ballast

i have had my lights on all night in a wardrobe set up with the doors open and have had a temp of 90 degrees until i opened the window to the bed-room, i also have a fan that comes on at five min intervels every hour but things are still very hot.
can someone tell me is it normal for the ballast to get that hot that you cant touch it. and should the ballast be outside the grow room.
i am running a 400 watt hps on a fast mover 400 watt DB ballast.
there is a photo of my set up in my pics. please have a look.
the set up is in a bedroom and i work nights so need to get things as safe as poss
thanks in advance.
moxx

If the ballast is mounted outside the space it will be favorable for heat levels.

You need a good inline fan to vent this box. (not a computer fan) Without ventialtion you will not be able to keep your temps down to the point where growth can occur. If it's above 90 the plant doesn't grow much as it spends all of it's time trying to stay alive. The fan should run 24/7....to cool the space and to introduce new air/CO2 into the space for the plants.

If you do that you should ROCK in that box w/that light.

good luck

bt dt

Welcome to the forum. I am not growing in a closet, but the ideas are the same. If the temperature is too hot with the light on you must get it down. Soo...why is the fan turning off every five minutes, remove the timer and let it run. Is this a vented fan, does it exhaust the hot air into another space, or does it just move the hot air around?
A couple of suggestions.
Get a smaller light setup, cfl's or flourescent, for you vegging stage in that small of a space. The set-up that you have now requires that light to be so far away from the plant, that all you are doing is heating the space. This will cause your plants to stretch trying to reach the light. Eventually they will just fall over. When they do its not the end, you can prop them up until the stems get some strength in them. I have some extra scewers you can use to accomplish this. I learned this lesson, so I don't need them now.lol
Second, I recommend you find and view the post roll-it up posted about constructing a grow room. I think it gives a great view of the air handling you need to have when you run that 400 watter.
The money you save on the electric bill for this first month of life will pay for a smaller light to get them established, and give you time to get your ventilation in order. VV

at the moment the fan i have is an 9" osilating fan thats pointing into the open w-drobe and is on five min in the hour.
thanks for your advice guys and i will get the ballast outside the box.
what sort of distance should i have the light away from the plants.
i have posted some photos of the plants and ballast.
cheers
moxx

i have my ballast mounted outside the room. before i got a window unit a/c it would have been impossible to leave the ballast in there and have a plant survive without c02

Hey buddy! The 1st thing that stands out is, why would you have the fan come on 5 minutes out of every hour? You didnt mention using additional co2, so I assue you aren't using any.
What I would do is go buy a cheap $12.00 bathroom exhaust fan, install in near the top (heat rises), and plug this fan into the timer with your light. Run it all the time, while your light is on. You should also have some holes drilled in the bottom, so that the fan, draws new air in. I think this will help you alot.
Peace

moxxorax said:

i have had my lights on all night in a wardrobe set up with the doors open and have had a temp of 90 degrees until i opened the window to the bed-room, i also have a fan that comes on at five min intervels every hour but things are still very hot.
can someone tell me is it normal for the ballast to get that hot that you cant touch it. and should the ballast be outside the grow room.
i am running a 400 watt hps on a fast mover 400 watt DB ballast.
there is a photo of my set up in my pics. please have a look.
the set up is in a bedroom and i work nights so need to get things as safe as poss
thanks in advance.
moxx

Click to expand...

videoman40 said:

What I would do is go buy a cheap $12.00 bathroom exhaust fan, install in near the top (heat rises), and plug this fan into the timer with your light. Run it all the time, while your light is on. You should also have some holes drilled in the bottom, so that the fan, draws new air in. I think this will help you alot.
Peace

Click to expand...

Hell yes bathroom exhaust fans work so great, I paid $12 bux for all mine too, and one has been running 24/7 for 2 years, now that's a deal. Also it's very easy to make hole on reflector and mount a bath exhuast fan to reflector with self tap screws now you have an exhausting reflector...peace....

thanks guys for all the replies
i will try a bathroom exhuast fan first and see how i get on.

You won't be sorry. I use two bathroom fans depending on #of ladies in the box and the average room temps.