Can someone help me wire a 'lampholder'?

http://images.orgill.com/200x200/6103527.jpg

It looks just like that, only ceramic, and is pretty old.

I remember a thread where a guy posted a DIY on how to wire them up, a bunch of them, and then wire the group to the power cord of just any old house appliance.

Can anyone point me in that direction? Thanks, in advance.

Looks like a std. 2-wire socket. There should be screws on the back for the terminals. Just connect a two-pronged extension cord/wire to the terminals. (Use a three pronged cord/wire if there is a green screw terminal, as the green is the ground) As long as the ground is right (if there is one) it won't matter which wire you put to which terminal, it'll light the lamp

Hmmm, so how would I connect one lampholder to each other, so that I can use one cord to power maybe two or three of them?

I've seen that done, but I don't know where I get the wire to connect them. Thanks.

How to Wire a Circuit "In Parallel"

There are diagrams of wiring in series and parallel - You would use parallel wiring, since if you wire in series, if one light goes out the rest of them go out.

STD 16 or 14 AWG lamp cord from any home depot, old extension cords, etc etc will be sufficient to wire them if you are only doing 3 or 4 - if more then maybe a slightly higher gauge

Proper wiring is a safety factor.
On the "shell" of the lampholder is the "grounded" wire or Neutral. On 115 volt circuits this would be the white wire. On a polarized plug this would be the broader (fatter) prong of the two (look closely, usually one prong is slightly broader). Lamp cord is also polarized, the "grounded" wire is the "identified" wire. It will have ridges on the outside of the insulation.
The "hot" wire on the cord will be smooth. It wires to the center contact in the lampholder. On the plug it wires to the thinned prong.

Any questions?

Shov

Uhhhm..


http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/7255/1003205ka9.jpg

K I got that.

Now, I don't know where the ground would be on that, but each of the screws are accompanied by a letter, "N" and "L".


Now, one wire of the power cord, does seem to have three groves put into the insulation, while the other looks to be smooth.

And the underside of the smooth wire has a bunch of what looks like factory imprinting/writing.

What can I do to keep those wires from coming into contact with skin or housing material, tape?

(N)eutral and (L)ive/(L)ine most likely is what the letters designate. The (L) goes to the center of the light socket?

The lettering on the wire helps you to keep the two strands identified for the whole length of cord

You should mount it to a piece of wood or something to "hide" the screws so you can't touch them. Tape could work, but wouldn't be as safe - I'd prefer to have it mounted

Ok. will do thanks.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

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

I tried to replicate the parallel circuit as best as I could.

I figured the batter would've been the power cord coming from the wall, and that Neutral could pass for the positive.

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.

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

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.

Thanks.

Here's Stretchy Pants Mcgee.

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/7955/1003215on6.jpg

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.

Quote:

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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.

---

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. :]

Quote:

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Looks a little ghetto, but it works!

---

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.

Quote:

---

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

---

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?

:|

That is a replacement part for a ceiling fan, it only cost 2.50 cents from walmart, the socket spliter, I am not sure of the offical name, but they are in the ligh bulb section in wal-mart.

8|

That's hawt. Thanks for sharing.

A few updates..

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3247.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3246.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3245.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3244.jpg


Anything I should do? When should I load up on the CFL's?

I might be able to get a 400w HPS from a friend who only grew once and doesn't use it, I have to see if he still has it though.

I just put the lights like this, I still haven't gotten around to getting bulbs for the other Fluoroscent fixture, or the other CFL's and lampholders yet, I'm wondering whether it would be a better decision getting those longer style grow CFL's, than the regular spirals, though.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3249.jpg

I'll see if he/she starts to burn again.

Bring those suckers closer, in a few days.... You can be 1-2 inchs, away from your plant, as long as its not too hot, just put your hand inbetween your plant and your bulb, if you cant stand it for a min, its too close.

Ok, so I made it out to the store with minimal funds :/, I'm still waiting on a few people to pay me back from a few sales I made.

So I picked up two more bulbs for the fluoros, randomly just grabbed some which are different spectrums from the first ones I have, accidently.

