Remote CFL Ballasts..... Who has the skinny on these?

[bakelite]

Guys,

This is an excellent thread on lighting! I wish more info of this type was posted here.

I'm in the process of planning the lighting for my small cab myself. I've been bouncing around a bunch of ideas ranging from low wattage Ceramic Halides to low wattage HPS and the PL-L 55w CFL that you have been talking about. I use 4-36w bulbs in my veg cab and they work awesome. (It'll be better once the temperature issue is resolved).

It is nice to see others using these bulbs for growing. I personally think that they are they are the best fluorescent option out there.

bakelite

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Knna: I too liked the Sour Diesel. Only downside is the short short high time.
You'll like the C-99 as it's a short flower time. Creeper high. She gives me shaking hands if I smoke too much of her. LOL

Infectualize: Badass Grow bin! I saw that before but it never registered with me that you're using the lights I've been looking for. Sweet setup!

Bakelite: I'm planning on setting these up with small PC fans blowing across the length of the tubes from the ends toward the middle. I'll have a more powerful fan that sucks the air up through the middle. Should handle my heat issues well. Good luck with your setup for sure!

 

[mexilandrace]

look into compact floro lights intended for fishtanks, I have a remote ballast that powers 4 96 watt bulbs.

Hell I have been using linear CFLs for years for both growing and fish tanks.

check this site out, AHsupply.com. Everything you need, but be aware things get pricey quick.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

look into compact floro lights intended for fishtanks, I have a remote ballast that powers 4 96 watt bulbs.

Hell I have been using linear CFLs for years for both growing and fish tanks.

check this site out, AHsupply.com. Everything you need, but be aware things get pricey quick.

Sweet! I'll have to look into that.

The time is drawing closer to when I get to start on this project. Can't wait

 

[bakelite]

Sweet! I'll have to look into that.

The time is drawing closer to when I get to start on this project. Can't wait

AHsupply seems to be a good option for those who don't want to dink around with piecemealing. You can also to keep your eye on e bay for deals. I picked up (4) 36 watt pll bulbs shipped for $13.00 and a Fulham Workhorse 7 ballast for $32 shipped. Man those things put out a lot of light

I'm still messing around with fabricating my own reflectors to optimize the light output. Good luck and keep us posted!

-bakelite

 

[knna]

Inefectualize, i love your setup. A very simple killer grow!

I dont know if you know the thread by jrw, using 2 PLL (55w): Wild sativas under 110w PL-L

Bakelite, its very easy to do your own killer reflectors. Try it.

First one i did was using a piece of a white aluminium blind. As easy to cut it in 3 55cm pieces, mounting them (as building a window blind) and fixing the aperture (a piece of aluminium between the two wings at the start and end, using one to attach the socket). Half hour of work. I blended the upper one on a V shape and its working pretty well.

Next ones i did was using aluminium sheet and works slightly better, but the first work very good for what it cost and the work involved.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

AHsupply seems to be a good option for those who don't want to dink around with piecemealing. You can also to keep your eye on e bay for deals. I picked up (4) 36 watt pll bulbs shipped for $13.00 and a Fulham Workhorse 7 ballast for $32 shipped. Man those things put out a lot of light

I'm still messing around with fabricating my own reflectors to optimize the light output. Good luck and keep us posted!

-bakelite

Sounds Great!

I already have my ebay account set up. (Never used one until now)

Just bitchin'

Knna: Yeah..... I saw that 110 PL-L wild sativas thread too. Pretty outrageous. I'd like to build a cab for a single "Oldtimer Haze" scrogged and harvest once a year. LOL. 2 55w PL-L's One scrogged haze, 6 months of flower time.

 

[rasputen]

WoW this is way cool.
I think I have learned things from Knna before.

Knna, do you know much about CCFL's ...I have a cloner/computer that I built several years ago and it worked perfect with 6 CCFL 12" lamps.
Enough to turn on the grow roots signal but not switch to full veg.

I have a 10 lamp "assembly" of those Osram 55W F CFL's.
I got it from a source I really don't want to mention. (kinda free!)

The cool thing about my 5 pair of these lamps is I can just pop 1 or 2 loose and go from 550Watts to 440W or 330W and that helps me control my veg temps when I only have som moms there and don't need 550Watts.

