PC Fans and light help

Hey everyone!

EDIT: I finally found a great tutorial for converting a 12v AC to DC power adapter to work with PC fans. I guess I'll just have to experiment a little bit and see what I get. I was thinking about using two of the same fan below on a small 3x2x4 box. What do you guys think?

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11892/fan-777/BGears_B-Blaster_80mm_x_25mm_3500RPM_High_Speed_Fan.html

Also, what about the wiring for my lights? I know a lot of people say to cut the female ends off of extension cords and wire them to ballasts, which doesn't seem hard, but I really don't want anything that could be hazardous and start a fire. I was hoping to find something similar to this that I wouldn't have to wire and could just plug in. Does something like that exist?



I'm sure these questions have been asked a million times, but from searching the forum for a while I haven't really found the answer I was looking for. Maybe one of you guys wouldn't mind sharing some help?

Peace and love, brothers.

You can either get a cheap PC power supply and feed it all that way, (without the PS tester btw...) or you can go with an old phone charger (wall wart) that have the right specs and do it that way... If its just running two or three little fans and you have no electrical experience i would recommend the wall wart route...
As to the cfls it depends on the ones you're getting, most of them you dont have to worry about the ballast because its that big white part at the base and you just screw it in like a normal light. Grab a couple plug-light socket adapters (http://edition.bigcartel.com/product/light-adapter) from walmart and a regular power strip...

Not sure but those look somewhat like banana jacks, you can buy at radio shack. I use small pc fans for my small grow and they work ok. mine are smaller so I use 4 of them. Re: lights, what kind are you talking abt? CFL's or MH? as said CFL's have there own ballast on the bulb, MH have seperate ballast and I don't think those jacks can handle the load.

webguy16 said:

You can either get a cheap PC power supply and feed it all that way, (without the PS tester btw...) or you can go with an old phone charger (wall wart) that have the right specs and do it that way... If its just running two or three little fans and you have no electrical experience i would recommend the wall wart route...
As to the cfls it depends on the ones you're getting, most of them you dont have to worry about the ballast because its that big white part at the base and you just screw it in like a normal light. Grab a couple plug-light socket adapters (http://edition.bigcartel.com/product/light-adapter) from walmart and a regular power strip...

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I didn't know those existed, thanks! So would it be OK to use an adapter like this one with a 6500K CFL? I don't imagine it'd be a problem, but I'm only now realizing how much of a fucking noob I am at all this stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-61-Outlet-Lampholder-adapter/dp/B001OM1L06/ref=pd_cp_e_0

http://www.amazon.com/89091-15-Watt-Daylight-Compact-Fluorescent/dp/B0014X5MK0/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1351643690&sr=1-4&keywords=6500K+cfl

I think spacing might be an issue on the power strip, but I'll order two just to test it out and see.

DeeTee said:

Not sure but those look somewhat like banana jacks, you can buy at radio shack. I use small pc fans for my small grow and they work ok. mine are smaller so I use 4 of them. Re: lights, what kind are you talking abt? CFL's or MH? as said CFL's have there own ballast on the bulb, MH have seperate ballast and I don't think those jacks can handle the load.

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I'm going to be using four or five CFLs depending on what I can get setup. I know the ballasts are the round, white pieces that the bulb connects to. My issue is I don't want to pay $50 for extension cords to gut them and wire them to the ballast. With my electrical ability it doesn't seem wise. If that's the only setup I can get I suppose I don't mind, but I was hoping there was a manufactured piece I could purchase similar to the picture where I can just screw four or five CFLs in and plug it in into the power strip.

Thanks for your responses, guys!!!!

I wouldn't recommend re-wiring the cfl ballast to cut up extension cords... pretty much ever, unless it's just something you want to try for the heck of it and know what you're doing... I mean, you would be going around the standard connection points in order to hard wire it and i can't really see any reason for you to need to do that, it's like saying you don't want to use the premade sockets in your home so you start punching holes in your wall to wire stuff up directly. KISS- You can use adapters and throw one of these y splitters (http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-128-00I-Outlet-Socket-Adapter/dp/B000P9UXRG/ref=pd_sim_hi_4) on it and still be good. Or even something similar to (http://www.amazon.com/Woods-0151-8-5-Inch-150-watt-Reflector/dp/B000HHQ94C/ref=sr_1_6?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1351644545&sr=1-6&keywords=shop+light+clamp+socket) with that splitter.

Yes, that is the adapter i was talking about and would work fine, you could probably find them cheaper at walmart/lowes or something... That light is really kinda weak at 23w though, i guess it depends on how much coverage and everything, but i would very strongly recommend looking around for more wattage...