Can anyone point out any mistakes? Distance from light, position, spectrum, watt (i think i have 34 and 40), soil, bucket?

Now.

Would this work?

For when it starts to get big, instead of having it spread out and become thin and stringy, but to turn the fluoros vertical, to side light it, and then to just get around and build that monstrous CFL holding device?

Would that be worth it?

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3254.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3258.jpg

Yea, and obviously I got a 5 gallon bucket that I forgot I had out in the garage, and drilled some holes in the bottom for drainage and some around the top for LST.

Light look fine, on distance, as long as you can put your hand at the height of your plant and hold it there, for a while, and not burn yourself you are good. Couple days ago someone posted what spectrums were for what, search the forum, it does return a good result!

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3282.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3284.jpg

Lawl.

I was planning on turning the top shelf of my closet into a Vegging compartment for the plant like this, when in the future I will be doing a full "real" grow with more than one plant, and all the supplies.

And then just use the rest, the whole bottom, for flowering.

That might be interesting, :], I wonder how much I could yield in a space like that with enough ..CFL's?

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3287.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3286.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3285.jpg

A little bit bigger. I can't believe the smell I'm getting, sheesh.

I'm going to start thinking about planting some more seeds, and then getting the supplies ready for CFL vegging and flowering, once it gets too big for the Fluoros.

Question:

Will it become a she/he from the stress of the LSTing I'm doing? I wouldn't really mind, I mean I wouldn't toss it, but every seed I would get would also be a she/he too, right? That's just what I heard.

Also. When I end up getting enough CFL's and supplies etc,(sheehs, when it stops snowing/icing) for something like what KDspecial or any of the other CFL growers around have, what should I do with the two fluoro fixtures I have? Side light, bottom?

Does this look like normal growth speed? I have gotten the miracle grow soil, and then later, for moving to bigger pottage, I got some regular crappy soil and they both said they have fert in them. Should I wait for about a month until fertilizing? Or just maybe 2-4 more weeks?

Thanks, all that have replied so far.

Edit: And the one pic is from right before I just tightened the one tie down.

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/7983/1003292oa2.jpg

I've got the fattest....snow flakes?

Keeps the seeds cold. :]

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Lol, sorry if no one's paying attention but here's yesterdays update, so far the plant is turned completely facing upwards now.

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http://boards.cannabis.com/closet-ca...ampholder.html

If wal-mart is the place that has them, then I must go there.
I've been looking online, everywhere from Ebay to all the listen factories on google, can't find any *cheap* replacement fan parts, thanks for the heads-up though, replacement fan head dude.

Is my LST going well?

Oh, and I might order bulbs off ebay, they have crazy people selling deals with like, 20 bulbs at a time. CFL.

Yeah, you'll find if you don't pretend to be a female, or call someone out in a thread title, then you hardly get any input or responses from people :(

Wal-mart has the fan light attachment, near the fans. I think me and the other guy are using the exact same piece. My Wal Mart doesnt carry any fan stuff in the winter, so they won't be stocked here for a couple of months. Since its cold by you, you may find problems locating a fan too. But I love teh snow!#%$!

Your plant looks nice and healthy. Kind of a big container for its size, but it'll be ok, just tough to regulate watering. Keep the temps where you are at and don't overwater/overfeed it and she (hopefully!) will treat ya good

Ok, thanks for the help.

I've got some good news and some bad news if you may have been following my situation.

I may not need anything other than what I have now for lighting because a friend came over and looked at the grow and decided he could give me his (presumably old) 125watt HPS.

I might still pick up a few CFL's to add around the bud sites or just for helping even out the light, but with that I would have a problem.

The heat from the HPS is pretty intense for a small room like this, I've grown with them before and they were harsh on the plants in even remotely small places.

So fan will be needed, I'm not running one yet, and not really treating this grow as anything special, I'm actually hoping to buy some seeds online to really grow some stuff worth the trouble. Yet, if I get this light, and even without, I will need a fan. With the light, I'm likely to need a good fan for exhaust or intake, a good fan aimed directly at the planets, maybe rotating, and a good way to get the hot air out of the closet.

