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DIY Remote Ballast 42w CFL

ScrubNinja

ScrubNinja

Grow like nobody is watching
Veteran
Well, keep in mind nobody has said you can wire standard CFLs to pl-l ballasts. :) pl-l ballasts are the cheaper part of the operation, for me at least. It's the (good) bulbs and the sockets that kill.

KC, yeah we took the sockets off, remember? :biglaugh: I don't think there would be much difference in wiring and at least you know which wires go where. I have to wire up some pl ballasts soon, and it's intimidating.
 
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DSM

Member
That's some top notch work Grouchy! Nice pics n write up too!

You've given me a nice friendly "get back to work" kick in the ass :)

I hope to have my new cab up n running this weekend (external ballasts and a bulb cooling tube of sorts, but I think my new main board is due to show up tomorrow (so I may be too busy overclocking, its been a while since I had a decent board.)

Have you tried using a "long" length of wire between the ballast and bulb? I am thinking of having my ballasts about 10 feet away if its feasible (in the 2nd speaker). Is the human eye sensitive enough to see a difference (if there is one to speak of)?

The wire you used, is that wire for a trailer brake light hookup? That 4 in 1 wiring is awesome man. It would make the wiring about as simple as it could be! I was contemplating what type of wire to use, and now I know what I will be using (if there is not too much loss over the long distance for mine). IF there is a significant loss, it would be easy enough to correct. Thicker wires have less resistance, and transmit power more efficiently. Loss of light? Up the gauge!

Also I want to share what I thought of to mount THIS particular bulb. I plan to remove the ballast from its plastic case and mount it on something else (undecided on material or how to secure it). I also plan to run power wire into the ballast and do away with the screw type socket. THE MOUNT - Take the thin middle plastic piece (the one between the ballast and bulb) and drill two or three holes in it for screws. With the wires run through, screw the thin plastic piece into place. Then simply clip the bulb back onto the plastic plate! I think it will be GOLDEN!!! :window:

I took another look and that wire looks too thin to be trailer wire. What type of wire is it? What store did you buy it at? Do you know the thickness / guage?

I think I would like to try and compare an un-modded bulb, a bulb with the ballast about a foot away (with thin and thick wiring) and a bulb with say 10 feet of wiring (also with thin and thick wiring) and see if there is a difference. Have all 5 running side by side. Yeah I'm totally rocking that out tomorrow for testing :pimp3:

Thanks for sharing Grouchy! Keep up the good work and innovations man!
 
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DSM

Member
OK I re-read your original post and I know the wiring size. Yeah the trailer wire I'm talking about is much thicker. So it looks like there is commonly available 4 colour wire in thick and think style. Nice.

Where did you buy the 24ga? I think I should pop into Radioshack tomorrow. It's no longer Radioshack in my city but they still have some diy stuff.
 
grouchy

grouchy

Active member
DSM said:
OK I re-read your original post and I know the wiring size. Yeah the trailer wire I'm talking about is much thicker. So it looks like there is commonly available 4 colour wire in thick and think style. Nice.

Where did you buy the 24ga? I think I should pop into Radioshack tomorrow. It's no longer Radioshack in my city but they still have some diy stuff.
Click to expand...

The wire came from Radioshack. The idea to try this remote ballast on a 42w came from you actually.

I had previously tried to crack open a 26w cfl with no luck. It seemed as if it had been glued and my idea stopped there. When I read your thread about cracking a 42w open I grabbed a bulb and wrote up this thread as I made it.

Even if you use a thicker gauge wire you will still have a loss over distance and it may be better to just mount the ballasts close to the exhaust as they do not get all that hot. Most of the heat seems to come from the bulb.

How would you explain trailer wire running from speaker to speaker? It might look a little odd.

I have already found the box for the ballast. I went into Home Depot with the ballast and found a box in the new work section. I found a cover for it right next to the box. I will be taking a cheap ext. cord and making a cord for it. I like the idea of the snap on mount but it will need to be cut so that the wire has a place to go. I kind of like having it attached to the bulb as to protect the connection made to the extremely thin wire. I might just screw some plumbers strap to the base to make a mount.
 
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CaptainStoner

Member
i remoted a 20w CFL a long, long time ago in pretty much exactly the same way as this... Had considered it a waste of time and effort till i started building this 1.3sqft sog cab with 4x30w cfl.. i'd say its def better for my light distribution now to do this as the sockets plus the base of the lamp together are like 4 inches long.. nice guide sah, i'll be using the "drill an 'ole in the bugger" mounting method too :D
 
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cosmik debris

Member
Mucho grassyass

Mucho grassyass

You are the fashizzle dizzle. Every time I think of somethin' that would be cool to try I look around and some weed smokin' fool has beat me to it. Great post! Thanks a mil. :bow::bow::bow:
 
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Dopeboy668

Member
This would be super for a pc cab. I think ima build a pc jus cause of this. Im surprised I dont see more pc growers runnin their cfl's this way. This should be a sticky imo. Thanks a million!
 
microsmyname2

microsmyname2

Member
Hey great thread grouchy! love the idea man.

I do have a few questions about hard wiring this for anyone who can help me out.

Would terminal blocks / strips be necessary or could i just solder and shrink tube the wires to an extension cord?

As for wire Guage would any standard extension cord work or would i need a certain guage?

and last question just out of curiosity if i have a bulb that is burnt out dose this mean the ballast is burnt out as was well or its still good?

Thanks guys and keep up the great work grouchy!

Micro.
 
e_24

e_24

Active member
Very nice job! Just googled and this came up. I have a few questions that I hope you can shed some light on (no pun intended):

Does the bulb run cooler with the ballast seperated. I know most of the heat comes from the bulb. Not saying this is a bad idea, but is there an advantage in heat reduction?

Does the bulb loose intensity as the ballast is moved further away from the bulb?

Good job! Ingenuity is hard to find anywhere, and I feel this is a great addition to the cfl community. I'm going to give this a try and report back on any findings I may have.
 
grouchy

grouchy

Active member
I don't know if it loses intensity or not with the ballast being moved away. I think it runs a little cooler than an unmodified one but I keep a fan on the bulb constantly. If it lost a little bit of light from distance the difference could be made up for with the ability to use more lights or keep them closer to the plants. I just finished a grow using only one 42w with a remote ballast setup and am starting my next right now. I wish I could use bigger lights but the summer heat has me limited right now.
 
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Deftoner

Very Good Thinking. I have 2 of those in my cab and I bet doing this will bring my temp down to 80 like I hope. TY:)
 
NKOTS

NKOTS

follow the pink rabbit!
Veteran
hi grouchy,

let me express my :thank you: as you inspired me to design a cab with remote ballasted CFLs.
besides i worked on your concept further and shared the results in this little tutorial. hope you like it!

stay relaxed buddy! :smoke:
 
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iamoni

Member
grouchy said:
After making this air cooler the bulb temp stays around 110f. without the cooler it was steady at 180f. It has made a big difference in temperature.
Click to expand...

Why did you have to run a fan with it now? Did the bulb ran hotter when you seperated it form the ballast? Or was it already 180F at the start. Sorry for the stupid question.
 
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