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Remote CFL Ballasts..... Who has the skinny on these?
- Thread starter Hydro-Soil
- Start date
bakelite
Active member
McSnappler, I had the same experience with an electrical wholesale place near me. Good size place, about the size of a Big Lots! store. The place had everything, fluorescent ballasts and sockets of all kinds, some HPS stuff, metal electrical enclosures I had never seen before, all kinds of wire and conduit.....and yet no 2G11 sockets! They probably gave you the same look that I got :smile: I guess they are pretty unusual. It looks as though internet/mail order is the only way for the time being.
-bakelite
bakelite
Active member
Hydro, Those look nice and frosty! Hows does the bud density of your C99 compare to those grown under HID? I know it is a sativa dominant and short flowering but otherwise I'm not real familiar with the strain. Just curious.
I'm finishing off some Deep Chunk and a White Rhino under my new PL-L's. They'll be done any day now. I've got a couple Double Platinum (Bubba/OG Kush cross) and 4 Maple Leaf Indica's that i just popped. I'm really looking forward to see how well they do from start to finish under these puppies.
I really like how these fluoro's evenly distribute light throughout the entire cabinet. HID's are the balls, but I get tired of rearranging my plants all the time due compensating for the single point light source.
-bakelite
This is my first run with both these lamps and this strain.
The lamps are F'n Awesome even with losing a lot of lumens through not having a real reflector.
The strain is awesome (in past experience)but this phenotype isn't what I was expecting. I'm at day 55 now and the buds are just starting to plump up and get dense. I have a cab full of popcorn nugs so far.
I must admit that the plant is femmed and from a mum that's not known for being a great yeilder and with no real known ancestry other than it came out of the clubs some years ago. Looks awesomely frosty though, eh?
I'm looking forward to further grows under these lamps and planning on setting up a few more cabs.
Thats awesome bakelite. What do you say about posting it in the pll reflector thread i started here? http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=114922&highlight=pll+reflector
I would be really grateful to get some other peoples work in there too. Any other construction pictures you have and a brief writeup would be most appreciated!
I should have used some spray adhesive and mylar too. Next grow for sure - as long as urs hasn't peeled off by then! Thanks man.
I would be really grateful to get some other peoples work in there too. Any other construction pictures you have and a brief writeup would be most appreciated!
I should have used some spray adhesive and mylar too. Next grow for sure - as long as urs hasn't peeled off by then! Thanks man.
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
Those look GREAT buddy!!! Glad those PL-l's are rocking for ya I can't wait to see the final yield on this set up..
ThanksThose look GREAT buddy!!! Glad those PL-l's are rocking for ya I can't wait to see the final yield on this set up..
Just so everyone knows, I haven't had a scale in years so I won't have anything to show other than pictures.
I can't wait to put a screen in there and get my max yield for the lamps but I have too many more strains to run first. LOL (What a problem to cry about, eh?)
Finally pulled some pics off my camera of the PL-L CFLs in action - great lights, with a bit of airflow they run pretty cool.
These lights are sooooo bitchin
I love how that cab looks in the dark room.... great job on the paint and I WANT THOSE CLIPS! (J/K)
Can't wait to see how things look in there with green leafy thingies
Here's a couple pics of my first harvest, if'n yer interested.
I pulled this lot at day 60
(that's a one gallon pickle jar)
This hanging stuff was cut on day 65
Here's a shot of an inch deep pile of trim, all frosty as hell. (I tossed the non-frosty fan leaves)
Keep in mind that this first run was totally mickey mouse in the construction and lacked severely in reflective surfaces. There was also a point where the res was dropped (right at peak bud production) and all growth stopped for 3 days. I also started smoking off the plants almost 3 weeks before I harvested. LOL
The cab has been painted and the lava-rock (Which happened to show almost NO root mass) has been replaced with hydroton.
All in all I'm truly impressed and I can say that I'll most likely always have a cab with these CFLs for personal smoke, at least until something better comes along.
The C-99 pheno I have isn't what I was expecting but pretty damn good for femmed seed of a long flowering C-99 cut.
Combine that with the total lack of root structure in the lava-rock and I'm convinced I need to run it again. The hydroton in the buckets this time will help significantly in that respect. Should see some really interesting things out of it.
REMOTE BALLAST CFLs ROCK!!
I love how that cab looks in the dark room.... great job on the paint and I WANT THOSE CLIPS! (J/K)
Can't wait to see how things look in there with green leafy thingies
Here's a couple pics of my first harvest, if'n yer interested.
