# Mojavemama's  HID light conversion



## DonJones (Dec 2, 2009)

This is hopefully going to be the result of a "please help me convert this free Metal Halide" request from mojavemama.I will not be posting anything further until I see if I can get the posts in the other forum moved into this thread.

If not then I will try to bring everyone up to speed.  

Good smoking and thank you for your patience.


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

Question:

Someone gave me an old MH Spartan High Bay Ballast Assy 400W. It's heavy. There is no reflector or bulb. The guy said it works. Picture below.

I know next to nothing about this kind of stuff. My question, though, is, how hard would it be to wire it up to the ceiling, and how would I adjust the light height? Also, would it give off sufficient heat? (garage gets cold in winter)

I'm thinking that my grow room needs to go into flower asap, pistils poppin' out all over the place. But I still have a few smaller plants not ready to flower, and some clones, and I'd also like to germ a couple of the Aurora Indicas. 

So it makes sense to me to find a spot in our garage where I can hook up the MH for vegging while the other plants are in the light-proof grow room for flowering. 

Obviously, because I'm in a wheelchair, I can't get up on a ladder and do it myself, but the math dude is not disabled and he could do it if we knew what to do. On the label it says the ballast voltage is 120/209/240/277 so I'm assuming it would be okay to run on 120? 

If I could do this, it would help out a whole lot. Anyone know if this sounds like a project way out of our league?


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

Converting mojavemama's MH to a remote ballasted light post #666 

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First, mojavemama, yes your light can be remote ballasted. In fact from what I can see, it is basically identical to one the 2 models that I have and use.


For anyone considering doing this project, Please read my entire thread on Converting commercial HID lights to remote ballasts http://www.marijuanapassion.com/foru...ad.php?t=45696 and decide if you think you can handle it before proceeding further. If not do not be afraid to have an electrician do it. You can carry it into the shop, pay cash under a false name and carry it out if your nervous but pick a name at random out of the phone book so it is believable.


The first thing is to confirm the actual wattage of it. Please verify for me that the label states that it is a 400 watt Metal Halide like it looks like in the picture.


Make sure that it is running on 120v, which would surprise me because most commercial fixtures are wired for either 240 or higher voltage, and I think I see 4 wires coming out of the tube, a bare one, a green one, a white one and a black one. It may be already wired for 120v but I'd bet on 240V.

The first step is to straighten out all of the wire coming out of the tube. They don't have to be completely straight, just good enough to let you pull the tube by unscrewing the tube with either a pair of LARGE water pump type pliers or a pipe wrench. The tube is right hand thread so turn it counter-clockwise to remove it. If you already know that, great, if not I've covered my bases.

Once you have the tube removed, remove the cover plate on the little square box on top and try to gently work the wires out through the side opening until you can read the labels on the wires. Then post a list of which wires on the ballast are hooked to which wires that used to run through the tube and which ones have been blanked off by putting covers on the end.

That will let me figure out if it needs rewiring or just a cord attached.

Please post pictures so the rest of the people can watch what you do.



The thread is also live linked in my signature.

Good smoking.
__________________
Don Jones

A Disabled Veteran still proudly serving my Nation


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

Taking Apart MH Ballast 

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Okay, Don!

I must admit I'm having a total blast doing this. Your instructions are beyond simple--if I can do this, I promise ANYONE can do this. 

1. Confirming actual wattage of 400w.
2. Only 3 wires coming out of tube--black one, white one, green one.
3. Tube removed, cover box removed. Wires left:
--skinny white wires blanked off: 208, 240,120.
--Green wire: loose, not connected to anything
--black wire hooked with cap to white 277V wire
--thick white wire hooked with cap to skinny white wire with COM written on it.


I believe I did it correctly, and hope you can now tell me if it needs rewiring or just a cord attached. 

Pictures below


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

I don't remember if I gave a required tool list with the DIY post [the one in my signature about converting HID light to remote ballasts] or not so I'll run it down here;
1 pair GOOD diagonal wire cutters -- at least 8" to 10"

1 pair of wire strippers -- these are a lot easier to use than a knife but you can get by with a good knife if you know how to use it

A couple of Phillips and blade screwdrivers --OR EVEN BETTER ONE OR TWO OF THE 4-WAY TYPE SCREWDRIVERS

If you will be using crimp connectors, which I strongly recommend, a good pair of crimping pliers

A good razor/utility knife with pointed blades -- I prefer the retractable pocket knife type

These can all be bought at Home Depot, Lowes or harbor Freight -- don't worry about getting the best, but don't get the cheapest because to a certain extent you get what you pay for. If you need me to, I can get a suggested middle priced list with parts numbers for each source, but it will take a while.

