600W HID ventilation questions

[teej1795]

Whats up,

Thank you for checkin this out. I'm gettin ready for my first grow and after a long time of thought and debate I decided to purchase my first light (finally lol). I went with a 600w MH/HPS setup with a digital ballast and air cooled reflector hood. Now, originally I was dead set on LED, and bounced around between a lot of different lights before realizing (even on Alibaba) that in order to properly light my 3 x 3 ft. tent the way I'd like to, I'd be spending so much more on initial investment that it just didn't seem worth it. But when I was still planning on buying an LED and was grabbing other gear while I was debating, I bought a 4 in. 195cfm inline fan by Vivosun figuring it would be sufficient enough with a carbon filter attached and just an LED to keep my tent plenty cool and well ventilated.

But now I've just bought this 600w beast and I'm worried this fan wont get the job done. Thoughts? Experiences?? The ballast is dimmable, what if I ran it at 400 watts? I was actually thinking about possibly just starting at 400w anyways since I hear a lot of people prefer it in a 3 x 3.

Any help on this would be much appreciated!!!

 

[Jack og]

Need air mass to be 45dg cooler then the light zone so is the air around where u will be pulling in fresh air from cool? 3x3 is too small for that big of a light. It is why ppl choose leds over hid in a small setup. Cooling will a massive challenge

 

[MIMedGrower]

Agree with jack og. I have not been able to run a 600 watt air cooled reflector in a 3x3 tent at reasonable temps. 400 watt hps/mh or 315 cmh worked with 6” fan and air conditioning in summer.

 

[teej1795]

Need air mass to be 45dg cooler then the light zone so is the air around where u will be pulling in fresh air from cool? 3x3 is too small for that big of a light. It is why ppl choose leds over hid in a small setup. Cooling will a massive challenge

So the room the tent is in needs to be 45dg cooler? I keep temps in my house running anywhere from 63F-68F (hot blooded and love it colder) all year long. Right now room with tent is reading 66F with RH of 61%

Agree with jack og. I have not been able to run a 600 watt air cooled reflector in a 3x3 tent at reasonable temps. 400 watt hps/mh or 315 cmh worked with 6” fan and air conditioning in summer.

Good to know! Do you think I would have success with it dimmed down to 400w or maybe look into returns and go 400w? And was 600w unreasonable just during summer or all year round?

 

[MIMedGrower]

So the room the tent is in needs to be 45dg cooler? I keep temps in my house running anywhere from 63F-68F (hot blooded and love it colder) all year long. Right now room with tent is reading 66F with RH of 61%



Good to know! Do you think I would have success with it dimmed down to 400w or maybe look into returns and go 400w? And was 600w unreasonable just during summer or all year round?

Can you run a 400w bulb in it? Dimming is not best for spectrum or bulb life.

 

[teej1795]

Can you run a 400w bulb in it? Dimming is not best for spectrum or bulb life.

No sir unfortunately it is just a 600w with dim features. I didn't know dimming had such an effect on spectrum? I'm def going to be looking into that a bit more, thank you!

 

[MIMedGrower]

No sir unfortunately it is just a 600w with dim features. I didn't know dimming had such an effect on spectrum? I'm def going to be looking into that a bit more, thank you!

Some ballasts like my solis tech and galaxy are dimmable and select a watt. Can dim bulbs but recomended to lower wattage and run a 400 w intead of 600 w.

 

[teej1795]

Some ballasts like my solis tech and galaxy are dimmable and select a watt. Can dim bulbs but recomended to lower wattage and run a 400 w intead of 600 w.

The ballast I got uses percentages (50%, 75%, 100%). So if I had a ballast that could be dimmed down to 400w even I could run a 400w bulb in it instead? Or is that just specific ballasts that have the capability to run a 400w bulb when dimmed down? Mine would be about 450w at 75%

 

[MIMedGrower]

The ballast I got uses percentages (50%, 75%, 100%). So if I had a ballast that could be dimmed down to 400w even I could run a 400w bulb in it instead? Or is that just specific ballasts that have the capability to run a 400w bulb when dimmed down? Mine would be about 450w at 75%

Likely just dimmable. Check user manual.

You can run hps dimmed and try. Hortilux has some info on dimming hps and the spectrum effects.

Im sure dimmed to 450 it will work fine just not as good spectrum as if it had the right bulb. More you dim more spectrum degradation.

If you have space you will likely want to upgrade to a 4x4 eventually.