i built 1 of these today with 8 bulbs. im pumped up. it beats the hell out of the 3 bulb setup i had going on
ok, so can you explain exactly how to mount the wires? heres how I think the wiring is done... I could be wrong though. probably am. also, I seen on his list he had to buy wire, I assume the wires coming off the sockets aernt very long... what exactly wires am I looking for here, to connect the light sockets to the male plug?
^ I just cut the cords from old lamps...and when that ran out, I went to the hardware store and asked for "lamp cord", lol. I've built 3 of these now, 2 smaller ones at about 14"x10" and 1 large one at about 26"x16". These things are great for saving space. I have 4 42w cfls crammed in one with about 1/2" of space between the bulbs...I could have never fit all 4 in on my old light setup.
This is the only pic I have on the PC at the moment. The photo is of the fixture I made to cram into my mini-fridge flower box. All connections were soldered and heat-shrinked for safety/solid connection. All 4 of the CFL's are 42w, 6500k bulbs...that's really all the specs you need on the bulbs. I got them at Home Depot...they're the only 42w 6500k bulbs I've ever seen there. I will try and get a picture of one of the other fixtures I made tomorrow...if I remember.
oh ok, perfect. thanks for the help. I am going to the city on wednesday and just wanted to make sure I got everything in order before I went there. is my picture on the wiring the right concept?
Yeah, everything looks fine in the pic. As long as all the positive wires from the sockets are connected to the positive wire from your plug, and same with the negatives, you're good. I didn't use a grounded cable (aka 3-prong) when I wired mine (I'm assuming the cable has a black, green, and white wire?)...but you just need to cut the green wire, and electrical tape over the exposed tip of it..since you only need the positive and negative wires.
few questions on the bulbs I seen locally. heres the specs... would they work, and how many would I need... I dont think the 4500 is in the proper light spectrum? 200W 46W actual 3000 lumens 4500k also, can CFLs be used for flowering also with decent results?
I don't know about that spectrum and how efficient it would be. I just noticed that I said my CFL's were 6500k....the ones in the picture are actually 2700k...for flowering. You won't find 6500k at Home Depot, but you'll find the 2700k for flowering. Sorry, I was high when I made that post. As for flowering with CFL's...YES. The picture I posted of my fixture with the 42w 2700K bulbs (mislabeled as 6500K in that post) is for flowering. My very first grow (which was riddled with newbie mistakes) yielded just shy of an Oz with those lights. You should be able to find 2700k CFL's for flowering at a local store. As for the 6500K for veg, you'll probably have to order those...unless someone says you can use the 4500k instead.
hmm thats not good. I need the veg lights like ASAFP!!!!! thanks for the info though. I was worried that flowering with CFLs wouldnt be very good.
hmm, looking on ebay and I found this: 600W DIGITAL AIR COOL TUBE HPS+MH GROW LIGHT 600 WATTS on eBay.ca (item 390127168223 end time 03-Jan-10 03:13:12 EST) it says that their MH bulb is 4200K is best for veg... and their HPS bulb 2100k, for flowering. so maybe those 4500k CFLs will work? except they only have 2 of them
Hi man love your post i am thinkin of using Wood and Cooking foil to make Reflector i am using CFLs ,i would do the same as you but i realy do live in the middle of nowhere ,so i don't have Shops or the money for that matter ,Can you think of anything i could DIY ,as i am not sure of Cooking foil .
what are them brown ball things at the base of your plant? I see alot of pictures with them but never knew what they were