My 8ft 24 Bulb 624 Watt CFL Hood/Fixture For Under $150

[Elite]

I 'em a pro :smile:

I wired them exactly how I wanted it.

Please people, I spent a lot of extra time making this thread to pass my knowledge along...Please give me the courtesy of reading my thread...its only 3 pages

Elite

 

[nekoloving]

I'm taking questions at anytime...you don't even have to raise your hand.

Elite

i did read this thread, i didn't read the OTHER posts you had made. -rep

 

[Elite]

i did read this thread, i didn't read the OTHER posts you had made. -rep

Then please READ it instead of asking questions that are answered.

Elite

 

[nekoloving]

Then please READ it instead of asking questions that are answered.

Elite

not to battle but:
then please point out the post that covers this that's in this thread.

to not be a dick, i've re-read the entire thing again front to back.

BTW, I don't recommend plugging in something that draws 624 watts just anywhere. However if you know what your doing you could for example :wink: Run a portable A/C unit that draws 830 watts, on a single "dedicated" circuit. I would still only be drawing a little over 12 amps. Well within the safe draw on a 15 amp breaker. But I wouldn't run anything else on that line.
Heres the math, its simpler than it seems:

624 watts plus 830 watts = 1,454 watts total, divided by the volts(120) = 12.11 Amps

So its Watts divided by Volts equals Amps

Elite

does not tell me why your going with 15A tho it is a great assumption that's what you have available. however i cannot assume that my assumption is correct without prior verification. well i suppose i COULD but i wont.


also lets be very clear here. i love the design. i love the project. your doing awesome work. but i know a LOT of cats live in an older house or the shed out back's wiring may not be the greatest, or whatnot, but the ability to stay well under tolerances is key. especially considering someone may try to run a 12 or 14 gage extension cord out to the bugger. i can just see it now!

so first we have you talking about how its within the 15A breaker tolerances, but then [and right before my [crappy?] question]

Next I'll be installing a portable AC unit, behind the fixture. I need to beat those heats.
Climate control is a must...if you can't keep you temps below 85 degrees, don't bother (Yes, there is always exceptions).

Elite

so please explain why i wouldn't want to split the light again?


one last time; for effort here. i love the design. i can think of several things this would do very well, including good lighting for camera/film - shit you might be able to market it for just that with an adjustable pole/tripod etc.

but i dont appreciate you saying ask ask ask, and then i ask, and you jump down my throat. just explain why its not such a good idea, or where you covered IN THIS THREAD exactly how much juice on each breaker is available in whatever building its in.


p.s. I'm no electrician, however i do have a small background in this area, and have had some training. sorry I'm not willing to give up any further anonymity.

 

[Elite]

O.K.....
You have a good point, if I so desired I could run them off 2 separate circuits. But its not worth the trouble with 624 Watts. About half the draw of Microwave or Blow dryer. Decent amount...No need to split the circuit into 2, chances are they're still on the same phase. Plus its extra work/time/materials...
I can't find any Pro's...

I didn't mean to come off sounding rude, if I did I'm sorry:smile:
Maybe if you phrased you statement in a question form, it would've avoided this misunderstanding
Elite

 

[nekoloving]

O.K.....
You have a good point, if I so desired I could run them off 2 separate circuits. But its not worth the trouble with 624 Watts. About half the draw of Microwave or Blow dryer. Decent amount...No need to split the circuit into 2, chances are they're still on the same phase. Plus its extra work/time/materials...
I can't find any Pro's...

I didn't mean to come off sounding rude, if I did I'm sorry:smile:
Maybe if you phrased you statement in a question form, it would've avoided this misunderstanding
Elite

i promise last post - flame away if needed emotionally.

very impressive- loving the design and work there. if i may suggest one thing, i didnt look through your other threads/posts so i dont see the setup, but why not wire each half of the light seperately, so you have two cords to plug it in with, and can split the juice fairly evenly over two circuits?

but that is a question. anyway, great setup, thanx for explaining why not, i've never setup the master breaker nor the junction box from the street - we payed someone like you who knew what they were doing! finally, great thread, great read, sorry for whatever misunderstanding i'm sure i'm responsable for. [it was 420 at the time~!~]

so hopefully back to civility - hope your 420 was good, certainly looks productive, and stay safe!

