it works right? Two double ended 630s would be each over a 4.5x4 so coverage would be pretty good i would think anyway plus have a much higher par value right? I'm not stomping your idea I'm just trying to lay it all out so I don't make the wrong purchase

 

[JDMase]

600w HPS and 315w with a daylight (blue) bulb would be better. I run two 315's at the moment myself. Quality is great but the yield has been said to be better if you use it to supplement a HPS. Im gonna try it myself next round for my flower room.

 

[NugHeuser]

600w HPS and 315w with a daylight (blue) bulb would be better. I run two 315's at the moment myself. Quality is great but the yield has been said to be better if you use it to supplement a HPS. Im gonna try it myself next round for my flower room.

Well I already have a vivosun 600 watt so I have some options there.
Also I would kind of expect the yeild to be a bit low on the 315s just since they are using less watts, that's why this 630w double ended cmh bulb by growers choice has my eyes sparkling lol I've read a lot of claims saying they will do what a 1000w hps will and will blow away 600hps. The spectrum of the bulb looks amazing, full spectrum puting out extra red at 85cri along with uv light. I read some claims that its about as close to our sun as anything else out there

 

[NugHeuser]

600w HPS and 315w with a daylight (blue) bulb would be better. I run two 315's at the moment myself. Quality is great but the yield has been said to be better if you use it to supplement a HPS. Im gonna try it myself next round for my flower room.

Have you figured a rough gpw estimate with your 315s yet?

 

[JDMase]

Well I already have a vivosun 600 watt so I have some options there.
Also I would kind of expect the yeild to be a bit low on the 315s just since they are using less watts, that's why this 630w double ended cmh bulb by growers choice has my eyes sparkling lol I've read a lot of claims saying they will do what a 1000w hps will and will blow away 600hps. The spectrum of the bulb looks amazing, full spectrum puting out extra red at 85cri along with uv light. I read some claims that its about as close to our sun as anything else out there

I can't deny that since I added an extra 315 during flower my bottom Buds caught up to my tops, but it's hard to say as I didn't use two all the way through.

I grow vert so my GPW would probably not really be a good measure. Ive chopped half of one plant and got like 2.5-3oz so far, my journal is in the vertical section though, will be updating it next week with final dry weights of Pineapple Express, the week after that with tangie.

 

[NugHeuser]

I can't deny that since I added an extra 315 during flower my bottom Buds caught up to my tops, but it's hard to say as I didn't use two all the way through.

I grow vert so my GPW would probably not really be a good measure. Ive chopped half of one plant and got like 2.5-3oz so far, my journal is in the vertical section though, will be updating it next week with final dry weights of Pineapple Express, the week after that with tangie.

Sweet man. What's the name of your grow journal, wouldn't mind taking a peak

 

[rkymtnman]

Won't the penetration be hurt though running only 315s? And also that would only make 26w per sq ft which I know they say 50ish is optimum, if I were even going to go that route then I would want atleast 4 315s. I'm worried about overall umph with running the 315s, smaller buds, less penetration.. typically how it works right? Two double ended 630s would be each over a 4.5x4 so coverage would be pretty good i would think anyway plus have a much higher par value right? I'm not stomping your idea I'm just trying to lay it all out so I don't make the wrong purchase

if you are concerned about penetration and if you have the ceiling height and can handle the heat, DE HPS would be a good choice too.
the spectrum of the CMH is hard to beat. i have the 4200K bulb and it does great in veg and bloom for me.

are you much of a DIY'er? building your own COBs is pretty easy and would save a bunch of money

so many choices!

 

[NugHeuser]

if you are concerned about penetration and if you have the ceiling height and can handle the heat, DE HPS would be a good choice too.
the spectrum of the CMH is hard to beat. i have the 4200K bulb and it does great in veg and bloom for me.

are you much of a DIY'er? building your own COBs is pretty easy and would save a bunch of money

so many choices!

Yeah I guess as far as penetration it may not be as big of an issue because ill be trying to keep my canopy no more than 4 feet off the ground by the end, so around 3 feet of growth, honestly will probably keep it even a little shorter than that until I get an idea of my height management. I will be scroging too. My ceiling is only 7 feet tall so I'm a bit limited there.
Also I'm plenty capable of diy, im a journeyman fabricator where i work. But I've looked into cobs too and from what i gathered for about a 600w system with the vero29s id be looking at around 700 dollars, which is why I started looking into the cmh's

 

[rkymtnman]

Also I'm plenty capable of diy, im a journeyman fabricator where i work. But I've looked into cobs too and from what i gathered for about a 600w system with the vero29s id be looking at around 700 dollars, which is why I started looking into the cmh's

i built a 3 cob fixture 240w total for about $150. my cmh bulb is getting up there in hours so i figured what the hell, don't buy a new bulb but build a cob that will last alot longer.

 

[NugHeuser]

i built a 3 cob fixture 240w total for about $150. my cmh bulb is getting up there in hours so i figured what the hell, don't buy a new bulb but build a cob that will last alot longer.

Nice, what kind of cobs did you get? And did you buy a heatsink separate and fit it to the cobs yourself or did ya buy one provided from the company you got your cobs from? The pin heatsinks make up a big part of the cost. I think I was seeing mainly around $20 a peice for them

 

[rkymtnman]

Nice, what kind of cobs did you get? And did you buy a heatsink separate and fit it to the cobs yourself or did ya buy one provided from the company you got your cobs from? The pin heatsinks make up a big part of the cost. I think I was seeing mainly around $20 a peice for them

citi 1212. 3000k.

i went a different route and got active heatsinks. CPU coolers from arctic.au 18 bucks each on sale and they can cool up to 135w.

 

[NugHeuser]

citi 1212. 3000k.

i went a different route and got active heatsinks. CPU coolers from arctic.au 18 bucks each on sale and they can cool up to 135w.

Sooo many options! lol I was trying to order the Growers Choice 630w de cmh lastnight and it was $545 but after taxes was saying about $1100 so it was aparent that something was wrong with the site at the moment.. so yeah my options are still open, ill continue to ponder ideas lol

 

[JDMase]

Sweet man. What's the name of your grow journal, wouldn't mind taking a peak

It's called "my first vert" in the vertical section. Thanks for taking a look