Hottest part of CFL lamp?

[Aeronoob]

just wondering if the built in "ballast" on a CFL bulb is the hottest part or the bulb itself. I am going to get a 200 watt CFl bulb thats like 13 inches long and 4 inches wide and Depending on what the hottest part is, will make my design.

You can order glass cylinders online and Iw as thinking of enclosing 2 of these in a Armour kind of like the cool tubes for HID lights, use big 120-140mm computer fans as a inline and some 4" small vents. I have a 1000 watt hps but its overkill since I only need personal meds. thoughts?

 

[drrico]

Typically, yes. You may search for detailed instructions on how to rehouse the ballast to operate it it remotely (out of your grow chamber).

Your idea to cool them would likely work fine.

Dr Rico

 

[durka_durka420]

yeah i concur ballast is hottest part but with all bulbs light = heat so you do remove some heat but not all of it...i would follow drricos suggestion of rewiring the bulbs to make a external ballast box out of the cfls.....i would find someone to buy your 1kw and downgrade to a 250 hps or a 150 hps...more lumens man.... and i wouldnt use a pc fan you can however find some 110v "pc" style fans which have alot more flow and only need one......but i really would think about selling the 1kw downgrade to a 250 and stick with the cooltube idea..for my 250 the cooltube didnt bring room temps down but did bring canopy temps down. and allowed me to drop bulb about 5-6" away from tops....good luck

 

[Aeronoob]

good thoughts. i never thought about canopy temps. Learned something new today.

 

[grouchy]

Based off of experience and not speculation the ballast is not the hottest part of a 42w cfl bulb. I have a guide on how to remote the ballast on a GE 42w cfl in my sig if you are interested. It does help some to make them remote ballast but it may not be worth the effort. A cool tube will net better results and be easier to make in my opinion although you will lose valuable lumens. Hope this helps.