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View Full Version : HID conversions in stealth grow mainly for veg (from a car HID kit)



spoonofinsanity
21-06-11, 02:34 PM
Right you might have seen i have developed a bit of an obsession with building stealth grows and was wondering if anyone had ever used a car HID kit for veg lighting in a small cab.
The reason i ask is that they are available in 4300k 6000k (very close to blue spectrum cfl) or 8000k.
They are usually 12v feed and the kit i just removed from a car 3.5 -5.6 amp current draw which means it can easily be converted to run off a 12v power supply like a phone charger.
I know these aren't the cheapest thigs to buy but since i have some was wondering what people thought on trying to implement them in a veg room?
The ones i have output 35w+/-1w and i have a pair so 70w hid at 6000k.
Easy to fit only 2 wires with 12v auto systems and very compact.
what do you think?

welshwizzard
21-06-11, 05:49 PM
hi.
ive just converted a 250 watt hps low bay luminaire (580mm x 320mm x 190mm).it cost me £39 + vat which included the hps bulb and internal ballast and can also run a 250 mh bulb. ive converted the wiring and mounted the ballast outside of my wardrobe to keep the heat down. temps are stayin around the 75/80 deg c and ive only got 2 pc fans runnin and a desk top fan for air movement.
what dimensions are your grow?

spoonofinsanity
21-06-11, 06:45 PM
depends what i used it for i'm thinking of making a new room out of a dishwasher but i have a cab i built a few weeks ago which is (internal sizes) 110cm high x 1m wide x50cm deep its got 135w of cfl but i was goin to fit an additional 150w hps or 2 70w hps. has a 4" outlet vent and two 80mm pc fans for intake. Haven't fitted extraction yet cos i need a filter and fan but i might rearrange everything so my tent has a bigger extraction and the cab has the existing 4" extraction and filter.
This hid conversion from a car was just a query really i do have a 70w flood with a son t lamp in which i could convert really easily but was just thinking of maybe additional under canopy lighting as they are quite bright and small so shouldn't kick out huge amounts of heat.
thanks

welshwizzard
21-06-11, 07:47 PM
hid car lightin kit sounds a good idea for stealth grow.its basically the same but 12v,the company i bought my light from does 70/150/250 and 400 watt spec lights. there resonably priced and bob on with delivery too.after this grow im gona look into grow tents.

spoonofinsanity
21-06-11, 08:30 PM
depending on what size tent you go for my tent thread might be of assistance have a look if you feel the need, cheers for the input:smokie:
https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-forum/showthread.php?46092-Help-needed-with-tents

Forest
04-10-11, 02:49 PM
i know this is old but for any one trying these car ballasts you do need to enclose the bulb cos they can go pop quiet violently

spoonofinsanity
04-10-11, 03:14 PM
kinda gave up on that anyway but thanks for the info forest enjoi

Forest
04-10-11, 05:20 PM
shame i think it would be cool for a micro grow

spoonofinsanity
04-10-11, 05:25 PM
still got them but got other things to sort out before i start playing again like my infestation of bastard spider mites will stick a post up if i get it done. cheers Fella

Forest
04-10-11, 05:30 PM
plant vitality + is best thing works just great m8 and if you want to never have any pest again use a hot shot no pest srtip i only ev er have one of these and put in in the room one day every week or two and never see a bug of any kind order from the us hope this helps

if you use the hids let me know how you did bro im just using 70 what cmh at the mo nice lights

spoonofinsanity
04-10-11, 06:06 PM
gonna order some of those doofers asap i think if they work got to be worth it got the vitality on order already hopefully have this under control asap then i can get back to playing around cheers fella

Anonymiss
04-10-11, 06:26 PM
Bit late, but I'm not sure that car HIDs are suitable. They tend to be xenon (or, more often, metal halide with xenon gas), so the spectra may be way off for growing.

"Even in a high pressure lamp, there are some very strong emission lines in the near infrared, roughly in the region from 850–900 nm. This spectral region can contain about 10% of the total emitted light." Good? Bad?

Xenon:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Xenon_Spectrum.jpg/400px-Xenon_Spectrum.jpg

Sodium (LPS):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Sodium_Spectra.jpg/400px-Sodium_Spectra.jpg

Metal Halide:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Spectrum-metal-halide.jpg

It'd be interesting to see how the perform, but I suspect that ceramic metal halide, and high pressure sodium, may be better overall (wouldn't we be using xenon already if it was any good?).

Forest
04-10-11, 06:40 PM
maybe but if you dont try you never know, got to push normal thinking, theres russian's that use them with ok results so ive read, and ive seen a few growing with the supposed wrong spec lights and have done ok quiet impressive for the wrong light!

LegalizeNature
09-01-12, 10:16 AM
Hey I'm kinda late but how did your grow end up? I have 4 26w 6500k CFLs but I am deciding on a 35w*2 =70w 6,000k HID system from a car ballast since it is about my CFL wattage at 70 vs 104w and I am trying to save on electrical costs.

Thanks for telling.

spoonofinsanity
09-01-12, 01:49 PM
unfortunately fella i gave up on that plan and have almost given up on hid systems i still have the lights in question but i've now converted to led lighting use less power and generate less heat whilst doing the trick nicely just a bit expensive on the initial outlay. sorry can't be more help.
Let us know if you do have any success i would be interested.
thanks spoons

GCC.LLC - LED iMports
09-01-12, 06:55 PM
You're forgetting something...a lawyer and bail money for the HUGE POWER BILL that will lead the COPS to your door for not using LED Grow lamps.

