Need help designing a cfl fixture

italianstallion24

italianstallion24

Member
ExileOnMainStreet said:
I measured mine with and without the hood using the output of a solar cell. For me, the improvement was definitely worth the time and money to make the hood. If I didn't have the tooling or the confidence to build it, maybe not. To each their own.

You're bang on about the small plants: I've been flowering under CFLs for a few years now and use a bunch of small plants in cut off 2L bottles and get a whole bunch of little popcorn buds. If you're looking for the tall colas you see in the pics, CFLs aren't the way to go. I like those PLLs - they might make better side lights than my CFLs.

Ital, another thought about your box: I supplemented mine with a little 50W HPS and noticed an improvement in the size and density of the buds (everything else stayed the same). That one I linked to is a replacement for commercial lighting and the bulb fits a standard E26/27 base rather than a mogul socket. It might be an option for your small space - I think it was about $60 and came with a lamp, ballast and capacitor. You'll need a lamp holder (about $2) and a hood of some sort, but even the flat reflector you've already built ought to be fine. After running it for a full flowering cycle, I can honestly say that the ballast generates way more heat than the lamp itself. If you mount the ballast on the back like bozo did with the PLLs in the pic, the heat should be more than manageable with your 120mm fans and you'll be getting 2100K rather than the 2700 of the CFLs. Now that my hooded array is done, the next job is to get the little HPS back in there...probably inside the hood in the center lamp holder.
Are you planning to paint or mylar the inside of the box eventually ?
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The inside of the box is painted white.. i used three cans of flat white paint.... and yea i dont plan on to have a bunch of bud this is my first indoor so i dont expect grand amounts of yeilds
 
ExileOnMainStreet

ExileOnMainStreet

Well-Known Member
Damn....that's pretty impressive given the size of the pots.

i think you'll dig the way this guy thinks, lol.
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Funny you should mention that...this is from my first ever grow (nowhere near his attention to detail though !!):
130_0938.jpg
That one had two CFLs screwed to the plywood top but PPLs around the inside wall would have been a perfect addition. I've been thinking about going back to that idea and doing something like this (pic lifted from his thread) with that little 50W I have:
5918ghetto6-thumb.jpg

Speaking of which, this is that 50W lamp I mentioned...maybe a vertical cool tube running up the middle...but that's for another thread.
Can't beat the price if you don't mind doing a little fab work
IMG1660_zpse05871ad.jpg

Ital - thx, I see the paint now that you point it out. It looked like raw wood but that's just the cleats in the corners. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how much you wind up with if you can use a bunch of small plants and keep the light right on top of 'em. Plus, you'll be smoking your own weed and that's priceless
bongsmilie
 
italianstallion24

italianstallion24

Member
ExileOnMainStreet said:
Ital - thx, I see the paint now that you point it out. It looked like raw wood but that's just the cleats in the corners. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how much you wind up with if you can use a bunch of small plants and keep the light right on top of 'em. Plus, you'll be smoking your own weed and that's priceless
bongsmilie
Click to expand...
Yea the paint is white and the cleats i forgot to paint before i built the box.. kinda dumb on my part lol and i have quite a bit of small plants atm and they are all pretty low and bushy but not all of them will fit into the box i have and haha ill be supprised if i can even get any weed outta this grow cause its my first time indoor
 
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