yankeegreen
Active Member
I am in the process of building out a new Veg room and was originally going to go with the MH, HID lighting During some discussion on another thread a fellow RIU member suggested I give PL-L lighting a look and after doing some research I decided that it has great potential for vegging applications. Hopefully this will help someone else out there.
Pros:
- Relatively cool
- Variety of power output (watts)
- Variety of color temperatures (*K)
- Straight-tube delivery
- Driven by external ballast
- Approaches HID lighting for lumen/watt
- Allows a highly configurable lighting array
Cons:
- Primarily a DIY endeavor to build fixtures
- Cost is slightly higher watt-for-watt than HID options
- Not as efficient as HID lighting
Ok, so on with the build.
I ordered bulbs, sockets and ballasts from www.1000bulbs.com, wire nuts from the local hardware store and had 16 gauge copper wire laying around but this could also be purchased at the hardware store. In addition to the lighting hardware you will need wire cutters, a drill, drill bits, hacksaw/jigsaw, eye hooks, power cord from a dead appliance, cord for hanging fixtures and some material for reflectors. I made one set of reflectors out of 1/4" plywood and scrap wood and another set out of old shop lights that I cannibalized.
So electrical wiring is terrifying for some people, but really isn't that tough. You just have to make sure you always work with wires that are unplugged from a power source, do not leave any bare wires exposed, double check your wiring before plugging it in and DOUBLE CHECK YOUR WIRING BEFORE PLUGGING IT IN!
Here is a straight forward wiring of a plug, ballast, PL-L socket (2G11) and PL-L lamp. Ignore the extra red and blue wires in the first photo - they are not used
First, strip about 1/2-3/4" of the black and white wire coming out of the ballast. This is the hot power (black) and neutral (white) wires. Next, strip the wires from the power chord.
Twist the black wire from the ballast to one of the stripped wires from the power chord. it doesn't matter which one. Then twist the white wire to the other stripped power cord wire. Use wire caps to lock the splice together and cover the exposed wires.
Now strip the yellow wire and one of the red wires from the ballast. Note, this is just how the Fulham Workhorse 5 is wired - other manufacturers may have different wires/colors but the concept is the same - one of the wires has power, the other is neutral.
Now insert the red wire into the last hole on one side of the socket and the yellow wire into the last hole on the other side of the socket. Note also with certain socket/ballast combinations it may be necessary or recommended (for redundancy) to wire a pair of holes on each side of the socket and/or to jump one or more of the holes. Always refer to the manufacturer's wiring diagram and/or use their technical service if you have any doubt.
That's the basics - now just check all the wiring and if it looks good, plug it in
So for my setup, I made a set of reflectors using a couple of old 4' shop lights that no longer worked. First I disassembled them taking out all electrical components and wiring. Apologies for some blur in the pics.
Next, mark and cut the reflectors to the appropriate size for the bulb being used - I used one reflector per 55w bulb in this case.
I then cut some 1/4" scrap plywood to fit inside the reflector and some scrap 1/2" scrap plywood to keep the reflector stiff (unnecessary) and for something to screw the eye hooks into. The 1/4" plywood is then notched to mount the socket and painted flat white.
Next I cut a hole to mount the lamp support (small plastic clip) which is unnecessary but helps distribute the weight of the lamp.
Now wire up the socket, insert the lamp into the socket. Mount the socket to the reflector by drilling a small hole through each of the mounting holes in the socket through the plywood and through the reflector. Drill a pair of holes on the far end of the reflector at this point as well. Use small machine screws and nuts (hardware store) to lock it all together.
Flip over the reflector, drill a couple of starter holes through the top of the reflector and twist in a couple of eye hooks for hanging.
That's it! ready for final wiring (back to the top of the post!), hanging and vegging. Here are a couple of shots of the lamps hung in my veg room. Total lumen output is ~19,200 or 3200 lum sq/ft. May sound low, but useful lumens is very high since I will be able to get the lamps just an inch or two from the plant! If I find it is not enough I can always reconfigure the reflectors and double the lamps in each one!
And here are a couple of totally home made reflectors mounted directly to the bottom of a higher shelf. They are lower wattage and intended for new seedling, clones and moms. Figure I can raise the plants/trays to the light when necessary to increase lumens as appropriate. Total of 9,400 total lumen or 1,200 lum sq/ft on the left side of the shelf and ~2,000 lum sq/ft on the right.
