String of CFL's on an Extension Cord??

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by peglegjeff, Mar 20, 2009.

  1. I was wondering if I could wire in a standard light socket into one of those heavy duty orange extension cords, maybe about 4 on a 6 foot cord. This way I can dangle the lights very closely to my plants without worrying about light fixtures and whatnot. Since they are CFL's I can get them close, using up as many lumens as possible before they have to be reflected. Also using a scrog technique the branches would separated into columns making it possible to hang the lights practically inside the plant.

    Sound like a good idea to anybody, or has anyone tried this? Does anybody know if this is electrically possible? It seems like the wiring would be all there(2 leads and a ground). I'm sure the cords can handle a few dinky CFL's. It just seems so convenient having up to 4 or 5 lights spread as close or as far apart as you would like without worrying about bulky fixtures and whatnot..
     
  2. You'll need to explain more about how you intend this to be wired, from socket to socket.

    Alternative is to get a power strip that has multiple outlets on it and get a few adapters from Home Depot etc that are a plug on one end and a lightbulb socket on the other. No special wiring needed. Even better, put Y splitters into those adapters and double your sockets.
     
  3. Id say no just cuz extension cords dont last that long and youd might have problems with it. Ive been through alot of electrical cords.
     
  4. Thanks for the suggestions guys!


    To answer you toastybiz I would splice in the socket about every foot so it would look like this.

    =-----O------O-----O------O------#


    I would be able to dangle these from above allowing me to light the entire plant from the inside as well as outside, seeing as how CFL's have bad penetration.


    DankNStanky. Are there other more resilient materials to use? The extension cord seems so clean and convenient with the plug and outlet on the other end built in, instead of buying electrical cable and wiring those myself. IME they are pretty durable too.
     
  5. Sounds like an awful amount of work to me. I went to Home depot and got a power strip that they use for retail outlets. It has 6-110 outlets about 6 inches apart, I added Y adapters to make 2 bulb outlets from each outlets for a total of 12-23w CFL's . Cost for the outlets strip and adapters was less than $30.00. Bulbs for it was another $30.00 on sale. If you wanted to add light to it just use clamp lights with cfl's in them.:smoke:
    Bman
     
  6. [​IMG]Heres a pic of mine[​IMG][​IMG]
     
  7. I run 9 CFLs on a light duty extension cord.

    All you have to do is go hit up lowes or home deopt or any other hardware store im sure and pick up an indoor light duty cord of the desired length. I say this because they have two wires that you can seperate but they are still insilated and what not. Then buy temporary light sockets. They are black and near the electircal sockets and lighting area. The top has two places for wires to go and it clamps on to the wire. If you look at the extension cord one wire has ridges and one is smooth with words on it. The ridged wire is the negative and the smooth/words is positive.

    Id take pictures but my roomies camera died and i dont know where his charger is. if you need clarification just ask. Its realllly easy to do once you understand.

    Peace
     
  8. or, get some clamp style shop lights, and put them wherever you want.
     
  9. That would work too, but the string of lights works really well

    http://forum.grasscity.com/general-indoor-growing/359552-first-solo-grow-tell-me-what-you-think.html

    i started all mine under 8 CFLs on an extension cord and they loved it. Its easy to manage, just zip tied the cord to a piece of wood doweling, and cheap. Add in some y adapters and youre set. It might not be the cheapest way to go, but its pretty damn cheap and you use up less socket space and dont have to worry about all the wires being messy.

    I do really like the socket strip and Y adapter method mentioned above though.
     
  10. Thanks to everybody, all very good suggestions. I have since gotten a 400w HPS :D so i may just try my idea for vegging. Surround my babies in 10,000 lumens of CFL glory.
     

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