Does this look safe? - grow light

[melloman82]

Hello everyone Here is a couple picks of my grow light i just built at walmart for $35. It consistes of 6, 75 watt (actually only 20 though 6500k cfl light bulbs ($11.92 per box of 3) and 8 little light socket connecters ranging from $1.27 all the way up to the y piece at the top which was $2.99 at the local hardware store. Im just wondering is this safe to plug into a standard wall outlet aslong as i use a power bar? Its 120 watts (but its just like 450 watts) Please feel free to bash it, if its not safe, i wanna know.

Im sorry if this post isnt fomated properly as i am a noob

 

[Hosebomber]

There are 2 possible issues. One is what is the Y connector rated for in terms of power? It should say on the side of it 1 amp or 15 amps etc. (this goes for all of the connectors not just the Y). With the Y being the base, it is most likely to be your failure point. The second thing to consider is the heat from the ballast. That is the base of each CFL bulb. They can and will become hot. With one or two bulbs it probably won't make a difference. However with 6 bulbs in such a small area it may become hot enough to melt the plastic base. It's hard to tell the quality of the product through a picture.

 

[melloman82]

There are 2 possible issues. One is what is the Y connector rated for in terms of power? It should say on the side of it 1 amp or 15 amps etc. (this goes for all of the connectors not just the Y). With the Y being the base, it is most likely to be your failure point. The second thing to consider is the heat from the ballast. That is the base of each CFL bulb. They can and will become hot. With one or two bulbs it probably won't make a difference. However with 6 bulbs in such a small area it may become hot enough to melt the plastic base. It's hard to tell the quality of the product through a picture.

Thanks for responding, all of the connectors are made by GE except the Y piece, theyall seem like theyre made from good hard and sturdy plastic. The rating on the Y is (which i see is leviton brand) 660 max watts 250 volts, the 5 caps/or plugs are rated at 660 watts 125 volts, and the 2 main connectors are rated at 660w 125v. Would this be ok in your opinion? I have the light set up right now with 3 bulbs going, they are slighty warm....

 

[OG1969]

Heat and the amps/wattage needed to run this are one thing but, You have to keep it safe for everyone around said grow area. Double check all the wattages and amperage of all your stuff and see what it adds up and see if the room will handle the load, Best of luck,OG.

 

[Hosebomber]

You should be fine. Keep an eye on it and if you see ANY deformation of the plastic on any of them that is your early warning sign of failure.

 

[jlt1202]

you have the right idea, but you wont get the max power availble for the lights, being in a chain like that limits the amount of power flowing throught the light bulbs.

What you need to accomplish is to split lights apart on a strip to lower the amount of watts/power flowing through one source.

Attached is one of my hoods that i make with cfl bulbs. this is 9 bulbs that are each about 100w equiv each. i have others that i have made for other rooms that are only 6 100ws. it is all for what you are using for and how much space you have.

And Hose is right when it comes to the ballests on the lights, THEY GET HOTTER THEN HELL, i had a heck of a time trying to lv out my temps in my room because at times the 900w could raise my veg room temp to 85, which is good if you are using co2 in your rooms.

^900w

^600w on left

The thing im doing to attemt to combat the extra heat is ad a computer fan to the hood so that it removes heat from hood and pushes away from plants, ill try to get some pics up of that when i can

 

[melloman82]

I thank all of you from the bottum of my stash (pic below, its not much

After looking at my breaker box i have no idea about electrics heres a good pic for ya OG

I know its an old breaker... Its an old mobile home that we own and are putting very little money into. However the wiring in the walls has obviously been replaced/and the box has an up todate repair ref. The plants ( babies) will veg out here for a very short time before moving to a new location where it is safer, and where my tent will be and i have access very discreetly (jive on) i have the crude light setup now and im running it on two different circuits (thank you ) 3 bulbs on one room and 3 on another, and there is nothing stealth about this right now, but it will be very in the end........... Heres a couple more pics.

Im wondering whats wrong with this plant aswell? I really dont know, my buddy said his dad grew it in a south facing window for 3 months (lol) and they wanted to trash it so i said "ill have it" but its wilting away a little bit every day and there wer actually two of them but one died after the transplant... i forgot to mention that my buddys dad had these girls in a seriously overwatered "scotts brand" top soil. I emidiately warmed up the car and very cadefully drove them home where i emidiately put them in 1 part ffof 1 part vermiculite 1part perlite, and a teaspoon of espoma's Bio-Tone, with the smallest sprinkle of garden lime, all mixed up i know that ffof is hot so i thought the lime would def help, and if these plants were 3 months old or whatever, they def needed some food Any suggestions?

 

[melloman82]

Upon further research, i see that "scotts brand" has time released nutes. So if they wer over watered it still wouldnt have been enough to flush.... And i should have transplanted this lady into one of my seed starting (peat) mixes like "jiffy mix" or espoma's version, idk what do you guys think? I know this is another topic for another thread, but one little lady is in dier need of some expertise! Please help?

 

[OG1969]

Hey there, not knowing the amperage draw on the sockets and bulbs hard to say, but I would think as stated above you should be fine running those lights for the plant. As for the soil, I like to keep it just like I do with cooking, I don't use salted butter so I can control the salt and flavor, same should be said with the soil if it has a time release in it iwould recommend switch I have had good luck with the roots organic soil and empire builder soil both cut with a ton of perlite I will weater more often than have the soil hold too much water and end up just sitting there waiting for the roots or the plant to grow. Also the cfl lights can be put fairly close tothe plant comapred to a HID. When I am running a cfl for a seedling I keep it about 4 inches from the plant and sometimes closer. I would try new soil roots is like 11 bucks a bag and lower the light, once transplanted just use straight water and don't overwater . The soil will have enough natural organic nutrients in it to keep the plant for a few weeks, once trasplanted you see a diffeence in about a week, Best of luck OG.

 

[OG1969]

Also like the new light set up but would filop the lights so the one that is pointing to the outside points in think it will disperse the light a little better for you and give you a more even edge on the outside of the reflector so you can gage the footprint of the light.

 

[melloman82]

Also like the new light set up but would filop the lights so the one that is pointing to the outside points in think it will disperse the light a little better for you and give you a more even edge on the outside of the reflector so you can gage the footprint of the light.

Thanks for all the tips OG, i am yet again reworking my light setup. Instead of that flimsy vent pipe reflector i bought a large (stainless steel ) bakers sheet (much sturdier) it will have a good quality power bar screwed to the center of it for ez plug ins. Kinda like the setup above thanks everyone. @OG, is ffof not good in your opinion?

 

[OG1969]

Thanks for all the tips OG, i am yet again reworking my light setup. Instead of that flimsy vent pipe reflector i bought a large (stainless steel ) bakers sheet (much sturdier) it will have a good quality power bar screwed to the center of it for ez plug ins. Kinda like the setup above thanks everyone. @OG, is ffof not good in your opinion?

Hey Mell,

FFOF is a fine soil for a plant just remember it is what they call a hot soil so it has all natural good stuff in the soil . So when you transplant you won't really have to add anything, just water. OG

 

[goathead]

I say we learn because we want to or because we have to. Sometimes to achieve what we are after we have to build it thru trial and error. baring of course that no one elses life hangs in the balance of our learning.!Or our mistakes. keep us posted. mad props and the design very ingenious. your a bad little monkey!