I pulled this lot at day 60
(that's a one gallon pickle jar)
This hanging stuff was cut on day 65
Here's a shot of an inch deep pile of trim, all frosty as hell. (I tossed the non-frosty fan leaves)
Keep in mind that this first run was totally mickey mouse in the construction and lacked severely in reflective surfaces. There was also a point where the res was dropped (right at peak bud production) and all growth stopped for 3 days. I also started smoking off the plants almost 3 weeks before I harvested. LOL
The cab has been painted and the lava-rock (Which happened to show almost NO root mass) has been replaced with hydroton.
All in all I'm truly impressed and I can say that I'll most likely always have a cab with these CFLs for personal smoke, at least until something better comes along.
The C-99 pheno I have isn't what I was expecting but pretty damn good for femmed seed of a long flowering C-99 cut.
Combine that with the total lack of root structure in the lava-rock and I'm convinced I need to run it again. The hydroton in the buckets this time will help significantly in that respect. Should see some really interesting things out of it.
REMOTE BALLAST CFLs ROCK!!
DonkeyPunch
Member
Hydro-Soil - I mentioned this in another thread, but it probably belongs here.
I plan to use a total of 880 watts of light (Total grow under 1k of power including pumps and fans).
It will be 16 lights total. All of them 3000k 55 watt PL-L's
14 lamps (770 watts) in the flower room 6 lamps on top shining down, and 2 each on each side including the door, shining horizontally, into the sides of plant growth. This room will be 3 foot wide, 2 foot deep, and 3 foot high. 6 square feet with 770 watts from all sides on the plants....
2 Lights on the top in the mother room.
Shape will be somewhat like an NGB cabinet.
No dirt, except for bonsai mothers.
An aeroponic system for flowering and cloning. The system will have another lower compartment with a 30 gallon reservoir, and 4x4 fence posts with misters in the flowering room, and of course drainage for the fenceposts to the rez below.
I will take cuts and clone in the flowering system in plain water, then I will add nutes for a grow once roots show up. I know cloning and growing in the mother room will slow things down a few weeks, but trying to keep total plants under 30 this way... Plus the 770 watts in 6 square feet should make up for it in yield...
Think of a NGB cab with the left side being 3 compartments. Mother, Dryer, and Utility. Flower side being a 3Wx2Dx3H flower area with 24 plants in an aeroponic SOG. 12/12 from good rooting. Under all that is a 30 gallon rez for nutes in another compartment. Planned size is around 4Wx2Dx6H.
Do you think I would be better off with a 400watt in a cooltube at the top, with 8 PL-L wrapping around the sides of the cab, or like I described above?
Se any other problems with what I describe?
I plan to use a total of 880 watts of light (Total grow under 1k of power including pumps and fans).
It will be 16 lights total. All of them 3000k 55 watt PL-L's
14 lamps (770 watts) in the flower room 6 lamps on top shining down, and 2 each on each side including the door, shining horizontally, into the sides of plant growth. This room will be 3 foot wide, 2 foot deep, and 3 foot high. 6 square feet with 770 watts from all sides on the plants....
2 Lights on the top in the mother room.
Shape will be somewhat like an NGB cabinet.
No dirt, except for bonsai mothers.
An aeroponic system for flowering and cloning. The system will have another lower compartment with a 30 gallon reservoir, and 4x4 fence posts with misters in the flowering room, and of course drainage for the fenceposts to the rez below.
I will take cuts and clone in the flowering system in plain water, then I will add nutes for a grow once roots show up. I know cloning and growing in the mother room will slow things down a few weeks, but trying to keep total plants under 30 this way... Plus the 770 watts in 6 square feet should make up for it in yield...
Think of a NGB cab with the left side being 3 compartments. Mother, Dryer, and Utility. Flower side being a 3Wx2Dx3H flower area with 24 plants in an aeroponic SOG. 12/12 from good rooting. Under all that is a 30 gallon rez for nutes in another compartment. Planned size is around 4Wx2Dx6H.
Do you think I would be better off with a 400watt in a cooltube at the top, with 8 PL-L wrapping around the sides of the cab, or like I described above?
Se any other problems with what I describe?
With that kind of wattage you really need to think about the level of stealth your area requires. The quieter it needs to be, the cheaper and less hassle it will be to stick with all CFLs.
Sounds like a bad-ass cab.... Can't wait to see it in action. I know you won't be dissappointed
Yes, I was damn skippy happy.
