I just got my beans sprouting. yay Ive just got 1 x 26w 6500k cfl on right now (6 plants 1.5" - 2.5" tall, 2 days after 1st sprout) Temps are running from 75degrees F to 79.5 degrees F. when i plug in more cfls my temp. rises beyond desirable levels. Ive got a decent fan and good ventilation, but im growing in a small Rubbermade type bin. maybe i need better exhaust/venting. IDK. but i was thinking of removing the ballasts from all of my cfls and wiring the ballasts up in a different room, and having just the bulbs in the grow box. has anyone ever done this or heard of this? it all seems like it should work, its just that i have never taken apart a cfl. Im assuming there are some wires connecting the bulb to the ballast that i will just have to splice into in order to add length to the said wires. I have fixtures for the ballasts already and ive got Duct tape to hang/mount the lights any way i choose.(duct tape has proven invaluable in this project).
just use normal cfl bulbs with the ballast bulid on it, you will need a bulb per plant and prob with a min of 100w. are the external ballast fitting for those bulbs your using not expensive?
sorry i didnt make myself clear. a regular 26watt cfl with the ballast built on. as of right now the whole light bulb (with ballast attached) goes in the grow box, creating alot of heat. i want to remove the ballast from the bulb (take apart the bulb), leave the ballast out of the grow box so less heat is in the box. but ill be fucking with it to day and then ill just post my results. peace.
I respectfully disagree. "If you can't open it, you don't own it." makezine.com: Owner's Manifesto also ... its not like ill be placing all those ballasts on a pile of tinder. ill probably make a small case to house them all and include a pc case fan for its own cooling.
mercury smercury. im not smashing the bulbs in order to reduce heat..... are there any more reasons ppl are scared of cfls?
the mercury in a cfl is contained in the glass tubing. its sealed in. if i start taking apart my cfls than i have no greater risk from the mercury as anybody else who buys them. if i accidentally break one, then ill clean it up using the EPAs recommended clean-up procedure. btw, most cfls contain 4mg of mercury. mercury themometers have about 500 mg. next.
well if/when the glass breaks hold your breathe and evcauate the room. this goes for anybody. just go on youtube for a couple of mins and see the fuss the causin over this, it must be pretty bad stuff. also the mecury in thermometers is liquid, a wee bit harder to inhale than a gas!!! Although in work the other month there i was smashing loads of tube lights in a small room and am yet to die. please write back letting me know once youve sucessfully remved bulb from ballast, i would question how much heat the ballast will take away, the bulbs does produce most of heat. also there is such a thing as cfl with external ballasts, we have them in work, it is just like the bulb with 2 pins on each side of base. I think the fitting which holds the bulb contains the ballast. makes sense this way as the bulb is far more likely to break than the ballast anyday. the only other obvious danger is electricity, do you think the two wires running from ballast to bulbs have a weaker current than mains electric?(also is it 120 or 240v's)
ive already removed the bulb from ballast. it wasnt hard. I just pried it open with a small flathead. there were 2 posts on the circuit board on each side (a total of 4). each post had a small copper wire coiled around it (no solder, just spiraled around the post). after uncoiling the wires the bulb was free from the ballast (circuit board). I made a mark on the circuit board and on the bulb(actually the plastic that is still stuck on the bulb) so that i could see how to hook everything up in the right order. I started adding lengths of wire to the existing copper wire ... and thats where im at so far. Im in the us so i have 120vAC. and i plan on finishing the one bulb by tonight and testing it. I dont even know how much heat the ballast gives off compared to the bulb but thats the purpose of the experiment and i will post my results asap. If this works and proves to rid my box of SOME heat than i might use it. this would also give me more room in my box, and would make light height adjustment a tad easier. peace
nice 1, was thinking mayb attach 4 or 5 bulbs to a strip of wood or watever, then have all the wires bound and run out of the grow box to the ballasts would def save a good bit of heat
yeah thats what im hoping for. any heat reduction would be good as i would like to put 3x the amount of lights that i currently have. right now i just have the lights hangin down from the top of the box using duct tape to keep the right length of cord set. when i need to move the lights, i just rip up the tape, pull the cords a little, and the re-tape. Ghetto for sure but this first grow is more or less an experiment.
heat is an issue for me to, not only that if i were to remove the fittings and ballasts from my cupboard it would give me alot more room. have a look at my cupboard http://forum.grasscity.com/general-indoor-growing/413523-my-little-cupboard-second-grow.html