PLL Club. (if you don't know, now you know)

[Buuudy]

Anyone know if they make really small Pll's that would fit in a Pc case?

 

[Hephaestus]

Yup, you can get em down to 9/13/18w that are in the 6" range...

 

[ScrubNinja]

Been lurking for a good while now. You've done some awesome grows with these scrub and have kept the threads around it alive and interesting. I was wondering for flower, do you switch to all warm tubes or do you keep some cooler ones for a range of spectrum, sorry if this has been answered, have been quite thorough in my reading.

What combination of lights works for you?

Thanks man. I use 3x 4000k and 1x 10,000k right now. I bought a new set which I haven't used, for a different cab, and I went with 2x 2700k and 2x 3000k for the flower set. When I get around to buying veg bulbs for that cab, it will likely be 2x 6500k and 2x 10,000k. If you are low on money, my advice is get 4000k for veg and flower as they tend to be the cheapest, most common, and may be just perfect for your whole grow.

This run I mostly vegged in a seperate cab using 36w total of 6500k and 10,000k t-8s. Then continued vegging in the pll cab under the 10,000k 55w, then basically added the other 4000k's as it got bigger. I have a rear shelf which is severely height restricted so I put the 10,000k over that shelf and used the 4000's over the main plant with more headroom to grow in. Confused? Me too

Shelf:


Main plant:


I kind of messed up because I originally planned to run only 165w, and didn't use the middle 4000k bulb until a few days ago. The scrog under the 4000s is a purple kush and a very stretchy strain. Since I got the final bulb in, it's been a lot better but stretch seems to have finished anyway, doh. No matter what you do you will end up with some kickass budz though

Yup, you can get em down to 9/13/18w that are in the 6" range...

Just a note, I think the <18w are pl-something-else and will probably require different bases. Osram has this pdf with a lot of options and details on the whole range.

Big props to all guys posting their grows!

 

[tryptaphyte]

Thanks sensei

Thinking of 2x55w cool tubes I think at are 6700k, and 2x55w 2700k and 2x55w 3000k for warm tubes, is the 10,000k worth it?

Going to try and rig them myself, is the wiring easy? Seen some ballast spec sheets, need to have a thorough look at them, I think that is where you may have figured it out

One day, I too, will be a ninja of the scrub

 

[ScrubNinja]

Yeah the 10,000k's are not necessary and they are more expensive so your plan mentioned sounds fine.

The wiring is very easy. They do vary in difficulty but really it's all simple, just follow the diagram. It can be tricky if the diagram is for old style fluoro tubes, but even still, it's simple - just imagine you cut the pll bulb through the centre and bent the bulb out so it was straight, with two pins on either end - so (in your head) it now looks like the old school tubes in the wiring diagram and can be wired to suit. If the diagram is for 2g11/pll, well it's as easy as join the dots. Any specific needs should be mentioned on the ballast - wire sizes, maximum lengths.... Try to keep wires as short as possible anyway.

Post a pic if you get stuck or want it checked.

 

[Buuudy]

HTG still has not shipped my order. They ran out of the PLL setup the day after I ordered. They never bothered to tell me either. I had to call to see whats taking so long for it to be delivered. They said it has not been shipped and wont be shipped for another week or two.

 

[tryptaphyte]

Sounds like PLLs are in high demand, not surprised after this thread they seem to be the penultimate growing solution, second to LEDs but unfortunately the latter hasn't hit the same affordability range as yet - the phillips horticultural LEDs look very promising, they have these extra red / red flowering bulbs that fit into a standard E27? fitting, not sure they are widely available yet, but they would be a perfect supplement to a PLL setup.

Once my shit is together I will post some pics of my attempts to wire the PLLs up, was thinking of a bit of ply to fix the bulbs to, figure the ballast can be remote.

Cheers Scrub!

 

[Hydro-Soil]

figure the ballast can be remote.

Make sure you check the specs on your ballast. I know that the Fulham Workhorse 8 has a maximum lead length (and still be under warranty) of 36" Edit: Ok... maybe I'm not so sure... could be 32" The good news is that the leads on it from the factory are full length.

Stay Safe!

 

[CaptainStoner]

the really small wattage ones are known as PL-C (linear-compact) i think here, and yes, they do need a different base. they're closer to CFLs in shape than PL-Ls(linear-long). i've seen a ballast for them that retrofits like a cfl into a edison screw socket.. saw it on this site

edit: scrub.. what do you use for cable between your ballasts and your tubes?

 

[tryptaphyte]

Thanks for the heads up hydro-soil , 36" is far enough for my eventual purposes. My concern is the base of the lamp getting real hot, if its screwed on a bit of wood. Someone recommended white fire rated paint, will sure be using some of that.

