2.64w CCFL nano vert cab

[ScrubNinja]

Hey there b00m.

I found a fungus gnat hopping around on one of the jiffies earlier so I dusted them with DE all over. Not much else to report.

 

[CaptainStoner]

scrub just a quick one but ive got some old UV purple ccfls.. have you researched the UV tubes? not sure if its the right uv or anything but thought i'd ask.. maybe good for upping the uv in a fluoro grow like our pl-l jobbies?

 

[ScrubNinja]

Hi Cpt. Well, researching any of these computer lights is pretty hard, but I tried. I know that my UV bulb is the only one that's different to the rest - the bulb is black when turned off instead of white, and this is the coating to block out most of the light except for some UV. I did the old CD trick and it's the only bulb that to me looks different spectrally, at all, and it was considerable difference.

I'm not sure exactly what parts of the UV spectrum it was putting out, but it's mainly violet in colour with a strong decrease of the other ones like green, red etc.

I suspect it would be mostly uv-A but I have no idea really. Because of the nature of the light, I couldn't get a photo of the spectrum like the others, it just didn't represent reality in the photo. And it's bad for the eyes so it was a kind of one off thing, staring into it for so long.

Would I use it in the growroom? Hell yeah, I would have used it this last run but I was too lazy to hook up the inverter and psu etc. I doubt it would do much, but I doubt it would hurt either. Another factor is when you have all these coloured lights which ultimately seem to me to be the same, the prospect of something different like UV becomes more exciting.

Would I recommend it to serious growers to try? No, just nano nuts with time and money to spare.

What we really need is some uv-B plls! Peace.

Edit: Right, that decides it, I will set up 3 identical cabs with red lights in one, blue lights in another, and white in the other, and we shall see how each grows seedlings.

 

[StealthDragon]

Right, that decides it, I will set up 3 identical cabs with red lights in one, blue lights in another, and white in the other, and we shall see how each grows seedlings.

HELL YES! Greatest news ever.

lol I'm such a micro nerd

 

[ScrubNinja]

lolol I'll set them up in the tent, I think I can fit 3 of the containers I used for this cab, that way it's easy as pie to set up, except they'll be 12/12 from seed. No biggy. Gimme a day or two

Basically like I did those earlier ones with the blue lights.

 

[sx646522]

Edit: Right, that decides it, I will set up 3 identical cabs with red lights in one, blue lights in another, and white in the other, and we shall see how each grows seedlings.

Hell, YES! Grow baby grow! Friggin' Scrub-tastic!


A Red, white n' blue for New Years! Now, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!



-SX

 

[CaptainStoner]

Just did some googling and i can't find anything in the UK but there are a lot of chinese pages about uvb CCFL.. seems they do make them out in china.. Like you I dunno which UV they are, think i'm going to ask on one of the computer forums i go on... sure i've seen it discussed there.. i have a funny feeling its UVA though... still, sure we could email some chinese suppliers.

I'm thinking about adding a couple of ccfls to my drbud style L grow as low level light between the plants, see if i can't improve the popcorn bud some.. i def think a ccfl for uvb would be good... i'm loving the tweakability of our small boxes, they mean we can use things like this cheaply to experiment, learn, and improve.. we have our haters but we shall laugh last..

 

[ScrubNinja]

Cheers sx. Good stuff Captain, that's the spirit. It's interesting that they even make specific uvb ones! They even give the nm range - cool.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Yep the computer CCFL types, as i thought, are UVA.. less harmful to people see..

Might be worth talking to the china UVB tube makers..

 

[Mind Grenade]

So im making a little cloner. Still need to power everything and make a door. I got 8 white ccfls in there. The box said 8w and they came in a package of 2. So its either 8w for 2 ccfls or 8w per ccfl. Made it out of cardboard reinforced with wooden dowels and more cardboard. It has passive intake and a cpu fan exhaust.
I made a light trap thing for the intake, i saw it somewhere on this forum. Like upside down V's stacked on top of each other.
Will this be enough air flow?

Edit: got some pics with all the lights on and the fan on. Hooked them all up thru an old cpu power supply. Its pretty f'in bright. I think its good enough to root some clones, possibly flower a little girl or 2 . I can feel air being pulled thru my little vent thing. And its not completely light proof but might be good as i can get it. Its not completely finished i still need to house the power supply and all these wires. Im going to start with bagseed cuz i dont wanna risk a ordered seed.
Also when i just hooked up one ccfl to the ballast and then 2 on one, i couldnt really see much of a difference. All 8 together is brighter than 4 on 4 seperate ballasts imo just by looking at it.

 

[Mind Grenade]

one more pic

 

[ScrubNinja]

Good stuff Captain, maybe we can do a group order, lol.

That looks way cool MG! Do you have a multimeter, or access to one? You could find out exactly what they're using, it's pretty easy to do.

I don't think I mentioned but mine never came up. I went to buy new jiffy pellets and they didn't have any so that's the current hold up. (of many)

 

[ScrubNinja]

Ok problem solved (I think). I inherited some awesome seedlings just now I pick them up tomorrow. Get ready to rumble in 24 hours or so

 

[b00m]

Strapped in and holding on.

 

[Mc__Nugget]

Ready when you are ninja, as long as your acid trip-wormhole-time machine won't destroy life as we know it. Lets try to give LEDs a run for their money!

 

[ScrubNinja]

Ok well I had some usual messed up problems. I had to use the power adaptor from this cab for the new test cabs. I spent ages wiring it all up only to find that the power supply crapped itself right at that time. Out of desperation I tried an old broken one that had broken long ago, and it worked!

I thought I had mentioned this but I could only fit two equal containers in, so since I've tried blue, I'm running red vs white. It's basically the same setup as the last time when I raised the seeds under the two blues. 1 bulb per inverter, and I finally tried LadyL's suggestion with the foiltape reflector. These all have the clear external tube of course.

You can see a tiny .13 amp 80mm fan at the rear below my thumb. The whole thing is covered with the metal casing of a microwave and the inverters etc are foiltaped to that.

The whole thing is running inside my carbon filtered tent beside my (2700k) 24w vert pl-l grow.

The white looks blue there!

The seedlings didn't eventuate sadly, but I got my jiffy pellets :yay: and picked up some scraggy sativa seeds. Will get em in later. I'm knackered. Temps seem good using my hand to judge.

 

[StealthDragon]

awesome awesome awesome. It seems like you have a spare everything to use for growing, lol

 

[ScrubNinja]

Hehe I've got spare wires for extra inverters wired in too

By the way, I didn't really say properly in here, so this test is to find out if there's a difference in growth between two fairly different colours. I'm pretty sure the whites are going to wipe the floor with the reds, but we'll see. If the red plants get long stems and other signs of red concentration, then perhaps these coloured bulbs would function similar to LEDs.

By the way I bought a 100 or 120 litre bag of perlite today. I asked the guy how much it would cost, and he said the boss isn't at work today so I could have it for free! So I have spare perlite too!

 

[mrred]

i'd hatch them seeds in a paper towel so you know what stage its at befoe you put them in the soil

 

[Mind Grenade]

very very cool scrub. Cant wait.