3.6 x 3.9ft light choice
- Thread starter Braman
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ALong14U
Well-Known Member
So I just stumbled on your post. If you have a junk yard anywhere near you go look for an old round shop light. I will include a picture of one. They usually have what is called a multi tap ballast inside the casing above the light. Now there is a small bit of wiring needed to change the voltage inside the casing so you can run it on 120volts. Crack open the ballast housing using common hand tools. Inside there will be wires running to the light socket the multi tap ballast and a voltage regulator. There is a communication wire that is labeled COM. Do not touch that wire. Another wire is your ground it is usually bare copper wire fastened to the ballast housing. Don't touch that. There will be 4 wires labeled with certain voltage. 120 208 244 and 277. These lights are usually in shops or warehouses. Some can accept HPS and MH. Some only MH read the lable on the ballast housing for correct bulbs for each lamp. Now. There will probably be a 244 or 277 wire hooked to the multi tap ballast because of this. All you do is find the wire labeled 120v remove the wire nuts and strip the end. Now find the wire labeled 244 or 277 and it will be attached to a wire that is attached to the multi tap. Unscrew this wire nuts un attach the 244 or 277 wire and recap. Now wind the wire with the 120v wire and recap. Put lamp back together. To test use a GFi plug like the one commonly found in bathrooms or a 15 amp power strip with a reset switch. If it plugs in and turn on without going Pop! Then you were successful. O got this light for 25 dollars re wired it and it works fantastic. If you know an electrician then can rewire it in literally 5 mins. Hope this helps for cheap lighting! Happy growing. Any questions feel free to ask I tried to explain it as simple as possible assuming no electrical experience lol. I might catch shit for telling people to re wire shit and plug it in their outlet and go to sleep but if you are worried take it to a lighting shop ask them to test it for you they will do it for free. Happy growing! Before I forget. You will have to put a new 3 prong plug on the end of cord as most of these are wired direct to panels. Get a 15 amp grounded plug from home Depot. These lights don't draw anywhere that amperage. Good luck!
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Hello, I now electrics well, but I do not understand why are You writing this?
ALong14U
Well-Known Member
Hmmm. Well thought you were growing in a box. If you could find one that accepts both MH and HPS the you could cut a round hole on the top of the box and just set it on top. Easy to cool because the ballast would be outside the box. You could veg and flower under 400 watts. Which I think should fit your box finr. Some might say 600 for 3.5 feet but if it's in a box with white walls a 400 would be fine. Plus they go for about 20 bucks at most local junkyards. Just trying to help with your lighting question. Sorry if it was useless.
ALong14U
Well-Known Member
I use 2 of these at 120v and they draw 3.8 amps each. Grow fantastic plants. Also have 2 600w digitals. But for 40 for the pair of 400s I should have just bought 4 more. Bulbs are 10 bucks a piece. Maybe I just love these lights. Any whooo happy growing!
No, everything is fine 
Thanks for your response. English is not my mother language, so I was a little bit confused about your numbers etc. You are just saying, that I should and You use HPS/MH. I already have 150/250 and 400w systems completed, just wondering how to make best of it
Thanks for your response. English is not my mother language, so I was a little bit confused about your numbers etc. You are just saying, that I should and You use HPS/MH. I already have 150/250 and 400w systems completed, just wondering how to make best of it 
greg nr
Well-Known Member
The "common recommendation" for a 4x4 space is 600w of hps light. For a 2x4 it's 400w. You just over 14 sq ft. Probably ok with a 400 but a 600 would be a better fit.
I don't run them, so can't give you any info on mh vs hps. But it sounds like a good plan.
This issue you may hit is heat. If you have a good a/c and a good fan, it can work, but it will be toasty, especially with a 5 foot height. By the time you drop the light, you will be at 3.5 feet to the deck. Better scrog it.....
I don't run them, so can't give you any info on mh vs hps. But it sounds like a good plan.
This issue you may hit is heat. If you have a good a/c and a good fan, it can work, but it will be toasty, especially with a 5 foot height. By the time you drop the light, you will be at 3.5 feet to the deck. Better scrog it.....
coreywebster
Well-Known Member
If your going to use HID lighting, a 400w mh for veg will do very well, then a 600w hps for flower. You could buy a dimmable ballast that takes both bulb so you just swap bulbs when it comes to flower and turn the knob to 600w.
If you have the cash and are handy with a soldering iron then COB led or Quantum Boards would be more efficient. You would need less wattage and thus have less heat and some solid plants. Check out the LED forums. Don't buy cheap LED they are not worth it.
If you want to go scrog then one plant will fill that area, or use 4 plants but its a small area for 4 plants and you may as well just grow 4 plants without the scrog.
With only 5ft height you may run into heat issues with that power HPS lighting but this will come down to how you extract your heat and what the temperature is in your native country.
The choice for you is how much do you want to spend in the first place VS how hot is your space and how easy can you get rid of that heat. You ideally want to use a quality extraction fan and move the heat out of a window or chimney or into another room.
Oh and another option for a light would be a 315w cmh, bit more than a HPS but lots of ligt for the wattage. Gives a better spectrum all round for both phases of growth.
If you have the cash and are handy with a soldering iron then COB led or Quantum Boards would be more efficient. You would need less wattage and thus have less heat and some solid plants. Check out the LED forums. Don't buy cheap LED they are not worth it.
If you want to go scrog then one plant will fill that area, or use 4 plants but its a small area for 4 plants and you may as well just grow 4 plants without the scrog.
With only 5ft height you may run into heat issues with that power HPS lighting but this will come down to how you extract your heat and what the temperature is in your native country.
The choice for you is how much do you want to spend in the first place VS how hot is your space and how easy can you get rid of that heat. You ideally want to use a quality extraction fan and move the heat out of a window or chimney or into another room.
Oh and another option for a light would be a 315w cmh, bit more than a HPS but lots of ligt for the wattage. Gives a better spectrum all round for both phases of growth.
rshackleferd
Well-Known Member
Throw that hid idea in the garbage, get some cobs preferably cxb3590 3500k cd bin or some vero 29s. I did mh/hps and panels, so far nothing compares to cobs. Gvegas is right in that you will need 600 watt hid for that space. Cobs can do a lot more for a lot less of everything. No need to worry about replacing your cobs either, they just about last forever.
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GvegasGrowa
Well-Known Member
I'd go 600