HID ballast too hot?

[express_fix]

Greetings!
I have one 250 W HPS, inside an enclosure with a reflector and ballast.

I think it is intended for outdoor usage, but I removed the panel over the ballast and the plastic under the bulb and mounted one 120 mm fan and one 80mm fan @ 12 V just near the ballast (phillips brand) & the bulb in order too cool it down a bit - it was waay too hot when i tried to touch it
After I removed the plastic panel from the enclosure the heat disperses more easily.

I think it's still quite hot - when i put my fingers next to it it feels very warm, perhaps it would burn me a bit it i touched it , but due to the design of my lamp i am unable to relocate the ballast outside the grow wardrobe, without doing some rewiring.

The HPS itself is mounted inside the wardrobe, on the topmost side, along with 4 CFL's as a bonus and for a bit of blue spectrum
(2 x 16 W 2700 K and 2 x 50 W 6700K)

I have:
-one 120 mm intake fan at the bottom
-one 120 mm exhaust fan at the top
-one 120 mm on ballast
-one 80 mm blowing directly on the bulb

-Do i need to cool the lamp itself?
-Do i need to cool the ballast?
-What is the maximum temperature for growing good weed without losing thc/cbd and degrading quality?
Is 33 Degrees celsius (91.4 °F) too much?
I heard 28°C degrees (82 ° F) is the "perfect" temperature for indoor growing, but i can't get near it without a cool tube i guess

So how hot is "too hot" (for the air and for the ballast?)

check out my design so far:
http://img43.invalid.com/img43/6682/hpscooling.png

(no pics right now so i made a quick 2d mock-up sketch of my wardrobe)

 

[Radio_Dread]

yeah anything over 90 F is starting to get unhealthy for the plants and they slow or sometimes even stop photosynthesising around 95 F. so yeah i would say 91F is too hot. what is your night temps? if they are really cold, the drastic swing from really hot to cool will stress the plants out too and that may lead to hermi plants. also you want to cool the light with an inline fan, just make sure your ballast is in a well ventalated area and not where your plants are living and that should be fine.

 

[express_fix]

night temps are around 20 degrees Celsius (~68 F), there is not a big amplitude i think

i guess i'll have to remove the ballast and place it outside the lamp's plastic body (and outside the growbox as well) -which i DON'T want to do, because its constructed this way by the manifacturer) OR i need to make a DIY cooltube... damn i wish i could pass by only using two 120 mm intake and exhaust fans
what about plants that grow in africa, jamaica etc? isnt the climate there much warmer than 30 :( ?

p.s. what do you think of my wardrobe cooling setup

 

[Radio_Dread]

yeah see that is a 24 degree swing between day and night. you should aim for only a 10-15 degree difference adn your plants will love you.

 

[express_fix]

Thanks!
Today I removed the ballast from the Lamp's body, now it is outside the wardrobe.
Rewired everything very carefully, with longer cables and it works like a charm.

Now I can touch it without getting burned and I can hold my finger over it for as long as I like - the 80mm fan does its job perfectly when stationed outside. It is only mild hot - I'm very happy!
Before, when it was inside i couldn't even touch it for a second!

Also my wardrobe temp inside dropped as well to acceptable levels!

 

[Radio_Dread]

awesome....gald to hear you got it all worked out for you. the easier things flow the better them ladies will grow. happy farming dude

 

[Tobor the 8th Man]

Do you have the ballast in a box or mounted on a board?

 

[express_fix]

it consists of a large transformer and a starter (i think), they are currently attached to a board with no box at all,
directly on top of my growing wardrobe.
but it is in a safe place - no exposure to moisture or water, and a fan blows it directly.
i might consider building or adapting a small case for it- i am good at this

i can post a picture if you 'd like to revise my setup

 

[rob 146]

i would like to see how you set up your transformer....rob

 

[express_fix]

ok here's a scoop on how things turned out

sorry for the delay

 

[Widowmaker]

Well done Bro. There is an effect in electronics called thermal run away. When some electronics get hot more electricity flows which in turns makes things hotter. I've found by moving my ballasts to a cooler room they ran much cooler. One thing that might help with heat is use some kind of standoff between your power supply box and the cabinet that its is setting on. Just 2 pencil to lift it up so air can pass under it.
:icon_spin:

 

[express_fix]

terrific, thanks for the tip