I thought I'd throw up a few pics of my new project as I build it up, but first, a question:

How close can I get my 20W (100W equivalent) CFL's from Tescos, to the flourescent tubing (standard 18W 2ft osrams)???



Onto the build then. It all starts out with a bit of wood and a tube of no more nails and the obligatory dominoes pizza

Glue it all together, stick a sack 'o spuds on top, and leave overnight to dry...




J

A few licks of value white paint (donated), and it's looking good

Total cost so far:

MDF £13.68
No more nails £4.48
2ft piano hinge £2.24
Morissons magnetic latches 98p
Tesco CFL lights - 5 for £1 (I was in the right place at the right time - they ran out within 2 hours)

TOTAL = £22.38

All tools lent out from mates so far.
Flouro tubes I have been using, but in a 2ft square
Double fan from an X-box 360, running on a 3.7V nokia charger. I also have a PC power supply, so i think i can rig this up to give me either 5v or 12v if i need more oomph


Anyway. Got the drill and jigsaw and cut two 2.5 inch holes for passive intake, plus the same again at the other end, but at the top for the x-box fan.

Then the electronic gubbins out of my flouro shop light (all the bits which get hot) got no-more nailed to the top of the box, while a small hole was drilled for the 3 wires that connect it all.

Makes mental note - must make a cover for the electric bits It'll probably get forgotten knowing me


J

This box is gonna be no-more nails crazy!

Guess what I used to affix the x-box fan Surprising how much air this shifts on only 3.7volts to be honest, but i still think i'll need to upgrade to the pc power supply - those cfl's get pretty hot - i got one running in my bedroom.

So next job - in with the flouros, with yup, you guessed it - no more nails (they came off a metal reflector and only had little plastic ball joint thingys)

That's where I am at the moment - just waiting for the lights to dry to the roof


Now you can see the 2 gaps in between the flouro tubes - I want to put 2 20W CFL's in each gap, but they'll be almost touching the flouro tubes (which don't even get warm usually). Will this be OK?

I may have to rethink the CFL placement, and drop them in vertically




Jimbo

Here's the CFL's ready to be wired in (and half a jar of Master Kush )

And a sneak preview of what's going in once it's built (for now).

Top - Seedsman Northern Lights (sativa )
6 little ones - Lowlife Auto AK47 x Diesel
Bottom left - chillis
Right - 3 unsuccesful clones, and 1 good Magic bud clone (I think - never labelled them )


J

Looking sweet and good value as well - my lights for the mum cab strip 30w t8's - got 3 of them from b&q for 15 quid each, the plants can almost touch them without burn - like 1cm away seems ok - also then dont get that hot - i turn off 2 of them when i go to sleep (1 of them has a really shit ballast and buzzes) plus i turn off the pc fan as it's too noisy but when its on and all 3 t8s temps are around 25 so i think 2 fans will be ample.

Yeah, the flouro tubes put out little, if any, heat. 1cm away is fine. It's more the 20w cfl's i'm worried about - the one i have in my bedroom is too hot to touch





J

Well I decided to just go for it - my little 'uns were starting to lean toward the window with no source of proper light, so out came the flouro tubes in order to fit the CFL's.

Drilled the holes through and fitted a chunky block connector before fitting a plug with a 5A fuse.

Just need to borrow a hot glue gun to fix all the wiring and starter motors up tidily to the roof, fit the hinge and latches, silicon seal the CFL power wire holes and seal around the door.

That's tomorrows job though - it's up and running with the door propped up against it,

23.4oC
43% RH.

I'm pretty happy with that




Jimbo

looking good

Very nice set up!





I would be very concerned and keep a very close eye on your temps when you first start up. If your extraction fan runs continously during lights on you should be fine. The big worry here is if your fan dies on its own during lights on (a very small but definite risk). You might want to put some sort of thermostat switch on your lights, that turns them off if temps get too high.

a fire extinguisher nearby with a smoke alarm is a must.

Very nice set up!





I would be very concerned and keep a very close eye on your temps when you first start up. If your extraction fan runs continously, during lights on, you should be fine. The big worry here is if your fan dies on its own during lights on (a very small but definite risk). You might want to put some sort of thermostat switch on your lights, that turns them off if temps get too high.

A fire extinguisher nearby with a smoke alarm is a must.

Thanks peanut.

Sound for the advice rand.

I will definately keep an eye on that fan - it is out of an x-box 360 after all!

I think I'm gonna set up a pc power supply though, so I can have the twin fan for extract and another single for intake, all running on 5v.




Jimbo

My Thoughts Exactly..

nice mummy house ,they should be loving it...im thinking of an attempt to make one,seeing yours has helped..thank you