These 55W CFL's are indeed quite efficent and made for our favorite hobby.

 

[PHB]

knna's back!

knna's back!

knna I have always appreciated your posts on lighting (first ones I read were on LED and later on CFL). Glad to see you are still participating on the boards. I was bummed to see that a few individuals on the DBG thread drove you away for a while.

PHB

 

[Hydro-Soil]

look into compact floro lights intended for fishtanks, I have a remote ballast that powers 4 96 watt bulbs.

Thanks for the tip.... I don't see anywhere on their site where they list ballasts and specs though

I have a space that's a bit bigger than before so I need light now.
If I buy the ballasts from 1000bulbs.com they only power 2 lamps and are $40 or so w/shipping.

So I'm really looking for something that will power 4 55w bulbs. (probably the same ballast)

Do you have a brand name and model number on that ballast?

*** Edit *** Ok...... So I found that 1000bulbs.com carries fulham workhorse ballasts. This model the Workhorse 8 (that's the link to the spec sheet) says it's maximum is 220 watts at 1.8 amp. (There's also an identical ballast that the only difference is .74 amps max)
Would that power 4 55w lamps? 220watts? Or are ballasts like circuit maximums and you need to be under 220 or something?
Sounds stupid to me but I need to check before I buy. LOL
Thanks!
*** Edit ***

 

[bakelite]

I have a 10 lamp "assembly" of those Osram 55W F CFL's.
I got it from a source I really don't want to mention. (kinda free!)

The cool thing about my 5 pair of these lamps is I can just pop 1 or 2 loose and go from 550Watts to 440W or 330W and that helps me control my veg temps when I only have som moms there and don't need 550Watts.

These 55W CFL's are indeed quite efficent and made for our favorite hobby.

Man ~48,000 fluorescent lumens must look pretty impressive! Have you tried flowering under those?

This is my setup:



This is the veg compartment of my ever-being-tweaked grow cab. I use 4100k for vegging/preflower. They keep the plants nice and stout and bushy until they are moved to the flower compartment (250w HPS). In all they provide 11600 mean lumens to ~1 1/2 sq ft of grow space (~7333 mean lumens/sq ft).

-bakelite

 

[Hydro-Soil]

This is the veg compartment of my ever-being-tweaked grow cab. I use 4100k for vegging/preflower. They keep the plants nice and stout and bushy until they are moved to the flower compartment (250w HPS). In all they provide 11600 mean lumens to ~1 1/2 sq ft of grow space (~7333 mean lumens/sq ft).

-bakelite

That's great! Did you use 2 ballasts or 1?

Wait..... what wattage are those lamps?

*** Edit *** and where's the best place to get the bases? 1000bulbs doesn't sell the bases.
I'm looking at 3 3000K 55w lamps and 1 5600K lamp with a Fulham Workhorse 8 ballast to run all 4 lamps. (220w ballast)

Less than $100 shipped!

 

[bakelite]

That's great! Did you use 2 ballasts or 1?

Wait..... what wattage are those lamps?

*** Edit *** and where's the best place to get the bases? 1000bulbs doesn't sell the bases.
I'm looking at 3 3000K 55w lamps and 1 5600K lamp with a Fulham Workhorse 8 ballast to run all 4 lamps. (220w ballast)

Less than $100 shipped!

Hydro, I used one Fulham Workhorse 7 ballast to run all 4 bulbs. They are 16" 36 watt 4100k fluoro's (Philips PL-L 36W/841). They throw out 2900 mean lumens each.

As for the 2G11 sockets I couldn't find where I ordered mine from. A quick search on Google Shopping brings up a bunch of different sources online (ebay, bulbs.com etc.). They run around $2.50 each plus shipping. Unfortunately they are not that common and you'll probably have to mail order them. If you live near a big city you may get lucky and find a lighting/electric supply place that carries them.

I see that you are using 3000K bulbs, do you plan on flowering under them?

-bakelite

 

[Hammerhead]

Those are the same lights used for Coral reef tanks. I had those over my tank with 2 250w MH. That workhorse ballast is good. Never had any issues with them

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I see that you are using 3000K bulbs, do you plan on flowering under them?

-bakelite

Yes. 3 3000K and 1 5600K.
All 4 lamps mounted in an 18" area.