 

[Elite]

I'm an Electrician not a Grammatical Magician
Nothing but love!!
Elite

 

[Crush]

O.K.....
You have a good point, if I so desired I could run them off 2 separate circuits. But its not worth the trouble with 624 Watts. About half the draw of Microwave or Blow dryer. Decent amount...No need to split the circuit into 2,
I can't find any Pro's...
Elite

Well I would rethink things personally.

At 1450watts, at 18 hours a day, at 0.11 KWh:

$86.4 total month in electricity bill.
$345.6 total 4 months. Wow!

Man that $80 a month can move you up a whole car size or a larger house.. Or get you some good weed from a club. Or an iphone. But to hand it over to gov't unionized power workers making $80k a year who do absolutely *nothing* at work all day and half of which come from foreign countries who 'played the system' into these protected jobs..... I'd rather burn the money hehe.

We need to promote cost savings where we can and keep your money out of the hands of the institutions, unions, and gov't.. I would try my best to do without the air condition.

-Give 14 hours of light a day.
-No Air conditioning unless absolutely necessary.
-Un-twist any CFL's that aren't being used (that's what I do.. no switches needed.
-You'll see a drastic decrease in operational costs and very little difference in vegged plants.

What you should focus on, IMO of course, is getting a light meter so you can see if your plants are getting light, and or, if the hood is even beneficial. I personally feel, just from looking at it, that the hood is doing very little despite all the hard work and effort you put into it.

I extensively tested all different hood types for my CFL setup and the CFL's only did well when the top of the hoods where directly touching the lights in the shape that mine are. The only catch is that the plants have to be under the hood.. not outside the hood. I have the light meter to prove my results. Also enclosing the plants with white sheets to the left and right of the plant did nothing either.

And my electricity costs are very negligible.

If you want to spend more and enhance your grow, I would put the money in a C02 setup.

Whatever you decide, please please keep your money out of the hands of the institutions.. our economy needs you to have your $80 a month be productive and useful - not funding 'Saleem Mohammad' at the power union making $80,000/y, thinking he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, all because he 'played' the foreign student loophole, and is now employed huddled around chairs with his fellow nationals discussing politics in his foreign language and immigration policies to get his sick and elderly extended family members over.

That's where the money goes to when you pay your power bill so please be frugal when it comes to power costs so you can fund less of his paycheck.

 

[Elite]

Well I would rethink things personally.

At 1450watts, at 18 hours a day, at 0.11 KWh:
I personally feel, just from looking at it, that the hood is doing very little despite all the hard work and effort you put into it.

Thanks for all the info!!
However I disagree (based on my theory) All the light that would be reflecting up isn't. But they are CFL's are they projecting that light down?? Thats the question.
Plus I needed something to mount 4 fixtures too.
Unfortunately AC is a must...My vegg room is 85 dergees with the lights out, when temp outside are only 60 degrees (Vegg room is in a finished room directly below roof)

With half the lights on now I'm hitting a whopping 95 degrees/49 degrees outside.

It sux but I can work with it
I'm shooting for a 24 hour on light schedule

Elite

 

[Elite]

Crush, I don't quite understand your $80 statement, whats my alternative??
I need lights to grow plants...lol

That draw isn't all much and the Kw per hour, is much cheaper around here, seeing we have no med clinics in the East you must be on WC where electricity rates are outrageous!!

My Kw Hr. Rate is $0.09. So it cost me (rounded up)$0.14 an hour to run my lights and AC, not bad....WELL WORTH it, if you ask me...