Okay, the next step is to obtain a wire extension cord of at least 14 gauge and one of the 400 watt bulbs. Forget about the grow shops or garden centers. Instead of paying way over $50/bulb (and I have been hearing that a lot of shops want close to $100 or more depending upon which high dollar grow brand you buy) search the yellow pages in the telephone book for "electrical supplies, wholesale" or similar listings. Start calling them until you find one who will sell to individuals, or even better if you know any contractors or electricians have them buy a simple 400 watt MH bulb -- if you have a choice of brands at close to the same price, Phillips has an excellent reputation along with Sylvania. I pay $24 and change plus tax for Sylvania and I think $26 and change for the Phillips brand from a different wholesaler locally. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON BUYING USED BULBS BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE EXPECTED LIFE OF IT HAS BEEN USED UP. Also the output decreases over time and the older the bulb, the faster it decrease. Some of the newer ones have been made to where they stay pretty consistent until right at the end and then fail very quickly.

Then get a 14 gauge 3 wire extension cord long enough to make both your power cord and your ballast to light cord out of it. You don't need the "contractor grade" and since it will be used indoors out of the weather it can be almost the cheapest one you find. Just be sure that it is 3 wire and at least 14 gauge wire -- 12 works well too but the larger wire makes it slightly harder to work with and needlessly more expensive, unless you already have it. If you are trying to use used cords, make sure that the insulation is good full length and if the ends are damaged, then replace them like my DIY thread suggests. If I was buying cords, I would probably buy them at Harbor Freight or Lowes/Home Depot when I bought my ends. Incidentally Lowes has some very inexpensive cord ends that would probably be just fine IF you always unplug the power cord before messing with the ballast or light cord. I usually use between 10' and 15' for the power cord, although 6' is probably about the standard length with the factory ballasts. Then I use between 15' and 20' for the ballast to light cord. Figure out how big your area is and give your self at least 6' more than the longest distance from the plugins for your ballast to light cord. For instance my room is approximately 15' diagonally so I use 20' to 25' -- the diagonal length plus 6' for height adjustment and a full 8' to maybe even 10' for height adjustment so if you want to you can put the ballast near the floor, run up to the ceiling, across the room, and back to near the floor. For my 12' x 6' x 7'8" high room, most of mine have 35' of cord for each light, 10' for power cord and 25' for light cord. I just kind of hang the cord between the J hook screws that I use to hang the light on one end over to the other hook where I hang the ballast and go from there. A couple of mine are couple of feet shorter than that if the piece I was using wasn't quite long enough and if it was a little longer I just left them alone. Of course I made mine out of old extension cords I had acquired over the years. I probably had 500' of cord around here from projects over the years that had bad ends on them (if you buy the same quality ready made cords are cheaper than 2 ends and the same amount of extension cord 3 wire cable and you don't have to put them together) so when the ends get screwed up I just pack the cord away and go get a new one. Fortunately my being a pack rat pays off sometimes, although my other half gets frustrated with it.

Once you have both the bulb and the extension cord, cut the male end with the prongs -- (I'm just trying to be clear, NOT imply that people, especially women, know nothing because I know better but it is easier to clarify now than after a mistake has been made) to the length that you want your power cord to be.

Carefully remove the wire nut from the black/277v connection and note how far the insulation has been stripped back.

Then trim the outer insulation jacket back about 1" to 1.5" being VERY careful not to cut the insulation on the inner three wires or even worse yourself or assistant if you have one. Somethe steps are a littl easier to do with a spare hand or two. Then strip the individual wires the same distance as the wires currently connected with wire nuts are stripped.

Expose the end of the 120v wire by cutting very short pieces of the cap off until you can pull the insulation off. A better picture of the capped off wire would be helpful here in trying to help you determine where to cut it. If possible put something like a dime in the picture for a frame of reference to help me judge the size of the cap, or just measure the length of the cap.

Then expose the wire for the same length as the 277v one that you disconnect was exposed.

Now cut the exposed part of the 277v wire off flush with the insulation and seal it. For sealing the end of the wire I suggest making a very tight U shaped bend in the wire so the end of it is now lying along the side of the wire. A lap of about 1/4" to 1/2" is fine. Then you can wrap the folded over portion with 2 or 3 layers, or as many more as you feel to be needed, of good electricians tape to prevent the end of the wire from shorting to anything.

Finally connect the stripped 120v white wire from the ballast to the stripped black wire in the power cord using the wire nuts that are already on the ballast, followed by connecting the White COM wire from the ballast to the white wire of the power cord. For now ignore the green wire, it will be sued later to ground the cases of the ballast and reflector/hood directly to ground in case there is a short that electrifies things that aren't supposed to be electrified.

Lay the ballast on its side, screw the bulb into the socket securely but don't over tighten it because you will need to remove later. Now without disturbing the ballast or the bulb, carefully plug the cord into a plugin. At this point it is a good idea to not be touching the ballast or socket assembly when the cord is plugged in. 