I can't imagine what to do other than to drill through the closet door. I have reflective sheeting to put up, but I'm not sure whether I should pretty much tape and seal off the whole closet where the walls go in, not even touching the door, but closing that and everything off entirely, as in, a wall of plastic/sheet material, with tape.

I would make a way to get in and out easily.

But I'm running a stealth grow and I need it to be relatively quiet. It can be relatively noisy in my room, because this computer is old and loud, but I definitely do not want to hear the wall vibrating walking up and down the hallway, that is directly outside or the same wall as, the back of the closet.

Someone suggested either cardboard layering, or finding (somehow) a bunch of old school plastic lunch trays, to mimic what they do when trying to build a homemade recording studio.

I would think to use rubber protectors and methods for grounding firmly, and dampening or insulating the noise at the connections to the wall. Would vibrations sound through just hanging on some wires?

Thanks for the reply. :jointsmile:

Well, I might have to return those big beautiful 12'' pots I bought the other day, well, not return, but replace with some 5 gallon pots like I have taken pictures of. They fit up top for veg, but I don't know how I would seal that off, because their top edges stick out over the edge of the shelf, and I would have to black/white poly the bottom of the shelf to the ceiling of the closet, to make it light proof so that I could veg 24/7 there, and flower below.

I'll do an update soon. But all I can say is that I have a 125w, and a 400w HPS on the way.

I've fed for 1 watering so far.

The one plant's grown a bunch, but has had many leaves cut up from rough handling and moving around so much, lst is untied for now, don't know when to flower, will get pics up tomorrow or the next day after some things arrive in the mail. Thanks to all who have helped, I need to start looking for a fan and a way to suck air out of the closet if I'm going to look to set up those HPS's though.

K, tour of the grow room a la ate style.
:thumbsup:

Feel free to critique anything, not much attention so far, so maybe as things start to improve (i need a fan! got the light! :]) people will take notice.

First, the seedlings and veg area up top the closet, which will be closed off, vented, and only used for 24/7 COOL fluoro lighting for the seedlings or clones, have one clone in there right now, and many seedlings, I will take pictures of the insides of the pots later.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3351.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3333.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3333.jpg

Random pot number 1:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3374.jpg

Random Pot number 2:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3370.jpg

The clone isn't looking too well :(:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3369.jpg


Here are the ferts and all the bottles and containers and things, got some root hormone, some random but selected bloom and veg fert and some already mixed up:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3352.jpg

The light:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3356.jpg

400w HPS from HTGSupply (hightechgarden: eBay Store - High Tech Garden Supply: NUTRIENTS FERTILIZERS, ADVANCED NUTRIENTS, Replacement LIGHT BULBS lamps) With a bulb with blue spectrum, even balance of red and blue, some more watts, and whatever else they advertised. All I know for suer is that it looks like a street light is in my closet, and that it will help the plants make food and gain weight. I got it extremely cheap compared to every other source I've seen, so check it out if you want.

Very bright: http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3355.jpg

Very compact housing and reflector: http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3354.jpg

And here's the little baby from earlier: http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3353.jpg

Getting bigger: These are all with LST in effect.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3347.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3329.jpg

Here's without LST:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3325.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3323.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3327.jpg

Nice bright yellow/orange sun bathing session: http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3328.jpg

I also trimmed off some lower leaves that were getting little light, and were also pretty ravaged from all the rough treatment and moving around this plant has been receiving due to my just now getting supplies. (can't forget that fan!)

Here's some more shots of the plant:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3360.jpg
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3361.jpg
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3362.jpg

Some close - ups:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3363.jpg
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3364.jpg
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3365.jpg
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3366.jpg

Clone I took earlier: http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3349.jpg

Hopefully the mom will be a mom.

Here's how I have the cord going in between the carpet and the wall, coming out of the closet so that with proper light proofing(which I will do when the black+white poly gets here) there will be no reason for suspicion or even upon close inspection, signs of activity, but let's hope there's never any need for that.

