PLL Club. (if you don't know, now you know)

[Stereotypo]

stereotypo - nice looking setup. i helped a bud assemble a six lamp PL-L lamp, 55@ tubes same as you. Haven't noticed any issues with heat, but he's got some 70MM fans blowing directly onto the base area of the tubes. I like the even spray of light, and while the next assessment is subjective, i swear it (6 tubes at 55W) throws more light down than another light housing he's got that has six 65W curly tubed CFLS - same size housing (24X24") for both, and both have similiar DYI reflectors fabbed from fiberglass with a layer of the mylar film bonded on the reflector side. But to my eye, looking down at the leaves, with both lamps same distance from plant tops (4-6"), the PL-Ls show stronger light on the plants.

Only problem or complaint, is the interference with AM radio signal. Have you had any issues with interference?

we've tried everything, spacing on the ballasts (fulham workhorse 8s), all wiring is shielded inside a metal raceway or in the alum "panel" box he built to house the ballasts & switches

just curious as i'm considering these for my own grow room (for vegging, and supplimental on flower).

No problems with AM interference that I can see at this moment. I have 6 ballasts with 2 lights on each.

No problem keeping it cool, temps are in the mid 20's all day long. I have a vent right above the lights that goes to the electrical pod and from there it goes to a 4" Canfan then to a filter. I designed this box to grow 2 vscrog mamas.

A shot of the overhead vent

 

[Stereotypo]

Ballasts

Bagseed for the first round

Looking up at my vent, this has changed since this shot taken. The sheet metal reducer is now gone and the hole is large enough to accommodate a bigger fan. Figured this was the best way to cool the cab and not give the hot air a chance to recirculate. This makes it possible for me to cool 660w in such a small space.

 

[rives]

Only problem or complaint, is the interference with AM radio signal. Have you had any issues with interference?

we've tried everything, spacing on the ballasts (fulham workhorse 8s), all wiring is shielded inside a metal raceway or in the alum "panel" box he built to house the ballasts & switches

just curious as i'm considering these for my own grow room (for vegging, and supplimental on flower).

Have you checked the grounding at both the fixture and from the receptacle back to the main panel? The ballast enclosure needs to be bonded to ground in order for the shielding to be effective.

 

[The OrigF/clred]

had checked it - everything was solidly grounded including all enclosures but will check it again

but it just hit me - the ground may be bad in the receptable (old circuitry) - will ground everything to a copper water pipe and see what effect that has

tks for the suggestion

 

[The OrigF/clred]

just got back from my bud's place - ran a pc of copper from the ground lug on the alum panel box to a cold water pipe - and the static INCREASED IN VOLUME???????

any clues rives?

 

[rives]

It sounds as though the water pipe is acting as an antennae. The pipe may not be grounded - sometimes they have a rubber isolation coupling between them and the buried pipe. Do you have a volt-ohm meter? Check from the hot leg to the ground - you should have the same voltage as from the hot to the neutral. Also, check the resistance between the neutral and the ground - it should be very close to zero. Short the meter leads together and see what the reading is to get a baseline reading, and then compare that reading with the neutral-ground reading.

 

[The OrigF/clred]

will check those in a couple days
but the water pipe (copper) runs straight from the line coming in from the street, and a working water line so full of water, i'd have to think the ground is solid

tks for the suggestion

 

[rives]

If the pipe is in direct contact with the ground outside of the drip line of the house, then it should be a good ground if the transformer secondary is grounded. Being filled with water will have no impact - pure water is non-conductive.

 

[dudin]

Just remind you all to protect your eyes. Those setups ain't good to stare at every day. Take out your girls if you are going to work with em.

 

[The OrigF/clred]

If the pipe is in direct contact with the ground outside of the drip line of the house, then it should be a good ground if the transformer secondary is grounded. Being filled with water will have no impact - pure water is non-conductive.

not sure what you mean by "pure water" - this is county supplied water. But i thought any water was highly conductive??

back to point, copper line runs along exposed basement ceiling to where it "Ts" off the main line, also copper, coming into the building - no interruption in copper line, no rubber/polymer isolaters etc and all joints (couplings, elbows etc) are sweat joints

i'll check the lines as you suggested when i head back over to my bud's place in a few days

 

[rives]

not sure what you mean by "pure water" - this is county supplied water. But i thought any water was highly conductive??

