Hey everyone... I'm going to be using CFLs for my mother plant and wanted to know if anyone could help me out with the reflector. I want to make one identical to the one PhL0aTeR made here: http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/286726-1st-official-grow-cabinet-soil-cfl.html I'm not really sure how to do it though. I need to change the dimensions a bit... it needs to be 23"x23" for it to fit in the space I have. Here's the shopping list he wrote for it... DIY Light bar 1/2"x10' PVC _____________________________________ $1.90 1/2" PVC elbows X4 @ $0.28 ________________________ $1.12 Jack chain 8' @ $0.43 per foot_____________________ $3.44 Misc wire ________________________________________ $5.72 4 Porcelain sockets @ 1.39 ________________________ $5.56 1 male plug end __________________________________ $2.19 2 double sockets @ $2.48__________________________ $4.96 1 sheet of metal for the hood ______________________ $6.51 Total $31.40 not including lights I'm guessing that everything, or at least most of what's on that list can be bought from home depot, and I don't think I'll have any problems finding anything... The only concern I have is that I'm not good enough at DIY to be able to put all of this together. Could someone possibly explain how to put it together as if you're talking to an 8 year old? I know there's probably some threads like this out there, and I apologize in advance for repetition, but I really need help, or else this grow won't happen as I've planned. Any quick replies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Basically, just buy a length of PVC, your 90 degree corners, some wire, and some light sockets. Cut the PVC to the lengths you desire, and lay it out on your floor to see how it looks. Arrange the light sockets so that you have enough in your fixture, then drill small holes in the PVC for the wires going to the light sockets. Thread the wires through the PVC and attach to the sockets. Screw the sockets into the PVC, being careful not to break any of the wires inside (use short screws). I added gobs of hot glue to help secure the sockets to the PVC after getting the wires set and the sockets screwed in. Then assemble your fixture and glue the PVC together. I made a quick graphic on Paint (wooo paint!) to kinda-sorta show how I put mine together. You can see pics of mine in my grow journal linked in my sig. I'm not very good at building things, but this came out pretty well I think. Just take your time, and plan. Measure twice, cut once. Oh, I don't know what the 'tetris' piece is actually called. I just called it that because it's a spittin' image of that piece from tetris.
Well, you could go through all of that to assemble something, but why not just slap 3 Y adapters on a surge protector? 6 Bulb CFL hanger, $10 including everything. Unless you wanted your light more spread out, but you can't really spread out 6 CFLs too far... Joe
You forgot to mention its ugly as sin and lacks a reflector. Who wants 3-4 wires hanging from their ceiling. Suspending 4 lights and managing their heights sounds like more work to me. Do all the HID guys and gals just hang their sockets from the ceiling dangling around ?
I made a similar okie-assed reflector out of a 24"x24" piece of aluminum from Lowe's. I just cut in about 6" on each of the four diagonals and folded them upwards, similar to flaps on a box. You can then aluminum tape, glue, or rivet the edges together. You can then drill a couple of holes in the top and attach it to your light bar or whatever you are using for lights. Just find a sheet of aluminum a little bigger than you need and go for it. Lightweight, cheap and decently effective.