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There's a new bulb in town.

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There's a new bulb in town.

Friendo 22 Replies 4,603 Views
Page 1 of 2 · Replies 1–20 of 23
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Friendo

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#1
Has anaybody had experience with the PHILLIPS "HPS Retro- white ceramic metal halide" bulb? It has a monstrous spectrum. Here's the link to see the details.

This bulb may replace everything on the market and it's cheap, about $60. I'm just wondering if anybody's had problems. I hear they can be a little hard to start if the lamp chord to the ignitor is too long?? They're used as a replacement bulb in industrial settings to get better quality of light, where the ballast instellation is close by. The highest watt they make is 400w at the moment but considering the spectrum (PAR) you wouldn't anything more. Check it out.
 
#3
I have a similar bulb to that. I had a hard time tracking down the retro white locally, but I managed to find a CMH bulb and I'm running it in my veg area. It keeps pretty cool and my plants seem to like it just fine. I don't think it can replace every bulb until they get higher wattage versions (and probably make them work with digital ballasts).
 
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purpleblockhead

Guest
#4
i got 3 of them going right now, there great!!!!!!!!!!!!! there mh bulbs that fire only on hps ballasts and they put out more light/lumens than a 600, pure mh power out of a 400 hps, theyve been out 4 awhile there was a company called life light technologies that bought them from phillips erased the phillips off the bulb and sold them for 120 a piece as there own bulb, i get them in CA for 50 a piece
 
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purpleblockhead

Guest
#5
o yea i tried 2 fire 1 on a lumatek 400 and the bulb burnt out with in 2 minutes, i got them in extrasun 400hps ballasts now
 
#6
the spectrum is insane on these! they need to come out with a 1000 watt bulb
 
#10
I'd like to see a lamp that concentrated the spectrum in the par range. That big flat out put across the spectrum is wasting energy because the plants will not be able to use it. Much better looking for sure but I want grooowwwth...

gwg
 
#12
those bulbs put out low lumens compared to standard hps bulbs. my hortilux puts out 55000 if im not mistaken. besides were not looking for what appeals to our eyes but the spectrum the plant needs and in flower the yellow red spectrum is desirable.
 
#13
They don't make them for 1000w's yet, so its pretty useless to me. I much prefer using a dual arc bulb in my 1000w hoods. I'm getting the best and most natural growth ever using those, looks like the outdoor in a sunny field on a nice august evening.
 
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purpleblockhead

Guest
#14
its not a hps bulb its a mh that fires on hps ballasts, ive had great results and rapid growth in my veg room, i like them better the the hortlux that i was using
 
#15
It looks just like the CMH spectrum, which is certainly very nice. From what I remember the CMH can only be used with analog ballast(not digital) which meant, I believe, people using CMH could not use digital. A point for CMH over traditional MH combo is that it had lower heat than MH, on par with HPS, and I think more efficient/better output.

I would be asking if the WCMH can be used with a digital ballast and what is the heat output vs traditional MH. It looks to me to have a spectrum that could go full cycle so even if you only use it for veg and stretch it makes a great backup bulb to your HPS.
 
#16
If I was forced to use CMH I would personally look at something in the actinic spectrum, more usefull to the plants.

Cheers
 
#17
purpleblockhead said:
i got 3 of them going right now, there great!!!!!!!!!!!!! there mh bulbs that fire only on hps ballasts and they put out more light/lumens than a 600, pure mh power out of a 400 hps, theyve been out 4 awhile there was a company called life light technologies that bought them from phillips erased the phillips off the bulb and sold them for 120 a piece as there own bulb, i get them in CA for 50 a piece
Click to expand...

I'm not sure they put out more light or lumens than a 600. Certainly not over a distance. I had to move the light closer to the plants with the 400 than I did with a 600 in the same space, but I do agree they are great. I have one of those life lights, didn't realize how they got them though :)
 
#19
Yeah, there definitely is a new bulb in town... There called plasma bulbs check them out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTGsM9pplUs . Now if we could only convince the manufacturer to make them for a more suitable grow spectrum...Imagine the possibilities :winking0067:
 
#20
darookie2000 said:
I'm not sure they put out more light or lumens than a 600. Certainly not over a distance. I had to move the light closer to the plants with the 400 than I did with a 600 in the same space, but I do agree they are great. I have one of those life lights, didn't realize how they got them though :)
Click to expand...

The literature pegs the 400 at 28,900 lumens, hardly the 90,000 + of many 600's
 
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