BlueManHemp
16-08-13, 07:02 AM
I know this is adead horse.. I am thinking the cost of bulbs and the heat put off would be crazy...Not to mention I AM GONE LONG PERIODS OF TIME FROM THE GROW..LIKE 4 DAYS A WEEK... Safety is the first issue... then the second issue is the ballasts can kill you they are high voltage... however I have been researching this and thought this link was interesting...
Grow lights? LOOKS LIKE A HEADLIGHT TO ME. (http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/371244387/HID_Xenon_Lamp_Light_Wholesale_HID.html)

Phaeton
16-08-13, 07:13 PM
When I tried the driving lights for growing it was the focused beam that caused the most problems. The lack of good color did not matter so much, our plant is a weed and will grow anyway.
The tightly focused light did not illuminate evenly, even when backed of to three meters it still had hot spots and shadows.

Anyhow, as soon as the plant reached half a meter the driving lights quit being effective. 72 watts of LED driving light and 105 watts of xenon HID, neither was functional. The 4200K 100 watt incandescent melted the reflector from the heat, not made for stationary use.

I try anything once, sometimes it is good, sometimes not so much.

Icon
16-08-13, 08:13 PM
FFS whats with all the dredging old threads up PMSL.

Any way I remember there was a spate of thefts from Porches in Holland because they had some bulbs that were handy for growing.

Thats all I know google it if you need more info I CBA but theres some incredibly daft posts above so I may be wasting my time really.

ATB
Icon

BlueManHemp
18-08-13, 06:13 AM
When I tried the driving lights for growing it was the focused beam that caused the most problems. The lack of good color did not matter so much, our plant is a weed and will grow anyway.
The tightly focused light did not illuminate evenly, even when backed of to three meters it still had hot spots and shadows.

Anyhow, as soon as the plant reached half a meter the driving lights quit being effective. 72 watts of LED driving light and 105 watts of xenon HID, neither was functional. The 4200K 100 watt incandescent melted the reflector from the heat, not made for stationary use.

I try anything once, sometimes it is good, sometimes not so much.


I read a lot of terrible things and safety issues.. because of the high voltage can kill a man.
I was also concerned with meltdowns, and explosions.
I bid on what I thought was a cheap single bulb and ballast kit.. but it was only the bulb. When I complained because the wording was misleading.. they offered to send me a ballast really cheap.
I have one ballast and 3000k bulb coming. My plan is to use this is in a pc box if the temps are not insane.
I also believe that the bulb must be horizontal to keep from melting.
To avoid explosion I think I am going to use one of these...
216662

Not going to say this is going to work.. but worth a look see...
It may be too bright for the pc box and I will try it in my Stealth box but never on a fullsize grow..
I just do not see it being effective.

In a few weeks I will see.. what to do..

DaveyJones
18-08-13, 07:40 AM
I know this is adead horse.. I am thinking the cost of bulbs and the heat put off would be crazy...Not to mention I AM GONE LONG PERIODS OF TIME FROM THE GROW..LIKE 4 DAYS A WEEK... Safety is the first issue... then the second issue is the ballasts can kill you they are high voltage... however I have been researching this and thought this link was interesting...
Grow lights? LOOKS LIKE A HEADLIGHT TO ME. (http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/371244387/HID_Xenon_Lamp_Light_Wholesale_HID.html)

Your ballast runs at 230V, same as most other appliances in your household.
Do you crap yourself when the microwave makes a sound or is it just ballasts for lamps that scare you?
You should have bought a digital ballast if you're worried about fire or getting electrocuted, lol :p

BlueManHemp
22-08-13, 06:29 PM
I am in the states.. it is only 110.. but I did get a digital balast also.. it is coming.. the thing that scares me is fire.. I do not want to be a fire risk! I am gone for 1/2 the week. I use a very small rubbermaid system.


Your ballast runs at 230V, same as most other appliances in your household.
Do you crap yourself when the microwave makes a sound or is it just ballasts for lamps that scare you?
You should have bought a digital ballast if you're worried about fire or getting electrocuted, lol :p

BlueManHemp
03-09-13, 05:22 AM
FYI Don't waste your money... by the time you buy a bulb, a ballast, a power converter and then install it. You will realize that you can achieve the same results using a 50 watt warm white LED... the difference is that you will spend less on the LED and it is not as sensitive. I never touched my bulb. It ran for 3 days then burnt out..

I took a spectral analysist and found the PAR levels for the HID did not compete with the LED. I wanted to give it a try... I believe the lamp needs to be in a sealed beam and not just hanging in a grow box...

The temperature rose nearly 12 degrees... I had to remove my carbon filter to increase flow volume.
After the bulb blew, I hooked up 4 more 26 watt CFLS and the light is much brighter. Now I am running 8 CFL in this little box. I have noticed the temps are much cooler.

I had to use my LED some place else, but Idid just buy a 72 watt 7 17 Band grow light that is 3:1 reds to blues. This should be a Kick ass light..

HID Auto Light Car light grow light is not worth the effort.