Modifying a CFL..

CaptainStoner

I'm a bit of a jack of all trades really, done lots of jobs including sparky, car mechanic, computer tech, helpdesk operative, but currently i'm off sick long term. Which is why i'm broke and wish to save money by using CFLs hehe

AJ

Gonetripping

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CaptainStoner

Hmm. Just in case anyone else is following this thread, i've been reading up on a guide (thanks, GT) about this and it looks like the wire i have should be fine. I'm going to do one, just as a tester, and get it outside to test it. Once i've done that I can get the multimeter on the outputs and check that the wire is fine for that particular bulb - CFLs from different brands vary in the way they're wired. I did buy a bulb specifically to test this mod with - 20ish watt 2700k CFLs are dirt cheap here in the UK. I don't think i'll be putting a guide up, anyone who will be safe doing this, will already know how. There are other, easier for the untrained methods of keeping things cool with CFLs, but this one suits me. I will post a pic of the bulb working remote ballasted though for all the picwhores lol

Pappy

Hey Cap'n,

Thanks for remembering us pic whores. I would like to see how this experiment turns out. Does the U.K. have the 50Hz current, as per most of Europe? Or is it 60 cycles, like the U.S.? I remember coming into ports in the Med, at night, and seeing the city lights flicker. I didn't know, at the time, it was caused by a mere 10 cycle difference.

Pappy

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You can't believe anything I say, and only half of what you see me do.

CaptainStoner

yeah we're 230v 50hz. the human eye can tell the difference.

CaptainStoner

What people here are gonna have to get used to is apart from being a mad scientist type i'm also a bloody genius.. lol

Just gave the mod a try. 80cm(2.75 feet-ish) of wire between the ballast and the tube. I haven't yet done any multimeter testing or anything like that but i did fire the bulb up for a few seconds just now, works fine, instant start, looks to be fully bright. If there was a problem with this it would have either tripped my circuit breaker, or the bulb just wouldn't have worked properly, if at all. I had to do a little gluing (super high temp glue) on a couple of the wires just to keep the wires that come directly out of the tube from touching. That stuff takes 24hrs to dry so i'm waiting for it all to be fully solid before i test anything properly.

The next job in this project is to design a ballast box. I'm going to design this so it has plugs for the wires rather than terminal blocks or direct soldering. I'll probably just use a standard black plastic potting box for this. I want it to be actively cooled. I do have some mini heatsinks for the transistors in these instant start ballasts but they probably won't be needed. What i'm going to do is put a little pc fan, probably a 80 or 60mm one, slowed down so it is silent but still moves enough air, into the box. This should keep plenty of air moving through the box, keeping the ballasts cool enough to last a decent amount of time. The lamps i'm going to use in my grow are guaranteed for 10 years at 2.7hr per day. these will be on 12hr or 13hr a day so i expect them to last approx. 3 years. They should last longer than that, but tubes do deteriorate and put out less light over time, so i'd expect to change them at 2.5-3yrs. They're about one pound sterling each, and i'll be using 8-10 of them. The wire and solder i got free from one of the jobs i did years ago making wiring looms for siemens MRI scanners. I'm using bits of coke cans for reflectors (grounded), and i have a wide selection of plugs and sockets i've collected over the years. also cheap pc fans, and loads of 6-12vdc mains adaptors to run one.. so therefore, i can get a growlight up to 250w of 2700k or 4000k bulbs, each of which make 1800 or 1600 lumens, can't remember off the top of my head which.. (18k total) for ten pounds. This is as cheap as a 70w 6300 lumen HPS bulb on its own. I like it.

Just found out that a local store does 2700k 20w 1200 lumen versions for 0.49 (about one US dollar) for TWO.. 12 of those = 240w, 14400 lumen.. and 6 pounds sterling

/me grins

jangel

Now you have impressed me all to hell! Surprisingly I understood some of what you wrote so I am not as stupid as I think I am! LOL! Woow! Good goin' and boy am I glad you are here!!!!

One for the good guys!!!!!

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Life,
j-angel


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

Cloning a Flowering Plant My Little Grow Blueberry

CaptainStoner

dont get used to it, such moments of inspiration are rare.. lol

edit: and usually the result of some good herbal intervention

EDIT2: quick update, i had the bulbs on for about 10 minutes earlier. the ballasts didnt seem to get warm. The tubes however did and there's this ceramic stuff on the back of the tubes which must be heating up the ballast by transferring that heat in the small space of the original casing. I wouldn't want to hold the tubes in my hand long.

tomorrow i do a little more prep on the thing, make it more like a finished article, and do some tests with the multimeter. i'll probably leave it on for 4hr or so on the timer. light mk1. mk2 coming up when i get round to it

jangel

Good luck! You have me watching now....LOL!

__________________
Life,
j-angel


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

Cloning a Flowering Plant My Little Grow Blueberry

CaptainStoner

This lamp is one of the new generation of much more intense energy saving CFLs. These are more like modern T5s rather than the old lamps which were more like the 20+yr old 4' tube we have in the kitchen. These lamps have been pretty popular in the UK for some time. I stripped down an old, dead IKEA 11w lamp from like the late 90s before i actually had a look inside a working lamp and the ballast is very different.

The new bulb is a three tube, 20w GE 1200lm 2700k warm white. the ballast attaches to the tube via four copper conductors - bare wire. On the ballast, these are the tails of a coil of this wire labelled on the ballast as F1, F2, 3 and 4. I'll not go into the electronics too far but these are tiny little inductors. The coils are wrapped around solder pins which look like tiny nails and are soldered into the PCB of the ballast.

It's these pins and coils i tried to glue to the back of the tube - it still has the front of the housing on it. this was not as successful as I had hoped it would be so light mk2 will have a different mod - i'm going to cut the tails coming from the coils and splice my cable extensions into them. This will make the whole item a lot safer as I'll be able to put heatshrink insulation on all bare conductor which is liable to short out. (This is IMPORTANT). Insulation is the key for safe electronic work.

I'm considering putting the plastic cap back on for lamp mk2. the bit that forms the main housing, going down to the screw or batten cap. it'll just make the whole thing tidier and give me somewhere to mount to when it comes to putting these lights into a cab. Mk1 was the first, totally stripped down prototype, I've learned what I need to from it. This will help Mk2 become the finished article

EDIT: and now it's 9:45am. Time for a good cup of tea, and joints 2 and 3 for the day