Looking To Purchase A Cmh/lec Setup

[bankcee]

but I don't want to purchase retail in case it just isn't for me.. lol I'm being a cheap ass anyone around la selling one? or two lol

 

[DrMcSkunkins]

I ended up going with cree leds over cmh because of the increased chance of an explosion and fire from the volitile new bulbs, I sleep right over my grow room.

 

[Freshone]

I ended up going with cree leds over cmh because of the increased chance of an explosion and fire from the volitile new bulbs, I sleep right over my grow room.

Don't use closed rated bulbs in open rated fixtures and there is nothing to worry about.
Bankcee there are alot of 315s for sale new in the 300 range,haven't seen any used ones.

 

[DemonTrich]

Growershouse.com

I rock 3x315 in veg and 4x315 in flower. The ONLY instance (that's been reported on a grow forum) of a bulb failure, was with a phillips knock off bulb that exploded and set hammerhead floor on fire. He was lucky enough to be in the room when it happened.

Don't buy knockoff products.

 

[bankcee]

Don't use closed rated bulbs in open rated fixtures and there is nothing to worry about.
Bankcee there are alot of 315s for sale new in the 300 range,haven't seen any used ones.

300 dollars?! ill take 2. everywhere i look they're closer to 5.

 

[Freshone]

300 dollars?! ill take 2. everywhere i look they're closer to 5.

Ebay-315 lec optimum performance package,318 bucks.Comes complete with the prism ballast,240 and 120 volt cords,Philips lamp and sunsystems remote reflector.The seller is actually growershouse but if you buy it off eBay you get free shipping and no sales tax.

 

[bankcee]

anyone know the difference between some of these. forgive as i am new to this type of lighting. theres the regular system where it seems to have a built in ballast on the fixture.. and then the one that fresh just mentioned whete it seems to connect to a ballast apart from the fixtures.. is this just like setting up your old fashioned hood bulb and ballast? and lso ive seen this diamond series lec 315 for a bit more money? whats that all about?

 

[iKharon]

anyone know the difference between some of these. forgive as i am new to this type of lighting. theres the regular system where it seems to have a built in ballast on the fixture.. and then the one that fresh just mentioned whete it seems to connect to a ballast apart from the fixtures.. is this just like setting up your old fashioned hood bulb and ballast? and lso ive seen this diamond series lec 315 for a bit more money? whats that all about?

I'm personally going to be adding a Sun System lec to my arsenal of light.. my intention is to run 2 315 lecs and put my kind 750 in center.. but the SunSystems are pricey.. but comes with the MasterColor Phillips bulb. Best on the market from what I can tell. But I'm sold on it for not needing to be cooled. Runs cooler than my led. Unreal light spectrum. Looks so natural

 

[Freshone]

anyone know the difference between some of these. forgive as i am new to this type of lighting. theres the regular system where it seems to have a built in ballast on the fixture.. and then the one that fresh just mentioned whete it seems to connect to a ballast apart from the fixtures.. is this just like setting up your old fashioned hood bulb and ballast? and lso ive seen this diamond series lec 315 for a bit more money? whats that all about?

There is no difference between an all in one unit and a ballast reflector combo,they all use the same components.SS uses a Philips ballast and the kit I posted uses a prism ballast,they are both square wave 315 ballasts.Some like the all in one,I don't,I've owned both and the all in one runs hotter imo due to the fact the ballast is enclosed in the metal fixture.The prism also comes with both power cords,120/240 and the Philips is either one or the other I believe.Also if you run multiple lights and a ballast does happen to go out you can replace that component(136 bucks)with a backup on the prism but the whole unit on the all in one would be out of service until replaced.
They are the same but a little different,keep in mind both use the same bulb and reflector,just different ballasts and one is almost double the price.
Also yes it is exactly like your old fashioned Hps rig,you can put it together in minutes.

