Cfl wiring/setup idea/questions..

chocolate

Well-Known Member
so i have rewired and remodeled my closet 3 times and i cant get my damn cfl lighting fixture to fit [its like the one in the book]

so im thinking of making a top vertically moving fixture on simple wires and then mounting the other lighting fixtures straight onto the wall of my closet so that they will stay when the plant has grown and then just add more above it to turn on when the plant has grown to the appropriate height.

i wish i could get pics but my usb port is now busted and i cant upload anything til i get that fixed, but i might be able to get a simple paint setup drawn..

in the meantime any ideas?
 

chocolate

Well-Known Member
i know but i cant :(
its a simple setup tho
| | | | < wires ( | )
| | | |
| ------- | < vertically moving fixture (----)
| |
|] [| < light sockets( [ ) (fixed in place)
| |
|] [| < light sockets( [ ) (fixed in place)
| V |
| ___|___ |
\ / <---plant!
|__\___/___|

now the idea is that the sockets would stay in place giving a completely surrounded plant, but would that mean that the light would be too far away to be effective? i have plenty of 6500K and 2700K 42 and 26 watt bulbs..
 

Brux013

Well-Known Member
Okay so you have a closet with 5 CFLs up top and 2 CFLs on the left and right... now what do you want to do??
 

chocolate

Well-Known Member
i want to know if having the lights on the side will provide enough lumens to the plant to be effective or should i figure something else out?
 

Brux013

Well-Known Member
If you have lights coming from the sides and up top it should be just as effective if not better. As long as they are 1/2 inch away from the plant. I'd invest in making a DIY reflector for your CFLs. It'll help you get your moneys worth.
 

StayLifted

Active Member
Your "rough blueprint" is about what I came up with when I first sat down. Take a look at my setup if you need some quick fix, inexpensive ideas. I'm pretty proud of my DIY box.
 

chocolate

Well-Known Member
nah its just a piece of wood
with 5 light sockets drilled into it.
one in each corner and one in the middle
 
nah its just a piece of wood
with 5 light sockets drilled into it.
one in each corner and one in the middle
bro, i dont mean to be a pain, but i want to do the same thing and im a newbie.. did you wire them yourself to one cord that plugs in? can you give me a quick tip on how to do that? thanks in advance......
 

chocolate

Well-Known Member
haha im a n00b too man all i have is my setup so far.
but yeah, its pretty easy if you have some basic power tools.
http://www.ted-kyte.com/3D/Pictures/Surface Mount Light Socket.jpg

get 5 of these ^
and get 5 power cords
strip the bottom 2-4 inches of cord, exposing the wires.
take the board you want to use,
drill 5 holes large enough for the power cords with a drill bit large enough to do so
spaced out so that all 5 sockets will fit.
feed the stripped cords through the 5 holes
connect the sockets to the extension cords [ you can figure that one out ]
drill the sockets into the board [they will have holes for it]
attach bulbs
enjoy!
hope this is explanatory enough for ya
 
haha im a n00b too man all i have is my setup so far.
but yeah, its pretty easy if you have some basic power tools.
http://www.ted-kyte.com/3D/Pictures/Surface Mount Light Socket.jpg

get 5 of these ^
and get 5 power cords
strip the bottom 2-4 inches of cord, exposing the wires.
take the board you want to use,
drill 5 holes large enough for the power cords with a drill bit large enough to do so
spaced out so that all 5 sockets will fit.
feed the stripped cords through the 5 holes
connect the sockets to the extension cords [ you can figure that one out ]
drill the sockets into the board [they will have holes for it]
attach bulbs
enjoy!
hope this is explanatory enough for ya
awesome man.... thanks for the info... Im wanting to do basically the same thing you'e doing there.. i think i may take a piece of sheet metal and bolt a reflector to my board before I drill the holes.... did you get this idea from the buds for less book "grow 8oz on 50 dollar budget" in the sticky? Sounds like you just used basic cheap extension cords and then cut the female end off. you have them all plugged into a power strip? man.... keep us posted... i hope this works out well
 

poppinsmokey

Well-Known Member
Hey choc. I'd want my side lighting to be adjustable in order to get it around the plant(s). Unless those two walls w/ the side lighting are close together, it could prove difficult to get the lights close enough. I guess you could buy more "Y" adaptors and/or extenders to get the lights closer or move it up as the plant grows. You should get some really good results. Whatever you do good luck in your grow!

Feel free to check mine out. https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/50550-poppinsmokey-s-first-grow-cfl.html It is done very similiar to GK's book, Buds for Less. Let me tell you that book appears to be a blueprint for noobs to grow several zips without HID lighting. In a little over a month, I'm done paying out the ass for what people around here call dank.
 

chocolate

Well-Known Member
awesome man.... thanks for the info... Im wanting to do basically the same thing you'e doing there.. i think i may take a piece of sheet metal and bolt a reflector to my board before I drill the holes.... did you get this idea from the buds for less book "grow 8oz on 50 dollar budget" in the sticky? Sounds like you just used basic cheap extension cords and then cut the female end off. you have them all plugged into a power strip? man.... keep us posted... i hope this works out well
yep you got it right, the idea came form the book
 

blowinbig

Well-Known Member
i just used extention cords, y splitters, and those sockets that you can just plug straight in to an outlet
 
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