The lamps are 20 inches long each and I'll be running a 6 plant staggered harvest. 2 in, 2 out every 20-25 days.

The cabinet is actually about 34" wide but I'm planning on having a couple smaller, self-ballasted CFLs for that end as the clones won't be that large during the first 20-25 days. They'll finish they're flower under the most intensely lit area so I'm not too worried about the size of the space.

If everything goes as well as expected I would like to eventually run a side by side PL-L grow to test UVB methods in a dresser I have.

Build identical cabs running E&F off the same res. Only one side will get UVB blah blah blah...... Will be interesting to see if I get the time to do it.
You have to have a control group in stuff like this

Most of the strains I have are around 70 day flower strains. The trick will be to find the optimum flower height for clones for each strain I have while still maintaining this 12plant maximum bullcrap.

I'm figuring on just doing a full run with each strain and 6 clones at different heights to start with. Problem is that the cab will really be designed to only flower out 2 at a time comfortably....

Ok, I've been up all day and now I'm babbling. Gonna go get some R&R.

Merry Xmas all. Thanks for the feedback

Thanks Hammerhead I was hoping they'd be good ballasts Good to hear.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Update: Just placed my order today at 1000bulbs.com and found the TG-11 Base Sockets!!! $1.97 each. (They're not listed on the website though)

Had to call 1000bulbs.com since I don't have any digital cash this month and they don't have an easy Money Order option. The salesman found the sockets in inventory and stated that indeed they are not listed on the website.

Call them up and place a phone order and use this item number for the sockets:
SOCK-EG36070

They're the simple mount ones that just use 2 screws to hold them in place.

SweeeeeT!

Couple weeks and I should have some basic pics of the layout in the cab.

 

[bakelite]

Update: Just placed my order today at 1000bulbs.com and found the TG-11 Base Sockets!!! $1.97 each. (They're not listed on the website though)

Had to call 1000bulbs.com since I don't have any digital cash this month and they don't have an easy Money Order option. The salesman found the sockets in inventory and stated that indeed they are not listed on the website.

Call them up and place a phone order and use this item number for the sockets:
SOCK-EG36070

They're the simple mount ones that just use 2 screws to hold them in place.

SweeeeeT!

Couple weeks and I should have some basic pics of the layout in the cab.

Thanks for the info Hydro! That is a decent price for those sockets.

Hey, do keep us posted on how your setup works. I'm curious as hell to see how well buds will form under those puppies. The beauty of PL-L fluoro's is that they are very compact and throw a ton of light for their size. They essentially provide two T5 bulbs (or one long one) per lamp. I'm really surprised that these lights haven't been embraced by others who grow indoors.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Thanks for the info Hydro! That is a decent price for those sockets.

Hey, do keep us posted on how your setup works. I'm curious as hell to see how well buds will form under those puppies. The beauty of PL-L fluoro's is that they are very compact and throw a ton of light for their size. They essentially provide two T5 bulbs (or one long one) per lamp. I'm really surprised that these lights haven't been embraced by others who grow indoors.

My pleasure.

I'll definitely be posting the setup and results of this. Considering the efficiency of them, I'm surprised myself that they're not more widely available.

You'll see that I'm mentioning them in just about any avenue I can so far. I'd like to be able to pick up replacement lamps in small mom & pop hardware stores and that will take a lot of people using them.

Here's hoping

 

[Hydro-Soil]

55w PL-L or Dulux lamps are 21.5 Inches long INCLUDING the socket.

Anyone with a 22" or wider area can easily mount these lights in it.

0" 550fc
1" 480fc
2" 400fc
3" 380fc
4" 360fc
5" 340fc
6" 320fc
7" 300fc
8" 290fc
9" 275fc
10" 250fc

Approximate Foot candle readings taken under 4 of these lamps

 

[bakelite]

Hey Hydro-Soil,
It's good to see that you're keeping this thread alive! I agree, we have to get the word out there on these bulbs!

These are some Sour Bubble I have vegging under (4) 36w bulbs in my veg compartment.



I forgot, one of them is a Lifesaver S1

Anyway I plan on scrogging them under these fluoro's to keep them nice and tight before putting them under my HPS to flower. I'd flower them under the fluoro's but I have way too many beans to pop right now....don't we all

-bakelite