Considering all the screwups and negatives working against them, these lamps worked like a champ. The smoke is dense nugs, the potency is excellent (after a week and a half cure) and I'm gonna keep a cab of these CFLs around permanently for personal head stash.
Turns out the root structure on these babies was almost nothing which explains the small bud size. Still I harvested enough that it should save me $800 before it's gone. Maybe more.
I give these CFLs 2 thumbs up and a happy feet clap! They ROCK!
DonkeyPunch
Member
With that kind of wattage you really need to think about the level of stealth your area requires. The quieter it needs to be, the cheaper and less hassle it will be to stick with all CFLs.
Sounds like a bad-ass cab.... Can't wait to see it in action. I know you won't be dissappointed
I own my home, don't invite friends to come over here, and it will be in my workroom. I have no reason for stealth other than oder control. No matter how stealth it is the cops will find if they kick in my door... I view stealth as a thing to hide from people that are not cops, which I don't have here.
What ever I do will be more stealth than the last setup I had to tear down. 3x5 homemade tent, 6 biobuckets, 1k watt light, and a 1300 GPH 2 foot high waterfall that made all kinds of racket. Not to mention the vortex fan running on it. Sounded like a freaking pumphouse for an Olympic pool in my basement.
Had to tear it all down to have a new central air/furnace installed when mine died for good. Said "fuck that" when it came to building it all back, and just sold off my 1000 watter to a friend looking to put another light on his big non personal grow.
I want a box, just so I can roll it out load on truck and drive away if needed.
These lights are sooooo bitchin
I love how that cab looks in the dark room.... great job on the paint and I WANT THOSE CLIPS! (J/K)
Can't wait to see how things look in there with green leafy thingies
Here's a couple pics of my first harvest, if'n yer interested.
Hey dude, inspirational harvest pics!
I posted the clips because I'd seen you mention before how you wanted some!!
Unfortunately the cab above didn't actually work out that well. I finished it off (there's no ventilation in the pic above) and put some young plants and mums in there.. a week later they were really ill, and turns out the material the box is made from (particleboard) was offgassing the way some grow tents have been known to!
Below is a shot of the PL-Ls in their current useage, planning to do another similar box to the above again though, for a few experimental microgrows.
That's a pretty broad statement and not completely true. Stealth cabs have remained hidden from LEO looking for grow ops in the past and I don't see that changing. Always keep your odor in check.
If they're kicking your door down for smoke, it wasn't because of the cab failing to be stealthy.... it's from something else you're doing.
Then by all means, grab an HID and some big fans and go for it.
Not all of us have the same luxury you do. In fact, most of us don't.
DonkeyPunch
Member
First off I apologize man - I am not trying to be rude and did not mean to piss you off...
I meant no offense man - please don't take it that way - I am asking for advice as to which is my better bet for my particular situation yield wise. I am not trying to be a dick and brag about the fact that I keep my house free of people, or don't have a landlord to sweat.
All I was saying is fan noise is no problem for me, and is not a consideration in my build. I understand many do not have that luxury.
I am hoping for this to be the last system I build, and that's why I was planning to throw so many PL-L's in it, to make sure it produced enough. I am wondering if maybe I should go HPS instead.
I am leaning to a high number of PL-L's, simply because I think I will show people what CFL's could do yield wise... But at the same time I am thinking I could get similar results with less wattage with HID.
bakelite
Active member
DP, have you considered mixing HPS with PL-L's? I seriously think there is some potential there.
One thing I don't like about HID is the fact that it is point source which requires you to move the plants (or the light source) to get uniform growth. PL-L's on the other hand, while not as intense HID's do provide a more evenly distributed light source. In addition, fluoro's offer the option of combining different color temperatures (2700k to 10,000K+) which would allow one to customize the blue to red ratio depending on your needs. In theory by using more blue one could offset the stretching that is often seen when using just HPS. Just sharing thoughts
-bakelite
Oi, looks like I slipped on my meds again. Sorry
I think the question you should seriously pose to yourself is.... "How much are you going to need?" That's really going to establish what type of light you're going to need.
If it's just you, 220w of PL-L lamps are going to bury you in smoke if you follow the Lucas formula and go hydro. You won't need all those extra lamps, it will run super quiet and you can cool it with a single Panasonic Whisper CEILING 80cfm fan. About $100 on sale.
If it's 2 people or you're treating cancer I'd definitely go with HID, depending on how much they require as well. I'd recommend a 400w CMH lamp for maximum potency and minimum Infra-Red heat to deal with. Best of both worlds.
So.... How much do you use currently each month and what quality is the source?
