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

[George Parker]

Waiting for your journal buddy.

Something I'll suggest for your next upgrade on the lights. For a better heat control, instead of using a flat board over the top, use some of the bar stock framing the whole thing. Cut thin slits or small holes in the plastic gutter (down towards where the socket is preferred). Then place a piece of thin wood, or even foam board over the top, with a hole in it (or two). Place your fans on those holes. Then you would be pulling the air from right around the bulbs, up and out. Add some ducting and push the air out of the box.

I really like your light fixture. Better than the power strip and plug sockets thing I was thinking of.

Prairie

Hey Prairie,

You pretty much described what I had invisioned in case of heat problems! I had thought of using a heat register vent in place of the wood and drilling holes in the gutters directly over the cleats. Then fabbing up a sheet metal hood with an exhaust port on top and have the box exhaust suck everything up and out.

Heat reg. with spacers on gutters:

Sheet metal hood:

Kinda like this:

Right now I have my box pretty dialed in. Intake/exhaust temps are only ~2 degrees different right now. This application would be great if someone decided to build this for higher wattage CFL's where heat was a larger issue.

Thanks again for stopping in!

 

[lbezphil2005]

Very cool setup and design!! Clean, very clean!!

 

[George Parker]

Very cool setup and design!! Clean, very clean!!

Man you post early! Thanks for the kind words

 

[Thew1sest]

Kick ass CFL tutorial!! No joke, best CFL hood with 23w I've seen! I'm stealing your design!!! Just playing, Inspired by your box I'm going to build one for some bigger CFL's but could you maybe show more pics of splicing the wires together? To the Extension chord. Also, it goes from cleats--> wires --> Extension chord ---> power strip ??

Thanks man and +reps!

 

[George Parker]

Kick ass CFL tutorial!! No joke, best CFL hood with 23w I've seen! I'm stealing your design!!! Just playing, Inspired by your box I'm going to build one for some bigger CFL's but could you maybe show more pics of splicing the wires together? To the Extension chord. Also, it goes from cleats--> wires --> Extension chord ---> power strip ??

Thanks man and +reps!

Thanks for the visit and the reps! This place is so cool
I would have replied sooner but I didn't see your post until after the Green Cr@ck had been out and then I went nuts on the photo LOL!

Hope this will help:

The hots from both sides go together and the neutrals go together.

Also, it goes from cleats--> wires --> Extension chord ---> power strip ??

Correct. And I use the power strip as the ground for the fixture.

Hope this will help.

 

[Giantsfan24]

Thanks for the visit and the reps! This place is so cool
I would have replied sooner but I didn't see your post until after the Green Cr@ck had been out and then I went nuts on the photo LOL!

Hope this will help:

The hots from both sides go together and the neutrals go together.

Also, it goes from cleats--> wires --> Extension chord ---> power strip ??

Correct. And I use the power strip as the ground for the fixture.

Hope this will help.

Wow! Aren't you Mr. Accommodating!! That's awesome! Thanks! By the way, is your journal up yet buddy or are you still building??

 

[Thew1sest]

Perfect response, you should add those wiring pics to the first post, great thread again

 

[George Parker]

Wow! Aren't you Mr. Accommodating!! That's awesome! Thanks! By the way, is your journal up yet buddy or are you still building??

Just trying to make it easier

As far as the grow, just waiting on the clones...

Perfect response, you should add those wiring pics to the first post, great thread again

I'm on it, Post up your fixture when you're done.

 

[Thew1sest]

I'm on it, Post up your fixture when you're done.

Will do homeskillet

 

[George Parker]

Awww maaan! The edit button is long gone from the first post.

Mods... little help pretty please!

 

[Xlr8]

Wow - super sweet CFL fixture and great tutorial. Plus rep my friend!

 

[SMOKE 1]

see what you can think of with good smoke lol!

 

[NCDude]

Nice...thanks for sharing

 

[George Parker]

xlr8: thanks, thanks and thanks!

Smoke: it's a bit crazy; I drew the fixture on a piece of paper whilst medicated. Then I drew the box after another session. I figured out the vents exhaust and fans... My bubble box etc. All with the help of this miracle plant!

I tend to overthink just about everything, MJ just helps me focus. I've always said, "Marijuana let's you do whatever it is your focusing on really well, as long as it's just ONE thing".

NCdude: Thanks for stopping in!

 

[lbezphil2005]

The better the pot, the better I multitask! I just can't get interrupted when I am multitasking, then everything gets screwed up!!

 

[George Parker]

The better the pot, the better I multitask! I just can't get interrupted when I am multitasking, then everything gets screwed up!!

Sorry, I just saw your post.

You are lucky, with pot my multitasking is limited to what is in front of me; if I try and cover two different subjects (so to speak) I end up like that episode of "I Love Lucy" :

YouTube - I Love Lucy - The Candy Wrapping Job

 

[Xlr8]

Sorry, I just saw your post.

You are lucky, with pot my multitasking is limited to what is in front of me; if I try and cover two different subjects (so to speak) I end up like that episode of "I Love Lucy" :

Classic! I love that episode, lol! I'm the same at multitasking, btw...

 

[lbezphil2005]

I'm a computer tech; a few years ago, during the sasser virus outbreak, I had a room setup with 8 workstations where I averaged cleaning around 70 computers a week, 6 days a week working 12 hour days removing an average of 200 to 21000 infections of different worms, trojans, etc. that attached themselves thru the sasser virus. I would roll around and run different stuff on different systems, etc., keep notes, etc., also built state of the art (for 1996) almond sheller when I was an industrial electrician, all the programming plc stuff, etc. all while waking and baking, smoking all day pretty much every chance I got. The higher I get the better my brain works (strain dependant on that part!)

Maybe because I've been smoking chronically, pretty much since I was 13. Used it as a form of xanax for a long time.

 

[George Parker]

I'm a computer tech; a few years ago, during the sasser virus outbreak, I had a room setup with 8 workstations where I averaged cleaning around 70 computers a week, 6 days a week working 12 hour days removing an average of 200 to 21000 infections of different worms, trojans, etc. that attached themselves thru the sasser virus. I would roll around and run different stuff on different systems, etc., keep notes, etc., also built state of the art (for 1996) almond sheller when I was an industrial electrician, all the programming plc stuff, etc. all while waking and baking, smoking all day pretty much every chance I got. The higher I get the better my brain works (strain dependant on that part!)

Maybe because I've been smoking chronically, pretty much since I was 13. Used it as a form of xanax for a long time.

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!

 

[Giantsfan24]

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!

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??