Watch to see if the light burns. It should only take less that a minute to be nearly steadily bright. Please do NOT look directly at the light because it will at least temporarily blind you when you look away. You will be able to tell if the ballast and socket are working without looking directly at the bulb.

If the light isn't burning steadily within 2 minutes, there is a good chance that it never will, but it will consistently get brighter for the first few minutes.

It should NOT ever take over 5 minutes to settle down to a smooth increase in brightness. Otherwise either the ballast or the socket is probably bad.

After you determine if it works or not, unplug the cord and let the bulb cool down before going any farther. If possible always handle the bulb when cool and with clean hands and a clean cloth or gloves to avoid getting spots or finger prints on the outer shell than can cause hot spots and failure of the bulb.

You might want to take picture of each step like you did earlier so you will have record of how and what you did. I am proud of you and you should be proud too. Most people, regardless of their sex would not be as willing to try some thing like this, especially involving electricity, or do it as well as you are doing without some background.

If the light works, then I need you to get me some close up pictures of the socket end so I can try to walk you through converting the socket to a remote ballasted setup.

TO BE CONTINUED


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

CONTINUATION

At this point, you also need to start figuring out what you are going to use for your reflector/hood. Do you have any pieces of reflector that hook into those slots around your socket. If so, they maybe a very good reflector to use until you can see if you need an air cooled hood. That circular slotted piece looks similar to my son's parabolic reflector, which results in all of the light rays leaving the light in nearly parallel lines so that the light is shooting straight down and will give you better penetration through the foliage than most reflectors and hoods. The other advantage is the entire beam is nearly uniform in intensity instead of having bright and dimmer spots. The trade off with a parabolic reflector is they slightly decrease the are of the light beam which will also be roughly circular rather than rectangular like a rectangular reflector or hood. There are a couple of different Do It Yourself hoods in the DIY section.

I'll be giving some thought to how you could easiest hang the ballast which will let it disperse the heat better than laying down.

Incidentally, yours is what is called a magnetic ballast which means it will run hotter, less efficiently, and possibly noisier (most of mine are fairly quiet but one of them is a noisy sucker but the other same model is quiet so I don't know what it means -- it has been running for over 4 months so I guess it is just noisy) than the new digital or electronic ballasts but will have cost you way under 1/2 as much money.

We will deal with isolating the noise from the rest of the house later.


You are doing good. I'm proud of you and while your PM was amusing, I was chuckling WITH you not at you.

Good smoking.
__________________
Don Jones

A Disabled Veteran still proudly serving my Nation.


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

WOW, thank you, Don!!!!!!! 

I'm printing out your post, and will wheel down to Home Depot today and pick up what I need. Only uncertainty is what type of 400w MH Bulb base to get--E39 Mogul socket? Regular clear or coated? What K for vegging, same as with Fluoros, 6500K?? 

4U, I need something NOW for the garage if I'm going to be able to start my auto seeds, so I can use my little grow room for flowering. While this may be noisy, run hot, be bulky, big and cost more to run, it's not a 'forever' solution. It's a workable solution that will tide me over. Thanks for your support and cheering me on! 

Don, your instructions are beyond fabulous. And please, all the details are MOST appreciated. I'm glad you assume nothing, and realize i was being honest when I said I know absolutely NOTHING about electrical stuff. Your clear instructions are an absolute godsend to me, and setting me up for success instead of failure. 

THANK YOU!!!!!


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

mojavemama,

You need to be careful there girl. My hat size is already at least a full size larger than anyone else in the family, including my departed Dad, my brothers and departed Father-in-law. You're going to give a swelled head until I won't be able to find a hat or cap that will fit.

While I don't know your plans about breeding auto seeds, you can run auto plants right along the vegging regulars, from what I hear. In fact in one of the growing guides I read on one of the seed banks, autos will actually produce better on a 16/8 or at most 18/6 cycle for their entire life than if you put them on a 12/12.

I'll be back to talk about the bulb selection in more detail after I run my adopted granddaughter to school. It is hard to get used to having a daughter-in-law who is younger than her step daughter and then have here sister being one of the grandkids. Thank my oldest son for that 37 year old groom and 20 year old bride. He used to neck with his mother-in-law when she was pregnant with his wife.

Good smoking.
__________________
Don Jones

A Disabled Veteran still proudly serving my Nation


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

I'm back. 

As far as I'm aware, once you get to 400 watt all of the HID lights,and it seems like the incandescents and Mercury Vapors too, use the same mogul base. I'm not sure what the number is. I know that if you look at your socket and/or measure the diameter it will become obvious when you look at the bulb whether or not it is the right base.

Clear or coated envelope -- always clear, UNLESS the coating is to filter certain spectrum(s) of the light out and thereby change the color temperature. Every coating that I know of will cut down on the intensity of the light leaving the bulb and in our application we want all of the intensity that we can get.

What color temperature to get -- don't worry about that until after you have it up and running. All of the commercial bulbs will be within a few hundred degrees of each other.

