The CFL "12-Pack" Grow Light How-To:

[George Parker]

It is funny!! Now all I need is white gutters!! The only ones they have at HD and Lowe's are off white...

Would it matter??

I'm not exactly sure. Guess as long as it's flat white it will reflect.

lbezphil2005 had a great idea, attach some mylar to it! Then it wouldn't matter what color it was. I'd even thought of using aluminum tape to line them.

A very nice guy at my local hydro shop got a kick out of this fixture. He kinda looked at me a little funny when I told him about it, but when I showed him his eyes got big and he said it was pretty sweet.

He let me borrow a light meter to check the output. The meter was a spot meter to determine the amount of light at an exact point i.e, top of the plant. The meter tops out at 5000 foot candles and when I put it above each of the girls at ~1.5" it maxed it out . @ 5" below the light, it was reading over 3k. At least now I'm sure it kicks out some light and where the sweet spot is, 1-2".

 

[lbezphil2005]

The aluminum tape, at a minimum, will give a lot more reflectivity than just the white plastic. I can't remember the name but someone was talking about some new kind of paint, white, supposed to REALLY increase reflectability- still think a little mylar and a glue gun or something similar would be perfect, give a bunch of extra light.

 

[lbezphil2005]

It's funny how a schedule 1 narcotic that kills brain cells, makes you stupid and lazy, could some how allow a person to accomplish what you did and allow me to come up with this light fixture that will probably kill me and the ozone along the way....

Wake up 'merica!

As long as our "free" society allows the idiocy that is the war on drugs to continue we will never be allowed to wake up. they need to do a movie on that crap in 1968 with nixon and that commission that they dismissed after recommending legalization. what a bunch of morons. sorry, back on point!! Just had to vent a moment!

 

[Rockhead]

That's a kick ass diy light fixture. The design is easy to expand or scale down,depending on the size of the area you've got. Gutter is dirt cheap,as are cleated sockets if you shop around.

You could even go with peg board instead of plywood above the reflectors to allow air flow to your exhaust fan if your metal working skills are limited,like mine.

Damned fine job.

One question though,where's the duct tape? All homebuilt projects have to have duct tape. It's a universal law.

Phil,I remember Nixon disregarding that legalization plan. Then the Great Thinker followed it up by basically closing the Mexican border. Dried up weed supplies all over the country. He didn't figure in all that heroin pouring into the country from SE Asia?

Yeah,he dried up the pot supply for a few months,but he created a slew of junkies out of potheads who switched to that cheap Chinese Rock to get high. Car stereo's weren't safe to own for ten years after that move.

 

[George Parker]

As long as our "free" society allows the idiocy that is the war on drugs to continue we will never be allowed to wake up. they need to do a movie on that crap in 1968 with nixon and that commission that they dismissed after recommending legalization. what a bunch of morons. sorry, back on point!! Just had to vent a moment!

No worries, venting keeps us sane. That and keeps us creative!

That's a kick ass diy light fixture. The design is easy to expand or scale down,depending on the size of the area you've got. Gutter is dirt cheap,as are cleated sockets if you shop around.

You could even go with peg board instead of plywood above the reflectors to allow air flow to your exhaust fan if your metal working skills are limited,like mine.

Damned fine job.

One question though,where's the duct tape? All homebuilt projects have to have duct tape. It's a universal law.

Thanks my friend. Funny, I have stock in duct tape, just couldn't find a use for it this time around.

This light was the prototype, I will be making some changes to improve the cooling for small spaces. In more open areas, heat really isn't an issue. I have been looking at different materials and have narrowed it down to expanded metal mesh. The diamond shaped metal screen-like stuff that looks like lath but a lot stronger. I do weld a bit, but mostly thicker steel. I think it will be fun to fab a hood as sheet metal was the first thing I ever welded.

Keep an eye out for "the CFL 12-Pack pt. 2".

Thanks guys!

 

[George Parker]

Well, I prototyped the prototype...

Decide to build a hood out of stuff I had laying around the garage. That way I can see how it worked before I bought anything else.