Well I hope that helps at least one person out there! Happy growing.
Pros:
- Relatively cool
- Variety of power output (watts)
- Variety of color temperatures (*K)
- Straight-tube delivery
- Driven by external ballast
- Approaches HID lighting for lumen/watt
- Allows a highly configurable lighting array
Cons:
- Primarily a DIY endeavor to build fixtures
- Cost is slightly higher watt-for-watt than HID options
- Not as efficient as HID lighting
Ok, so on with the build.
I ordered bulbs, sockets and ballasts from www.1000bulbs.com, wire nuts from the local hardware store and had 16 gauge copper wire laying around but this could also be purchased at the hardware store. In addition to the lighting hardware you will need wire cutters, a drill, drill bits, hacksaw/jigsaw, eye hooks, power cord from a dead appliance, cord for hanging fixtures and some material for reflectors. I made one set of reflectors out of 1/4" plywood and scrap wood and another set out of old shop lights that I cannibalized.
So electrical wiring is terrifying for some people, but really isn't that tough. You just have to make sure you always work with wires that are unplugged from a power source, do not leave any bare wires exposed, double check your wiring before plugging it in and DOUBLE CHECK YOUR WIRING BEFORE PLUGGING IT IN!
Here is a straight forward wiring of a plug, ballast, PL-L socket (2G11) and PL-L lamp. Ignore the extra red and blue wires in the first photo - they are not used
First, strip about 1/2-3/4" of the black and white wire coming out of the ballast. This is the hot power (black) and neutral (white) wires. Next, strip the wires from the power chord.
Twist the black wire from the ballast to one of the stripped wires from the power chord. it doesn't matter which one. Then twist the white wire to the other stripped power cord wire. Use wire caps to lock the splice together and cover the exposed wires.
Now strip the yellow wire and one of the red wires from the ballast. Note, this is just how the Fulham Workhorse 5 is wired - other manufacturers may have different wires/colors but the concept is the same - one of the wires has power, the other is neutral.
Now insert the red wire into the last hole on one side of the socket and the yellow wire into the last hole on the other side of the socket. Note also with certain socket/ballast combinations it may be necessary or recommended (for redundancy) to wire a pair of holes on each side of the socket and/or to jump one or more of the holes. Always refer to the manufacturer's wiring diagram and/or use their technical service if you have any doubt.
That's the basics - now just check all the wiring and if it looks good, plug it in
So for my setup, I made a set of reflectors using a couple of old 4' shop lights that no longer worked. First I disassembled them taking out all electrical components and wiring. Apologies for some blur in the pics.
Next, mark and cut the reflectors to the appropriate size for the bulb being used - I used one reflector per 55w bulb in this case.
I then cut some 1/4" scrap plywood to fit inside the reflector and some scrap 1/2" scrap plywood to keep the reflector stiff (unnecessary) and for something to screw the eye hooks into. The 1/4" plywood is then notched to mount the socket and painted flat white.
Next I cut a hole to mount the lamp support (small plastic clip) which is unnecessary but helps distribute the weight of the lamp.
Now wire up the socket, insert the lamp into the socket. Mount the socket to the reflector by drilling a small hole through each of the mounting holes in the socket through the plywood and through the reflector. Drill a pair of holes on the far end of the reflector at this point as well. Use small machine screws and nuts (hardware store) to lock it all together.
Flip over the reflector, drill a couple of starter holes through the top of the reflector and twist in a couple of eye hooks for hanging.
That's it! ready for final wiring (back to the top of the post!), hanging and vegging. Here are a couple of shots of the lamps hung in my veg room. Total lumen output is ~19,200 or 3200 lum sq/ft. May sound low, but useful lumens is very high since I will be able to get the lamps just an inch or two from the plant! If I find it is not enough I can always reconfigure the reflectors and double the lamps in each one!
And here are a couple of totally home made reflectors mounted directly to the bottom of a higher shelf. They are lower wattage and intended for new seedling, clones and moms. Figure I can raise the plants/trays to the light when necessary to increase lumens as appropriate. Total of 9,400 total lumen or 1,200 lum sq/ft on the left side of the shelf and ~2,000 lum sq/ft on the right.
Well I hope that helps at least one person out there! Happy growing.