I doubt that you will find a 400 MH at Home Depot and I know none of the local Lowes have anything near that large. Well I was wrong. Home Depot said they have 400 watt MH bulbs for right at $29.00. I still will buy mine commercially because the supply houses are closer to home than HD and $3 to $4 cheaper depending on which brand I buy. At least with the older magnetic ballasts you must use the same wattage bulb as the ballast is designed for. I do NOT know why but that is what the various manufacturers of both bulbs and ballasts have told me.

I would check around for commercial sources of bulbs and check the brand and manufacturer's part numbers that they sell. Then go to the manufacturer's web site(s) and find their spec tables/charts and check the color temperature of each one of them. Then you can start choosing the brand and part number of the bulb(s) that you want to buy. I'm using Sylvania bulbs in all but one of my 400s and sue them for both vegging and flowering. The experienced local growers, especially the older ones, say that there is actually very little difference in the outcome of using MH all the way through versus switching to HPS for flowering.

My oldest son uses a mixture of MH and HPS to flower because he has only a couple of HPSs so he has to use some MH too to get the light saturation he needs for flowering in his room with the number of plants that he grows. He said, he can't tell the difference when he is growing full out under the combination and when he has a small enough crop to use only the HPSs. Now if this was on the "big boy forums", as you call them, that would probably start a long argument, but I'm only repeating what we have found and what I have been told. Also the old timers remind me that MH was all they had and the cutting edge for grow lights for along time.

Regarding the crimping and stripping pliers, unless you are going to be using them a lot the combination pliers are fine but look at them carefully. The real cheap light thin metal ones will cause you way more headache than they will save you in cost. Go with the mid priced ones.

Well that is about all I can do until you make sure the light is going to work.

Good smoking and keep on keeping on. You go girl!
__________________
Don Jones

A Disabled Veteran still proudly serving my Nation.
___________________________________________


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

4u2sm0ke,

You are correct that they are big and bulky, especially height wise. There is a picture of the last one I have that hasn't been remote ballasted and it is nearly 29" tall and right next to it is the same light remote ballasted with the vertical rectangular commercial lighting reflect, also remote ballasted in the first post under my CONVERTING thread in my signature. It is the last picture on the first post. I tried to copy and past the image to here but it didn't work and I don't think I have it on my memory card or hard drive anymore, at least not where I can find it quickly. 

But if you remote ballast it, that brings the height down to 12" to 13". Those are the same heights I have found throughout all of these commercial high bay lights, both M Hand HPS, that I've run across within an inch or so. I'm not sure what a low bay light even is because I haven't ever seen one.

For $15 to buy the light use don Craig's list, that usually has a working bulb with it, and maybe $15 and a few hours to convert it to remote ballast, I'll sure live with the bulk over spending a couple hundred dollars.

Thanks for the reminder. I need to start watching Craig's list for used HPS lights. What category do you see them under?

Good smoking.
__________________
Don Jones

A Disabled Veteran still proudly serving my Nation.


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

Don, a thousand thank you's! 

You make it so clear and easy to understand. I appreciate your info on the bulbs--that was way too much for you to do, after all the detailed information you gave me. Shoot, do you know how much I'd have to pay to take a class to do this? 

I go to Home Depot for two reasons: 1. It's the only store credit card I own. and 2. It's the only hardware store within rolling distance, and hubby uses the wheelchair van for work. 

So I'm THRILLED to hear Home Depot has the bulbs--at ANY cost. It's convenient and fast for me, and just so readily accessible being only a mile from the house. I use it as an opportunity to take my in-training service dog for a field training trip, as well. 

I'm a bit confused on the K of the bulbs, since I know nothing about MH lights. But I do know that in CFL's and Fluoros, you use the blue spectrums for veg and the red spectrums for flower. I noticed the MH's came in K's from 6500 down to 3000. But if they only have one type, that's what I'll get, and be glad to just get the ballast up and running.

I don't know how you can even lift the suckers! Mine is really heavy and I felt like Goliath when I was able to finally get it up onto my lap. Gonna have to grow me some BIGGGGG Amazon arms with bulging biceps to get this job done. Hah! Can you say, "Wimpy, Wimpy, Wimpy!" ?

I already have some great tools--the strippers and crimpers I have, screw drivers (all my old Snap-On tools from the body shop I used to work at) and I think they are pretty good quality. Just need the non-tool items, I think. 

Nothing left on the ballast from whatever reflector used to be there. So I'll have to come up with something that will work. But for now, I'm just going to focus a few steps ahead at a time, and see what I can do about the wiring. Then I haven't a clue about how to hang the sucker that weighs as much as my washing machine...<G>

But we'll tackle those probs as they come. For now, off to the Home dePOT!