Here's the whole thing: http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3350.jpg

Sheesh:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3368.jpg

I need that plastic sheeting soon! So I can sleep at night!


Thanks for the help so far, it's been wonderful, now for the future.

My plans are to take a zig zaw and cut a square or circle out of the wall to the left of the doors, going into the closet.

And then to hook up some vent tubing (robot arms) to hang right next to the bulb, and attach an inline fan to the end of the tube, that will be outside of the closet, through the wall. Then attach a scrubber to that if necessary.

But use this to primarily suck the heat right out of the closet from the light. I currently have the ballast sitting outside of the doors, with the cables going underneath. IF I have trouble working with this, as I'm sheeting up the whole opening with plastic, then I may have to put it inside and maybe even split that tubing so that I can also suck the heat off of the box, which acts like a heater, a literal room heater, or if I can, I'd just leave it out to maintain heat better. Those cables are perfect.

For the plants. I may have to sound proof the wall later, and take that mylar down and put new kind up. But I may buy some actual roll mylar online, so that it is smooth and neat, because I think they may be best for the plants and reflectivity, correct me if I'm wrong. But if the sound isn't too much, I wanted to get a regular oscillating desk fan, to sit right in there constantly blowing in the closet. Which would be a nice NICE treat for the plants, since they've been getting heated all grow (well, the one that's been there).

Thanks for all the help, just ask or point anything out if you know something I don't.

How close should the light be? If I only thought about getting a cool tube before I bought the light!

Awwwooohhh, c'mon guys! XD

Is this heat damage? Should I move the light farther back?

Should I trim all that build up leaf growth? Please guide me! This is my first grow, HALP!

Can I get a response from anyone!??

Is it because my plant is ugly?

It's me isn't it? :wtf: :(

No plants are ugly - its you :P - I told you, you didn't pretend to be a female. Funny, we registered within a week of each other - I guess we gotta stick together!

You want the lights as close as you can without burning them. CFL cooltube is kind of overkill, no need for that kind of cooling with cfls. My cfls are within 2 inches of my plants. Now if shes under that 400W HPS, its a whole different game. 400W in that cab s going to be tough without some serious cooling...

Only trim the leaves that are damaged/dead - I wouldn't trim any of those just yet. I dunno if thats heat stress per se, but definitely something made those top leaves unhappy. Looks like something is eating them kind of.

Shes gaining in size nicely, so whatevers going on can't be TOO too bad ya know?

Have you fed them yet? Any bug problems in the house? get a no-pest strip and throw it in the cabinet when you can, help eliminate the bugs (if there are any).

Dunno what to say man, its so hard without seeing 'em sometimes. What kind of ambient temperatures are you getting inside the cabinet - there are 2 temps you should be concerned about. With the thermometer in the direct light, it can get as high as 100+ and be ok, but in the shade in the cab, it should be below 80. Check your temps and lets see if we can get this baby on track

Thanks for replying.

I think the damage to those leaves was from me not knowing how to LST correctly.

It's doubled over mind you, so it's at about half the height that it would be at if it were directly up.

The temps are in the 90's all over the cab. Tomorrow me and my buddy will be drilling through the wall, as soon as we make sure there are no wires in the way.

Hopefully that will help with the heat, although I can't seem to do a damn thing about the light!

EVERYONE tells me, mylar and/or black/white poly works wonders!

Oh yea? My closet still glows with two sheets of black and white polyester in the way!

I don't know what to do, I'm trying to get some sleep at night!

Well first things first put your lights on 18/6 and get at least 6 hours sleep :P

OK so its in a closet right - not another cabinet inside the closet?

If you are using the whole closet, do you store other stuff in there? Or is it 100% a "grow area". Light leaks you have to fix - they may compromise the darkness you need to flower and let light in as well. That heavy duty black polyvinyl weatherstripping should work to block the light from the door, but you need to vent.

Lemme know the closet situation, if it is a 100% grow area, and what the dimensions are. If not, then you will have to build/install a cabinet inside the closet - what dimensions do you have to grow in?