So I've been looking at some of those "ceiling fan" type light systems and am thinking of building a couple myself. Seems to be an easy way to distribute light without waste and keep the area cooler. A CFL system would be no problem for me to wire up. However, if I even thought about doing it with HPS, I am at a loss. Could I use one 1000w ballast to support four 250w bulbs?
I don't think that would work. Been a while since my last electrical engineering theory class, but. If I remember right, each light would ignite at a different time. that would cause a problem for the ballast. As the igniter would get confused and possible malfunction.
Dont try that you gonna burn the house down. Believe me!! go with a ballast for each light with good wireing. Teamster6
Im going to agree with it not being a good idea. But with that being said, as far as I can figure, it WOULD work. You would obviously have to make a lead for each lamp, and they would need to be gauged properly as well as the SAME length. And they would have to all be wired in from the same point in order to keep the lengths equal, such as a junction box at the ballast. Ill admit while Im new to HID what murphyslaw says does bring serious problems to the table. As long as the leads are all the same length then the power will hit each lamp at the same time, but I know nothing about how the igniters work. IF one of the lamps didnt fire then the other bulbs are going to suck up that current and cause them to burn hotter than they were designed for decreasing the life of the bulb and risking a fire. So like I said I just cant recommend doing it. It is however interesting as hell and would be fine to build one that you could run WHILE MONITORING it with proper fire extinguishing equipment :roffl:
No you can not. Each ballast is designed for it's intended wattage. It can't be split up equally...it doesn't work that way I'm afraid. You'd have to go with 4 250W HPS ballasts.
just read this and yes herb is right, that would simply just not ignite! it would be the same reaction when you put the wrong size bulb with the non corresponding ballast. Just wouldn't do anything!
So basically the only option is multiple ballasts? I know they make these things commercially, what do they do to run multiple HPS lights off one system? Thanks for the replies all.
Such as in large warehouses? Generally they use high bay lamps that incorporate their own ballasts into each light.
Each one has its own ballast. Have you not seen the lights with the ballast out to the side of the light? Alot of them use that kind of configuration. Teamster6
teamster is right i put up one of those " umbrella " fixtures over a mechanics bench and yes they have a spot for their own ballast for each light, their a lot smaller and they are called " reactor ballasts " your only deal is two either run a 1000w hps ballast and tube or 4 250w single ballasts and tubes. if you have the money to spend atleast go with the 600w hps, better results than a 250 w will give you!
Well damn. Those systems I am looking at must be under 100w to be as cheap as they are. Would you get the same benefits from one light being rotated circularly as with multiple lights?
as long as you have good light placement you will achieve great results, not to mention those fixtures are big and bulky and one fuck of a pain in the ass to put together! lol. IMO its not worth it. mide as well go for the quality light and like you said rotate it or you can put it on a rail system so you can slide it back and forth like track lights. i know a friend who does that and it works great!
yah, It does seem a DIY system here would be a lot of money, I will stick to the 400w HPS and build a rail system for flowering. However, I am going to try this rotating CFL set up and see how it does. Thanks again to all of those that know more about this kind of wiring than I do!
definately try the rotating cfl, im interested to see the outcome, gotta love experimenting, good luck bud!
Lion...I didn't mean to burst your bubble buddy. I've installed literally thousands of HPS / MH lighting fixtures in my time as an electrician and each one of them has always had their own ballast....it didn't matter what the application was. IMO if you wish to do a multiple HID fixture setup like that you can always house the seperate ballasts centrally and run wires out to the remotely placed lights. That would be the only answer I can think of besides having the ballasts located on the respective lights as Tex stated.
Just curious here, I could be completely wrong because I only seem to remember reading about this somewhere, BUT, I seem to remember that the lead to the lamp can only be a certain length... I mean maybe not an exact length, but you dont want the lead to be too long. Maybe something to do with the ignitor? Or perhaps its just so you dont lose voltage to the lamp and not have it burn as well as it could or should? Seems you wouldnt lose much voltage if any over the run considering its probably not going to be more than 20'? Also, even if that was the case you could always change to a larger gauge wire to combat this right? Again just curious. Peace
You are right Virago. I like to keep the extensions within 10' myself, but upgrading to a larger gauge wire will help with voltage drop.
