CFL Light Tutorial

pres said:
i finally got to read through most of this & decided to share my cheap effective diy reflector.

It consists of a 5x24 vent piece, a dual light socket, electrical plug, two y adapters & some wood. I just cut of the end of the vent that was crimped mostly for aesthetic reasons, cut some wood for the ends & nailed in place with finishing nails. Center your dual light socket and drill a hole, bolt it in, wire it up and put in some bulbs.

Seems to be working great! At the moment i have 4 42w 6500k 2800 lumens on the inside for a total of 800w equivalent & 11,200 lumens per reflector. Under $15.00 without bulbs anyway.



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applause, applause! Great addition to the thread and great design too!
 
Thanks Roseman! Appreciate all the posts on here from you (others as well), really helped point a beginner in the right direction.

On a side note got 6 freshly sprouted under that light at the moment so it will be nice to see how well they like it. Perhaps I should start a grow journal in case I run into problems along the way.
 
Very nice Pres! I like that a lot, I don't have room in my tent for something that wide, but if I did, I would try to make something just like yours. Most designs that I've seen are to heavy or just to darn difficult for an idiot like me to put together!

Question. The two 'y' connectors are connected to a duel socket of some sort that I'm not familiar with or it's something that I am familiar with, but just can't make it out or see it well enough in the photo?

++Reps buddy for your tremdous idea. Another great mind at work! :welldone:
 
Setting Sun said:
Great DIY reflector Pres!

Cheap, simple and looks very effective.

We have a new DIY forum here at 420Mag, and your reflector would make a great addition to it if you wanted to post it there also.
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Sounds good! I may be making another one some time today so I will be sure to take some assembly pictures and see if I cant throw something together.



Woodsman said:
Question. The two 'y' connectors are connected to a duel socket of some sort that I'm not familiar with or it's something that I am familiar with, but just can't make it out or see it well enough in the photo?
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Here is a link to an identical dual pole I used for better reference. You should be able to spot it out now. See Here!

Green007 said:
Very Nice, Pres!
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Thanks Green007
 
Thanks for the link Pres. Now I know what you have. It's like for a ceiling light fixture. Thanks!
 
Hey no problem Woodsman!

Thanks Moustache!

I did some slight modifications that I think should dial this reflector in. I put up a pic and some more details in the DIY thread I made as previously posted. If you get a chance check it out. I think this will work good. At least I hope.
 
MostlyCrazy said:
How did you make it into a 6 from a 4? What part did you use?
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Well like I said it was a prototype. lol - I was just rummaging old parts so I would prefer to get something better, but until I can get to a store this will do. I took this from one of the old globe style fixtures. From there I just drilled some holes in the existing dual socket bracket and bolted the metal part on the one below to it. You do need to bend the metal on the piece below to make the socket point in the right direction.

As far as wiring, I just spliced in. The only thing I noticed I did wrong was not splicing into the switch. Heck we use timers anyway so that shouldn't matter. Well maybe until I get somewhere and find something better anyway.

 
Setting Sun said:
Great job on the DIY you posted in the DIY forum!!!
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It's the least I could do. Now that I can grow my own meds I'm sure I'll be popping in and asking a few questions myself. I sure know the tutorials, diy projects and information on here has been quite valuable to me so glad I can give back.
 
MostlyCrazy said:
Now it makes sense. I'm mechanically declined.
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Thats ok! You can't take up too much space for other things or else you wouldn't be MostlyCrazy! Sorry I couldn't resist.


Hey can any one throw out some temps on reflectors for comparison. Such as 400 HPS reaches ?F. Adding the additional bulbs slightly increased temps. I can hold my hand on it without moving but it is nice & warm.

I ran the new 6x since yesterday and all seems well. The good thing is with the lights floating about 5-6 inches from tops, it is maintaining at about 76F. No fan yet but there is a passive venting setup.
 
Hey, I resemble that remark!

A 400 HPS reaches "burn the bejesus out of your fingers" tempatures. I have mine in a cool tube about 1 foot above the plants with a 250 cfm blower sucking air. You don't mess with HID's unless you can vent or you are defeating your purpose. At 1' I can put my hand on the cool tube and it's like your warmth you got with those added cfl's. Not cool to the touch but warm enough to feel a little.

I also have a fan blowing on my res/plant tops and that also removes some heat and it's about 71-74* around mine with a res temp in the high 60's. It's really tough to maintain a high humidity with the venting you need for HID's. I'm happy with around 45% and that's all I can reliably get. I mist to compensate. I really think cfl's are great for veg especially. A proper reflector just improves your chances of a nice yield.
 
Ok good deal. I just wanted to make sure and I figured the temps would be drastically diff. First time so just making sure I am on the right track.

The only thing I have noticed is that with the cfl's close to the new sprouts, it tends to dry out the soil relatively quick, but then again they are in quite small containers to start.

Thanks Again for the info!
 
Here it is, finally!!!

 My FPF/Matagrowa inspired CFL PVC light setup is finished! I have a 200 watt cfl with reflector, incorporated into the PVC frame, which has four sockets. I have two 85 watt(5000K) and two 42 watt(2700K), in for the test. I plan to use all four 85 watt in the future, to make a 370 watt, mega CFL veg light. Here are some pics.

I didn't tidy up the zip-ties yet in this pic!
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