Oh, and yes, I realize about the autos that you don't 12/12 them. But for now, because I will have both autos and regular plants in January, it will really help to have the MH in the garage so I can keep the flowering plants in their grow room in the total darkness for their 12 hours of required dark.

This is really getting exciting, and I am SO enjoying the learning process!


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

surrender. I will accept your compliments and respect. I still think that all I'm doings what is right and passing it along for all of the help I have been given in the past and told to just pass it along as the way to repay my benefactors.

If anyone is interested in learning more about how I got where I am today, just read the last couple of my kind of rambling posts at the end of my Grow Room Thread. However, when you are reading about the male role models in my life be aware that without my mother's Mom, my mother and mother-in-law, my sister-in-law and especially the idiotically long suffering ex-wife who is still the better half, I would not have been in a position to learn from the mentors and teachers.

Everyone, keep and eye on Craigslist for used growing equipment and lights. You can get some killer deals and even make a little money buying and reselling. I am pretty sure that my conversion will work with HPS and will know for sure by the end of the week because I just found several cheap 400 HPS lights.

mojavemama, your comment on the weight of the commercial magnetic ballasts is what I think is an even more important reason for remoting them.

Once you get them hung up, then you don't have to mess with the heavy ballasts. That is why I strongly suggest using a long enough ballast to light cord that you can put the ballast in one corner of the room on the floor and run the cord along the ceiling to the other corner and down to within 2' of the floor. That way you can put the light anywhere you need it without messing with the ballast.

mojavemama, lets just get it running and then we can worry about the niceties of color temperature. even for flowering, a 400 MH will be so much better than what you have that you'll not believe it.

And if anyone is wondering about using 400s, I can make a double bulbed reflective hood that will out preform a single 1000 in the same place. I prefer the flexibility of two 400s in the same area that you would use one 1000.

I'm going to back out for a while and try to get the grow operation moving ahead from wher I have been spinning my wheels waiting for my crap lowryders to get done and out of the flower room.

Good smoking.
__________________
Don Jones

A Disabled Veteran still proudly serving my Nation.


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

Hi Don! 

Sorry I'm late in responding. Yes, made the Home Depot run, and got a nice dinner out of it with hubby. Yummm!

I picked up everything to do with the wiring, and also got the bulb. The only thing I didn't address was some kind of reflector, or how to make one. 

Don, is the round flat bottom part in the picture below the part you spoke of in your previous post, when you asked if my light had : "....pieces of reflector that hook into those slots around your socket."???

Is that piece what you meant? And would that piece be what I'd attach some type of reflector to? 

I looked at all the tin stuff in Home Depot for duct work, as well as flat pieces of aluminum. I just can't visualize what it is I need. Like an umbrella shape? Or a cone shape? 

And doesn't the ballast and the bulb all hang together? I'm confused about the 2 separate cords. 

I know, I know---what's OBVIOUS to everyone else is rendering me clueless. 

But yes, Don, I think I have everything now except for a reflector, and tomorrow I'll be able to start following your excellent step-by-step directions on doing that wiring. 

THANK YOU, THANK YOU---until you're better paid!


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

mojavemama,

Have you read through my thread Converting commercial HID lights to remote ballasts http://www.marijuanapassion.com/foru...ad.php?t=45696?

If not please read it and see if that clarifies the question about the 2 cords.

Basically there are 2 steps that I highly recommend in making the commercial HID lights practical for use in growing. The first one is mandatory -- installing a power cord and setting the wiring to match the voltage that you have available in your grow room. That is what you're working on now.

The other one is optional, but where you do not have any reflector and with your wheelchair status it is practically mandatory too, separating the ballast assembly from the reflector/socket assembly which allows you to hang or otherwise secure the ballast near the power source and mount the socket/reflector assembly remotely any where in the room we must do something.

This is called a remote ballast type and is almost universal in modern magnetic/digital HID lights.

In your case we will have to build or buy a reflector/hood and while we are doing that, it is just easier to separate the two parts. Does that make sense yet? If not what did I fail to explain properly?

My main reason for wanting to use the remote set up for you is, once you decide where to put the ballast and put it there, you can just leave it there and not have to mess with it to change your lighting arrangement. Nor will you have to fight the weight to adjust the height from the plants of your reflector/hood assembly.

Also please read How to build your own6" air cooled hood http://www.marijuanapassion.com/foru...ad.php?t=29666 to see what one type of reflective hood can be made simply, especially with your auto body shop experience. In fact that is the one I usually make for others when I convert their lights because it removes a lot of height issues and provides a way to provide air cooling to the hood assembly if you want to in addition to the normal ventilation for the room.

I'll bet you didn't realize how much work there can be in getting ready for a ghetto grow operation did you? But I'll guarantee that you will appreciate your crops more than the rich kid who just spends money for a "turn the key and go" set up. You will also understand your system better and be able to tell when something is not quite right before it causes obvious damage that may be irreversible at that point.

