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

[Tanuvan]

I'm sorry, but the intensity of the light has nothing at all to do with how much light passes through a pane of glass. Even if it is a candle...it will block 5-7%. I thought about including the actual numbers...and then I figured what's the point...this is a cannabis forum.

People love to argue for the sake of arguing it seems. Depending on your grow box, and how many of these lights you are trying to stuff in there...you may or may not need a glass heat shield. It is up to the individual. But there is nothing at all wrong with using glass heat shields...Fluorescent or HID.

I don't care how cool fluorescent lights run...if you put enough inside of a small enclosure, it will heat up. On this forum people like to push the envelope, and if squeezing out an extra 5-10K lumens means adding a pane of glass at 7% loss...that is still 4650-9300 extra lumens that might not have been possible without the heat shield. I am not sure how you can argue with that... but

 

[bakelite]

Coral doesn't produce THC and other cannabinoids when exposed to UVB. The glass knocks out most UVB. Losing the glass will see a significant increase in potency with these lamps.

These lamps run so cool anyway that you don't need glass. The plants can almost grow up into them without damage anyway. Just a wee bit of air movement is enough to push the hot air off the lamps and into whatever fan you have venting it.

Hydro, I use glass between my plants and my light source in all of my grow cabs. Even though fluoro's are only warm to the touch they still throw out heat. I have found that using glass drops the temp by at least 5-7 degrees. IMO the slight loss of light is worth the improvement in cooling.

I am concerned about the loss of UV though as the bulk is filtered out especially when using soda lime glass. Of course the verdict is still out as to exactly how much UV rays contribute to the quality and/or quantity of cannabinoids.

-bakelite

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Hydro, I use glass between my plants and my light source in all of my grow cabs. Even though fluoro's are only warm to the touch they still throw out heat. I have found that using glass drops the temp by at least 5-7 degrees. IMO the slight loss of light is worth the improvement in cooling.

I am concerned about the loss of UV though as the bulk is filtered out especially when using soda lime glass. Of course the verdict is still out as to exactly how much UV rays contribute to the quality and/or quantity of cannabinoids.

-bakelite

Yeah, it's a subject that's hotly debated.

Personally I grow for medical reasons so I'm most interested in max potency of all cannabinoids. To me this means not filtering any light at all.

Again, anything you can do with glass with these lamps, you can pretty much accomplish by upgrading your ventilation instead.

There isn't any closer my lights can get to my plants and the canopy is at a perfect 75F. By keeping the air flow proper I can add quite a bit more lighting in there and still be fine without glass. In time.


Ok.... if you're running T5 lamps, I can see using glass as those bulbs supposedly don't pump out their max lumens unless the air around the bulb is at least 95F. I'd rather not have that smacked right down on my plants. The glass actually allows the bulbs to sit in that hot 95F air and still be right on top of your plants. Glass is a distinct advantage there. Same with HID lighting.

The 55w PL-L lamps run at max lumen output at only 75F.
For all other CFLs I can see the advantage to glass but not with these lamps.

 

[bakelite]

The 55w PL-L lamps run at max lumen output at only 75F.
For all other CFLs I can see the advantage to glass but not with these lamps.

Hydro, That is an excellent point about the optimal operating temps of the PL-L bulbs!

I'd really like to increase the air turnover in my PL-L veg cab. Right now due to financial limitations I only have a few 120mm AC fans to work with so I'm stuck with using glass to keep the temps down. In the future I'd like to get a small Dayton squirrel cage blower and tweak the speed to find a happy medium of airflow and noise level.

I honestly think that there is something to the UV-B/cannabinoid relationship. Of course that isn't anything that a couple of Reptisun 10.0 bulbs couldn't take care of :smile:

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Hydro, That is an excellent point about the optimal operating temps of the PL-L bulbs!

I'd really like to increase the air turnover in my PL-L veg cab. Right now due to financial limitations I only have a few 120mm AC fans to work with so I'm stuck with using glass to keep the temps down. In the future I'd like to get a small Dayton squirrel cage blower and tweak the speed to find a happy medium of airflow and noise level.

I honestly think that there is something to the UV-B/cannabinoid relationship. Of course that isn't anything that a couple of Reptisun 10.0 bulbs couldn't take care of :smile:

The airflow is key.

I too am looking forward to playing with UVB a bit in the future. One step at a time though. Ventilation first, then a cab for the long flower sativas.... THEN I get to play with UVB. Should have a back-stock of meds by then so things won't be as sketchy as they are right now.

 

[staank]

These things must be popular, I've had some 50w on backorder for almost 2 weeks now.

 

[Tanuvan]

These things must be popular, I've had some 50w on backorder for almost 2 weeks now.

Where did you order from? I got mine from htgsupply in about 3-4 days. I ordered a crap ton of them too.