So thats $95 a month here 24 Hr constant draw ((AC won't be)). Less than a avg. smoking habit and I have 2 already

Some people have 20,000Kw + with CA (LA/SF) prices I can't have a 1,500 with A/C??
Plus,I don't shower much (Well pump and Water Heater) or watch much T.V.
EXCELLENT POINTS on how to keep cost down, personally I'm not staving here...

Elite

 

[Elite]

BTW Crush, I have one of those POS (NO OFFENSE) Light meters somewhere in a box, I wasn't impressed with it while testing my 1K HPS and 400W Mh.

So back to the reflective properties of these CFL's. I wired this room with 3 keyless lights (same bulbs) shown in the picture

They light the room up light the room alone like "CandleStick Park" (without my fixture in there). Thats just from the silver refective tape. Once I put the white plastic down it was noticably brighter. So I'll trust my eyes over a $10-20 meter...Many CFL's in a small area = high lumens. I don't need a meter to know that. I guess in your opinion I went overboard, in my opinion I did things RIGHT!

I think I'll push the fixture "together" more...thats why I used adjustable brackets. I don't quite have enough space (lol you should be able to turn around) Plus that will push the bulbs closer too...

Elite

 

[cfl...KING]

that is the crazyest cfl fixture ive ever seen. wish i would have thought of it, dam it lol. if its gettin hot inside the fixture mount a fan on each side of it. lowered my temps by 5 deg. if you deside to use it for flower just switch to 2700k an switch for a 42w. i figured your fixture is about 12" wide an its 72" long so that puts you at just over 5100lumen/sq ft which is good for veg. if u upgraded to a 42w youd be at youd be around 8100limen/sq ft which is perfect to get some great buds!!! ull be at 1008w but sense the lights would be 12/12 your useing less energy! great fixture cant wait to see your results!! good luck man

 

[DrunkenMessiah]

Thanks for all the info!!
However I disagree (based on my theory) All the light that would be reflecting up isn't. But they are CFL's are they projecting that light down?? Thats the question.


Elite

Your problem isn't that you don't have enough curved metal to catch and redirect the light, its that you've chosen a pretty terrible geometry. The shape of a reflector and the positioning of the bulb beneath it has far greater impact on its performance than material used, apparent reflectivity, etc. CFLs, (all floros really) have very crappy penetrating power. Every inch that you make those photons travel from the bulb to the surface of the plant represents intensity lost at an exponential rate. The downward tilt of the bulbs combined with the upward curvature of the reflector conspire to make half of all your photons travel a HUGE distance to get to where you want them. In your imagination, split all of your CFLs into two hemispheres along a horizontal waterline. The hemispheres 'below' the waterline are all facing directly towards the plants, this is good. However, the hemispheres 'above' the water line, the 50% of your bulb's surface area that faces towards the reflector, are horribly obscured. The light from these top hemispheres has to travel what appears to be about 6 inches to hit the reflector, then they catch the reflective surface at the perfectly wrong angle of 45 degrees, and then proceed back downwards along what appears to be nearly the longest possible route to the plants. Half of all of your light output has had to travel a foot just to get to the 'mouth' of the reflector, it hasn't even gotten down to the plants yet! By the time those photons do get there, they are so thinly distributed that nearly all light intensity will have been lost, penetrating power will be nill.

This is why I never latched on to CFLs, getting a decent reflector on them is neigh impossible! With tubes, you simply foil-tape the top of them. By doing this, you have cut the extra distance that photons discharged from the back-side (facing towards the reflector) of the bulb down to nothing! The normally rear-firing photons bounce off of the tape and exit back out the front side of the bulb, heading straight towards the foliage. This is right where we want them. CFLs, with their curly coily geometry make effective reflecting a nightmare. So many of the photons have to travel so far to get to where you want them that they loose much of their effectiveness.