To build Tater's reflective hood, the only thing you might need to have done is to have the bends made by someone with a brake, but that is true of me too. My attempts to do it without a brake have been less than satisfactory and I've been using the ghetto method of bending metal for years and years. They were usable but not very pretty. But part of the problem there was I was trying to use roofing flashing that had been tightly coiled instead of clean flat STRAIGHT metal. Tomorrow I'll try to get you some good photos of both the converted ballast and the reflective hood in use instead of just a picture of the completed system using the factory reflector, which you can't do because you don't have one, sitting on the floor like in my thread.

If I try to go too fast for you, just tell me to slow down. I just get overly excited sometimes when I feel like I'm helping someone do things for themself.

Did you have any problem finding the stuff you needed at Home Depot? 

When you get a chance remove the bolts through the U bracket that is fastened between the socket and ballast and the 2 short legged L brackets and separate the flat round plate with the slots/hole in it. After you get it apart, try to get me some pictures showing how that U bracket and socket are fastened to the ballast assembly. Since we have to build some kind of reflector to use, why not make it one that makes it as easy to use the light as possible?

I'm proud of you. Tell your husband that I said he has a very special woman in you and that I apologize if my enthusiasm gets in the way of your time management. Your home and marriage should always be the priority --not working on our project!

Good smoking!Go girl!
__________________
Don Jones

A Disabled Veteran still proudly serving my Nation.


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

Hey Don, you sure know how to keep a student motivated! 

Okay, I admit I did NOT read all of your conversion post. It was just way over my head. But today, I think I'm ready to delve into it, and once I am able to visualize what the final light should look like, it will be easier for me. 

I am a visual learner. When I read something, I translate it in my mind into pictures. If things get too technical, and I am not able to see those pictures in my head, then I am lost. 

What has excited me so much about this project is not just that I'll be getting the much needed light--and that's exciting, yes! But it's that I'm finding it so easy to follow your directions, doing something I never believed I could do. 
I mean, for the most part, it's not PRETTY. So my motivation has to be not only the end use, but the process of learning. If it ain't pretty, it's gotta be FUN! I suspect I have an overdose of estrogen and junior high school...

Anyway, you're making it FUN for me, and that's what's setting me up for success. And after today's post, I SEE the PICTURE in my mind of what the final light is going to look like, and with that clarity, I am enthused and excited about the next step. 

Little steps will get me through the testosterone delight of working with things that aren't pretty. <G> And you're doing SUCH a good job. I was not kidding when I said if you could teach me to do this on my own, you can teach anyone to do ANYTHING! 

Yep, I think I have everything I need now except for the reflector stuff. But first things first. Today, I focus on the wiring. And I'm gonna get it, too!

My rep is on the line here now to do this right and make Big Daddy Don proud of me! 

So last night, the Math Dude sees all the parts spread out on his homework table, chuffs a bit, then says, "Well, I could have done that for you." I throw my arms protectively around the ballast, and hiss, "DON'T YOU FRICKEN' TOUCH IT!" Think Maria at the end of West Side Story, hunkering over her dead lover's body. 

This is MY baby all the way. The Math Dude can go play with his numbers. Big Daddy Don is gonna get me through this!

And I will also read everything about building Tater's hood that you recommended, too, Don. Today. Promise! 

THANK YOU!!!


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

Have fun I have moved everything here with the pictures if I have missed anything let me know and I will help some more.

time to :bolt: :48::joint:


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## DonJones (Dec 3, 2009)

Thanks ozzy,


*Everyone*, I and mojavemama both want to thank *Ozzydiodude* very much for taking the time and effort to move both the posts and photos from where we started discussing this issue in a long thread that has other topics mixed in too, in response to mojavemama asking me for a little less "technical" and more one on one help in converting her free lowbay commercial MH light.  She issue me the challenge " I know next to noting about electrical things and if you can get me through it, you can get anyone to do it." and I couldn't walk away from that.  She has surprised herself and I'm very proud of her ability and willingness to learn, which contrary to what she will say, is really the secret of her success in instead of my questionable ability to teach.

Earlier I said that I wasn't sure what the difference between a highbay and lowbay light was.  I asked my used equipment dealer yesterday when I picked up my latest HID, a HPS 400 lowbay.  He said the difference is in the reflector.  A highbay has tighter pattern of light coming out because they are designed to be hung around 20' from the area to be lighted and a lowbay gives a looser pattern because it is designed to be hung nearer to 9' or 10' above the lighted area.  According to him, and the MH lights he had for comparison the socket/ballast can be identical but with different reflectors.
When she gets back to me, then we will get started again. 

Once again, Ozzy deserves a huge thanks for taking the time to sort out these posts from the rest of the thread and move them twice.

Good smoking everyone!


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 3, 2009)

#13 is gone Let's get back to the :bong::bong: now that's what I needed.

