Why is Hortilux 600 watt HPS preferred?

[this guy]

Just wondering why people are going with the Hortilux brand over SolarMax? I went with the SolarMax because of the higher lumens and rated hours. It seems to be fine for me, but I keep hearing that the Hortilux is preferred. Any information on this would be helpful.

SolarMax 600W Super HPS

• Initial Lumens: 95,000
• Glass Size: T-15
• Operating position: Universal
• Rated Hours: 24,000

Hortilux 600 Watt Super HPS

• Initial Lumens: 88,000
• Glass Size: ET-18
• Operating position: Universal
• Rated Hours: 16,000

 

[PitViper]

good question.....

 

[SnowBender]

Just wondering why people are going with the Hortilux brand over SolarMax? I went with the SolarMax because of the higher lumens and rated hours. It seems to be fine for me, but I keep hearing that the Hortilux is preferred. Any information on this would be helpful.

SolarMax 600W Super HPS

• Initial Lumens: 95,000
• Glass Size: T-15
• Operating position: Universal
• Rated Hours: 24,000

Hortilux 600 Watt Super HPS

• Initial Lumens: 88,000
• Glass Size: ET-18
• Operating position: Universal
• Rated Hours: 16,000

better spectrum?

 

[Green007]

Good question, I like the SolarMax.

 

[Munki]

They have good marketing .... People love brand names!

 

[this guy]

Well if that's all I guess I'll stick with the same bulb for round 2.

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[Munki]

Well if that's all I guess I'll stick with the same bulb for round 2.

Thanks everyone for your input.

There are compounds added to the element to increase some of the blue light as HPS is deficient in blue, but I cannot say myself how well that does. If a grower really wanted to get a better veg spectrum from their HPS setup, they could use a MH conversion bulb. However, they tend to be expensive. Here is the cheapest I could find on a quick web search.

600W MH Conversion Bulb | Interior Gardens Inc.

Nice thing is you would only use it for the veg period.

Otherwise, just use your HPS bulb the whole time.
Have a great grow!

 

[TorturedSoul]

Think I like Ushio. They're made in Germany out of Indestructium. (J/K... But they are built like a tank.) Ushios have a very good rep for working well with Lumatek ballasts and are "quite bright," lol.

Solarmax are also German made and reported to be high quality. I recently read a report by a grower who used one of each in the same garden who reported that the Solarmax side seemed to yield slightly more. YMMV.

BtW, unlike MH bulbs, ALL HPS bulbs are rated for universal positioning.

 

[Mr.Rose]

Think I like Ushio. They're made in Germany out of Indestructium. (J/K... But they are built like a tank.) Ushios have a very good rep for working well with Lumatek ballasts and are "quite bright," lol.

Solarmax are also German made and reported to be high quality. I recently read a report by a grower who used one of each in the same garden who reported that the Solarmax side seemed to yield slightly more. YMMV.

BtW, unlike MH bulbs, ALL HPS bulbs are rated for universal positioning.

Awesome question! I just found this thread by searching for Hortilux, Ushio, Solarmax etc to try and get 420magazine members opinions.

TorturedSoul,

I was already leaning toward a 600watt Ushio HPS light mostly because of the problems I was reading with Lumatek ballasts. I have a Digital Lumatek that is adjustable for 375watts, 400watts, 600watts, or Super Lumes (600watt with 10% more power I believe). I ended up getting a Hortilux 400watt MH for vegging and I haven't noticed any problems with that bulb and the ballast.

Anyway TorturedSoul do you have any more comments regarding the Ushio bulb? I am about to order the 600watt Super HPS and it seems they are going for about $75.

Have you checked out the AgroMax Hybrid bulbs, dual MH/HPS in one bulb. 68,000 Lumens and might be just right for a rotating crop of auto-flowers unless the added blue spectrum to a Ushio Super HPS bulb is more then enough.

Comments

 

[this guy]

Has anyone actually seen a spectrum chart/graph for these 2 bulbs to compare?

 

[unclepaul]

Has anyone actually seen a spectrum chart/graph for these 2 bulbs to compare?

I would like to see as well!

 

[Mr.Rose]

The Ushio website itself lists some Spec information on this bulb.

The Spec Sheet PDF contains much more information and is worth a look.

I went ahead and placed an order for a 600watt Ushio SuperHPS bulb. The Lumatek Bulbs are for sell on Amazon tho.

 

[mk1903a3]

anyone using the Phillips ceramic metal halide bulbs that uses the same ballast as hps??

 

[TorturedSoul]

anyone using the Phillips ceramic metal halide bulbs that uses the same ballast as hps??

AfaIK, ALL CMH bulbs are made to run on (magnetic) HPS ballasts.

But to answer your question, Propa Gator does. Check out his current grow:
Gator's Cage

 

[SnowBender]

Propa Gator is using cmh.

Gator's Cage

Edit: TS beat me to it...

 

[Kenny Powers]

What are some of the know issues with Lumateks and Horitilux? I've ran these two for a while with no issues?

 

[blackwidow]

i have a few question's..
did you use the SolarMax for veg and flower and what was your over all exp like with it.. 1.did it get hot.. 2. what kind of ballest did you use... 3. was the yield nice..

iv read about light's..mh , hps , led , led etc and i would like to use one bulb that could do both cycle's that could yet still get good yield..5-6 plant's...i need more info/advice please..

 

[RedNeckFarmer]

If you use probe start bulbs like hortilux, ushios, cheap plantmax's, maxlumes etc. you'll experience certain failures: BULB FLICKERING, Shorter bulb life, and random miss fires! I actually just bought several Solis Tek Matrix Lcd Digital Ballast from these guys: mbferts.com, and this is where I got all my info from. FYI I too bought cheap bulbs and since learned "the hard way" that you must use pulse start bulbs.

Good news is they sell them for around $60 NEW (FYI $120 MSRP), also they were selling the Matrix's for $200(FYI $400 MSRP) NEW, but Solis Tek I guess made them raise their list prices. I recently talked to them and they said "My friends and I would have to call or email them for the prices, since they no longer can list ANY Solistek products this low on their site, or they can lose their right to sell them." Good group off people though, and in this "cut throat business" we need people like them out here, you know the people who look out for the little guys!

Red Neck