I have no doubt that your monstrosity will make up for its questionable geometry with sheer lumen output. It should be perfectly serviceable and will veg some killer plants, but I cant help but think that a significant percentage of your 624 watts of light energy is gonna get chucked away in the form of heat (which it sounds like you are battling with as well). I personally think that around 450 watts worth of overdriven, foil-taped T8 floros would have produced more PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation, the plant-equivalent of lumens)where you actually need it: on the plants.

I dearly hope that my convictions are incorrect and that you show me up with a spectacular grow diary. I can't wait to see your monster hovering over some fresh greenery. Good luck and happy gardening!

-DM

 

[Elite]

Great Points and info, However I work with what I have (or I wouldn't be using CFL's period). I need to push the hood in more, pushing the the bulbs to more of a horizontal position...

The fixture is 8' x 20" I need room to work in there...so I'll probably be reducing the width to 16" +/-

As soon as I find some good gentics, I'm planning to clone the hell out of it/them. Put maybe 30 outside mid summer. Then start (have started) a SCROG or SOG depending on what cuts I can get...

Elite

 

[cfl...KING]

well if you change your mind or need to replace bulbs or whatever check out 1000bulbs.com they have some great deals an alot of odd wattage cfls. again that is one hell of a reflector, an thanks for posting it in the cfl club!

 

[Elite]

well if you change your mind or need to replace bulbs or whatever check out 1000bulbs.com they have some great deals an alot of odd wattage cfls. again that is one hell of a reflector, an thanks for posting it in the cfl club!

I'm not going to change my mind...I'm flowering with this bitch!!
Yah, I'm been to 1000bulbs.com....I'll check with your opinion before I purchase...Since you are the self-proclaimed "CFL KING" :wink:

No problem...does this CFL club have a gift basket??

Elite

 

[GorillaGrower]

thanks for the thread elite.. .. I learned that anyone calling themselves elite.. probably isn't.

It was an interesting idea to add 24 cfls to a reflector.. it seems your head got so big you missed the point of what your doing (creating a huge heater in a small space thats placed badly).

If you want elite genetics like bubba kush OG or any of the other great stuff.. why be a cawk to everyone that has ideas or questions?

I wasted my precious few minutes this morning reading your taint thread where all your doing is asking for genetics.

try here - > www.seedboutique.com

 

[Elite]

thanks for the thread elite.. .. I learned that anyone calling themselves elite.. probably isn't.

Just because I don't hold elites now, doesn't mean they aren't on the way...Clones or not...I'm the Elite, truly one of a kind!!

It was an interesting idea to add 24 cfls to a reflector.. it seems your head got so big you missed the point of what your doing (creating a huge heater in a small space thats placed badly).

Thats not really a fact. I can use as little or as much bulbs as I want to cover the area. Climate control is next...Again, I work with what I have, and I feel blessed I have that!!

I wasted my precious few minutes this morning reading your taint thread...

I'm sorry you feel that way, maybe you can make up for it by brushing your teeth in the shower. Or speed on your way to work, that'll make up for lost time:wink:
I mentioned twice about getting clones, I didn't come out and ask. Especially not you...If that wasted your day, your day was wasted before you got up...I glad you managed to "waste" enough time to post this thread

Thanks for the link, however I know where to buy seeds bastardizations...As I've purchased them many times in the past...

Sorry but you don't have the strength to knock me off my "High" Horse

Elite

 

[Elite]

...Back to the thread.


I pushed the brackets in, from 20" to 16", only on one side. I have the back at 20" Hiked up to a floor standing Fan creating a wind tunnel...In front of that is a top table, type fan.





Keeping a close eye on the temps....I have a lot of options, or simply place them outside.

Elite

 

[Elite]

Oh the strain is GH's Strawberry Haze. The best 4 phenos of 15 fem. seeds.
Gifted to me



Not quite sure how old they are, but I have enough time to clone the fuck out of them...30 Outdoor, 6-7 Indoor Scrog...

I can do a lot with these...But like most Americans, I want more (I have things in the works :wink: )I have a few options here...

Elite