Yeah, I know. But the holes in my memory - and mind in general - are growing larger, and I realized that I cannot remember this simple thing. I ordered a replacement UV bulb (an 18", 15-watt ReptiSun 10.0 fluorescent tube) for my big hybrid LED panel a while back, but I'm not going to be using that for a while - so I decided that I should hang that bulb in my 39"x39" grow tent.
It's not feasible to simply hang the hybrid LED panel in there; it weighs over 30 pounds and is as big as a <BLEEPING> house, lol. Okay, it's not that big (although it IS that heavy) - but it's pretty large. "I used to cannibalize 4' shop lights and use the parts to mount the bulbs closely together on planks, so I'll just build my own 18" fixture - it'll be simple," I thought. Then I discovered that I have NO memory of what was inside those old 4' shop lights
.
I know I'll need the two things to "clip" the bulb into. A ballast. Some wire. Starter, maybe. But IDK specifics. And I went searching (via the Internet) yesterday for possible ballast candidates and... I sure hope that I was looking at the wrong type of ballast or something, because they all seemed to cost more than a complete 18" double-bulb fixture ought to retail for (IMHO) if I could even find one, WtF?
I thought about disassembling the hybrid LED panel and using the relevant components from it, but I really don't want to go that route. I've got a little single-bulb "lasts for years but is disposable" fluorescent lamp in my basement that finally stopped lighting up at all last month after a few months of "comes on... goes off... comes back on... goes off again" behavior. Maybe I can use parts from that? It looks to be about the same general length, but might be "one size up or down" from an 18", IDFK. There's also an old twin-bulb 4' fluorescent fixture in my mother's basement from when we changed the lighting a few years ago, but I'm guessing that its ballast (et cetera?) would be too large.
Can anyone walk me through this? Preferably including specific part numbers / recommendations.
Thanks in advance!
It's not feasible to simply hang the hybrid LED panel in there; it weighs over 30 pounds and is as big as a <BLEEPING> house, lol. Okay, it's not that big (although it IS that heavy) - but it's pretty large. "I used to cannibalize 4' shop lights and use the parts to mount the bulbs closely together on planks, so I'll just build my own 18" fixture - it'll be simple," I thought. Then I discovered that I have NO memory of what was inside those old 4' shop lights
. I know I'll need the two things to "clip" the bulb into. A ballast. Some wire. Starter, maybe. But IDK specifics. And I went searching (via the Internet) yesterday for possible ballast candidates and... I sure hope that I was looking at the wrong type of ballast or something, because they all seemed to cost more than a complete 18" double-bulb fixture ought to retail for (IMHO) if I could even find one, WtF?
I thought about disassembling the hybrid LED panel and using the relevant components from it, but I really don't want to go that route. I've got a little single-bulb "lasts for years but is disposable" fluorescent lamp in my basement that finally stopped lighting up at all last month after a few months of "comes on... goes off... comes back on... goes off again" behavior. Maybe I can use parts from that? It looks to be about the same general length, but might be "one size up or down" from an 18", IDFK. There's also an old twin-bulb 4' fluorescent fixture in my mother's basement from when we changed the lighting a few years ago, but I'm guessing that its ballast (et cetera?) would be too large.
Can anyone walk me through this? Preferably including specific part numbers / recommendations.
Thanks in advance!
). You can have it for the shipping cost. PM me if you want it, and I'll let you know what that is.
. States on package 18", T8, 15-watt. Guess maybe I bought a "weird size," but that's the size I needed for my other LED panel and I only had enough for the one bulb by that point. My original intention was to buy that bulb, then when I got everything else I needed for this grow, to buy a four-foot version, which would have fit/worked in a fluorescent fixture that I already have. 