One Ballast for 2 lights???

SpruceZeus

SpruceZeus

Well-Known Member
Is there some way i could rig up my gear that would allow me to power two 1000w hps lamps off of my one ballast? It makes sense to me that i should be able to do it, two flowering rooms alternating which is using the ballast every 12 hours. I'd love to hear if anyone has tried this or even smartass comments telling me its not gonna work. Thanks guys and gals, good luck and happy growing!
 
potlike

potlike

Well-Known Member
nope won't work I had asked the same question about a year ago.... best option is automating a light mover.


-potlike
 
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Phinxter

Well-Known Member
it actually can be done and there is a post on here relating to it. commercial growers mostly all do this. you go from your ballast to a contactor controlled by a timer . and it transfers the ballast from 1 hood to the other
 
potlike

potlike

Well-Known Member
phinxter I could see how that would work, but for the price of that contactor he could probably just get another ballast.

-potlike
 
S

s0high

Well-Known Member
Its fairly simple, but fairly expensive. You need to get one of two things :

A solid state relay "these are generally 100-150 bucks for the size you would need", it has to be rated at 600v with at least a 1500-2000v isolation.

or

A mechanical LATCHING relay. Again designed for 600v operation. If you dont know ALOT about electricity which would kind of rule out this post, then I would NOT try this.

600v will kill you instantly if you fuck up.
 
NotMine

NotMine

Well-Known Member
If you are really serious about doing the whole switching lamps every 12 hrs you'll want to get some digital timers, also you will need relays and a very good understanding of electricity...why not just wait 60 days and sell an ounce and buy another balast? I grow for personal not profit...but every now and then I'll let some of the smaller bottom stuff go to get some new gear...keep the big girls for myself.. But yeah it can be done but its one more thing to think about when your not there is the set up going to be reliable enough to use for a few years without any maintenece? Probably not so just for peice of mind I'd go for the extra balast/light....Find an electrician and befriend him or her set the shit in the garage away from your stuff and say...how can I do this safely with this? jus my 2 cents hope it all works out:)
 
la9

la9

Well-Known Member
I don't see why you couldn't buy a regular 120 volt relay, and just attach a normal timer to it. Run 120 volts out the the timer to the relay with a lamp cord and that would flip the relay and just have the power to the bulb socket to one side of the relay and the power the other socket on the other.

Then when the power goes out the relay switches back to the other socket.

Basically you'd just be controlling the hot wire to the bulb socket.

Shouldn't cost so much that way.
 
SpruceZeus

SpruceZeus

Well-Known Member
Hey thanks for all the responses y'all, just fyi, my roommate is a 2nd year electrician and can do the work for me, its just that when asked he didnt know the safest way to go about this, so RIU to the rescue.
I suppose i could flip some dope and just buy another ballast, but i don't like to sell the stuff, and this really goes against my cheap nature. I will look into the solutions provided thanks everyone for their 2 cents, keep if coming if you want, the more information the better!!!
Happy growing!!!
 
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Phinxter

Well-Known Member
la9 the only problem with that is that ballasts kick out about 600 volts or better so you need a relay rated for that and it can be spendy. however it is something a second year electrician could easily suss out.
it may not be worth it for 1 ballast which is why i said commercial growers do this alot because you can make 1 unit (or buy) that controls as many as 8 ballasts and 16 lights. in which case you are saving the cost of 8 ballasts which adds up fast
 
la9

la9

Well-Known Member
You'd need a contactor in that case and those are expensive also. Let me think some more. Might have to get one of those big DPDT switches from the frankenstein movies and your roommate can flip at lunchtime everyday.
 
K1Ng5p4d3

K1Ng5p4d3

Junior Creatologist
wait, but arent you saying that your only gonna be using the ballast for one light at a time? every 12 hours your gonna alternate rooms right? one light off one on all the time?

why wouldnt that work with one ballast?? he wouldnt be hookin up too much voltage to it, itll still just be one light that the ballast is running, so why wouldnt it work?? Can u not run a HID ballast 24 hours a day 7 days a week or somethin??
 
BCtrippin

BCtrippin

Well-Known Member
la9 said:
I don't see why you couldn't buy a regular 120 volt relay, any just attach a normal timer to it. Run 120 volts out the the timer to the relay with a lamp cord and that would flip the relay and just have the power to the bulb socket to one side of the relay and the power the other socket on the other.

Then when the power goes out the relay switches back to the other socket.

Basically you'd just be controlling the hot wire to the bulb socket.

Shouldn't cost so much that way.
Click to expand...

Your also messing with some high voltage/amperage which is deadly.\

You can by the hassle free flipper for 150, plug it in and your good to go, and DIY situation is probably not worth it. I know for one I would feel alot more comfortable sleeping at night with a metal enclosed, insulated fliper, not a bunch of high voltage running through a cheap timer and relay. If you are running your own relay it and the timer would be powered off the ballast which is, chances are, bad news.

Go for the power relay if you really want to run 1 ballast, but for the money you should go for the second ballast, trust me, you will be happier in the future when you already have that second ballast to expand, or when your single ballast fails half way through flowering.
 
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lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
there are kits sold for doing exactly this. the ballast stays powered up 24/7, then a relay switches between the 2 rooms every 12 hours. just buy the kit if you don't know how to build it yourself. and yes, there is somewhere around 400-600 volts, which is very deadly, so safety is #1.
 
la9

la9

Well-Known Member
I don't think it is as deadly as you guys think it is.

I know 600 volts and 9 amps is pretty serious

but

it's pulling 9 amps at 120 volts.

By the time the voltage gets stepped up to that level thru the ballast it might be less than a quarter amp if that.

Which might hurt you but it isn't certain death.

We need to do more research or have some be a test dummy to grab ahold of it.
 
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lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
la9 said:
I don't think it is as deadly as you guys think it is.
I know 600 volts and 9 amps is pretty serious
but
it's pulling 9 amps at 120 volts.
By the time the voltage gets stepped up to that level thru the ballast it might be less than a quarter amp if that.
Which might hurt you but it isn't certain death.
We need to do more research or have some be a test dummy to grab ahold of it.
Click to expand...
I will give you a dollar if you are the test dummy!!! :-D

not sure what size ballast we're talking about here, so I'll calculate this for a smaller 400 watt ballast. not gonna worry about details of efficiency or anything, just good quick facts. a 400 watt ballast would draw somewhere around 4 amps at 120 volts. step that up to 600 volts to power a hid lamp and you have somewhere around .6 amps. .06 amps can kill, so this is 10 times that amount.

didn't your mommy ever tell you not to stick 600 volt wires in your ear or up your nose? mine didn't either.
 
speedhabit

speedhabit

Well-Known Member
Wow, sorry, but all the people that knee jerked a reaction like "just buy another ballast" or get some sort of "relay".

Christ, have you ever walked into a hydro shop? They have pamphlets and tons of shit on these ballast switches that do exactly what he is saying, 1 light hood fix for 12 hrs and then another in another room, it saves alot on ballasts, its way cheaper.

This is mostly a matter of scale, and the smallest model I have seen is for flipping 6 ballasts. So if you consider the savings from that is about 400 bucks per 1000 watt digi thats around 3 grand. That for about 300 bucks not dumb...duhhhh
 
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