CHEAP! HID / HPS / Metal Halide Grow Lights PART 2 - Ballast Removal

[CycleOgicProductions]

srsly is there no answer to what the hell that sound was at 1:05????

[tubadjim1]

dude those tomatoes look sick, I mean they're not pretty, to say the least.....

[SleestaksRule]

@tubadjim1 Yeah, I cut their life support the week before. They were planted on Thanksgiving and I filmed this April 13th. I think I ripped out the other plants at this point in the spot I'm filming this. I did get plenty of tomatoes but probably even with the cost of the electric bill. :( - yet fresh.

[matthewtchernev123]

@SleestaksRule i would use 2 300 watt replacment cfl's (those bulbs are the very big one) and they use only 65 watts, more efficient and cuts your electric bill, so try doing that instead of metal halide. or whatever u want

[SleestaksRule]

@matthewtchernev123 I used them in my older videos. They are 68watt. It wasn't doing the trick for a 5x10 area so I used two 400watt at 36,000 lumens each. The CFL is great for a couple plants indoors but not efficient for a larger area. My 68watts only put out 4,200 lumens each and not for me and my hobby.

[FenderGibsonWashburn]

Not sure how I missed this video but I'm glad I finally saw it. To the few nay sayers I say let's see your videos on how to do this. All your really doing is extending the wires from the ballast to the bulb, not much of a safety risk really. It certainly outweighs the danger of having a heavy ballast fall on your head. Grounding would be as simple as attaching the ground wire to each case. You could then add another layer of safety by plugging the ballast into a GFCI outlet. Great video, thanks.

[BklynPrototype]

He farts at 1:05

[poiiihy]

what happens if you plug the lamp directly to the outlet and plug something else to the ballist? you should use a different plug so u wont screw it up.

[lvls13]

good vedio nice job

[ecafredrummailliw]

quick question. i know this will sound dumb but i don't know much about ballast and im wondering. are there any kind of ballasts where i can just plug it into an AC outlet and then screw the bulb in the other end and voila, i have light?

[Dwillis1841]

What was that at 1:05???!!!

[MkeFishguy]

Thats a good way to start a fire, A standard extension cord is only thermally insulated to 60 degrees C, which is what you used for the output to the lamp. You will need a cord with at least a 150 degree C rating to handle the immense heat of a 400w HID lamp. The portion of the extension cord thats inside the junction box will probably melt and possibly start a fire. Also, If those are CWI (constant wattage isolated) ballasts, they arent intended to be remote mounted and HPS lamps may not work

[jstatomcat65]

This was exactly what I thought you'd do to modify those connections. I just wanted to see someone else do it first... :) Thanks for posting. I am gonna make one of those CFL fixtures from the dryer vent too. Every penny saved makes a difference these days. If anyone has a habitat for humanity store in your area, they are a great place to pick up used materials, keep them put of the landfills, help a good cause and save a good bit of money too.

[Planogardener]

For a second there I was kind of expencting a MacGyver moment...."And all you need for this mod is a strip of dental floss, some bubble gum and an old banana peel."

Thanks for the post. Good info and very enlightening :)

[DrJerryrigger]

AHH! ground out the capacitor before doing this if you don't want to die! (especially with older ballasts)

I would suggest not using those plugs if using an HPS, as the starter voltage is much higher than the 600V rating.

[garygardens]

I read some of the comments regarding grounding of the light socket (or not grounding). Since the ballast is grounded, could the light have also been grounded through the bolts holding it to the ballast originally? Just seems that grounding might be a good thing.

Gary

[SleestaksRule]

@garygardens I'm working on the second one this weekend and will check it out. The screws holding the socket may have been acting as a ground. If this is true then I'll just use the extension cord ground between the socket and ballast. I'll post a photo link in the description If I can do this.

[garygardens]

Great tutorial and an excellent idea to get all that weight off the hanging part and onto the floor. Makes perfect sense. I'm still using cfl's and your homemade fixture, which works great, by the way. But something like this just might be in my near future.

Regards, Gary

[19Photographer76]

Nice job! The area of coverage would be what, 2' x 2'? or do you think more with the 400 watt?

[SleestaksRule]

@19Photographer76 I go a little bigger than this:

175 Watt = 2' x 2' (4 sq ft)

250 Watt = 3' x 3' (9 sq ft)

400 Watt = 5' x 5' (25 sq ft)

1000 Watt = 8' x 8' (64 sq ft)

So I have roughly 10x5 feet of great growing area with 2 lights.

[ohiogardener]

SleestaksRule...

I did this very thing with the lights i got off craigslist, I was waiting for you to post this video for remote ballast but eventually I had to go ahead and figure it out myself. Unfortunately it took me much longer than 10 min. to complete it on my own. Thanks for the idea though. oh. the only thing i did different was that i didn't clip off the ground wire, I just wire nutting it so that no bare connections were exposed.

[bestestmama]

...anyone else hear mooing at 1:03???? lol

[kbgrowkid420]

thats pretty good use and saves a ton of cash

[CraZyReefTaNk951]

Thank you!!!

[SleestaksRule]

@Acemr420 They are 400watt each

[jerrydff7]

wow thank alot for this video =)

[lionheadtube]

A+.

[mediamaker2000]

So, the light you have never had a ground connection? Interesting. This is a great step by step instructional! I love mods! I do have one suggestion if you're interested. You can do a loose safety knot where you connect the ends of the white extension cord. Keeps the connection from accidentally coming apart. An old contractor guy taught me that for when using power tools etc. I take it that the screws actually screwed into the white light socket?

[SleestaksRule]

@mediamaker2000 Yeah, a knot is a good idea. I'll do that on the 2nd one. It is pretty tight but this will only make it better. There is a ground connection for the ballast but not for the light socket itself. The screws go right into the socket.

[mediamaker2000]

@SleestaksRule I have to quit making comments when I'm tired and just about to go to bed. LOL I wasn't thinking about the supply side at all! My duh!

[MIgardener]

awesome video!

[SleestaksRule]

@MIgardener Thank You.

[Kryro94]

whats the sound at 1:06?

[mediamaker2000]

@Kryro94 I think it was a cow sound because he was talking about the tomatoes grazing on the sunshine.