cheech2long
Member
Im planning on using the 16 light T5 badboy in my hydroponic system this year, anyone used before?
Experience with 16 light T5 badboy?
- Thread starter cheech2long
- Start date
303
Well-Known Member
What's the dimensions on those?? Why not just buy 2 1k HID's? That'd be a dope light for mom's or a veg room. Would be super efficient but flowering just wouldn't put out enough I'd think? Got a link?
Edit
Nevermind just googled it but can't find a price? that thing ridic
cheech2long
Member
5x5 suposedly
cheech2long
Member
Is that even with the flowering bulbs? cuz i wuz told the T5's put out more lumens
NewGrower2011
Well-Known Member
I went with 2 of the 8 light fixtures for flexibility in how I arrange them.... 4x4 or 2x8... I can do either this way....
Cost me about $50 more for 2 fixtures than 1 if I remember correctly... I got mine at PlantLightingHydroponics.com (cheapest I found online)...
FWIW... I went the T5 route because HID lighting and their heat issues seemed like too big an issue to overcome... but now I'm going to need to ventilate the room either way... so I might not have went this route at all if I knew this... I thought I could passively dissapate the heat from T5's but it seems it will still require some airflow...
Couple things I can share...
I can only run 1 of the 8 bulb fixures in that room currently due to the heat (unventilated 5x9x8 room)... I knew they weren't "heat free" or any of that nonsense... but boy does it bottle up quickly in there... Even the 6 light fixure which is currently sitting on top of a baker's rack/wire-rack in an opened closet to a room which keeps the door at least cracked -- makes it noticeably warmer in that room...
I also have a 6 bulb fixture for vegging (which was my only light on my 1st go)... so I've actually got 3 and I do use the Quantum bulbs. In hind sight, I think you might be better off buying new cheap bulbs each go and just dont expect long life... I had a few bloom bulbs from that 1st fixture (which had a mixture of veg/bloom for a while... then bought all bloom and planned on just having some spares to swap around) that you can really see a difference in compared to the new bulbs and they were only ran for 1 go... Quantum claimed (or so I thought/remember) their "TriPhospor" bulbs were "designed to work with" the Fulham ballasts in the T5 BadBoy's... which my 1st fixture which was bought from the local hydro shop did use Fulham's... but these last 2 fixtures from online had some other brand in them... Not sure if that's fishy or not (maybe I'll write Quantum and ask)... but that invalidates their claim on their bulbs - hence why I might not do that part again nor reccomend it...
Cost me about $50 more for 2 fixtures than 1 if I remember correctly... I got mine at PlantLightingHydroponics.com (cheapest I found online)...
FWIW... I went the T5 route because HID lighting and their heat issues seemed like too big an issue to overcome... but now I'm going to need to ventilate the room either way... so I might not have went this route at all if I knew this... I thought I could passively dissapate the heat from T5's but it seems it will still require some airflow...
Couple things I can share...
I can only run 1 of the 8 bulb fixures in that room currently due to the heat (unventilated 5x9x8 room)... I knew they weren't "heat free" or any of that nonsense... but boy does it bottle up quickly in there... Even the 6 light fixure which is currently sitting on top of a baker's rack/wire-rack in an opened closet to a room which keeps the door at least cracked -- makes it noticeably warmer in that room...
I also have a 6 bulb fixture for vegging (which was my only light on my 1st go)... so I've actually got 3 and I do use the Quantum bulbs. In hind sight, I think you might be better off buying new cheap bulbs each go and just dont expect long life... I had a few bloom bulbs from that 1st fixture (which had a mixture of veg/bloom for a while... then bought all bloom and planned on just having some spares to swap around) that you can really see a difference in compared to the new bulbs and they were only ran for 1 go... Quantum claimed (or so I thought/remember) their "TriPhospor" bulbs were "designed to work with" the Fulham ballasts in the T5 BadBoy's... which my 1st fixture which was bought from the local hydro shop did use Fulham's... but these last 2 fixtures from online had some other brand in them... Not sure if that's fishy or not (maybe I'll write Quantum and ask)... but that invalidates their claim on their bulbs - hence why I might not do that part again nor reccomend it...
I used them for 2 runs. They are definitely bad ass looking. I bought the 16 light for my first grow. I vegged and flowered with it, got a pound with little veg time, pretty close to what a 1000w HID can do in a simple grow.
Heat was very easy to handle, did it with a 4 in windtunnel and a diy carbon filter.. BUT.. they can be a big pain in the ass. SO fuckin sensitive. I went through 2, and after the 2nd broke I said fuck it I'm only using HID's now.
Pro's and cons to both but in my experience MH HID ftw. A lot easier and I think it's no contest to which is better.
Heat was very easy to handle, did it with a 4 in windtunnel and a diy carbon filter.. BUT.. they can be a big pain in the ass. SO fuckin sensitive. I went through 2, and after the 2nd broke I said fuck it I'm only using HID's now.
Pro's and cons to both but in my experience MH HID ftw. A lot easier and I think it's no contest to which is better.
cheech2long
Member
how much of a heat increase would u say?
cheech2long
Member
how did they break?
youngdog
Active Member
I use a 8 bulb and a 6 bulb in the same room 10 x 10 and the heat is way less than my 1000w used to put in here. I used to be runing 85 to 90 now i sit at 73 all day long. much less than hid but I still flower with hid lights and vent them just creats better results for me.