super lumens ???

[kushsmoker30]

i know some ballast have a super lumen setting or whatever i think it's 1100 watts, does any 1 on here use that setting if so at how many weeks into flower and for how long. also any other info u have to share would deff help me out more. peace

 

[Oregon Panda]

Im not "super" educated on the subject but it sounds like a way to burn out your bulbs faster. I wouldnt use it. If I were to use it, I would use it for an hour at your plants artificial noon. But MH and HPS have terrible restart times and I doubt you could switch back and fourth between modes while its on. Unless you can find a bulb thats rated for 1100 watts then it just sounds like a gimmick to me.

 

[kushsmoker30]

oregon Panda thank u for ur reply.

how long should 1 be using there bulb for anyways? meaning at what point do u say okay it's more beneficial to buy new bulbs rather then lose weight or get airy buds. a store owner in the bay told me every 2 runs for a good buld and 1 for a cheap bulb, if thats true why not rock super lumens during peak flowering for the 2nd run since ur gonna toss em anyway?

 

[Oregon Panda]

Well what your talking about is a subject of much discussion and agument. I have friends who replace MH bulbs every 4 runs and HPS bulbs every 2, and I have other friends (all old timers mind you) that use them untill they dont run anymore. My personal opinion is that once they are less than 80% lumen output they are done, you can measure this by taking a picture once a cycle and comparing each pic to the last, basically once you can notice a difference in brightness its time to go get a new bulb. As for the super-lumens, it just seems like if it was a smash hit I would have heard someone else talk about it and I just havent. In addition: If you have any good grower friends who put the money into a light meter you can ask them to bring it over after each run and then you'll know exactly the loss of output for whatever brand your using.

 

[Chobble]

Panda's on the spot. Its a great way to burn your bulbs out faster.

I mean if you really want to get an extra 100-200 Watts of light going out then go for it. I'm pretty sure at that point you would be putting more ware on the bulb then your getting out.

Chobble

 

[GreenThumbBill]

That feature is mostly intended for older bulbs you want to push the last little bit of juice out of before you junk them.

 

[Oregon Panda]

There you GO! Your instincts were right Kushsmoker.

 

[kushsmoker30]

Chobble, GreenThumbBill and Oregon panda Thank u for ur comments. Think ima try it, i have been wondering what will an extra 100-150w. will do or if it's even woth it.

 

[StonerB]

A tech rep for hortilux has stated to NEVER use either the dimming or super lumen feature. The super lumen burns up bulbs fast and if your bulb is designed for 1000 and you only give it 600 the gasses arent fully charged and your spectrum goes to shit so dont dim it without swapping bulbs. I fully agree with juicing old bulbs before you toss them, they are pretty much dead anyways. However on the other side of the whole argument if you are effecient enough with your crop just calculate the gain vs loss and you will blast em super lumen all day. Even if you pull just 1 P per light a 10% lumen increase SHOULD get you about 45 extra grams. Those 45 extra grams can buy a NEW bulb every grow so who cares.

 

[ttystikk]

Here's my problem with assuming that overboosting bulbs is so detrimental; until I read a specific technical bulletin that discussed how and why dimming any HID accelerates its lumen depreciation schedule (equated with 'wearing out'), I didn't know that running HIDs was in any way harmful. Turns out that it is- somewhat in the case of HPS, very detrimental in the case of MH- to the point that I wouldn't recommend anyone ever run an MH bulb at a dimmed setting at all.

Since learning that information, I realized that my assumptions about what is and isn't good for HID lighting aren't based on anything but prior experience with an unrelated technology; incandescent. It is true, for instance, that running an incandescent bulb at a dimmed setting increases bulb life, in some cases indefinitely! But, incandescent and HID lighting are completely different technologies and respond in different ways.

I have searched around a bit for actual research done on HID bulbs under conditions of 'superlumens' or overboosting, and I have yet to find anything. Until someone comes up with some evidence, I don't think it's wise to automatically assume that overboosting a bulb is necessarily bad for it.

