HOW DO I MODIFY MY COMPACT FLUORESCENT?
The main advantages of modifying your compact fluorescent are:
· Reduced length of compact fluorescent
· Reduced heat build up (increased air-flow)
· No need for pre-made light sockets, saving you money
There is an even cheaper and more compact solution than to spend the extra cash on unnecessary light sockets and to end up with less usable space due to clumsy fixtures. All these problems can be avoided easily if one knows how to skips wiring a bulb socket and instead going straight to wiring the bulb itself. This requires some adjustments and modifications of the bulb casing but it can be done by simply following the steps provided.
For this example I will use a 23W Phillips fluoro bulb which is ideally used in confined spaces due to its compact size. The following pictures will illustrate the process of re-wiring this bulb and modifying it to meet the requirements of compact size and low cost.
This is the bulb I was referring to (23W, 1500 lumen)
Notice the upside-down “U” shaped tubes. These will require less airflow to cool the bulb as the air can move freely in between the tubes unlike those of conventional stick-like coils.
First, get a good pair of bending or clamping tongs and squeeze them tightly to the round connector plate of your CP fluoro and gently twist it off.
Never twist it off in a COMPLETE circular motion as the wires inside are still attached to the receptor plates and can sometimes break/rip if you apply too much pressure by twisting. Pulling is better than twisting. You will end up with two different wires sticking out the end. In this case, I cut the remaining plastic bit off in order to reduce the overall length of the bulb.
You will need to open the bulb ballast in order to make 2 separate holes in the plastic casing of the bulb for the two wires. This isn't hard at all, you simply need to drive a screwdriver in between the upper and the lower part of the casing and gently push them apart. There will be no glue required to stick them back together as the bulb has a push-slide-lock mechanism that simply snaps them back together. When you open the bulb, you should something similar to this even though not all ballasts are the same, depending on the manufacturer.
Now you need to drill two holes at the appropriate height for the two wires to be pulled through. Since its plastic that isn't all that hard either and can even be done with a pair of scissors.
After that, its just about putting the pieces back together and making sure the wires come through their designated hole. You can use hot glue to hold those wires in place but this is not recommended as the heat in that area of the bulb casing is very intense. Use only High-Temp glue!
If you are short of space or simply want a rigid construction, you can cut the bottom plastic part of the bulb of and use a bigger piece to distribute the weight more evenly. I used med-high temperature translucent hot glue to fit a piece of a 2” black PVC pipe onto the end of the bulb thus completely eliminating the need for a socket. This is just an optional step, as the bulb will hold without the extra support by simply gluing the sawed-off end to the predestined wall.
(
ATTENTION: DO NOT USE the regular LOW TEMP Hot glue as it will melt at temperatures above 130 degrees Celsius which the bulb is capable of generating. ONLY, when gluing something DIRECTLY to the bulb casing, USE THE MEDIUM-HIGH temp. Hot glue, which will withstand significantly higher temperatures.)
Voila the final product of which you can wire as many in series or parallel as you desire. You can place these bulbs literally anywhere due their compact size and the low heat production, keeping in mind that the bare minimum between leaf tips and bulb should be 1cm (2/5 of an inch). Anything closer will result in prompt or delayed leaf burn.
This is just an example of how well suited these bulbs are for small spaces such as stealth boxes and small cloning chambers. It also illustrates the importance of ventilation as the smaller the box, the stronger the ventilation has to be to exchange the hot air buildup sufficiently.
This method is ideal for those who wish to wire a number of bulbs without spending even more money on bulb sockets. These might seem cheap when compared to the pricing of the bulb, but in the log run it is better to save a few bucks here and instead invest them in another area of growing or even another bulb. There is no need to have a possibility of replacement as the average lifetime guarantee on these bulbs lie between 10000 and 15000 hours, which means nearly two years of continuous use.
Wiring in CF's parallel:(Image by tipzijuana)
