going crazy with ballast noise

davie12

davie12

Member
hi every1, my ballast and light is 600w hps, it is so noisy i wanted to do a 12/12 grow so i can switch it off at night but i want to veg for afew weeks for a bigger yield.
i was thinking off getting a 125w cfl for veg, is this powerfull enough for all 6 seedlings or would they stretch? i have been doing 12/12 for afew days , would changing it to 18/6 with cfl stress the plants?
 
Jeffdogg

Jeffdogg

Well-Known Member
If that noise is bothering you enough in your house that you wanted to skip veg altogether then I suggest you take that ballast back and swap it out, sounds like something is wrong. That or you bought a cheapo ballast, return it and get a better one.
 
jedijoey323

jedijoey323

Member
Youll get use to it if you ever make the switch to dwc then the noise pumps make are gonna make you snap lol but something may be wrong with your ballast if its loud enough to bug that much
 
I

imchucky666

Well-Known Member
davie12 said:
hi every1, my ballast and light is 600w hps, it is so noisy i wanted to do a 12/12 grow so i can switch it off at night but i want to veg for afew weeks for a bigger yield.
i was thinking off getting a 125w cfl for veg, is this powerfull enough for all 6 seedlings or would they stretch? i have been doing 12/12 for afew days , would changing it to 18/6 with cfl stress the plants?
Click to expand...
In China, I guess they have poor hearing.
Sorry.
Is it the ballast itself, or the interference from it?
Somebody mentioned this last week, and said changing the outlet (as long as it also changed the circuit) might reduce noise, but he was referring to interference, not noise produced directly from the ballast.
 
Jeffdogg

Jeffdogg

Well-Known Member
imchucky666 said:
In China, I guess they have poor hearing.
Sorry.
Is it the ballast itself, or the interference from it?
Somebody mentioned this last week, and said changing the outlet (as long as it also changed the circuit) might reduce noise, but he was referring to interference, not noise produced directly from the ballast.
Click to expand...
Yeah i've read similar posts before. In fact I even remember ppl mentioning about those "magnet" like things that are sometimes on cord like on older tv's and stuff. Its supposed to help with the interference, it is a possibility.
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
davie12 said:
its an omega ballast, cost £60. its like a loud buzz coming off it, is that normal?
Click to expand...

Is it magnetic or digital?

mags are always louder than digi's. digi's have virtually zero noise.

I used to use a Century mag 600w and its buzz was quite intense. Then I switched to a lumatek and it made zero noise.



If you can upgrade to a digi then do it.


J
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Also I used to use a 200w cflfor veg and under it I could have a mother and 10clones quite happily.

The most I managed was 16 clones in 1litre pots and once they hit around 4 inches I started seeing some stretch due to spacing.

Switching to a 125w for 6 seedlings will be fine.


J
 
davie12

davie12

Member
aye its magnetic, i'll have to upgrade its doin ma nut in!
i'll veg with cfl. thanks for advice.
1 plant is stretching alot, they got planted on saturday a.m and 1 is 4inches maby a bit more.
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
davie12 said:
aye its magnetic, i'll have to upgrade its doin ma nut in!
i'll veg with cfl. thanks for advice.
1 plant is stretching alot, they got planted on saturday a.m and 1 is 4inches maby a bit more.
Click to expand...

4" already!!! Sounds quite stretched to be honest.


If you need to make sure you replant any long stems. Try to keep node spacing tight during veg. You can accomplish this by having a decent amount of light, not too far away and keep your day and night temps very close, less than 4C difference.



J
 
davie12

davie12

Member
just topped up the soil on the tall 1.
the temp stay almost the same at night which is good.
thanks for the advice.
 
Jeffdogg

Jeffdogg

Well-Known Member
Yeah to add to J's post, the way you can tell if the light is too close you can do the hand trick. Place your hand under the light at the desired height (its suggested no higher then 12'' from the tops of your plants, closer if you can) and if it burns your hand it will burn the plants. however having a fan blowing across the tops of your plants will help with the radiant heat.
 
P

POLLYPOKKET

Active Member
put some foam under each corner of the unit, then place it on a hard surface, then place it ontop of something soft like a pillow...it will reduce the sound by about 70%
 
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