315w Light and Fixture Comparison

igothydrotoneverywhere

igothydrotoneverywhere

Well-Known Member
Hello all, Like the title says I am looking at these 315s again. I have owned 5 315w sun system brand lights. I love them. No complaints at all.

The question I have pertains to the umpteen versions of this light that have come out since I last bought one. I have seen knock offs go as low as 250$, ~225$ cheaper than the cheapest SS. I have also seen that you can buy a ballast($125), socket converter($30), and 3100k bulb (90$) and reuse an old hood.

Is there going to be enough loss by going with one of these other options that is literally worth half the price of the sun system? I understand you almost always get what you pay for, did their patent run out? I read "special single path phillips ballast inside or something like that" on another thread somewhere. Any comments?! Thanks

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ceramic-Metal-Halide-315w-LEC-Optimum-Performance-CMH-Package-3100K-Lamp-/282354746378?hash=item41bda7840a:g:oAMAAOSwzgBYzILq

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sun-System-LEC-315-120V-Lighting-Fixture-Philips-Master-Color-3100K-Lamp-/292047975962?hash=item43ff6a761a:g:6VcAAOSwopRYa-yH

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Grow-LEC-315W-CMH-Ceramic-MH-Light-Complete-Fixture-w-3000k-Lamp-/112107042982?hash=item1a1a19b8a6:g:epwAAOSw-itXve8X
 
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cindysid

cindysid

Well-Known Member
I was wondering the same thing. I'm thinking of replacing my 2 1000k hps with 4 of the 630 cmh's. If I could get by with the ones on ebay, that would be great! Hope someone has some real answers. I'm subbed!
 
MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
Growers house has a sun system remote hood at a cheaper price and a galaxy dimmable ballast.

With a Phillips bulb it is $100 cheaper than the all in one unit or the commercial remote one.

Difference is the reflector has only a pebbled insert. Not the smooth 98% one with the pebbled corners.

But like the op said. How much % can I lose in reality from the different insert. It looks just like the insert in my blockbuster hoods.
 
VanIsleJay

VanIsleJay

Active Member
I run 315 cid for veg, plants love it..... downside is the light only covers a small area.
It's equivalent to a 600 what without the light coverage.
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
MichiganMedGrower said:
I like it for about 2.5' x 2.5' in flower. My 600's cover another foot easy. And they penetrate a dense canopy much better.

I will agree it is 2/3 as powerful for flowering.

I have not used one for veg yet. But I like working under the natural light so I will try that soon.
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Nice. I have just bought one, I have a cob light in one half of my 2.4x1.2, I vegged a bit longer than usual and packed 7 plants in there which was over the top, I noticed the canopy was too dense so light was not getting to the lower portion. So I picked up a 315cmh and now have 3 plants with it hung vert and bare on one side of the tent, the other is 4 plants with 660w of Citizen cobs from above.
Normally I trim the bottom 3rd of my plants but I was trying to see how they would do lower down compared to the 600s hps I used to run. Got a bit carried away, I don't think any kind of light would of penetrated such a dense canopy. So the cmh was a quick solution to avoid loss of yield (I hope)!
I think I will use the 315cmh in my veg to replace my 400hps once this round is done flowering.
I assume with the right reflector it would make a damn good veg light in a 4x4
 
MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
coreywebster said:
Nice. I have just bought one, I have a cob light in one half of my 2.4x1.2, I vegged a bit longer than usual and packed 7 plants in there which was over the top, I noticed the canopy was too dense so light was not getting to the lower portion. So I picked up a 315cmh and now have 3 plants with it hung vert and bare on one side of the tent, the other is 4 plants with 660w of Citizen cobs from above.
Normally I trim the bottom 3rd of my plants but I was trying to see how they would do lower down compared to the 600s hps I used to run. Got a bit carried away, I don't think any kind of light would of penetrated such a dense canopy. So the cmh was a quick solution to avoid loss of yield (I hope)!
I think I will use the 315cmh in my veg to replace my 400hps once this round is done flowering.
I assume with the right reflector it would make a damn good veg light in a 4x4
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I should have mentioned that I hang the sun system reflector at about 16" for the footprint I said. At 2' it is more like 3x3. I would veg there. Don't know if open it will cover more but in a reflective tent or enclosure probably.
 
