This was inspired by a few ideas that were passed aroud the RIU Live Chat... Everyone there is awesome, and hope some of you canappreciate and take advantage of this guide if you have the parts available.

I like it because I can add and remove CFLs as I find to be appropriate, which is good because I will be using this one to cover clones and seedlings, and don't want to have to keep hanging lights when I could just plug them in.
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So after swapping a light over to a cool tube. I had a spare reflector lying around for a few weeks. I decided I might as well put it to use some how, so here is what I decided to do.

The reflector I used is an 18 inch batwing reflector I got with an HPS system from Insidesun... I decided since I already have HPS setups that I use, I will utilize a smaller space for some clones and build a reflector with CFLs for them...


You will need the following:
$10 - used (1) Reflector
$4.50 in a ten pack - (6) 10 inch metal straps
$16.00 for (2) Power strips of appropriate size
$2.50 per (1) 1 Keyless lampholder socket per CFL
$5.00 per (1) 1 CFL per keyless lampholder socket.

I had most of these parts just lying around, so I didn't have to pay for all of it. You probably have most of these items lying around too...


Step one. the reflector already had 4 screws in it on the center beam of the top of the reflector. Remove those screws, and add two more holes between the sets of 2 holes in the middle using a drill of the same size... you may need a larger drill bit to fit your metal straps depending on the size you decid... see the picture of the reflector with the pink text background.


Step two. after all you have left is the main piece of the reflector with the 6 holes in it... Temporarily tape down the power strips you will decide to use for the setup. Tape them at the angle of the reflector, depending on the reflector you should be able to put at least 4 power strips on the unit.

Step three. While the power strip is taped to the reflector, pass one of your 10 metal straps through the holes on the reflector, and around the power strip as though to hold it there, and prevent it from moving. secure the metal strap tightly, and make sure it fits very snug and is not capable of movement.

Step four. Pull the power cables of the power strips up and pass them through the straps to the middle, or leave them coming down from the sides... its just a matter of preference.

Step five. Screw the CFL bulbs into the keyless lampholder socket.

Step six. Plug the keyless lampholder sockets into the power strips.

Step seven (optional). If your keyless lampholder is not as secure as you would like for it to be, considering slightly bending the plug of the lampholder socket to accomidate the angle at which it will be hanging.

I understand that some of this may be confusing, so I put together a few diagrams and helpful pictures. Thanks for taking the time to read this pretty simple setup, pretty cool what you could do with parts that you probably have lying around that you're not using. I've had mine running for quite some time, and it has proven to be safe.

Any questions or constructive comments would be appreciated!

Attached Images

	reflector.jpg (45.6 KB, 762 views)
	cflreflector guide.jpg (50.8 KB, 639 views)
	pics 003.jpg (46.2 KB, 969 views)
	pics 004.jpg (50.0 KB, 533 views)

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haha, the arrow you made in you're first picture looks like a penis. Ok done with my 13 year old moment.

lol yeah. that's was intentional. thanks for checking out my guide.

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lol penis

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Good stuff and I like that you left it open for future improvement.

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I like the socket directly to the power strip!

yeah, I found this to be my favorite part. I can plug in as many CFLs as there are sockets, and wont overload the power strip. Additionally, I can put both power strips on different circuits if I ever overload anything.

Plus I have room for 2 more power strips increasing this to 40 CFLs under 1 reflector.

I could ALSO mount more spots to hang MORE power strips under the sides of the batwing reflector... making room for up to 60 CFLs under 1 reflector.

I like this. It can be dim enough to sustain clones, or bright enough to flower.
Been a fun fun project. I will be redoing SOME of the images, so that the text can be more easily read. Give me some time!

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where would you buy most of this stuff? home depot or sumtin?

You could get it all from home depot.

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40 cfl's!!!!!!!!!!! i am up to 10 (420watts!), the original idea was to use less electricity than hid lighting. Well I could probably have a 400hps for less, and have the ballast outside of box, cfl's are hot!

The cfl's seem to be working good, I like them, it's fun, and maybe work as good or better because i can have lights all around plant and real close. But I wonder if the intense hps light bulb would be cooler than the 10 cfl's with their attached ballasts

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