help me with cfls

[thedonofchronic]

i got only a few going at the moment and need alot more light. i got a bunch of good cfl bulbs just cant find a way to put them all in there. you know what i mean? right now i literally have 2 in desk lamps and one in a regular lamp. lol... i wanted to get a rack that fits a bunch of them in it. but they all have to be wired into the walls. i need something i can just plug in and move around wherever i want. any ideas please? thank you

 

[diablo_cannabis]

there are a couple of options. you could buy a couple of these:

or, even though this style of light is made to be hard wired, it is possible to wire on a pigtail. A few safety tips though, make sure you insulate each wire individually with some black tape and then tape them all together, so the wires do not come undone. Also make sure that you use a grounded pigtail.

 

[noneedforalarm]

i went to home depot and found some sockets with one black and one white wire coming out the back and my plan is to use 4 sockets with 4-40 watt cfls putting out 2750 lumens each,after the sockets i plan on buying one extension cord with a ground plug(if you know what i mean,tri hookup)and wiring all 4 to the cord.also in between the cord and the wired cfls i plan on hooking up a flip switch to cut them all off if needed.this is gonna run me about 70 bucks so im thinkin bout lookin elsewhere for light.but this is a rather easy way to hook it up and plug it in all with one cord and have a switch on an off since no ground wire.if you dont get what im saying lemme know,its a terrible description im sure =P

 

[willowgrow]

They sell those spotlight lookin things at homedepot for pretty cheap (10$ i think?), a small one and a larger one. You can also buy a socket Y-Adapter that will allow you to run 2 cfls per socket instead of one. If your going to hard wire a panel like that second pic make sure you use wire nuts and not just electrical tape. They also sell sockets that just have a plug on the other end, so you can buy a surge-protector strip and plug a few of those right into that and hang it above your plants.

 

[Johnnyrotten123]

Can u say "FIRE"!!! Theres tons of ideas about lights on this site, search and smile-Peace

 

[slowmo77]

i took a piece of wood a little smaller than my box L x W drilled holes in it and wired light sockets into it. then when i screwed the bulb in it would hold its self. if that makes sense to you.. paint it flat white, tie cords to the corners and then you can raise and lower it as needed. hope this helps

 

[thedonofchronic]

this is what i got right now. the clones are looking weak but im trying to do my best haha

 

[slowmo77]

you need to get your lights alot closer imo. they will stretch alot with them that far away. you'd be better off taking the sockets and cord out of those lamps and just hang them above the plants

 

[Waspfire]

here is the top of my set up i just finshed
sits flipped over on to another tub same size

 

[thedonofchronic]

better? in the manner of closer to the plants? but i will break them eventualy so i can hang them and raise them

 

[nycdiesel]

Don't use a regular switch!

Buy a GFI switch there more expensive but it essentially a circuit breaker (the same as in your electric box).

Run the extension cord into a 1900 box. Connect cord to box with squeeze connector. Buy an outdoor switch plate to hold your GFI switch to 1900 box. Connect cord to LINE side of GFI switch. Connect wires from socket to 1900 box with a squeeze connector. Connect socket wires to LOAD side of GFI switch.

If you don't want to buy a light, that is how to do it safely.

GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!GFI is KEY!!!!!

 

[willowgrow]

better? in the manner of closer to the plants? but i will break them eventualy so i can hang them and raise them

CFS don't run hot at all, you want them literally within inches of you plants for them to work efficiently.

 

[D.W.FAAMER]

cfl's don't run hot at all?i hear that all the time. go ahead and put 10 23 watt cfl's in a box,not open room and tell the guy they're not hot. my advice is get a real lamp.cfl's are garbage! sure it can make pretty bud.but a sodium smokes cfl's.don't waste your time.

 

[willowgrow]

cfl's don't run hot at all?i hear that all the time. go ahead and put 10 23 watt cfl's in a box,not open room and tell the guy they're not hot. my advice is get a real lamp.cfl's are garbage! sure it can make pretty bud.but a sodium smokes cfl's.don't waste your time.

Umm.. Relative to HID lighting, CFLS don't run hot at all. He definitely could use a fan to take away the little heat given off by them and increase airflow.
He has 5, not 10 and yes, I would agree without any airflow 10 would create a heat problem.

They arent 'garbage' they do work great for veg. Just keep the lights close to the tops of your babies and grab a small fan to keep the area cool. You really need consider a HPS for flowering, check out hxxp://e-conolight.com/Product/EFamily.asp for the 20$ 150w HPS, if you dont wanna spend the $$$ on a larger system.

 

[WeedHopper]

Hids are better,,but I am happy with my Floras. And they deffinatly arnt Garbage, My Smoke turned out purtty good. Not bad for Floars. http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37396

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Umm.. Relative to HID lighting, CFLS don't run hot at all. He definitely could use a fan to take away the little heat given off by them and increase airflow.

Actually, watt for watt and lumen for lumen, CFL will run as hot or hotter than HIDs.

 

[willowgrow]

Actually, watt for watt and lumen for lumen, CFL will run as hot or hotter than HIDs.

Really? Hadn't really thought of it in watt for watt terms.. But I guess that would make sense. I stand corrected

 

[thedonofchronic]

yeah i find they produce a bit of heat but more heat to the touch really. ive only got 5 of them and their really close to my plants. hopefully everything goes well. they arnt dying but theyre yellowing very slowly...

 

[7thG]

But all technicalities aside they arent hot. So in his situation i think he should really put his cfl's really,really close. A simple fan should be enough to prevent heat problems.

 

[Waspfire]

yeah i have 10 running in my box (4 42 wat and 6 23 wat ones) with 2 crappy computer fans exausting the heat and my temp never gets higher then 80 in it.plus i can grab them with my hand after running for 24 hours