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

[Tanuvan]

Thanks Squeeky! I will probably go ahead and place them in the utility chamber.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I had my workhorse 7 ballast on for only about an hour just in testing. I was surprised that it do not get very hot. However I still plan on mounting in a utility area. One recommendation would be to use spacers when mounting that greatly reduces the heat as air will travel around the entire casing.

I did see one post on a reef forum about the workhorse 8 getting very hot, however they were running 24/7 for coral growth. He mentioned it wouldn't burn you instantly, he couldn't rest his hand or anything on it though.

That's a good tip on the spacers Squeeky, thanks!

As for the ballast, it will get cooler after it runs for a few weeks. I'm able to rest my hand on the ballast that isn't air-cooled and it won't burn my anymore. It's been running for a few months now. (Most likely that coral growth tank didn't have much ventilation at all for the ballast.... and in a small space)

 

[rave420]

Thanks Rave, but I'm perfectly capable, yes. I was hoping you'd throw up a thread with pics of the steps you've taken at each point. There are a lot of folks that would love to see that as they're not exactly as with it as some of us are. At least not at figuring this exact stuff out. EVeryone has their specialty.

i can do a simple step-by-step thread with pictures as guidelines, but i have to put it off till next weekend. Today is my monday and i am going back to work, which means i don't have a lot of spare time, and the little bit that i have i like to spend in my garden.

I will post one for sure some time though, if i do i let you folks know in here

ahhh whenever i try to solder copper to silver wires and i don't use the proper solder i just get sooooo damn frustrated

 

[fsaebud]

i have been kinda going over this in my head. i have been wanting to make a sealed system but heat defenitly becomes a major issue. i have been thinking these PL-L would work great with a watercooling setup. i have done some water cooling stuff with computers and am thinking about makeing a reflector/watercooled kind of set up. here are some links to some watercooling kits for computers that could posably be addapted

(http://www.xoxide.com/zalman-reserator-1-v2.html)
this one is expensive but would be great if you had a fan blowing on it.

(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106077)
cheep system with everything you would need to cool a couple of lights.

either way you could run the tube along the middle of the two tubes in the PL-L's with an aluminum reflector (aluminum has great heat disipation qualities) to transfure the heat and reflect more light.

this would be an ideal cooling set up for a CO2 supplied sealed grow. i havent played around with it yet but eventually when i have the funds i plan on trying to water cool the lights insted of using fans to see what kind of setup would be needed to cool all of them in a sealed system.

anyone have any thoughts on this kind of set-up? i would love some feedback.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

i have been kinda going over this in my head. i have been wanting to make a sealed system but heat defenitly becomes a major issue.

The lights can definitely be sealed off with a very thin sheet of glass and separately cooled. It's not optimum but it will drop the heat issue to nothing.

If you're going with a 'sealed' system, you have some sort of active cooling in there, right? Otherwise, any light you put in there is going to create issues with heat.

Without extensive DIY and additional materials, those water cooling setups won't be much help. Air is significantly cheaper to work with and way more than adequate.

 

[fsaebud]

thanks for the quick reply. yea i understand the glass with a separate area but i will have supplemental lights on the sides which would be harder to do.

water is alot better medium for the transferring of heat than air is. we went from air cooled engines to liquid cooled engines (still have air blowing over them) that run leaner to make more power and are more efficient thermally.


i might just DIY a large reservoir with a small pump and some tubing and see how well it cools the lights. it wouldn't take much to do a low cost setup cheaply you just would have to sacrifice some extra space for the reservoir. its just a thought i don't have the means to experiment with it just yet but when i do i will document my results. or i might just get an array of these cheap computer cooling kits and see how many it takes to cool a light.

your right though i think air cooling is far cheaper and works fine for plenty of people.

 

[hyposomniac]

Not the cheapest, but these locking bases are pretty excellent.
http://www.coollights.biz/2g11-base-p-38.html?osCsid=2150a9cf1600758ad2e21727c058bb0b

I copied Inefectualize's design.. works nice. Especially like the cooling system (like a cooltube using floro tubeguards)

 

[Tanuvan]

Not the cheapest, but these locking bases are pretty excellent.
http://www.coollights.biz/2g11-base-p-38.html?osCsid=2150a9cf1600758ad2e21727c058bb0b

I copied Inefectualize's design.. works nice. Especially like the cooling system (like a cooltube using floro tubeguards)

Sweet man! I am going to get a few of these. The ones I have leave a bit to be desired, though they do work.

 

[McSnappler]

Hi Hydro-Soil - I'm going to be buying a little PL-L setup next week, but am struggling to get the Fulham Workhorse 7 here in the UK.

At the moment I intend to run 4 55W lamps. I know I can get the lamps & lampholders from BLT Direct, as you recommended above, but for some reason am struggling with ballasts on their website.

I know it's very cheeky, but is there any chance you could help me find a similar ballast online in the UK?

 

[knna]

For use with 120 or 230V?

 

[Hydro-Soil]

For use with 120 or 230V?

Hey Knna!

Yes, very good question.

Look for T5HO ballasts. Ideally you'd want a 220w ballast with 4 leads for 4 lamps. 2 110w ballasts with 2 leads each will work, as will 4 55w ballasts.

Check aquarium supply shops as they sell PL-L fixtures (even though they don't call them that. Aquarium lighting)

 

[McSnappler]

For use with 120 or 230V?

My apologies, for 230/240V in the UK.

Hey Knna!

Look for T5HO ballasts. Ideally you'd want a 220w ballast with 4 leads for 4 lamps. 2 110w ballasts with 2 leads each will work, as will 4 55w ballasts.

