Pulse start metal halide. ?How to wire the ballast.

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object16

Active Member
Pulse start metal halide is a new technology. The bulbs are brighter, last longer and have better maintenance of lumens, can be run 24/7 without having to shut down. It is hard to find ready made ballasts for pulse start, but the kit form is very cheap, and is available in huge numbers of different wattages. The 400w metal halide horizontal lamp from Venture puts out 40,000 lumens initially, lasts 20,000+ hours, has excellent lumen maintenance,
and goes for about $32. with a very nice spectral output, good blue, lots of red as well, for excellent PAR. Although I don't have the PAR figure, this lamp follows the chlorophyll absorption spectral activity nicely. Also, the ballast kit is only $50.
Does anyone have any plans for what to use for the enclosure, how to mount the stuff, how to wire it together. This would be a great project, because
more lumens per watt is what we need.
 
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kindprincess

Well-Known Member
object16 said:
So I guess since I'm looking for pulse start metal halide, and not the standard metal halide,
then I wire it like a High Pressure Sodium?
Someone on gardenscure posted the directions, but the diagram is no longer available.
Where do I find a case for the thing?

How to wire an HID ballast kit - The Garden's Cure
Click to expand...
no, the pulse (i may be wrong) is created by the hz of the transformer; mh is a hps without an ignitor.

kp
 
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object16

Active Member
No, the pulse start system has an ignitor. Instead of heating up the probe like a regular metal halide, it sends a flash of very high voltage across the arctube, and this vaporizes the metals to allow for conduction of electricity and light. The arctube has a different shape and is more optimum for lighting efficiency. This different method of ignition means the lamp burns brighter much longer, with much less blackening of the arctube.
 
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kindprincess

Well-Known Member
object16 said:
No, the pulse start system has an ignitor. Instead of heating up the probe like a regular metal halide, it sends a flash of very high voltage across the arctube, and this vaporizes the metals to allow for conduction of electricity and light. The arctube has a different shape and is more optimum for lighting efficiency. This different method of ignition means the lamp burns brighter much longer, with much less blackening of the arctube.
Click to expand...
can you show me?

mh will run with an ignitor, but it cuts the bulb life in half at best, i know this from experience...

also, i use solarmax enhanced mh bulbs, not sure if they are the same or not?
 
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object16

Active Member
If you run regular metal halide with an ignitor, then you will ruin the lamp. I am talking about lamps that are DESIGNED for an ignitor.

http://www.venturelighting.com/LampsHTMLDocuments/Uni-Form_400W_lamps.html

Hhydro in Michigan sells the lamps, but the salesman doesn't understand about ballasts. They do have a little write up about it:

Life Light Tech Sun Pulse 400W Pulse Start Metal Halide by Horizen Hydroponics
except the write up says that it uses a 4kHz pulse to start it, when they mean a 4kVt pulse to start it. They are confused in their own write up, and don't mention that this lamp also can use a core and coil magnetic ballast to start it, which they don't carry.

The place to buy the lamp would be Businesslights.com

The Agrosun lamp is a probe start, not a pulse start, so it will be destroyed if you use an ignitor.
The reason for coming out with pulse start, is that this is a newer technology, the lamps run brighter, last longer, have a 2-3 minute warm-up time, 4-6 minute restrike time, and can be dimmed when using an electronic ballast. The drawback about them is that they have not widely made their way into indoor growing. If you check aquarium shops, they do carry assembled pulse start ballasts, because aquarium owners look for maximum amount of light in a restricted space.

400W 4K ED37 HOR±75° Pulse Start Metal Halide Lamp case/6 @ Businesslights.com

If the lamps are burned 24/7, as per veg, then they lasts much longer than 20,000hrs.

Marine depot, and other aquarium stores carry the PFO Pulse start ballast:
PFO 400W Pulse Start Single Ballast (Saltwater Aquarium Supplies > Lighting > Accessories > Ballasts > Metal Halide > 400 Watt > Magnetic > Assembled )
 
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zero1776

Active Member
Have any of you used pulse start? what do you think of them? I have nextgen ballasts and have been looking into sun pulse, anyone have any experience with them?
 
lowie182

lowie182

Member
this is a bit of a thread hijack but i gotta MH lamp layin around and i did some searches and found nothing. but can i just grab an ignitor and run a HPS bulb of the same wattage?
 
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