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

[Think Green]

 

[j6p]

Where's a good spot to get pl-l lamps & fixtures? Been looking for a few months @ "your favorite home store" with no luck.

HTG Supply sells dual 55W PLL fixtures with lamps and ballasts included, for $70 + shipping.

AH Supply sells Light Fixture Kits which include everything except lamps. The AH fixtures have excellent parabolic Miro 4 reflectors, and at 4" width are more compact than HTG fixtures.

PLL lamps are available at 1000bulbs for around $3 each.

 

[texsativa]

Anyone started having interference? Read a thread earlier about someone having it.

 

[Boleman]

Anyone started having interference? Read a thread earlier about someone having it.

No interference here, just nice trees.

Look at that PLL light beam straight through the leaves! Yippee

 

[texsativa]

Looking good.

 

[oldone]

Anyone started having interference? Read a thread earlier about someone having it.

Yes, I got big time interference on AM radio. Not sure about TV yet. Any ideas on how to reduce it?

Thanks,
OO

 

[Hephaestus]

New ballast? PLLs shouldn't cause interference... None of mine do...

 

[CaptainStoner]

Fluorescent lighting with properly working, properly shielded ballasts should not create interference. There may be a tiny field around the ballast, but nothing that would intefere on an RF level at any distance from the unit. I would check your wiring, particularly the ballast's earth. Failing that, the ballast itself... is it an electronic (HF) ballast or an old choke type ballast? have heard mags hum, create slight interference, etc when they are on the way out.

That's my opinion anyway. think how common fluoro lights are - they're everywhere, and in very large numbers too, such as offices etc.

That being said, there is always a tiny field even with a cable - Ever looked at an old CRT monitors VGA cable? it has a plastic block about an inch long at each end. Inside this plastic block is a tube of black-ish type material, which is a "ferrite supressor" - it eliminates the field which is naturally caused by power running along a cable.. they're used in computers to eliminate crosstalk between power cables and signal cables.

Get a couple of these.. radio shack/RS type places should have ferrite supressors - one on each end of every cable about 3-4 inches from the end.. this will eliminate any interference from the cables, the ballast should have its own shielding.

Will test this when my lamps come in a couple of weeks - I can't test free to air tv signals but i can test FM/SW/MW/LW/AM/DAB.. i'll try to get another tv in here, one with an aerial socket that works (don't watch tv). My radio is part of an AV receiver that is literally inches above where my tubes will be, the wire aerials close by.. etc

 

[superpedro]

I run a total of 18 pl-l bulbs in my home. No radio, tv or wireless LAN interference.
They hum and get a bit hot if placed very close together, but just a few centimeters of space fixes that

 

[Think Green]

Why am I finding Germicidal lamps when searching for pl-l lighting? And what the f*** are they? Anyone . . . .Anyone . . . .Bueller?

 

[Hephaestus]

Because most of the UV/germicidal lamps are also pll's - search 2g11 and you'll find more

 

[apollonio]

nice club guys, it's great to watch what you are doing with these lights!! impressive results!!

 

[ScrubNinja]

Why am I finding Germicidal lamps when searching for pl-l lighting? And what the f*** are they? Anyone . . . .Anyone . . . .Bueller?

If you're looking anywhere with a decent search engine (ebay for example), search whatever term you're searching and add -uvc

for example 2g11 -uvc

you will get 2g11s but no UVCs ut you may get some marked uv-c (with the dash)

Or try 2g11 -uv*

you will get 2g11s with no UV anything.

 

[oldone]

Fluorescent lighting with properly working, properly shielded ballasts should not create interference. There may be a tiny field around the ballast, but nothing that would intefere on an RF level at any distance from the unit. I would check your wiring, particularly the ballast's earth. Failing that, the ballast itself... is it an electronic (HF) ballast or an old choke type ballast? have heard mags hum, create slight interference, etc when they are on the way out.

Thanks for the info Captain...I have 330W of new lights from AHSupply. Fullham ballasts and top quality kit. My interference started the moment I turned them on. I thought I had wired them correctly as the instructions are easy.

Will these ballasts work with no ground? Or a partial ground? Maybe I have bigger problems than I thought. They sure are bright though.

Thanks again,
OO

 

[ScrubNinja]

OO,

Keep cables as short as possible, and pay attention to routing. A long cable not only increases power line common-impedance coupling (for unbalanced cables), but it also makes the cable a better antenna. Routing cables close to such ground planes as metal racks or concrete floors will reduce antenna effects. Never coil excess cable length.

Some more tips here.

I would plonk your ballasts in a metal enclosure, but I have no idea really. I just figure mine are good, and they are covered in metal. I think they have the ferrite things cpt stoner mentioned too, but not certain.

 

[Marijuanasaur]

How much heat does 220w of PLLs throw off in comparison to perhaps, a 150-200 watt hps? I know Scrub that you already told me that it makes one of your rooms uncomfortable on a hot day, but i'm just trying to get a better picture of it.

 

[Hephaestus]

Question that requires more mental capacity than I have at the moment...

Got a bunch of 18w PLLs floating around the house; but no functional ballasts for them... However I do recall having a couple 18w t5 and t8 ballasts floating around - wondering if there's a snowballs chance in hell that those ballasts would be able to fire the PLLs?

Anyone tried similar?

 

[Boleman]

The lumen ratio is a great perk, unless you don't wear sunglasses when you trim. Can hurt the eyes a bit. Anyway, Here's some pics of the PLLs still cranking. and by the by, this is the second grow with the same set of bulbs from my first grow. 2 full grows so far, and I think they will do even more.

 

[Boleman]

Question that requires more mental capacity than I have at the moment...

Got a bunch of 18w PLLs floating around the house; but no functional ballasts for them... However I do recall having a couple 18w t5 and t8 ballasts floating around - wondering if there's a snowballs chance in hell that those ballasts would be able to fire the PLLs?

Anyone tried similar?

They absolutely will, I am running a t5 and a t8 ballast on the back of my fridge. Plug em in and Grow... Grow... Grow!!!!

 

[Think Green]

Woot! Pl-l Pimps!