Check aquarium supply shops as they sell PL-L fixtures (even though they don't call them that. Aquarium lighting)

Ok, quality - that should've made things a bit simpler for me!

 

[knna]

For 230V, i use the Phillips HF-BII (2*55) or the Osram Quicktronic (2*55). I prefer the Phillips one, smaller and easier to wire. You can find or order them on any electrical warehouse, they are of common use on office's recessed luminaries.

I buy them on Spain for 20€ each (each one supports 2 lamps). The Phillips HF-P is slighty more, but its a soft start ballast.

Do a search for HF ballast on Uk, sure you find a shop selling twin ballast for 55w lamps. Ive done a fast search and found these:

http://www.lightonenergy.co.uk/18W-36W-58W-Twin-Ballast-EL2-p/el2-18-70hf.htm

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OSRAM-2-x-40w-PL-L-HIGH-FREQUENCY-ELECTRONIC-BALLAST_W0QQitemZ220393730379QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_Lights_Lighting_ET?hash=item220393730379&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OSRAM-1-x-55w-PL-L-HF-ELECTRONIC-BALLAST-DULUX-L_W0QQitemZ220393846955QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_Lights_Lighting_ET?hash=item220393846955&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

http://www.lightbulbsuk.co.uk/ballasts--ignitors/philips-ballasts/philips-compact-high-frequency-ballasts/philips-compact-55w-double-high-frequency-ballast

http://www.lightbulbsuk.co.uk/ballasts--ignitors/elt-high-frequency-ballasts/elt-t8-basic-high-frequency-ballast-2-x-58w

http://www.lightbulbsuk.co.uk/ballasts--ignitors/t8-high-frequency-ballasts/t8-high-frequency-twin-ballast-58-watt

 

[McSnappler]

Thanks a lot knna, I think I just needed spelling out exactly what I was after. I'm a bit of a muppet when it comes to things like this!

 

[Tanuvan]

Not the cheapest, but these locking bases are pretty excellent.
http://www.coollights.biz/2g11-base-p-38.html?osCsid=2150a9cf1600758ad2e21727c058bb0b

I copied Inefectualize's design.. works nice. Especially like the cooling system (like a cooltube using floro tubeguards)

Updating this post...the seller has a wiring diagram for these on their website forums.

 

[bakelite]

4X55watt PL-L's

4X55watt PL-L's

Hydro,
After months of dinking around I finally got my PL-L's set up and running in my small grow cab



I was going to go with 3000k bulbs but I got a good deal on ebay for some 3500k's so i'm going with those instead.

Again I fabricated my own reflectors out of a roll of aluminum flashing. This time I put a dimple behind the lamp to help throw the light to the sides. The angles that I used should help minimize restrike. I lined them with Mylar, used aerosol spray adhesive to get them to stick.

The bulbs are driven by an Advance ballast (ICN-4S54-90C-LS). Using 55w bulbs the ballast factor is 0.9 so they are slightly under driven. The lumens should be around 4320 each vs. 4800. This ballast is programmed start which in theory should be easier on the bulbs and make them last a bit longer.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the results. This setup is brighter than I expected. I'm going to be taking some readings with my cheapo light meter just for the hell of it. I'm looking forward to testing them with a run from start to finish.

-bakelite

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Hydro,
After months of dinking around I finally got my PL-L's set up and running in my small grow cab



I was going to go with 3000k bulbs but I got a good deal on ebay for some 3500k's so i'm going with those instead.

Again I fabricated my own reflectors out of a roll of aluminum flashing. This time I put a dimple behind the lamp to help throw the light to the sides. The angles that I used should help minimize restrike. I lined them with Mylar, used aerosol spray adhesive to get them to stick.

The bulbs are driven by an Advance ballast (ICN-4S54-90C-LS). Using 55w bulbs the ballast factor is 0.9 so they are slightly under driven. The lumens should be around 4320 each vs. 4800. This ballast is programmed start which in theory should be easier on the bulbs and make them last a bit longer.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the results. This setup is brighter than I expected. I'm going to be taking some readings with my cheapo light meter just for the hell of it. I'm looking forward to testing them with a run from start to finish.

-bakelite

Awesome!

I can't wait either.

Check e-bay or other places for a 110w T5HO ballast so you can throw it in there and run 2 lamps from each. (Full power )

Yeah they're bright! LOL And you should have great results with the 3500K lamps without a problem.

 

[McSnappler]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Hydro-Soil again.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to knna again.

Almost got my bits together, just waiting for the lampholders to turn up as the company I bought from sent the wrong ones out. Will post up a little pic of my 110W PL-L seedling box tomorrow hopefully. The rest of the lamps will be going in the veg chamber. THANKS AGAIN guys for this thread, spot on.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Hydro-Soil again.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to knna again.

Almost got my bits together, just waiting for the lampholders to turn up as the company I bought from sent the wrong ones out. Will post up a little pic of my 110W PL-L seedling box tomorrow hopefully. The rest of the lamps will be going in the veg chamber. THANKS AGAIN guys for this thread, spot on.

I only hope this thread helps make the lamps, sockets, ballasts and everything plus better reflectors easily available in stores! So tired of having to order everything online.
(Ok so I live in BFE and have to order online anyway, but that's not the point!)

Glad to see you progressing so well! Keep it up

 

[McSnappler]

I only hope this thread helps make the lamps, sockets, ballasts and everything plus better reflectors easily available in stores!

Probably unlikely, unfortunately. I stopped at five or six local electrical suppliers, who looked at me like I was stupid when I asked for 2G11 sockets.