Micro Grow Off Ideas!

Indoor Growing
#295

@legalcanada Those bulbs should work, never tried them though.

The ones i dismantled are the 14w (1500 lumen) ones below, i also have used the 8w (800 lumen) versions that come in a 4 pack. Also i will state not all the bulbs i’ve tried are actually running at the listed wattage, most are actually a bit more efficient.

If you have a Home De-Pot near you they will have those 14w 1500 lumen ones and they usually have the best price for the higher wattage ones compared to your other big box stores such as Rona, Walmart, Canadian tire, or whatever. As far as i’m aware the others don’t have the philips branded ones, but they carry their own brands.

Now about those lesser 800 lumen bulbs sometimes the price difference between those and the 1500 lumens ones are such a difference that its still cheaper to go the smaller bulb route with extra sockets even if you have to run twice as many.

But seriously if you have a home depot near you they will have them.

Oh and go for the non-dimmable bulbs as we don’t need the extra circuity and cost that’s in the dimmable ones, we just need the plain basic bulbs, cheaper the better so long as their efficiency is relatively the same.

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.100w-equivalent-soft-white-2700k-a19-led-light-bulb-2-pack.1001002646.html

1 Like
#296

Phone meters are nowhere near accurate for measurement due to them not being correct in regards to Lambert’s_cosine_law if you want to get nerdy, but they can be used for a like to like comparison its just the values you get are not accurate.

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#297

The value in a free app is you generate comparative results if when new and unmolested a bulb puts out a given value you can check to see if it comes close to advertised specs. Then when bulb is modified you can check for actual improvement. No need to dump on earned data for inaccuracies

2 Likes
#298

im not im just saying that the phone meter is not an accurate device to check with, a cheap lux meter is better if doing testing, but have i used a phone for comparative results sure i have, but really it’s just a ball park thing like “A” registers brighter than “B” in the field of view that sensor is viewing but we really cant say by how much because its not anywhere near accurate.

Thats all, trust me im not dumping on any of that.

#299

thank you for your response. i don’t want to use sockets i want to remove the chips and wire them up as you have them, so what do i need for a power source? and is the ballast at the bottom of the bulb near the socket?

1 Like
#300

this previous post should help with that then, posted it on the weekend. You’ll need to mount them to heat sinks like i did, as for a power source its already there just have to wire the ballasts up to 120vac just make sure you cover any exposed contacts on the back of those ballast and wires, no need to get zapped or killed.

Just expand the posts below

Also i mounted mine to some cpu heatsinks i already hand and saw using, and then mounted them like such in my pc case

3 Likes
#301

wow that’s pretty good, 1500 lumens and 2700k even, about $6.50 each. i ended up grabbing one bulb at dollarama today for $4, it was 1500 lumens but 5000k spectrum, only 10w bulb, just to experiment with taking it apart. plus i need to set up a separate area for my seedlings as i realized yesterday they are in my 12/12 tent (ya, i’m a dumbass lol).

i’m not sure what you mean hook up to 120vac - like i connect the wires to a regular AC plug to put in an outlet? would i need a separate outlet for each ballast or can i wire them all together some how? sorry if this is explained in that other thread, i did see those other posts but i’m not very knowledgeable with electrical.

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#302

You can wire the ballasts parallel.

Just treat it like your wiring up light sockets.

Hots to hot
Neutrals to neutral.

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#303

as @jellypowered said, you would just wire up all the Load sides of the ballast to one position on a terminal block, and all the neutrals to another position, which you then wire up a standard electrical cord that you have kicking around to there corresponding sides, Load to load, neutral to neutral and you good to go. I suggest using terminal blocks just for the ease of it, but you could solder them all together as well, or even use marrettes if your lazy but you will have to solder extension wire onto the ballasts anyways.

5 Likes
#304

Slow progress this week, as I have to get ready for the holidays. I was looking through my seeds and have it narrowed down to either the Blueberry by Dinafem or some old bag seeds from some Mexican brick weed (tennis ball pheno). I call it the tennis ball pheno because the bag they came from was bright green like a tennis ball. Usually it’s dark green or even brown.

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#305

I have some regs for you if you need something to grow. Just haven’t put the thread up yet.

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#306

id run the bag seed for fun

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#307

So I’m slowly making progress on my 1x1x2 cab. I got it painted and caulked all the seams. I lined the bottom with panda plastic and lined the rest with reflectix. I also cut holes and wired up connectors for the lights and fan.

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After a quick test to make sure it held water (it did), I was ready to start construction on my mini Soma SIP. First I filled the bottom with a layer of lava rock up to the bottom of the over fill holes. Then I placed the four air/fill hole tubes in the corners.

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Next I added another layer of lava rock to just above the over fill holes. This gives an air gap of about one inch and should provide oxygen to the roots. On top of the lava rock is some 1/4" hardware cloth.

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The hardware cloth was then covered with landscaping fabric.

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And finally, the rest is filled with soil. It was just shy of two gallons of soil.

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I put the door on, and hooked up the fan, and lights. I ran it for a couple of hours and it was a steady 70°F the whole time. I got the hardware mounted, it looks pretty rustic.

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All that I have left is wiring everything together. I decided to use my S&P TD-100 4" inline fan for the box. Overkill, I know. I’ll have it on a thermostat, not on all the time. So I’ll have to use a relay to turn that on and off. I also have a timer that I’ll mount to the back along with a potentiometer to vary the speed of the circulation fan. All this will be shoved in a project box along with a fused power switch and power cord plug. I’ll mount the fan and the two drivers on the back as well. It’s not going to be super stealthy, but it should blend in and get the job done. I’ll likely get rid of it after the challenge.

So who’s still in this? Looks like @lotus710 has been absent lately, I would be able to run it if there is enough interest.

7 Likes
#308

That’s some nice construction. You have put a lot of effort into it and it shows

2 Likes
#309

I love building cabs, but might have to upgrade to building rooms…

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#310

When is the start date? I still have to move my whole setup to even get started. I want in though

#311

We all were planning on starting on 1-JAN-18 but I don’t mind postponing if everyone still needs time to get their stuff assembled, ready to run.

@ReikoX Looks FANTASTIC. Way better than mine turned out. My free plywood has warped as it’s dried, and I need to seal the cracks again. It’s holding my auto right now, kinda don’t care much right now lol.

1 Like
#312

@ReikoX Nice build, im looking forward to the progress shots out of that box.

Also im still in, will be running the bucket, and also will be running at least one plant in a party cup just for the fun upcoming contest starting at the same time.

#313

I cannot be built and prepared by the first, but I don’t want to hold everyone else up either

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#314

Well, if I’m running it, I’ll set it up so that the end date is long enough away to allow a few stragglers to enter. It’s all about fun and bragging rights.

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