Also, the reflectors for the PL-L's that come with the AH kit are top notch. I recommend them. The ballast is a workhorse 5 so one ballast for 2 (55 watt PL-Ls) They come with bulb mounting brackets that fit inside of the reflector that holds the bulb at both ends. So, you don't really need to drill holes in the side of your cab...

These PL-Ls are pretty nice, and not too hard to find.

 

[staank]

I ordered from 100bulbs - bulbs, ballasts and sockets.
Originally they told me they had bulbs and ballasts in stock, and needed to order the sockets, now they tell me the bulbs are also backordered.

oh well.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I ordered from 100bulbs - bulbs, ballasts and sockets.
Originally they told me they had bulbs and ballasts in stock, and needed to order the sockets, now they tell me the bulbs are also backordered.

oh well.

I've been pimpin' these lights from 1000bullbs.com all over the place. It's no wonder they're out of stock.

 

[Tanuvan]

I've been pimpin' these lights from 1000bullbs.com all over the place. It's no wonder they're out of stock.

You get props for these. I wouldn't have looked into them had it not been for your write up.

 

[J-Blunt]

You get props for these. I wouldn't have looked into them had it not been for your write up.

x2 im almost 100% that im using these pl-l in my next cab

 

[Hydro-Soil]

x2 im almost 100% that im using these pl-l in my next cab

I kinda like that warm glow that surrounds my heart when someone decides on a good thing. Especially if you had a part in it.

Thanks to everyone for participating in this thread. It's been received much better than what I expected. Let's keep it going.

 

[charlesweedmore]

hey,
i have 55w pl-l lamp 6500K.it is 4500 lumens.
what is overdrive ?if i do overdrive,will i get more lumens than 4500 ?

 

[Hydro-Soil]

hey,
i have 55w pl-l lamp 6500K.it is 4500 lumens.
what is overdrive ?if i do overdrive,will i get more lumens than 4500 ?

Overdriving.
Overdriving PL-Ls are extremely simple. Normally you wire a PL-L by inserting two short wires on one side of the socket, twisting them together and then connecting them to a red (hot) lead on the ballast.
If you connect to red leads from the ballast to those two holes, on one side fo the socket, and then wire up the yellow lead the same way as normal, the ballast will pump about 80% more energy into the lamp.

Essentially you're pushing the wattage for two lamps into a single lamp. It will definitely increase the number of lumens. It will also run hotter and burn out faster. (PL-Ls can normally flower (without overdriving) just fine for up to 2 years before replacing. If you buy quality.)

Check what I wrote against the pics and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Whoops.... meant to say the pics in the Wiring link in my signature. (sorry)

 

[charlesweedmore]

i make a DIY PLL reflector ( 4 X 55 W ) for seedlings today.it was really easy and PLL lamps are great ! i love them

how close should i put the reflector to seedlings ?

what is the optimum distance between seedlings and PLL ? i touched the PLLs and they were really hot !

 

[Squeeky]

Charles, can you share more information on your reflector? Maybe even a picture I like to copy success.

 

[charlesweedmore]

Squeeky , it is very simple and easy.
unfortunately i dont have an camera.
but a similar model of my reflector is here

they say it is 144€ .that is absolutely bullshit ! i made it almost half price !

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Get a bit more ventilation going as it only takes a slight breeze to cool them down.

Oh, they'll run a bit hot at first. So will the ballast. I can put my hand on any part of the ballast and any part of the lamp, except where it gets close to the socket. It's a bit warmer there always.

The lamps WILL burn your leaves if you don't have enough airflow so make sure you keep them at least half an inch away.

 

[charlesweedmore]

mate i have homebox ,200CFM extractor and 2 oscilation fans

The lamps WILL burn your leaves if you don't have enough airflow so make sure you keep them at least half an inch away.

1/2 inch ? i thought i must keep PLLs 10'' away from young plants ? 1/2 '' isnt too close ?

i will only use 4X55 watt PLL lamps for first 15 days of seedlings from seeds .I'll vegg them under 600w dual spectrum HPS.

PS: i am newbie

 

[staank]

I ended up canceling my order with 1000bulbs for these lights and ballasts.

I ordered on the 5th(thursday) and they said it was all in stock except the sockets which would be in by the 10th(tuesday) and then everything would ship out. Tuesday came and went with no notice so I called and they said now the bulbs are out of stock and would be in the 13th(friday). that date came and went and no notice from them, so I called and they said it would all be in the 20th(friday). so again, that date come and goes and no notice from them, so I call today and they say the bulbs have been in stock all along they were just waiting on sockets which will be in on the 27th( friday again.)

So I canceled my order - which they didn't care about. Usually when you tell a company you are dissatisfied with their customer service they would want to do something to make it better.

I guess I'll check htg as was mentioned before, and some other places.