VietnameseBlackSativa

VietnameseBlackSativa

Active Member
Flowering footprint for my Hi Par Sunstorm vertical kit is 2.5ft sq easy.

Compared to what I have tested - metal halide, HPS, LED, CMH is the best so far... for veg that is. Haven't tried it for flowering yet, doing it now. I hear that CMH produces more trichromes and flowers the plants 1 week sooner, I don't know if this is true so there is only one way to find out.

The first is a feminized Blueberry strain from Seedsman as a freebie (This plant explodes, the fan leaves are massive better than the CKS Blueberry, which could attribute to growing under CMH - the CKS BB i grew under an LED).

Second is Big Bud x White Widow from Female Seeds. Both are amazing. I've recently added a 450w Viparspectra (runs at 200w) to give them more light.

Both have just completed 1st week of lights 12/12. I use H&G nutrient coco kit.
 

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VietnameseBlackSativa

VietnameseBlackSativa

Active Member
Oh one more thing I forgot to mention about the CMH, it runs alot cooler than a 400w HPS you can leave it a lot closer to your plants. Another big plus for CMH is the thickness of the leaves especially the fan leaves are thicker and are more hairy. With metal halide it's not so bad but LED for veg, the leaves are thin as rice paper. I prefer thicker and more hairy leaves, it looks like it's got more life to it.
 
MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
VietnameseBlackSativa said:
Flowering footprint for my Hi Par Sunstorm vertical kit is 2.5ft sq easy.

Compared to what I have tested - metal halide, HPS, LED, CMH is the best so far... for veg that is. Haven't tried it for flowering yet, doing it now. I hear that CMH produces more trichromes and flowers the plants 1 week sooner, I don't know if this is true so there is only one way to find out.

The first is a feminized Blueberry strain from Seedsman as a freebie (This plant explodes, the fan leaves are massive better than the CKS Blueberry, which could attribute to growing under CMH - the CKS BB i grew under an LED).

Second is Big Bud x White Widow from Female Seeds. Both are amazing. I've recently added a 450w Viparspectra (runs at 200w) to give them more light.

Both have just completed 1st week of lights 12/12. I use H&G nutrient coco kit.
Click to expand...
I am getting more trichomes and up to 10 day sooner harvest on average across strains and phenos.
 
TheChemist77

TheChemist77

Well-Known Member
i have the boulder lamp 315 lec w/ the 98% reflective smooth hood.. mine came with phillips 3100k elite agro bulbs.. anyways its time to replace the bulbs and amazon sells a bunch of different kinds,, i wonder if there is a difference between say the phillips and the ipower or vivosun,, the ipower and vivosun are 55 wile the phillips is 90-100 bucks... all have the same lumens,, so whats the difference or am i paying for the phillips brand??
 
indianajones

indianajones

Well-Known Member
TheChemist77 said:
i have the boulder lamp 315 lec w/ the 98% reflective smooth hood.. mine came with phillips 3100k elite agro bulbs.. anyways its time to replace the bulbs and amazon sells a bunch of different kinds,, i wonder if there is a difference between say the phillips and the ipower or vivosun,, the ipower and vivosun are 55 wile the phillips is 90-100 bucks... all have the same lumens,, so whats the difference or am i paying for the phillips brand??
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the philips bulbs are best

here's a comparison between 315w fixtures and lamps.
http://growershouse.com/blog/cmh-315w-lamp-comparison-test-data-review/
 
indianajones

indianajones

Well-Known Member
VietnameseBlackSativa said:
Oh one more thing I forgot to mention about the CMH, it runs alot cooler than a 400w HPS you can leave it a lot closer to your plants. Another big plus for CMH is the thickness of the leaves especially the fan leaves are thicker and are more hairy. With metal halide it's not so bad but LED for veg, the leaves are thin as rice paper. I prefer thicker and more hairy leaves, it looks like it's got more life to it.
Click to expand...
the thicker leaves are less efficient for photosynthesis. more depth to penetrate = less energy when you get there.
 
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