Can someone help me wire a 'lampholder'?

Just an update:

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3460/1003216ur5.jpg

I've moved both CFL's directly to this plant as the other one seems to be dying.

Does it look like a healthy improvement? More water? When should I start fertilizing? Thanks.

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Originally Posted by ate

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Ok, I think I might have made a series circuit but I'm not sure.


I connected the cord from the wall to the N on the fixture, and then using another type of cord, this time silver, instead of copper, connected that connection on the fixture to the same type of connection on the next fixture.

I did the same for the "L" or negative cord, and then plugged up in a they lit up.

^^^If this is what you did then it sounds like a parallel circuit - try unscrewing the bulb closest to the plug/wall socket and see if the other one lights. If not, then its series

So I guess I'm happy, but tell me if I did anything wrong. Also, could you recommend a method for hanging them? I currently just put two twist hooks into the plank of wood, and then hung that from a clothes bar in the closet using an old length of wire, pretty ghetto but it works for now.

ImageShack - Hosting :: 1003212wh3.jpg


^^ Looks a little ghetto, but it works! As you find a better way to mount them, maybe inside a box and build a reflector, then adjust it, but as long as theres no bare wires visible and its sturdy/strong enough on the hooks then your good to go

I want to put another fixture on that plank to get a total of three CFL's to it, and then maybe build another one when I have the materials, also, are the fixtures pretty cheap? I heard somewhere between 50 cents and 2 dollars.

^^Yeah somewhere around there - I got a 4-socket replacement fixture for a ceiling fan at Walmart and it was 3.95 or so

Thanks.

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Your plant looks healthy - a little stretched but no problems. Put a little more dirt up around the stem another 1/2 inch or so. Keep the light as close as you can without burning it. Don't even think about fertilizing it until those 2 little round leaves have yellowed and started to die

Good Luck and post up if ya have any other q's!

Yes, it lights, so parallel, thank you. :]

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Looks a little ghetto, but it works!

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Yea, I think it will be like that forever :O, I want to order some mylar online and kind of drape it over the clothes bar on top of the closet, and then down the walls, and then extend it out over the door opening a bit, and then close that end off with another sheet at 90 degrees to make a small enclosure.

It will take a while to work out how to vent properly, but for now, I'm just going to get the plant grown, no matter the results, I need experience if I want to continue in the future, under better circumstances.

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^^Yeah somewhere around there - I got a 4-socket replacement fixture for a ceiling fan at Walmart and it was 3.95 or so

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Hmm, that sounds great, I could definitely switch it up a bit and use different pieces of scrap wood from the garage to make something more definite.

What kind of design would you suggest, for what I'm trying to do? That corner of the closet is pretty much my area, I think it's about 5 feet up, almost 2 feet wide and about 4 feet lengthwise in the closet.

If worst comes to worst, and I end up in the troubled situation of not being able to vent properly, I will just cover the light leaks on the door itself, and use the remaining space in the entire closet to grow.

Thanks, again.

I used cardboard from an old beer case, 1/2 a mylar emergency blanket and some tape to make this "reflector". Most expensive part was the 6500K/daylight bulbs, and they were $9 for 4

See if maybe you can find a refrigerator box or washer/dryer box or something, they make great cheap little veg rooms for cfls and you can even rig up two "rooms" in the closet. Be creative too - I once grew a decent plant simply leaning a 4 foot light fixture into a corner.

Good thread.

Ok, thanks for all the help, I'll post an update on his growth sometime in the near future.

Thanks for the info here... I'm just struggling myself with ate's exact problem of mounting standard sockets to a board for my closet. This will help me tons! Totally agree with 420Paul, excellent thread indeed!

I'm glad this thread could help more than just my-self, I've been looking for help on this subject for so long, knowing I would end up making some kind of homemade CFL circuit, just not knowing how. I'm definitely going to head out to the store sometime soon, probably tomorrow and pick up a bunch of the "lampholders", and a load of CFL's, and then get to work making some many CFL holding piece of work.

What kind of bulbs should I pick up?

Sorry, these are pretty much the noobest questions I could ask, but..

Should I get warm bulbs for veg? 23w CFLs, or 42? I think the 42 watt CFL's equal 100 watts of incandescent light, that's in lumen output and not efficiency right?

Anyway.

Here's an update.

There's a little brown/dead spot that formed on the end of the first set of real leaves about two days ago, I think it was from the heat, so I put plant under the fluoros, it seems to have regained a lot of dark green color, instead of being yellow, and the brown seemed to have stopped. Was that what it was and did I fix it? :? Thanks.

You guys got me thinking good.

I LIKE.

What are those kinds of two bulb connectors called?

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