There is some indirect anecdotal evidence, in fact, that it may not be harmful; Gavita suggests operating its lighting gear at superlumens as the gardener prefers, with no warnings or reservations listed. That doesn't sound like an endorsement, but neither does it sound like a practice to be avoided at all costs, either.

 

[El Cerebro]

crank em up and replace as necessary. better spectrums, higher quantum effeciency. totally worth it even if the extra yield is only minimal

i keep spares on hand so burnouts aren't a night-ruiner. usually pass them on to someone in need long before that happens.

 

[entropy99]

Im not "super" educated on the subject

LOL

If you want extra lumens, why not just put another low wattage bulb in there?

 

[Oregon Panda]

^^^WHAT HE SAID!^^^

Thats my line of thinking too. You want more light? Get more lights!
Someone did say something about different light spectums at higher wattages. But if you think there is a more optimal spectrum to be acheived, why not just buy a 1k bulb that emits that spectrum at 1k?

 

[ttystikk]

^^^WHAT HE SAID!^^^

Thats my line of thinking too. You want more light? Get more lights!
Someone did say something about different light spectums at higher wattages. But if you think there is a more optimal spectrum to be acheived, why not just buy a 1k bulb that emits that spectrum at 1k?

Funny, the guys who get paid very well to design these bulbs- they're called 'engineers' for those who don't know- feel the same way, and so that's how they're actually designed. Who knew?

 

[El Cerebro]

LOL

If you want extra lumens, why not just put another low wattage bulb in there?

i just did, turned that on super too. everybody goes on super.

 

[El Cerebro]

I fully agree with juicing old bulbs before you toss them

damn bro, mean I'm trying to juice fan leaves now, but... damn

 

[dankworth]

Big kids do over a hundred hours of research on lamp choices, spectrum, efficiency, all that stuff.

And then run their shit on super lumens.

Dude it's like 1030 vs 1080 watts or something. It's not like you are overdriving the lamp.
Look at the Gavita website, look at the chart showing increased PAR watts as the lamp is driven at higher wattage.

If the plants will take that light and use it, then yes run super lumens.
Horti had a 1 year warranty a few years ago. You could take the lamp back if it burned out, and get a fresh one.

 

[Oregon Panda]

Hortilux had a 1 year warranty on HPS bulbs? Thats nuts. Why would anyone ever buy a bulb again?

 

[ttystikk]

Gavita's brand new double ended 1kW HPS setup looks very interesting, perhaps the most intriguing angle is the 'overboost' feature on their digi. ballasts- theirs say 1150 watts. Another interesting tidbit is the chart Wazzap posted some time back (above), showing umol/watt for various different bulbs out there. The most interesting column on the chart for purposes of the thread's discussion is the one on the far right; notice most bulbs' umol/watt efficiency actually climbs slightly as they're overdriven! The Gavita/Philips bulbs do not, but theirs are the most efficient bulbs of the entire group.

Multiplying that efficiency above- a better estimate of the PAR value of the bulb, and therefore a better representation of the plant response the bulb will provide- times 1150 watts instead of only 1000 and you can see the new tech. is really outshining the competition.

Here's the kicker; not only are they more efficient and more powerful, they last better, too- they're designed to lose only 2% of their intensity per full year of operation, and they are designed to last for years! That's worth its weight right there. I included the white paper in the pdf below:

 

[KitsapGrapeApe]

LOL

If you want extra lumens, why not just put another low wattage bulb in there?

if you have a 4 foot parabolic, or big ass air cooled where the heck you you put the extra light? those bad boys cover a whole 4x4 canopy.

i say fuck the bulbs, blast the shit out of them on super lumens i replace bulbs every cycle and push super lumens from beginning till the last week. if you're puling 2 per and an extra 10% would bed over 3 zips, that covers a new bulb easy, sure some strains may not like it, figure out which ones do and rape em.