Ballasts just worry me..

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dgk4life

Well-Known Member
well they are vertical mount lights so bulb is ub and down not horizontal. that reflectors are likea foot and a half to two feet tall. they are cylindrical. hard to explain and i dont know how to post pics here. best way to desribe it would be look at the u key on your key board and flip it up side down.
 
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dgk4life

Well-Known Member
guess i could of described as a bell shape since they do flare out a bit. lol this head full of vicodin kinda made me forget shapes for a minute.
 
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utherwun

Active Member
Syriuslydelyrius said:
You need 2000 lumens per sqft at the least and 3000 lumens per sqft at best for indoor under lights.

26w cfl=1725 lumens, 86.34 LPW(lumen per watt) $1.50 to $2.50 ea
42w cfl=2800 lumens, 66.6 LPW $7 to $10
54w per (each 4ft bulb) T5= 5000 lumens, 92.59 LPW ($150 to $300 depending on # of bulbs and size)
65w cfl= 4000 lumens, 61.53 LPW $15 to $20 ea
85w cfl= 5000 lumens, 58.82 LPW $20 to $25 ea
100w Incadescent=1700 lumens, 17 LPW. under $1 ea
150w cfl = 8200 lumens, 54 LPW $35 to $50 ea
200w cfl = 1000 lumens, 50 LPW $45 to $50 ea
150w hps= 16,000 lumens, 106 LPW $70 to $90
250w hps= 25,600 lumens, 102 LPW $100 to $175
400w hps=50,000 lumens 125 LPW $250 to $350
600w hps = 90,000 lumens, 150 LPW $300 to $400
1000w hps = 140,000 lumens. 140 LPW $300 to $500 ea

You can get these lumens with whatever bulbs you want. MH or 6500k cfls for veg and HPS or 2700k CFLs for flowering. For making your decision you must take into consideration the cost of the fixtures/bulbs as well as there lumens per watt. Thus letting you compare the cost of the fixture and the costs to run them.

About Ballasts, They are basicly a wirewound transformer and capacitor. They are alot like those little transformers you plug into the wall to charge your cellphone except they are increasing the voltage instead of lowering it like the cellphone charger. There are now digital ballasts that do this voltage conversion with transistors instead of a transformer. If your buying a new fixture I wouldnt let a ballast worry you. Those CFLs have there own built in ballasts, the T5 fixtures have balasts and of course the HID lights also require a ballast. The only way to not use a ballast would be to hook up the 80 some or more incadescent bulbs needed to give you enough lumens and that by far is more energy and danger than a ballast. Every flourscent light in your house has a ballast, every dc power converter for phones, video games, etc also include pretty much the same componets of a ballast.
Click to expand...
This man knows his stuff. (first post!)

But I had started out with some rooted clones under a 400w MH, transplanted them and put them under a 1000w MH with what is supposed to be a bad ass ballast. They have grown with haste so I'd have to recommend that but the packages are expensive. I also mounted my ballast to the ceiling because we thought it was getting too hot because it sorta got light... but it doesn't. It is extremely hot to the touch so we need a fan for it but we need an intake first.

Sorry for the story but I'm on my first crop so I share what I can that's worked.
 
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