My thinking is it won’t heat the tent up to a stupid amount, I have a bad ass fan but it’s a bit noisy for my liking at the cfm needed to suck the heat out from the 600w
Anyway! Just wanted to make sure this won’t totally screw them somehow, it’s kind of like a cloudy day? 3 LED on 16 hours and 400w (to see heat max/min) 15min/30min off.
Also, is it worth me buying another MH bulb as I sent the old one back?
I’m not entirely sure that your equipment will hold up for long if you continue to do that… only reason I say this is because I know that when you initially turn the power on it draws a major power draw to the little transistors and stuff inside there and at a continued rate I would imagine would cause these little transistors to burn out quicker than normal…
I know that my ballast when their shut off won’t even come back on unless it waits for 15 minutes to allow things to get normalized before the initial charging of the light again , so I don’t think that your equipment will like that very much …that’s just my 2 cents brother… 
I might also add that during the summer time I do something sort of similar to this in veg… I run my lights for three hours then off for an hour then three hours on then off for an hour all day until they get their 20 hours or 18 hours of light whichever I’m doing to minimize heat issues… but i am using t5 ho light fixtures in veg…I wouldn’t even try it with my hps…
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@peachfuzz @McLovin777
I totally agree with peachfuzz. Not only is that bad for the ballast - your electric provider may send someone out to investigate the power surges. I’m not trying to make you paranoid. lol.
Maybe LED for the summer months? I’m always done growing by the end of April. Then I start seeds again in September for Christmas buds. 
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hmmmmm @peachfuzz @majicmarkers Does make total sense. I could try 1 hour on 30 mins off, and then 2/1 ect, just that pesky heat! can’t wait to set up a nice big room and never have to worry as much about it 
Just found an MH bulb! wooopy. Going to leave the 15 on 30 off for tonight, and then test longer periods and see what the scores on the thermosat say I guess, cheers for your advice! didn’t even think about the poor ballast lol
@McLovin777.
That’s why I always plan my grows around the summer months. I used to try and beat the heat but it is always too much. Even venting an A/C window unit directly into my tent. My bill doubles… just not worth it.
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I say go for it. You already made up your mind.
I have thought of methods like this. You just better hope the lights you leave on can do the trick.
I think you will probably discount your yield 33-50% due to the lack of lumens.
Happy growing. Thanks guys for the help! Peace, lw
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I do have a 350w actual, and x2 180w actual LED’s, I can only hope it will do enough really, can always buy 12/16 CFL’s to go on top, also flowering needs the most light right?
It’s these bastard tents I think, they keep soo much heat in, really good and as described, but for HID lighting its just better to do a room up… so much more space!
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If you are going to buy 121-16 CFL, I recommend just buying more LED lamps.
They won;t last forever but, the Mars hydro for 70 bucks does a nice job. Mayb get 2 of them and that will be a lot better light penetration than CFL.
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@McLovin777. The trick is having a place to vent the hot air and the ability to draw in cold. That’s a choice I don’t have. So over the years I’ve learned to take advantage of the seasonal temp changes. I also don’t run my 600w HID anymore. I use my 250w HID for veg. and supplement with a 300w LED while in bloom. I have a 4x4x7 tent and a 4" inline fan and never have heat issues anymore.
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With HID’s they take about 10min to come to full operating temps and are actually designed for sustained use and need considerable cool down time to re-arch too soon and they blow. They also lose life with cycles so if you expect to cycle them so often make sure to have spare bulbs the MH will suffer most
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I agree… cycling HID lamps that way will blow lamps quickly. They are not designed to be turned on and off all the time. ( 30+ years electrician )
If you are going to be using so many LEDs… why do you need the HID ??
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I could… get an intake fan from a nice cold room? Reckon that would destroy my heat problems?
Yeah, your all right it was a silly idea. Annoying that the temps stayed exactly 76 while all the lights where on… so close! Inhaling air from a cold room should beat the heat for a 600w MH you reckon?
And is there anything I can do for seriously nute burnt leaves?
reduce ppm is only cure for nute burn
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