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low tech cheap lighting - guide

3675 Views 14 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  colinsk
11
Ok I promised before to couple of people that i ll make this guide . This morning finally got my hands on a camera and took some pics that will help me explain whats being done.
This is converting ur original hood into more powerfull one :

1.Disconnect power and remove original guts from the hood. ( save the screws)
2.Cut the wires as close to the original balast as possible so that you are left with enough wiring for ur new fixture.It should look like that :

and here is close up on the wires left . U will need couple more 5 inch long wires to connect both screw in type of sockets together.:

4. install reflector . i used aluminum foil which isnt great but works somewhat . if u can get real reflector i am sure it would work much better .
anywyas mine looks like that :

this is after i cut the foil so there can be some air circulation.\:

5.You gonna need two of this :
.
I got those in home depot . Make sure they got a screw holder .
another pic of it :

6.Connect the swith wires in series with power wires ( one of the switch wires together with one of the power wires. use wire nut as shown :

7.Connect the two sockets in parrellel and hook up the power to it as shown :
.
8. screw in the sockets using saved screws :

and insulate the connections with electrical tape :

9. screw the bulbs in and test it :)


I am using one 27 watts and one 32 wattas bulb and have no issue with heat .

Please if you dont have any technical experiance DO NOT DO it yourself .
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Nice write up!

Just a few comments though. Incandescent fixtures are not suitable for growing plants since they don't produce a lot of light, despite the wattage. Fluorescent and compact fluorescent bulbs put out far more light per watt than incandescent bulbs do and are thus suitable for growing plants.

Also, I was wondering why you wired the bulbs in series? Wouldn't this make the second bulb dimmer? I'm not a hundred percent sure, bur I think lighting is always done in parallel.
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