Good luck and Be safe


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## 4u2sm0ke (Dec 3, 2009)

:48:


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## DonJones (Dec 4, 2009)

*I HAVE CONFIRMED THAT THIS TECHNIQUE WORKS FOR High Pressure Sodium AS WELL AS Metal Halide because I just got a HPS to convert and looked it over. *  I'm kind of in a hurry so I just converted it to 120v and hung it just like it was and am going to buy another one to make the remote conversion too.

Good Smoking everyone!


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## 4u2sm0ke (Dec 5, 2009)

okay  found  a  few  of  these  on  craigslist for  $20  each..gonna  go  buy a  few  and  see  if I  can  flip them  for  some  cash:aok:..or maybe  more  lumes  in SHED :rofl:


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## 4u2sm0ke (Dec 5, 2009)

DonJones said:
			
		

> *I HAVE CONFIRMED THAT THIS TECHNIQUE WORKS FOR High Pressure Sodium AS WELL AS Metal Halide because I just got a HPS to convert and looked it over. *I'm kind of in a hurry so I just converted it to 120v and hung it just like it was and am going to buy another one to make the remote conversion too.
> 
> Good Smoking everyone!


 


*Don*...please  upload some  pics  of the HPS  ones  when  ya  do  them..i  aint  seen those yet..theres  a lot  of  400  and  1000  MH....thanks  again  for  shareing this:48:


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## DonJones (Dec 6, 2009)

4u2sm0ke,

I just got one and outside of the appearance differences they are built nearly identical to the MHs.  Check my thread under lights and if you still have questions, ask for clarification.

Good smoking.


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## DonJones (Dec 6, 2009)

Mojavemama noticed that I had forgotten to explain how  you change the wiring over to 120v in sufficient detail.  I'm working on that now.  It may be a while though because my computer is acting up.  This thread is actually more Mojavemama's journal of her first attempt at converting her light than a tutorial on how to do it.  Before you start to try this conversion I strongly suggest you read and study my threat under lights to give more background information and answer some of your questions.  I have sent her there a couple of times and these are mostly her requests for clarification and my responses.  I'm trying to make this thread stand alone, but it is actually a in depth supplement to the original thread.

I'm very proud of her.  She repeatedly has said she has NO electrical knowledge or skills.  Yet she has taken what appeared to her to be junk and now has a functioning light as of yesterday.  Now we have to figure out what to do about a reflector and how to hang the ballast to keep it cool and out of her way.

Expect more posts by both of us as I get my computer problems ironed out and she gets her posts edited.

Good smoking.


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## 4u2sm0ke (Dec 6, 2009)

:yay:  *mojave*.....lets  see  some  pics  of  this  plant  busting  light:lama:...Props  to  you  *Don jones*..for  bringing  this  to  her...you  are the  angle  sent  from  Heaven  she  been  asking  for..thanks  for  beeing  here..cant wait  to  play  with  mine...in the  BHC  you  mentioned mojave  needing  a  reflector..I  also  remembering  you  saying  *Tater  *has  great  DIY and  he  does..if ya  good  with  metal and  rivets...I  made  one  for a friendwith  1/4 inch wood..spay  addhesiv..milar..kinda  a getto  but  works..okay  enough  type  need  bong


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## DonJones (Dec 6, 2009)

Ghetto or not if it works that is what counts!  We needed one ASAP and cobbled it together out of 16" wide 30 gauge valley roof flashing metal that had been tightly coiled for ever and actually needed to cut it to length and quilt it so that it would lay flat.  As it is now, the hood wants to twist lengthwise.

But it still works!  The biggest problem with quick and dirty temporary fixes is they tend to become permanent cobbled jobs.  

Good Smoking.


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## DonJones (Dec 6, 2009)

Okay here are some pictures and detailed instructions on changing the voltage and attaching the power cord.

The first picture is one of my last unconverted 400 MH high bay light.  

The second picture is the basic HID magnetic ballast that has had the power cord attached and the socket/reflector assembly separated from it so that the ballast can be positioned remotely from the actual light.  There a few reasons this is desirable.  It reduces the height required for the reflector/hood which lets you grow taller plants under the same ceiling height.  It lets you place the ballast close to the plugin and still put the light where ever you want to use it so long as your cord is long enough to reach.  It lets you raise/lower or relocate the light without fighting the weight of the ballast.  Also if heat is a real critical problem, you can even locate the ballast outside of the grow room/tent.

The third picture is of an unconverted HPS that I just acquired.  I have started the voltage conversion and attaching the power cord, by opening the access cover to the wiring cover plate.  This power cord conversion is exactly the same as with my MH light/ballast  assemblies. 

The fourth picture is a short power cord with the outer insulation split and the inner three wires bent out to illustrate what I did.  I use a retractable razor/utility knife.  Be very careful while splitting the outer insulation jacket that you do NOT cut the inner insulation or yourself.  then you need to disconnect the COM wire by unscrewing it and then strip the insulation on the inner power cord wires back the same length as the exposed wire on the COM wire.