 

[Freshone]

I'm personally going to be adding a Sun System lec to my arsenal of light.. my intention is to run 2 315 lecs and put my kind 750 in center.. but the SunSystems are pricey.. but comes with the MasterColor Phillips bulb. Best on the market from what I can tell. But I'm sold on it for not needing to be cooled. Runs cooler than my led. Unreal light spectrum. Looks so natural

Im going to run a gavita 750 with a wide reflector and a 315 on each side over 4x8 trays and see how that works,already have 3 of the 4 315s and ordering the 4th today.Id like to replace the gavitas with cobs but im not a trust fund baby,lol.
These are what i have been buying,its growershouse but free shipping if you buy on ebay,best deal ever for all quality components and 3 year warranty.Im ordering the 4th one now before you guys scoop the rest,lol.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ceramic-Met...formance-CMH-Package-3100K-Lamp-/282354746378

 

[DemonTrich]

You guys can use existing hoods with a cmh adapter. Save a bit of $ this way.

 

[bankcee]

You guys can use existing hoods with a cmh adapter. Save a bit of $ this way.

i could use them with my raptors?

 

[JMcG]

You guys can use existing hoods with a cmh adapter. Save a bit of $ this way.

Yup
Use your existing hoods. Look up CMH conversion kit. Growers house has them . Prism ballast with cord and mogul adapter and a Phillips bulb to my door for 245$.
I also got a few of the Galaxy 315 ballasts. A bit more $$ but they are dimmable and well made.
FYI, I did get one of the Illuminati 315 ballasts early on that was much cheaper than the others. It works ok but it runs hot! Temped it at 103 degrees, while the others were at 82-92!

 

[JMcG]

Btw... I just received two Phantom cmh hoods and the plugs are not compatible with any of my other ballasts ( prism, galaxy ). I guess u didn't see that they have their own style of plug.... hope they have an adapter!

 

[DetGrnThumb]

I ended up going with cree leds over cmh because of the increased chance of an explosion and fire from the volitile new bulbs, I sleep right over my grow room.

Did you call them "volatile new bulbs?" Those bulbs have been mass produced and distributed by Philips for almost 25 years

 

[DemonTrich]

Lol
Only the off brand China junk bulbs and if you use the wrong bulb in the wrong application. Sorry my friend, you made a grave error with led (sorry six). But too each grower their own. What works for me, may not for another, and vice versa.

 

[DemonTrich]

@JMcG
Only 1 ballast I know of needs a special adapter, hydrofarm? I didn't realize they still did it like that. Kinda crappy to make the end user buy a special adapter for their product to with with other company products.

Also, why would you need to dim a 315w bulb?

 

[logic]

I ended up going with cree leds over cmh because of the increased chance of an explosion and fire from the volitile new bulbs, I sleep right over my grow room.

Just as @DetGrnThumb says nothing wrong with the philips cmh bulbs....use some cheap china bullshit and its normal you will run into problems..

 

[JMcG]

@JMcG
Only 1 ballast I know of needs a special adapter, hydrofarm? I didn't realize they still did it like that. Kinda crappy to make the end user buy a special adapter for their product to with with other company products.

Also, why would you need to dim a 315w bulb?

Ha! Yeah I had to go back and read that post and think about it ( sorry short terms taken a beating over the years)
It was the phantom ballasts that had the funky plug. I had those prism ballasts for them and ended up using an adapter , not a big deal. So far so good.
As for the dimming feature , I never really worried about using them before even when I had them. But on the last couple of runs I stepped them back down over the last couple of weeks of flowering and really got a nice finish. Occasionally I get a pheno that needs a little push to really get the last pistils or trichs to turn and I think this helps. S'how nature does it!

 

[Jaytown]

Well Gentlemen it happened. Thats what led me to the forum. I have a 315w CMH open type fixture, used the Philips Mastercolor C182/O used for open style fixtures. Today while at work it exploded and caught my grow on fire. Luckily my girlfriend was home, she is usually at work. Heard it and put out the fire. Thank God, because I crate my dog during the day and my house would be gone otherwise. In a matter of two minutes it melted all my pots, stands and the floor started to burn. I spent nearly 40 minutes on the phone with Philips and they have requested a ton of followup information. Im sending the bulb away for testing along with my others. Im terrified of using CMH bulbs now. But hearing that my issue may just be a one off puts me at ease. Hopefully they can find some user error or blame my ballast because I really dont want to blame the bulb. I like these lights and so did my ladies, but this should have been contained and simply destroyed the bulb.
If anyone has questions or possible explainations, id love to hear them.

Cheers and Happy Growing
J