Joe's Grows - The AverageJoe Grow Log

Why'd the ballast go poof on you? And did it give you any indications that something might happen? Or was it an "out of the blue" kind of thing?


Electronic or Magnetic? Just curious.


Retiree

 

Digital


No warning whatsoever. Just poof


Here's my post in Close Call that explains everything. http://www.growkind.com/forum/showpost.php?p=413079&postcount=7

 

Update:


I haven't replaced my ballast yet, so everybody is still vegging under the CFL's.


Here's the Millenium


I want to take a lot of clones off this one, so I'm twisting, tying, topping, all that good stuff.





I kinked her over real good right near the base. At first it, it couldn't hold itself up. It's healing up really nice though.





Hashberry:





Double Bubble:


These 2 are coming in real nice.








Bubblegum:











Everybody smile otleaf-3:

 

looking good joe! bend pinch and ty the shit outta those bitches! they love it, lol. great pics looking forward to seeing more.... cheers bud

​

 

Saweeeeeeeet JOE!:thumbs-up:

 

Those ladies are looking kick ass! I can only imagine what they'd be lookin like if the ballast on the HID hadn't failed. :drooling:


Thanks for the :cool-pix: and keep us updated.

 

Thats what im sayin man! Fucks takin so long for the MMJ to be approved here in WI! Any who thats a nice lil set up u got there. Wish i could say "Fuck it there other ppl growin in the hood so ima just vent right out side" LOL man i cant wait.

 

:angel4: :qpepsi: :brushteeth: :eusa_dance: :dontknow: :glasses1: :glasses9: :glasses10: :glasses2: :qgaraduate: :happy7: :hello2: :hello: :idea1: :budporn: :headbang9: :5slick:

 

Nice Joe. :thumbs-up:

 

So I've been cruising all the usual websites for the last couple weeks looking for a reasonable deal on a replacement 400 watt ballast.


I was browsing Craigslist and saw what looked like a pretty good deal on a Lumatek 600 watt HPS/MH digital. I usually don't have much luck with CL ads, but after several emails I set an appt to see the thing as soon as possible because he said it was brand new.


Sure enough :thumbsup: A brand new 600 watt Lumatek hyeah: The plug prongs look like it's never been plugged in. The serial number says 9-20-09


I got it for $175.00





It'll run HPS and MH bulbs on 360/400/600 or Super Lumens settings








So after only two weeks down, I'm back in business, and with what I think is a FAR superior ballast than that HTG piece of oop: And, I'm going up to 600 watts hyeah:


For the moment I'm only running my 400 watt bulb on the 400 watt setting. I wasn't sure if that would work, and halfway expected to pop the bulb when I fired it up, but it seems to be working fine as long as I don't flip the switch over to 600. :5eek:


I'll pick up a 600 watt bulb in a week or so. Damn things are expensive.


Where's a good place to order bulbs?

 

Nice ballast.


Not sure re: bulbs. I need to start shopping, also.

 

Try these guys out Joe........company is from the middle Ohio area, great service and kickass on the new gear!


http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/grow-bulbs-hps-c-374.html

 

Hell Yeah Chris!! Best price I've seen so far. Thanks for the link. :beerchug-2:

 

'Super Lumens' ?????


WTF is that all about? 623W


*623W is a made up # BTW*

 

Supposedly it boosts the output light up to somewhere above 600 watts. Shortens bulb life, but is supposed to give the plants an extra boost during late flower. I probably won't use it.


I got the room mostly completed now.


I added a light trap strip along both vertical sides of the doorway.


On the hinge side, the strip is attached to the door.





and on the latch side, the strip is attached to the door frame. I painted them black, but I don't know if it really helps or not. SO, with the 2 strips along the door on the inside, the coat rack board along the top on the outside, and a strip of foam insulation along the bottom, the room is now probably 99.8% light tight. You can see just a little indirect glow in the small gaps at the corners from the outside with lights on; but from the inside with lights off, it looks pretty good. I can't see any leaks. :thumbsup:





So I've been working out the best way to get some fresh air into the space for circulation.


Behind the one wall in the growroom is the wall to another room in the basement. It's not a standard 4" stud wall, drywalled on both sides. There's actually about 12" between the walls, so there is a large void between the walls. Inside the growroom there is a gap along the bottom that is open to this area between the walls.





On the other side of the wall I cut a hole and installed a basic looking return air grille far enough down the wall that there is no light escaping. So now I'm pulling fresh air in through the grill, into the void area between the two walls, and into the growroom through the gap along the floor. The draw on the return grille is enough to hold a piece of paper on it, but it's not noisy at all.





I know it's not ideal, and if it were my house I would've done things a lot different, but I need to build this with minimal destruction to the the house and stealthy, so when I tear it down, I don't have to do a lot of re-construction and hole patching.


So until the next issue comes up, which I believe is going to be odor issues in a few weeks, I'm pretty much done with the flower area. Next is the veg. That just needs a little more work.


Not much to see. Here we are at Day 3 of 12/12. Now is when the fun begins. :icon_confused:





btw, I have a new higher resolution camera on the way, so my pic quality should see a significant improvemnt. Hopefully I'll be ready for the spring calendar.

 

i got my seat pulled up for this one bud! looking forward to it! their looking great, good job. cheers bud!

 

Very nice Joe :thumbsup:


That 12" separation of walls is kind of weird (to your benefit though) I wonder what the idea of building it that way was?


Joe, maybe there are people living between your walls like the movie?

:yikes:

 

"Knowing is half the battle" :roffl: :thumbs-up:


Looking really nice Joe. Good score on that ballast! I got my light off of Craig's List too. I like the stealthy setup my man!:thumbs-up: Keep up the show we'll all be watching.


:beerchug-2: asssit:


opcorn-2:

 

I'm pretty sure it's because they ran a sub-panel in big 1.5" conduit down into the basement and put it on that wall. Also, there's a heating duct that goes into that void and runs down the wall a ways.


Thanks everyone for stopping by. otleaf-3: