HPS ballast

i recently aquired a 150W hps light, is there somehwere i can read about what a ballast is, and where to find one?

[Mamafingers]

www.businesslights.com and www.growsystems.com are some good online retailers of light setups, a ballast, is the thing you screw the actual bulb into, but you also need a reflector,atleast to my knowledge, to more evenly distripute the light onto the plant, and not everywhere. For a 150w, my idea (i was thinking of doing something similar) was to go get a light holder, like the reptile basking lights you see in petshops, the dome reflector, surrounding the ballast, the only problem, is that i imagine youd have to get a connector to screw into the ballast, to be able to screw the hps into it, since im pretty sure they use diffrent size ballasts, also that all the hps lights ive seen, have been long, not short ones that could be made use of in the type of holder im talking about http://www.growkind.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif i hope i just didnt confuse you, but.. if this would work (maybe someone who knows could fill us in) you can pick up the "holders" from any petstore, for around 15bucks, and im sure a "connector" would only be like 3-5bucks

yea i bet a good reflector could make a big differnce in yield at the end of the grow

[newfie]

reflectors also raise the temperature. you can get reflectors that come with a duct that you can install a squrrel fan or whatever you have connected to ducting to help with the heat problem. Most ones i've seen usually come with the tempered glass installed. I've seen some at hydro stores complete with bulb, ballast, glass, reflector and fan for almost $300cnd. I think that was with a 400watt bulb. I vaigly remember seeing that price.. but it sounds right. If you want a ready built ballast and 250-400watt bulb it would run about $90-$150cnd in some areas. But its dope, you dont have to have to wire anything. Just plug it in.

[rangerdanger]

The socket is what you screw the light into.
In complete set-ups, the socket is usually incorporated into the reflector.
The socket is wired to the ballast, and the ballast is the part that plugs into the wall. It's purpose is to change the voltage coming out of the wall into what HID bulbs require.
The ballast is the most expensive item in the bulb/refelctor/ballast set-up.
Reflectors don't raise tempetures. The heat a bulb (and ballast) generate stay in the growroom until it's removed.

does it matter if i hang it vertically or horizontally, with a reflector? Mine will work at any angle. *i'm gonna set up a box thats 2x3x5 and make it happen, eh
you said a connector to make the bulb fit in the ballast? *uh is there something that tells me what size of light i have?

btw, i just got out of a wailers concert, ohmyfuckingod! *it rocked hella :rocker:



thanks ranger

(Edited by budzRus at 9:52 am on Feb. 21, 2003)