The fifth picture is the power cord and COMmon wire connected with the
original wire nut laying on top of  a piece of white paper just loose between the wires and the top of the ballast to better show the wiring stuff.
The inner insulation has been stripped away to expose the copper wire.  Then the wire nut was twisted counter clockwise to remove it from the old white wire and the COM wire; the COM wire and the white wire from the new cord laid parallel and the wire nut twisted back on clockwise. 

The next step is to do the same thing with the green wires, if there is one.  Then unless the old black wire is connected to the 120V wire on the ballast you will need to remove the wire nut, cut the exposed wire off flush with the insulation on what ever voltage wire it was connected to, fold the insulated wire tightly back over and wrap it with electricians tape. (There are other acceptable ways to prevent the old ballast wire from shorting but this is the best way to do it.)  I don't have a picture of this step but mojavemama does, so we will try to get her to post it.  She also has some other detailed pictures of stuff I just forgot to record as it did it.

The you find the 120V wire and uncap the end of it -- It usually has some kind of blank connector crimped to it that you nee dot cut off.--   strip the insulation back, lay it parallel to the black cord wire and twist the wire nut back on.

*  Before you start connecting the power cord, make sure to remember to route the cord through the old wire hole so you can close up the wiring area with the cover plate.*

Once you have the wiring taken care of securely screw a know to be good bulb into the socket but do NOT OVER TIGHTEN IT, position the ballast so that the bulb isn't touching any thing and noting will fall, plug the power cord in and wait to see if the bulb lights.  *Don't look directly at the light or you will have temporary blindness when you look away -- don't worry you will be able to tell if it lights.*

If it lights then you're good to go and can decide from there whether or not you will use the light the way it is or convert it to a remote ballast light type.  If it doesn't light with in 5 minutes it probably will never light.  Either way unplug the power cord.  *Always wait until the bulb is cool to the touch and handle it with either clean soft gloves or clean hands to avoid getting spots on the bulb.  Never try to restart a hot or even fairly warm HID bulb.  If you must restart it quicker, then replace the bulb with a cool bulb.*

If you are going to convert it to remote ballast or change the reflector/hood, then study my thread under my signature.

If you followed the steps and had a good bulb in a good ballast you should now have as functioning light.

If you have any trouble, do NOT be shy about asking for help.  Remember electrical equipment can kill or cause large fires if not done right so PLEASE make sure you understand it and have it done right BEFORE YOU PLUG IT IN.

For some reason the pictures won't up load so I'll have to try it later.  We will have to wait for one of themoderators or staff to help me.  Ozzy, I completely changed the file names and locations on disk and it still keeps coming up that I have already upload the file.  Thanks buddy.

Good smoking!


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## mojavemama (Dec 7, 2009)

These pictures are from DonJones, and were meant to go with post #27. Don was not able to upload them himself due to a computer bobble. Also, the Spanish numbers, Don said, were an attempt to make the server forget that I had tried to post those pictures before.


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## DonJones (Dec 8, 2009)

Thank you, MM.  The server just kept telling me that I had already posted them in this thread, but I sure couldn't find them anywhere delete them.

She is a fantastic woman!  She makes teaching/guiding so easy that I wonder what she even needs me for sometimes.  I'm pretty sure that I get more from helping her than she get from me.

Good smoking every one! Oh, no more outdoor grows around here until Spring 6:30 AM it was -3F in Spokane Valley,WA


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## zipflip (Dec 8, 2009)

sweet thread :aok:
  thanks for sharring all of it..
 maybe someday i'll come cross someold high bays too and now will know wat ta do wit them anyway.



> okay found a few of these on craigslist for $20 each..gonna go buy a few and see if I can flip them for some cash..or maybe more lumes in SHED


you can  flip ol'zip a 600, 4u  :hubba:
i tried craigslist but i'll be damned if i can find anything grow related in my state. lol


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## mojavemama (Dec 10, 2009)

Hate to admit it, but building a reflector would take more hand strength than I possess, and also, by the time I got all the stuff to make it, it would not be cost effective. So instead, I ordered a 3' Parabolic reflector for $42. Just waiting now for it to arrive so Don can guide me through the last part of getting the light going. Should be in good shape before the auto seeds arrive!


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## 4u2sm0ke (Dec 11, 2009)

:aok:  *mojave*...waiting...waiting....


*zip*..o  600....youll  have  to  settle  for  a  1k...call some  electrical contractors  they  pull  them  ll  the  time...another  choince  comes to  mind  is look  for  old  buildings  beeing  demollished  or  renovated...


*mojave*...still  waiting....:bong:...and  waiting.....okay  Ill be  back ler  to  check..im  tired  of  waiting  now:bolt:S.H.E.D.:watchplant:


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