hahah im with you on that... im sittin here looking at how cool this is, but if i tried to wire im almost 100% sure there would be a fire.. this is badass lil design
Hi how's it going. I've been doing quite a bit of research and am very interested in eventually trying my hand at growing in the next few months. I noticed that these lights were all coming from the top, would there be any benefit to having a few cfls coming from the bottom and sides using pvc? Basically, you would still have this diy light, but in addition, you would have some more lights mounted on the side walls close to the base of the plant. Definitely am a fan of this DIY. Right now the plan is to do everything DIY while growing 2-3 plants in bubble buckets. When I finally have everything planned out I'll definitely give you a shout out!
Greetings, GC! I tried my hand at this little endeavor... pictures below. The wires are not secure right now, but when the light is on, it's BRIGHT. I have no experience wiring. If I can make this, you can make it as well.
25 dollars later, voila, working light. Now to go bulb shopping tomorrow... rumor has it Home Depot has some 150w CFLs that fit my fixtures. I didn't even have to drill the PVC pipe, having found fixtures that fit the threads on 1/2" PVC tees. These fixtures also swivel and lock in place so I can put bulbs all around a plant if I so desire. Yee!
Do you remember where you got those light sockets? Or do you have the part number on hand? I'd love to try some of those out! I've made about 4 of these fixtures now, there's a 3D render of my current flowering one attached.
Home Depot, sir. They were around $2 a piece, and have normal light sockets in them. I'm not sure of the part number but they're NOT in the lighting section at all. Look in the wiring area near conduit covers and things like that.
ok ill post the ones i made for my veg tent. Well at first i made this 4 bulb fixture: With two Y splitters in each socket. (one is missing in the pic) Hangs by 4 chains. Then i did a redesign. I used the same pvc frame as you can see. but managed it fit 8 23w 6500k cfls's I think the frame is something like 14inx 14in Im using the updated model in my veg tent, hanging from the pvc frame i made for a shelf in the tent. Pretty simple design. would be a good fixture for someone trying to pack more bulbs in a smaller space. And you could mix up the spectrums as well. I will probably have at least 2 2700k bulbs in there when i put it in my tent in a coupe weeks Cheers!
Hey thanks for the quick reply man. I'll have to look for the next time I head to HD. I really just like how you can adjust the angle of the bulb easily.
I really like the bulb to outlet adapters. better than wiring up those crappy sockets like on my first try.
Greetings all! Checked out this fixture about a week ago and given my available space, decided it was the only way to go. Here's the finished product. Thanks for the brilliant idea!! +rep Open - Marijuana Pictures, Photos & Videos - Grasscity.com Media Gallery
guess what! wally world got the 64W 200 eq. that work in a standard socket, i think your onto something good. ive messed with cfls for a while now and get results with a variety of bulbs and changes throughout the grow season. 16s for clones or the aqua bulbs ( very blue ) then 23s or 26s for veg and a combination of 26s 42s and two 64s. i do like the simplicity and economy of cfls. one note is the 42s and 64s will create a greater heat so if your conditioned to close lighting be ready to back them off a few more inches when upping the bulb wattage. ive burned leaves w/cfls and could dry them to a combustable state very easily. use care and dont burn them till the time is right!-D-
u should keep a ratio of 4 to 1 red bulbs to blue bulbs for flower it will help keep em tight and crystalized!!!! 4 2700k to 1 5000k or 6500k