Rockhead, I didn't have any peg board so I sort of made some

1X2 Frame. Arrows show air flow from sides.

Holes above cleats to let the hot air out.

Cut a 6" hole in the top and ran the duct to my exhaust fan.

Now in it's new home.

Works great! You have to practically touch the bulb to feel the heat. That's all for now...

-dime

 

[Thew1sest]

Love the mods!! I just finished a "ghetto" version cfl hood, holds four 68w CFL's. Pics shortly! Good job man

 

[George Parker]

Love the mods!! I just finished a "ghetto" version cfl hood, holds four 68w CFL's. Pics shortly! Good job man

Thanks! I would love to see it.

I'm thinking I might put 4-6 42w CFLs for flower. Around 4000-6000 more lums, or ~ 25,000 total lumens.

 

[Thew1sest]

Alright heres a CFL box I made using four 68watt (actual) CFL's and cleats to wire them together. Then put 4" venting up to my exhaust fan. Works perfectly. I also, put a piece of plexiglass seperating the lights. Below the hood, are four 40watt (Actual) cfls. Last pic is of trainwreck at 7 days into flowering

 

[Box of Rain]

Thanks for the BRIGHT IDEA- Building one NOW!!!!!

 

[Box of Rain]

GREAT-- NOW time to modify THANK YOU!!!! GOD BLESS THE GREENTHUMBER'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[George Parker]

Thanks for the BRIGHT IDEA- Building one NOW!!!!!

GREAT-- NOW time to modify THANK YOU!!!! GOD BLESS THE GREENTHUMBER'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No problem my friend! Make sure you post up a pic here when you get done.

-d.i.m.e.

 

[George Parker]

Alright heres a CFL box I made using four 68watt (actual) CFL's and cleats to wire them together. Then put 4" venting up to my exhaust fan. Works perfectly. I also, put a piece of plexiglass seperating the lights. Below the hood, are four 40watt (Actual) cfls. Last pic is of trainwreck at 7 days into flowering

Looks like we lost our discussion from earlier to the "bad script gremlins" but I'll say it again...

 

[Smoketahchoke]

This is sweet. Go well with the 42watt cfl's i bought. They were only 3.88 ea for 12 of em

 

[George Parker]

This is sweet. Go well with the 42watt cfl's i bought. They were only 3.88 ea for 12 of em

If you want to post up some pics of your light, I'd love to see it. Also how's the heat?

I'm almost ready to switch to flower and will be picking up a few 42's soon.

Thanks.

 

[George Parker]

Just thought I would give an update on how the light is working so far... Pretty good I'd say. I added 4 42w bulbs for flower and have no heat issues at all so I'd say the hood is working too.

Girls have gone from here:

To Here: (today, 3/21/11)

For the next grow I will be building the "12-Pack 2.0" and improving on this design. Should have it going in around two more months.

-dime

 

[George Parker]

Rough Drawing of the "12-Pack 2.0"

Bottom with glass

Top with same ducting

I don't think I'm waiting, should be built this weekend so I'll document that build as well. The demensions will be roughly the same other than being a bit thicker.

Stay tuned!

 

[Thew1sest]

You should check out which cfl size puts out the best lumen/watt ratio and design the hood to that.

 

[George Parker]

You should check out which cfl size puts out the best lumen/watt ratio and design the hood to that.

You are so right, I did a bunch of that before I started, I was stuck on the CFL Light Tutorial for a very looong time. I saw that the 23-27W bulbs have actually one of, if not the best lum/watt ratios. The 23W 1600 lum bulbs I'm using are 69.56 lums per watt while the 42W 2700 lum bulbs are 64.29 lums per watt.

I kept wanting to switch to all 42 watters (32,400 lums), but the price was a little too high and would be pulling 504W of power. You can get a 250W HPS that puts out more light(~35,000 lums) at half the wattage. Waaay too many choices out there, I guess I'd say to everyone, just make it work for you the way you need it to.

Man, my brain hurts now... lol, have a good one my man!

 

[Thew1sest]

You could combo it up with the 40watt and 23watt