Building and buying an HPS
system
Contributed by: furun
Submitted: 09-07-2003
Introduction
Lighting is a very important component of your
grow. You could have the best genetics, the perfect
growing space, and tons of knowledge, but without
adequate lighting, your grow will simply not perform.
This article is not in any way designed to dissuade a
person from using fluorescents or MH. This faq is a
guide for those that would like to know more about HPS
lighting systems and how to buy, assemble, and use them.
Pre-assembled HPS lighting systems can be
expensive. Most of the cost is overhead and labor. If
you were to buy the components separately and put it
together yourself, you can save hundreds of dollars with
only a small amount of quality sacrifice. Also, when you
build it yourself, you have a wider range of products to
choose from, so you can build a system that is right for
your situation.
Planning
The
first step in building a system is to know exactly how
much light you need for your area. This FAQ will give
you an idea of what you will need to buy:
********
Parts required:
ballast w/
igniter and capacitor
socket
bulb
extension cord w/ ground wire
OPTIONAL
reflector
ballast case
air-cooling
TOOLS
screwdriver
wire cutters and
strippers
wire nuts
electrical tape
Obtaining parts
To begin on your
quest you will need to shop around places in order to
find the best deals. You can order the parts you need
from the Internet, or you can buy them at a local
electrical store. We will discuss Internet purchasing
later on.
Many of you that live in larger cities
will be able to call around to many electrical stores
that will carry HPS ballasts and do some comparison
shopping. Those in smaller cities might not have a great
selection. If you look in the phone book under
electrical suppliers, you will see wholesale and retail
suppliers. You can get prices from both, but when you
call the wholesale store, you will have to ask them if
you can buy without an account. Going with the wholesale
store will most likely be the cheapest, as they will
have many types of ballast in stock. It is important
that you ask them if you can buy them individually.
Also, you will need to know exactly what you
want. You can buy 70 and 150w HPS at Lowes or Home
Depot, so I am going to concentrate more on 200w and up.
The available wattages are 200, 250, 400, 430, 600, and
1000. You will need to determine what voltage you are
going to be using (household current in the US is 120v).
It is very important that you buy a ballast kit that is
compatible with the voltage in your house. Most places
will sale multi-tap ballasts which have higher voltages
along with the standard 120v. This will probably be your
best bet.
If you wish to order online, there are
plenty of stores that you can choose from. You might
also want to do searches on google to find other deals.
Purchasing
From store:
Pay
in cash, nothing with your name on it (no paper trail)
Act calm and confident. If you act shady, they
might report your license to the authorities.
Know what you are going to buy before you get there, so
you can just walk up and ask for it.
Online:
Make sure that company sends the packaging in
discrete packaging. Nothing with Hydro, Horticultural,
or any other growing references. This will help ensure
that your package will not be watched. This is also good
if you are getting it shipped where people will not know
of your operation.
Always make sure you check out
the return policy on damaged and non-operational
equipment.
For my example, we will put
together a 400w HPS lighting system: (example prices)
ballast (400w includes igniter and capacitor)
$69.29
porcelain mogul socket $13.20
bulb
(There are many different bulbs, each with different
spectrums. This is a cheap bulb) $16.15
20'
extension cord (length will vary) $8.00
wire nuts
and electrical tape (estimate) $4.00)
TOTAL: $110.44
Accessories. Reflectors are not necessary, but
even a cheap batwing style reflector will benefit you by
directing the light where you want it. Ballast boxes are
also not necessary, but having one reduces the risk of
electric shock, burning, and fire.
Optional
parts
reflector(batwing) $30.37
batwing
reflector $21.67
TOTAL: $52.04
Grand total:
$162.48 + shipping
The items listed above will
give you a fully functional HPS system that is much like
one that you can buy.
If that price is too high,
the reflector and ballast box are expendable. You can
make your own reflector and you can mount the ballast on
just about anything that can take screws. Doing so,
introduces the risk of you touching the ballast
components and getting burned or shocked. As long as
caution is exercised, you have nothing to worry about.
Additional Options
Air-cooling is
another option that people would like to look into more
often. Having separate ventilation for your lights will
ultimately benefit you as you will have more head room
for your plants to grow and the temperature will be
greatly reduced.
There are 2 method of obtaining
an air-cooled reflector/hood:
1) You can build
your own using:
This FAQ on how to build an
air-cooled hood, with integrated carbon scrubber, and
light trap (for the true DIYer)
This FAQ on how to
build a cool tube *recently updated
Note: If you are
going to make the cool tube from above, you can hang the
cool tube assembly underneath a stationary reflector,
which can either be homemade or manufactured.
2)
You can buy a complete air cooled hood online, or at
hydro stores
Assembly
Now
that we have all the parts that we need, we need to wire
up the ballast and assemble the light together. I will
point you to this FAQ that taught me how to wire my
first ballast. http://www.overgrow.com/growfaq/966
Connector plugs
A good way to connect
the socket to the ballast is to install a set of
connector plugs between the ballast and the socket. This
will enable you to disconnect and move the light without
having to disturb your wiring. Also, you can locate the
ballast in another area as to keep heat down in you grow
area.
Take a 10' - 15 extension cord and cut it
into 2 lengths. The shorter one should be the male end
(the one with the prongs) and the longer one should be
the female (the one with the holes). You will probably
want to have the shorter one be around one foot long. It
is the piece that is going to be connected to the
socket/bulb assembly. The longer piece will need to be
long enough that it can reach the other piece of cord
from wherever you are going to place the ballast.
Note: We attach the ballast to the female side
in order to reduce danger of electric shock. In a rush
to pull apart the set up, a person might leave the
ballast on and accidentally touch the prongs on the
wire. Trust me; you don't want to get shocked by a
ballast of any wattage.
Connect the white wire
from the male end of the extension cord to the white
wire of the socket. Connect the black wire of the
extension cord to the black wire of the socket. Connect
the green wire, if you bought a socket that has a
grounding terminal.
You will want to connect the
female plug to the ballast. Connect the white or COM
wire that is coming out of the igniter to the white wire
of the extension cord. Connect the black wire from the
extension cord to the RED or X2 wire coming from the
igniter. You can also connect the green (ground) wire to
the same place that you grounded your ballast.
Additional Information
LIGHT
SAFETY
Remember not to spray water on or near
an exposed HPS light bulb, especially when its on
(foliar feeding may cause the bulb to explode if water
touches the bulb)!
Do not look directly into the
HPS for any amount of time. If you are going to be in
your grow room for a long amount of time, wear
sunglasses
Do not touch an HPS bulb while it is
hot Do not touch an HPS ballast while it is hot
Replace your lights every 10000 to
15000 hours |