I'll second the cable query. I assume its standard cable, looks quite small gauge from the pictures a few threads back.

These are some stats for a ballast i pulled off a phillips spec sheet

Mains operation
Rated mains voltage 220 – 240V
With tolerances for performance: +6%-8 202 – 254V
With tolerances for safety +/- 10% 198 – 264V
Mains frequency 50/60Hz
Operation frequency (typical) > 42 kHz (45 kHz)
Power factor > 0.96

Mains current at 230V
Ballast Lamp Input current
A
HF-P 136 PL-L EII PL-L 36W 0.16
HF-P 236 PL-L EII PL-L 36W 0.30
HF-P 140 PL-L EII PL-L 40W 0.19
HF-P 240 PL-L EII PL-L 40W 0.36
HF-P 155 PL-L EII PL-L 55W 0.25
HF-P 255 PL-L EII PL-L 55W 0.49

Now i don't know much about wiring but I think wire is gauged to the voltage or amperage running through it?

would a positive and negative with earth suffice for the plug side, im guessing at single strand for the bulbs themselves.


Wire cross-section:
Lower connector
On the mains side: 0.5 - 1.0 mm2
On the lamp side: 0.5 - 1.0 mm2
Upper connector
On the mains side: 0.5 mm2 solid wire; 0.75 mm2 stranded wire
On the lamp side: 0.5 mm2 solid wire; 0.75 mm2 stranded wire

I guess that's what we should be looking at

 

[ScrubNinja]

i've seen a ballast for them that retrofits like a cfl into a edison screw socket.. saw it on this site

edit: scrub.. what do you use for cable between your ballasts and your tubes?

That was mine



About the wiring, I used stuff stripped from an extension cord for all of it. My 36w ballasts say:

□ 0.5 - 1.0mm²
Leads max: 1.5m

I had a reasonably electrically minded guy show me how to wire them and he said the extension wire is fine. Mileage may vary

 

[leflll]

Hey everyone, I got my 4 55watt pll’s from AH Supply and I know these reflectors don’t reflect UV. My question is should I use them. Is there any benefit to using these reflectors? Is no reflector better then these Miro things? Thanks

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Thanks for the heads up hydro-soil , 36" is far enough for my eventual purposes. My concern is the base of the lamp getting real hot, if its screwed on a bit of wood. Someone recommended white fire rated paint, will sure be using some of that.

I seriously doubt that the 55w bases get hot enough to even darken wood... just leave a tiny air-gap and you'll be fine.

Personally, I just put a bit of aluminum tape on the wood. Works as a reflector a bit as well and definitely lowers the temp of the wood there.

Stay Safe!

Please Remember to Heed the Warnings About Eye Damage from Being too Close to CFL's. Your eyes and future vision will thank you. Just a reminder, in case anyone missed it.

 

[leflll]

Hydro-soil you think I'll be better off without these reflectors.

 

[rives]

The reflectors are going to increase the down lighting substantially. You won't get the UV reflected, but you won't get that anyway without a reflector. I think you will be far better off using the reflectors than not. Any reflector is going to be better than none. These unfortunately don't reflect the UV, but the majority of reflectors designed for lighting for humans have this attribute. The only better option is finding a material that reflects the UV and fabricating your own reflectors. Perhaps covering these reflectors with aluminum tape might work, I don't know. Hope this helps!

 

[leflll]

Thanks rives, I was thinking the same thing about reflective tape

 

[oldone]

Hey everyone, I got my 4 55watt pll’s from AH Supply and I know these reflectors don’t reflect UV. My question is should I use them. Is there any benefit to using these reflectors? Is no reflector better then these Miro things? Thanks

Hi eflll,

I have the exact same lights from AH as you do. I would strongly recommend that you use them. I tested them with and without and there is no comparison.

These reflectors are awesome and will direct much more light down where it counts.

just my ,
OO

 

[leflll]

So the reflectors aren't totally useless. Thats good to here, thanks oldone. How many plants do you have under these things and is it going well?

 

[oldone]

So the reflectors aren't totally useless. Thats good to here, thanks oldone. How many plants do you have under these things and is it going well?

AH's reflectors are mostly why I bought from them.

Its only my first cab run using bagseed, have had many problems unrelated to the lights. I kinda have a log here. Only 1 plant has survived, but I'm going to get some smoke from it!

I have some excellent seeds on the way so run #2 will be much better.

Good luck,
OO

 

[leflll]

Hey Oldone your grow looks great. That last pic looks like more than one plant its huge. How much longer you gonna let flower