High Bay 400w mh question

So I ran across these for a pretty good deal. I believe that I could rewire it to move the ballast from above it pretty easily. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with this or anything like that.

lol, those look like the lamps we have in our underground metro system, and just yesterday i saw one ripped right out of the wall.......hmmmm !! lol

i think those are more like 150-200 watt, the bulb is too small for a 400.... also you would probally have to change the bulb. that one looks like its a soft white, as the bulb is covered in something....

im sure its not too hard to seperate the ballast from the socket, but do you really want to? most of the heat will be comming from the bulb, not the ballast anyways!

i have a similar light 400w with the ballast on top and after many changes to my grow room i finally have it mounted horizontaly near the ceiling of myroom
(room is 48" tall) but because of heat on the roof i need a fan blowing on the light seems to work well

also i got rid of the diffuser

Awesome thanks for the input. The main reason why I was considering separating the ballast from the light itself was that it's will take up a lot of vertical space if left there.

I used a 250MH like that for my first grow in a C13 cabinet and it worked great. Buy a 14 or 12 guage heavy duty extension cord and wire it up. This way you can make the ballast remote and eliminate some of the heat and noise. Just please, for your safety...be sure you know how to wire it and when you do use lock nuts. No electrical tape if you know what I mean. And definantly get rid of that diffuser.

You think I can use one of these guys? It's a 400 watt MH. I'd surely take off the big old bulb thing around it... but otherwise would it work? Any idea how to wire it/know where to look for info about this?

thanks

If you have the money you can get a grow light with reflector and digital ballast for $140. I think that is the way to go.

I think a magnetic Flood light is around $119.

The high bay lights will usually buzz and depending on wherre you put it, will drive you crazy listening to it. You can take them apart and do what you need to with them. Make sure you have them wired for the correct voltage because some of them have multiple taps for 120/277/480.

If you get a magnetic ballast stick with an HPS because if you switch the ignitor out of the circuit you can burn a metal halide bulb in it also. Metal halide ballasts don't come with an ignitor so you would have to buy it seperately.

paaat said:

Awesome thanks for the input. The main reason why I was considering separating the ballast from the light itself was that it's will take up a lot of vertical space if left there.

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Yep. It'll take up about 2 feet of vert space. I ditched the real nice polished aluminum parabolic reflectors that came with mine for that very reason.

bubbleinthebrain said:

You think I can use one of these guys? It's a 400 watt MH. I'd surely take off the big old bulb thing around it... but otherwise would it work? Any idea how to wire it/know where to look for info about this?

thanks

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Yep. You can use 'em. I have 5 of that exact same light now (Lithonia Lighting), and am getting 5 more. I also bought 5 HPS and going back for more as well. At $40 apiece, bulbs and reflectors included, I figure I can't go wrong. I only wish that they were 600w, but fuck it, for what I paid, it's all good.
Be sure you have the right lead when you wire it. There will be 4 supply wires, all marked with different voltages, plus a white and green wire. You are wanting the 120v. I used 16ga extension cords to separate the bulb/reflector from the ballast. They aint the prettiest things to look at, but they work real good.
If you want, PM me and I'll take pics of the wiring for you. Also how to make a nice low-profile gullwing reflector.

Are you getting them off the guy that has skids of them and selling for $40 ?

la9 said:

Are you getting them off the guy that has skids of them and selling for $40 ?

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Naw, I got mine locally from a contractor who is demolishing a large manufacturing plant. I got a bunch (10 ea) of 400w MH and HPS, and 6 1000w HPS. (Dude threw in the 1000w'ers since the reflectors were slightly dinged.) They had alot of 250w MH and HPS as well. As a general rule, lighting inside where people are working will be 250w or 400w MH. Outdoor lighting is generally going to be 400w or 1000w HPS. I am still converting some of them, and am taking pics for a tutorial on how to convert a commercial light into a remote ballast grow light.

I came across a room full of these puppies.. maybe 20 of them, just "free" for the taking.
One question though. The wiring compartment of all the ones I've looked in seems to be encased in resin- or some other solid orange stuff. The parts that aren't encased, per se, look kinda corroded- little crusty bits of orange. Is that corrosion, and if so, why would the inside of a light that's approved for damp weather look like this, when they've presumably been inside all their lives? Should I be concerned about this?

I saw some for sale and thought we might be close, guess not.

What are you doing with the excess ? I might be interested in a few before someone asks and the thread turns into a 100 posts of "ME TOO".

bubbleinthebrain said:

I came across a room full of these puppies.. maybe 20 of them, just "free" for the taking.
One question though. The wiring compartment of all the ones I've looked in seems to be encased in resin- or some other solid orange stuff. The parts that aren't encased, per se, look kinda corroded- little crusty bits of orange. Is that corrosion, and if so, why would the inside of a light that's approved for damp weather look like this, when they've presumably been inside all their lives? Should I be concerned about this?

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If you post some pics we MIGHT be able to tell ya if they are any good or not. Chances are that they are OK. It's kinda hard to kill a magnetic ballast.

I shall upload photos when I get a chance, and some photos...
La9, if you're really in Bolivia, it's probably not going to work out. What state?

i have 2 400watt hps high bays and they work, but the reflector that comes with it(alum.) is ineffective and ballast and light get very hot when they have been on for a while, i planned on using both in my room 4x6x7. but even with a exhaust fan i could only run one with the temps in high 80's . i just finished my first grow with this, 4 girls 5 gal pots i only got 80g dried, i was planning on making it a remote ballast like some of you were talking about but i dont trust anyone but a electrician with wiring, i dont need any fires or shorts to deal with. for less than $100 hell its worth it but if im gunna take the risk to grow, im gunna atleast do it right, so i ordered a 600 watt hps with a a/c euro hood and digital ballast + free hangers for around $300 from htg <--hell of a deal. But you gotta take the pros and cons in on everything


pros of a highbay-

1.cheap you cannot beat the price for a hps light
2.MH or HPS
3. you can possibly convert the into a normal remote ballast set-up

cons of a highbay-

1. heat
2. a loss of 2-3 feet of grow space w/ reflector
3. the zing noise of the magnetic ballast


anyway this is just my 2cents you can make your own decision..thanks

My 250 W ballast is transplanted High Bay internals into a old 430W ballast box. But I used the High Bay for quite a while.

^Back when it was still a High Bay



^Now in a Remote Ballast box with the hood from the 430 used as well; it was burnt out.

Dude, I aint selling any, I can just get ahold of some. Shipping would be a killer on these. Your best bet is call around to some electrical contractors for used HID lighting. I guarantee you'll find some.

la9 said:

I saw some for sale and thought we might be close, guess not.

What are you doing with the excess ? I might be interested in a few before someone asks and the thread turns into a 100 posts of "ME TOO".

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