The dissolved solids content and the resulting ionization in water is what makes it conductive - if there are none ("pure" water), it has very, very low conductivity. Most things have some level of conductivity, including materials used for insulation, but "pure" water is roughly .000001 the conductivity level of sea water. Your county-supplied drinking water will fall someplace along the continuum between the two, but it is unlikely to help the grounding capability of the piping much.

http://www.lenntech.com/applications/ultrapure/conductivity/water-conductivity.htm

 

[gloryoskie]

I've noticed the bulbs go warmer, color wise, as they age, anyone
notice this?

I should swap 'em sooner I guess. Rock on.

 

[dudin]

My super sweet vegg station. Homebox mini 30x30x60 , gives me 6 plants 20cm long every 2-3 week. 1x55w 6500k. Ballast +socket + shipping 6-7$ On aliexpress.

 

[Slim Pickens]

I guess it has been a while since I looked at this thread.Sorry to see that it isn't that active anymore. .What happened to someotherguy?Is he still around?Drop me a line if'n ya are.

I may need to dip into the old SS and buy a couple more pll's,but I really can't afford the kits,as I can get 4 pll's for roughly the price of the 2x55 kits from AHsupply.No offense to AH,it's simply a matter of economics.

Anyone using the Plusrite bulbs, and if so,what has been your experience with them?

 

[hestah]

Hello everyone I'm new to this forum and plan to start my own stealth cab grow in a few months.
I was thinking 4 55w bulbs both for veg and flowering.
Is this something you would recommend? Or is it better to have two chambers with say 2 bulbs for veg and perhaps 3 or 4 for flowering?
If I were to go with the frist suggestion, would 1 2700k, 2 4100k's and 1 6500k be a good mix for both veg and flowering?
I have read the whole thread and I'm sorry if I missed anything.

Cheers

 

[2000pm]

I wouldn't blast them all with 4 PLLs right off the bat but more light is only a good thing once they get going to get them to size at speed to start flowering.

I've been messing around with bulb configurations and I like having some 6500k mixed in there during instead of going all 2700/3000ks for sure.

That mix sounds good except depending on the distance/configuration of your lights to the plants it will be hard to hit all of them with an even mix of the lighting spectrums due to having 4 bulbs. One side is inevitably going to get more 6500 or 2700k lighting unless you raise it up high enough, and at that point you might be further away than you'd like for optimal distancing of these bulbs. Just something to think about.

 

[hestah]

Thanks for the answer 2000pm, really appreciate it. What if I were to put the 4100K's at the edges, and the 6500 and 2700 in the middle? In my mind it gets more even but perhaps not enough.
Anyway, I will consider this, and maybe go for a more safe approach with just one for two higher K bulbs for veg and switch them out to all 2700/3000 during flowering. There's still at least a few months before I even can afford to start buying equipment.

 

[420ish]

when i ran pll's i used all 4100 with no problems for veg and flower.

 

[Strogan]

I hate to see this thread die before I join!! In the next few months I will be constructing a flower cab using PL-L's. Ive looked through this whole thread and saw once where this question was asked and not answered so I will ask it again. Can the fulham WH5 power three 36w lamps? I don't see why it would be a problem since people have no problem driving two 55w lamps for a total of 110w and 3x36w is 108 total watts. What I had hoped for was to order a 2x36 AH Supply kit and wire another lamp to it, OR order the WH5 from 1000bulbs as it says it can power 4 sockets and then the rest of the kit from AHS, assuming the AHS endcap with cord will fit the WH5 from 1000bulbs, I know AHS 2x36 kit comes with a WH5 so I don't see why the endcap piece wouldn't fit a WH5 from 1000bulbs. Any feedback would be great thanks guys

 

[SweetDee]

I hate to see this thread die before I join!! In the next few months I will be constructing a flower cab using PL-L's. Ive looked through this whole thread and saw once where this question was asked and not answered so I will ask it again. Can the fulham WH5 power three 36w lamps? I don't see why it would be a problem since people have no problem driving two 55w lamps for a total of 110w and 3x36w is 108 total watts. What I had hoped for was to order a 2x36 AH Supply kit and wire another lamp to it, OR order the WH5 from 1000bulbs as it says it can power 4 sockets and then the rest of the kit from AHS, assuming the AHS endcap with cord will fit the WH5 from 1000bulbs, I know AHS 2x36 kit comes with a WH5 so I don't see why the endcap piece wouldn't fit a WH5 from 1000bulbs. Any feedback would be great thanks guys

I would just go to the Fulham sire and look under wiring diagram area to see the different setups it allows .when using the calculator the bulb type will be " twin ". Once I get my light trap attached to my cab I will post the 3x 55 w = 165 watt vented 2.5 sq ft cab I built over the last month .just now getting it finished upas there was a lot to building it.hope others out there arestill playing with them!