welshsmoker
Well-Known Member
I should say mind that my lights are never lowered, they are at maximum height from the start.
630W DE CMH - Anyone running these?
- Thread starter Renfro
- Start date
When I opened my hood up the hot spit went away pretty fast. Within half hour I was able to lower light 4 more inches and regroup the plants.
Great light, and pulled just shy of a pound for first grow. Such a learning curve tho. Suprised I did as well as I did with all the issues I had from heat or humidity buildup in the tent.
Great light, and pulled just shy of a pound for first grow. Such a learning curve tho. Suprised I did as well as I did with all the issues I had from heat or humidity buildup in the tent.
I think you can dim down when fired it up at 1000W setting first.
About the stem, maybe you can share the photo here if here is anyone came through the same senario and know the remedy.
I suppose it means when in same weight CMH gives more flavor?
Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
Might be the globes. Myself and most people seem to report denser buds from the CMH over HPS. The comparison grow that I think was posted on here was the same, the HPS side looked like it had more flower and more weight but when it came down to harvest and numbers the CMH was weightier.
Edit: Looks like it was never linked, If anyone is interested its a good read. https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=352859
"I'm 100% sold on the CMH. I'm converting my room to all 630s is now. It beat the 1000s hands down.. in all aspects. I was getting 9.5 and 9 oz and 8.5 oz plants on the regular with the cmh. The biggest plant trimmed in the hps was an even 8 ounces.. "
Edit: Looks like it was never linked, If anyone is interested its a good read. https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=352859
"I'm 100% sold on the CMH. I'm converting my room to all 630s is now. It beat the 1000s hands down.. in all aspects. I was getting 9.5 and 9 oz and 8.5 oz plants on the regular with the cmh. The biggest plant trimmed in the hps was an even 8 ounces.. "
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blazeaglory420
Well-Known Member
You know, it just kills me because I already bought 2 damned 60w HPS bulbs and a ballast/light but Im going to switch to that CMH bulb that can run on a reular digital ballast.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
What ballast do you have?
blazeaglory420
Well-Known Member
I just bought one of the 630w CMH and put all my new HPS on ebay lol Really hoping it runs cooler than my 600w HPS
Heres my ballast
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072C2SGJ5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Renfro
Well-Known Member
That bulb was specific on a few ballasts it won't work with and I know it ran on my Sun System 1kW HPS ballast set to 60%. So you may wanna keep your HPS bulbs until you know the CMH bulb will get along with your ballast.
This is the bulb you are talking about right? https://growershouse.com/growers-choice-630w-de-double-ended-cmh-ceramic-mh-lamp-3k-r-red-enhanced
blazeaglory420
Well-Known Member
Yeah. It should work with mine, its not a Gavita 750. Its a 600/660 - 1000/1150. Also, the bulb requires at least a 342v circuit voltage, where mime puts out 400 minimum. So fingers crossed it should be ok. I still have time, so now worries. I also have a spare bulb set aside.
I just have to see for myself how great these CMH truly are
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blazeaglory420
Well-Known Member
What anyone think about running this 630w at 660w?
blazeaglory420
Well-Known Member
Shrapnel bomb? haha Is 5% over its stated wattage allot? I have no clue, so I probably wont try it considering the bulb cost over 100$
Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
Then buy a proper CMH ballast...?
blazeaglory420
Well-Known Member
Is that a question? Or are you trying to say that, for some reason, this ballast isnt good enough or wont work? And why would I buy a "proper" CMH ballast when Im buying a CMH bulb that isnt made for proper CMH ballast? The ballast I have now can run multiple bulb types, so why invest 100$-200$ on another ballast that only runs CMH, when I can get this CMH bulb and still have the option to run any other bulb I want?
Do you have any experience with this bulb or other CMH bulbs made to work with high frequency ballasts? If so, please enlighten everyone
If Im not satisfied with the results of this setup, maybe I will get a CMH ballast, maybe I wont, but can you at least give some reasoning.
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Growers choice originally made square wave ballast to run those bulbs. They quit making the complete cmh square wave fixtures because they were getting too many returns cause a certain number of the ballast wouldn't fire out the box. I have a growers choice square wave stand alone ballast I got off Amazon. (Bought to replace some Alibaba square wave ballast that crapped out pretty quick- but honestly the Chinese bulbs lasted longer then the GC ones).
