A Bored Electrician to Answer Your Questions

[BIGDAVE]

Hello IAm5toned and thanks for all your effort. I appreciate what you do here.
I have a few ideas concerning a cabinet grow. I'm working on currently. I got some supercloset trinity closets and they use a 120v fan system. When running, they are quite loud and this will not work for my situation. I can use a 12v pc fan and its super quite and the temps in the cabinet are good so far, with clf's and t5 lights. But hyave not tested the hps light yet. I am wondering if going 12v on everything from pumps to control units, cooling fans and fan controller circuits. I know that the lights will still be 120v. But is running a power supply or train controller actually going to save money or is the some 4" 120v fans that are quite and controllable for fan rpm?

 

[IAm5toned]

Dammit, guess I got a Mogul base and a photocell for $10. I was hopeful it would work for a HPS or a MH at the least. I still can't find the cap./ign. for the 150W HPS to make it a Pulse start to run it's CMH. I found some from Advance but they are more than the whole kit I just bought. You've said that Advance is top tier right? The 1000 bulbs has some Halco HPS ignitors, but I can't see the specs and it says 35-150W. There cap.'s doesn't show the microfarad rating, and I don't think they have the one I need. Thanks for the help.
Daniels

man, i forget to tell you, a 150w hps, doesnt have an cap, just an ignitor........

 

[IAm5toned]

Question for the electrician.

Ive got no outlet near my area. What I have done is just brought an extension cord through the wall from the adjacent room. This is supposed to be temporary. in the attic above my area, there is a light socket. I was thinking about running an extension cord through the light socket via a screw in outlet. now my question is, this outlet only contains two prongs, and does not have the ground prong. Is it safe to remove the ground prong from my extension cord and use it to power my lights? I would be using 2 90 watt LEDs or a 90 watt led and an assortment of CFL bulbs no more than 270 total watts. Thanks in advance

270w?

youll be fine. i wouldnt even fuss with the adapter....

 

[IAm5toned]

Hello IAm5toned and thanks for all your effort. I appreciate what you do here.
I have a few ideas concerning a cabinet grow. I'm working on currently. I got some supercloset trinity closets and they use a 120v fan system. When running, they are quite loud and this will not work for my situation. I can use a 12v pc fan and its super quite and the temps in the cabinet are good so far, with clf's and t5 lights. But hyave not tested the hps light yet. I am wondering if going 12v on everything from pumps to control units, cooling fans and fan controller circuits. I know that the lights will still be 120v. But is running a power supply or train controller actually going to save money or is the some 4" 120v fans that are quite and controllable for fan rpm?

the higher the voltage, the more efficient the device operates.
a watt, is watt, is a watt, regardless of what voltage your running, and thats what the power company charges you for, is wattage.
i know what you mean by having noisy cabs, mine sound like a bank of servers.... but they stay cool.
honestly i think your best bet is a 120v duct booster fan.

 

[Danielsgb]

man, i forget to tell you, a 150w hps, doesn have an ignitor, just a cap........

It does seem like the HPS only had 1 small plastic box now that you mention it. So this part threw me off. 35-150 Watt High Pressure Sodium Ignitor - ProLume by Halco 55901
and made me think I needed an ignitor. Now I'm kinda confused. So what do I need to make the 150W HPS into a pulse start Metal Halide so it can run a CMH? The one I ordered had both ign. & cap. and I don't see where you can order those.
So the 600v starting voltage of MV's means it can't do a HPS or MH? oh well. I needed the mogul base anyway.
Daniels

 

[IAm5toned]

if the mogul base is pink, it will only accept type V lamps (vertical mount only) if its white, it will accept any mogul base lamp.
you should only need a 150w cmh lamp, in theory. ive never actually tried it with such a small lamp.

and i wrote that ass-backwards, only an ignitor, not a cap, on the 150w hps ballasts.

 

[Danielsgb]

if the mogul base is pink, it will only accept type V lamps (vertical mount only) if its white, it will accept any mogul base lamp.
you should only need a 150w cmh lamp, in theory. ive never actually tried it with such a small lamp.

and i wrote that ass-backwards, only an ignitor, not a cap, on the 150w hps ballasts.

It's white and I can see 1500w and 600v in the ceramics so I'm good for a horz. mounting lamp.
I tried the 150w HPS, with the 150W CMH but it needed the pulse start, so I'm not sure what ign/cap it needs. (other than the one below) I found a ign that's 17.5 mf, but it was $50.
Here's the spec sheet you showed me, and the kit I ordered. https://www.1000bulbs.com/pdf/Sola-E-MCA00W151-specs_1.pdf to make the first one, but I don't see where I can order the cap/ign combo that would make my HPS into this pulse start MH. Sorry, this one's confusing me.
Daniels

 

[BIGDAVE]

the higher the voltage, the more efficient the device operates.
a watt, is watt, is a watt, regardless of what voltage your running, and thats what the power company charges you for, is wattage.
i know what you mean by having noisy cabs, mine sound like a bank of servers.... but they stay cool.
honestly i think your best bet is a 120v duct booster fan.

