Here's my post on CMH and Ballasts
OK, well here's my post on
A bored electrician to answer your questions
I got another one for ya.
I got a Philips MasterColor CMH bulb
MHC150/U/M/4K/ALTO
to change for my HPS bulb. I thought they use a non-digital HPS ballast. I found out that that wattage (the MHC, not CDM like my CDM250S50/HOR/4K/ALTO) needs a Metal Halide ballast. Can I convert my HPS to a MH for this? Maybe a pulse start issue I didn't get? Maybe a special cap/ignitor to make it pulse start?
On a side note the S50 in the CDM250S50/HOR/4K/ALTO bulb I got coming and the ANSI S50 of the ballast I asked about (and is coming)
is what tells me it's the right one correct? Once again thanks in advance
Daniels
So I called Lighting Supply Co about my
http://www.lightingsupply.com/products/category_products.aspx?category=62ecd4c9026845b6988005c0809e0a10 bulb. They said I
can't convert my HPS to run it. I asked if I can send it back & she said they would credit my $26 back and no need to send it back. I told them I would
definitely be using them again. So now I have a free CMH bulb, and I can make another remote timer/ballast for a future project. Or make the combo then switch. I think it'd be about $100 for a pimped matching one. The Hippie Gardener is quite a ways from that "GREEN" light for another project. hehe
On the side note that is definitely the right 250W combo.
Daniels
His Answer
Originally Posted by
IAm5toned 
yep, thats what the ansi code is for.
i googled the ansi on the MC lamp and it tells me its a
non retrofit pulse start lamp. the retrofit lamp you already have, will run in a hps ballast... but thats not the case with the new lamp. it needs a special ignitor.
here is the spec sheet for a generic
CMH ANSI M142/M102 ballast, on it are the specs for the ignitor and starter combo
throw them on that 150w HPS ballast core and you now have a CMH ballast for cheap! tho the price for the same ballast is 45$ plus S&H. off the top of my head i have no idea what the ignitor/cap combo would cost. when ordering a cap, what you need to know is the
microfarad rating, which looks like this: 17 Mfd ± 3% that is a 17 microfarad capacitor, with a correction factor of plus/minus 3%. you dont need to worry about the correction factor, just the microfarad rating.
when ordering an ignitor, there are 2 things you need to know, first, the part number... thats the important one, looks like this: 356-AS-71-HC its kinda like a VIN, as each digit means something or the other, lol. the other thing is the ballast to lamp distance. thats important in that if you exceed the ballast to lamp distance of the ignitor, the lamp will slow start or not start at all. most ignitors ballast to lamp distance is 5 feet, though they make some pretty big ones for remote ballasts. i have personally seen remote ballasts 300' from the lamp.
If I am not mistaken, Any CMH bulb under 150w takes their own dedicated ballast. 250w and 400w use the 400w HPS magnetic ballast.
Big
the 400W and 250W use a mag. coil HPS Ballast, and under 250W use a Pulse Start MH. It's all about the Ansi code on the ballast to know.
Hope this helps.
Daniels
I got a Philips MasterColor CMH bulb