The reason you want square wave is because it optimizes the spectrum and longevity of the bulbs. My 600 watt cheapo hps ballast wouldn't run the bulbs. I've seen other people that did have hps ballast that did run them but at least one guy said when he switched to square wave it was noticeably better.
I dunno what your trying to accomplish maybe I missed part of the thread but I can say that I did air cool my 630 with acde hoods and I didn't see much if any improvement in yield from the 600 hps. In fact I originally bought them because it was summer and I needed to cut wattage and I bought into the hype that they are as good as a 1000 w hps. So I hung two in a 4x8 tent and it didn't do any better than 2 600 hps as far as weight. Quality might be a bit better but not that much. I will tell you that two 315s (there was no glass hood so maybe that helped) completely smash my double ended 630 as far as quality and yield.
In my opinion the Phillips 3100k bulbs on a square wave ballast put out the absolute best spectrum available and for only 315 watts yield damn good.
The reason you want square wave is because it optimizes the spectrum and longevity of the bulbs. My 600 watt cheapo hps ballast wouldn't run the bulbs. I've seen other people that did have hps ballast that did run them but at least one guy said when he switched to square wave it was noticeably better.
I dunno what your trying to accomplish maybe I missed part of the thread but I can say that I did air cool my 630 with acde hoods and I didn't see much if any improvement in yield from the 600 hps. In fact I originally bought them because it was summer and I needed to cut wattage and I bought into the hype that they are as good as a 1000 w hps. So I hung two in a 4x8 tent and it didn't do any better than 2 600 hps as far as weight. Quality might be a bit better but not that much. I will tell you that two 315s (there was no glass hood so maybe that helped) completely smash my double ended 630 as far as quality and yield.
In my opinion the Phillips 3100k bulbs on a square wave ballast put out the absolute best spectrum available and for only 315 watts yield damn good.
Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
Because CMH is more than about the lamp.
If you want to give CMH a real try then you need the ballast that is made for the lamp. Its like buying a $300 shirt and then putting over it a $25 jacket. Sure you look good but the result could of been allot better.
I recon these cross over lamps may be a good thing and then again they may not work as well as expected but its not the same as running the full setup. It cannot be as your not running a low freq ballast.
My expericance is with MH/HPS just 600watters, some home made LED, CFL (I still like my 130w CFL..haha) and a 630w DE CMH (proper one). Hence why the tittle of this thread has me interested. I'm running one.
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blazeaglory420
Well-Known Member
I get what you're saying but this CMH isn't a normal bulb. It's designed to be run on a high freq ballast, so for this CMH bulb, a high frequency ballast IS the proper ballast.
If it doesn't work as good as my HPS, then ill know and can put my mind to rest.
Side question, not many cooling options for these huh? The few closed hoods seem to have the intake and exhaust openings blowing air directly passed the bulb, which I thought wasn't good? I've read too much cooling could degrade the light output? I would run open but thee bulb isn't double jacketed, so there's a small chance it could explode at the moment I'm admiring my fat buds. I really hate to have glass in my hood to be honest
The best hood I've found (other than the 300$ Hydrofarm) is this one in link below, which seems to have the bulb a little higher up in the unit and the air flows just under, instead of directly passed the bulb. What do you all think?
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/112214558829
Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
Yes the lamp has been designed to work on a HPS Ballast but the Ballast is not designed to run a CMH lamp efficiently.
Its a nice experiment that You and Renfro are doing (and Renfro is a nice grower) but its a hard ask wanting to make a HPS Ballast run anything better than a HPS. And it so far shows that that's the case. This is the first thread I've seen on running these lamps so its interesting the differences that we are seeing. Good square wave ballasts are expensive so I could see a huge market if they could get a CMH lamp to run nearly as good on a Hi Freq ballast
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Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
I dont belive there are many cooling options. I dont have to use my enclosed hood anymore as its now cooler than my SE600W.
The older lamps used a removable jacket the new lamps have it inbuilt so if it explodes it wont get all in the grow or start a fire (hopefully).
Hi-par do a range of quality hoods and do a couple of enclosed hoods. https://www.hi-par-horticulture.com/products
This one is pretty cool, runs a CMH and a HPS in the one hood. https://www.hi-par-horticulture.com/duo-cmh-hps-reflector
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i was think about runs a CMH and HPS in the one hood with 1 ballast. like drive a 400WCMH and a 600W HPS with a 1000W ballast