So then a 240v system would in fact be the most efficient way to use the electricity?

 

[IAm5toned]

So then a 240v system would in fact be the most efficient way to use the electricity?

efficiecy in terms of the fan motor operation.
motors operate better at higher voltages, because there is less amperage.
ballast also operate better at higher voltages, but you have to run alot of wattage to notice any difference on the bill.

 

[IAm5toned]

It's white and I can see 1500w and 600v in the ceramics so I'm good for a horz. mounting lamp.
I tried the 150w HPS, with the 150W CMH but it needed the pulse start, so I'm not sure what ign/cap it needs. (other than the one below) I found a ign that's 17.5 mf, but it was $50.
Here's the spec sheet you showed me, and the kit I ordered. https://www.1000bulbs.com/pdf/Sola-E-MCA00W151-specs_1.pdf to make the first one, but I don't see where I can order the cap/ign combo that would make my HPS into this pulse start MH. Sorry, this one's confusing me.
Daniels

i looked for 30 mins online and couldnt find the ignitor either... have you tried contacting your local electrical supply house? alot of times they have acess to manufacturers and oem replacement parts that the general public doesnt... its what i do when i cant find a part.

 

[Danielsgb]

i looked for 30 mins online and couldnt find the ignitor either... have you tried contacting your local electrical supply house? alot of times they have acess to manufacturers and oem replacement parts that the general public doesnt... its what i do when i cant find a part.

I'll give them a try today. Thanks
Daniels

 

[cmt1984]

so i bought a mh ballast and when i went to wire it up i realized i dont know how to read electrical diagrams... anyway, the ballast has 4 wires, 2 marked COM, 1 marked 120V and one marked CAP. here is a link to the ballast and wiring diagram:

Ballast
Wiring Diagram

i thought i had it figured out but when i plugged it in the ballast was humming but the bulb did nothing...

thanks for the help dude.

 

[IAm5toned]

what is the ansi code of the lamp your trying to use?

not all mh lamps run in all mh ballasts, theres 2, well actually 3 different types of mh lamps, probe start mh, pulse start mh, and ceramic metal halide.
the ballast you showed me is a probe start mh ballast that only accepts ANSI M57 and ANSI M107 type lamps.

it sounds to me, like you have either a pulse start lamp in a probe start ballast, a bad lamp, or the ballast is not 'tapped' at the correct voltage... that ballast, on the line side (the 3 wires that supply power, not the load side, which is the wires that go from the ballast to the lamp) the black (hot should be connected the wire labeled '120v', the white (neutral) should be connected to the COM, and the ground (green/bare) should be connected to the ballast/light fixture frame.
did you try and connect the wires to 240v, and run it off of a 110v outlet?

 

[cmt1984]

lol well son of a bitch, i have a pulse start lamp....glad it only cost me 9 bucks. so yeah i had it all wired up right (apparently i DO know how to read electrical diagrams). back to the store to get a new bulb...i may be back with more questions... thanks for the fast reply.

 

[Danielsgb]

Dammit, I wish I got a pulse start MH for 9 bucks. I tried some local electrical places today with no luck. One had my cap for $9, but the ign. was $69.
I'll just give up for now.
Daniels

 

[IAm5toned]

lol well son of a bitch, i have a pulse start lamp....glad it only cost me 9 bucks. so yeah i had it all wired up right (apparently i DO know how to read electrical diagrams). back to the store to get a new bulb...i may be back with more questions... thanks for the fast reply.

no problem man

 

[IAm5toned]

Dammit, I wish I got a pulse start MH for 9 bucks. I tried some local electrical places today with no luck. One had my cap for $9, but the ign. was $69.
I'll just give up for now.
Daniels

69$?????? you could get the entire ballast kit for less....

 

[Danielsgb]

69$?????? you could get the entire ballast kit for less....

Yep that's what I said. the kit was $140 something from them.

 

[IAm5toned]

$45.01

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/5986/BS-MH0150MT.html

they have 2 for cheaper, but this one comes with the clips for holding the cap and ignitor, and i like that.

 

[cmt1984]

was just gona throw out the 1000bulbs link, i order from them a lot...very cheap, good customer service and they have a lot of 10-20% sales too.