If you want to check out some of the PC/Micro grows they often use a similar setup so you can get an idea of what fits where. I found https://www.rollitup.org/stealth-micro-cab-growing/560421-pc-grown-box-1st-attempt.html which has a pic or two of it...

webguy16 said:

I wouldn't recommend re-wiring the cfl ballast to cut up extension cords... pretty much ever, unless it's just something you want to try for the heck of it and know what you're doing... I mean, you would be going around the standard connection points in order to hard wire it and i can't really see any reason for you to need to do that, it's like saying you don't want to use the premade sockets in your home so you start punching holes in your wall to wire stuff up directly. KISS- You can use adapters and throw one of these y splitters (http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-128-00I-Outlet-Socket-Adapter/dp/B000P9UXRG/ref=pd_sim_hi_4) on it and still be good. Or even something similar to (http://www.amazon.com/Woods-0151-8-5-Inch-150-watt-Reflector/dp/B000HHQ94C/ref=sr_1_6?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1351644545&sr=1-6&keywords=shop+light+clamp+socket) with that splitter.

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Ahahaha. Yeah, I get exactly what you mean. You probably just saved me from burning down my house! I was definitely looking at those Y splitters already, so it's a huge plus to have another forum user recommend it. Excellent!

webguy16 said:

Yes, that is the adapter i was talking about and would work fine, you could probably find them cheaper at walmart/lowes or something... That light is really kinda weak at 23w though, i guess it depends on how much coverage and everything, but i would very strongly recommend looking around for more wattage...

If you want to check out some of the PC/Micro grows they often use a similar setup so you can get an idea of what fits where. I found https://www.rollitup.org/stealth-micro-cab-growing/560421-pc-grown-box-1st-attempt.html which has a pic or two of it...

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Thanks! That's essentially how I plan to setup my grow but with a larger, wider space for my plant to (hopefully) flourish. I'll definitely be looking into a higher wattage light. I didn't even realize they were that low. Thanks for pointing that out. I'll probably go over to a hardware store tomorrow to see what I can put together.

Thank you so so so so so much for your help!

I go along with the light adapters and a power strips, good idea, would also be a good idea to make sure the power strip has surge protection.

DeeTee said:

I go along with the light adapters and a power strips, good idea, would also be a good idea to make sure the power strip has surge protection.

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I'm setting up in my closet which doesn't have a plugin I can use to hookup the power supply. I have to run an extension cord about six feet across my room and into my closet, then attach the power strip. I've read this isn't a good idea and can lead to fires. I'm kind of worried about this idea. I might invest in a power strip that has a 15 ft. cord and get rid of the extension. The power strip does have a grounding and surge protection light though, both of which are on and working!

It seems like I'm going to have to do a lot of plugging in. Normally, on the same power strip that I'll be using for my grow, I run my 19" monitor, laptop charger (for an ASUS gaming laptop which EATS power) and XBOX 360. Sometimes I add onto that and use my phone or tablet charger at the same time. I would assume that's pulling much more power than five CFLs and an external CPU fan controller will. Should I be overly concerned with a fire? I'm going to be mounting the cords to the sides of the box so they stay organized and not hanging all over the place. I'm pretty paranoid when I leave the house, though. I have a lot of pets.

How are you guys managing your electrical requirements?

No problem, let us know what you figure out. And you can never do too much research, read a lot of posts to see what other people are doing, or even just watch some grow vids on youtube. Good luck!

You won't have any problems unless your using underrated wires without a ground. You can make sure the cord you're using is rated at 15 amps which is normally the max of what your home would be capable of on a single circuit anyway. They are generally marketed as "Heavy-Duty" or "Appliance" extension cords.

Edit:
While it's good to be conscious of power requirements, you will generally be alright unless you start getting quite a bit bigger, ie HIDs, or you want to add more than about 20+ 50w Cfls and a maybe a hundred or so of those comp fans...

webguy16 said:

You won't have any problems unless your using underrated wires without a ground. You can make sure the cord you're using is rated at 15 amps which is normally the max of what your home would be capable of on a single circuit anyway. They are generally marketed as "Heavy-Duty" or "Appliance" extension cords.

Edit:
While it's good to be conscious of power requirements, you will generally be alright unless you start getting quite a bit bigger, ie HIDs, or you want to add more than about 20+ 50w Cfls and a maybe a hundred or so of those comp fans...

Click to expand...

All right, sounds great! I just want to make sure I take every precaution I can to protect myself and my family. I'm brand new to this, so the more I look around and investigate, the more questions I seem to have. Hopefully I can make it the inverse of that soon.

As stated you should be fine, make sure the extension cord is heavy duty, hold the cord while everything is powered up to make sure it doesn't get too warm. it may feel a little warm but I'm sure you'll be fine. if it gets hot then I would start to worry obviously. do you have a little knowledge on how to connect a male plug and female outlet, if so you could run 14/3 romex cable ( you can buy at home depot or lowes at there elect department ) from your outlet to your grow room and you should be even better, basically you're making an extension cord with 14/3 romex, that would work even better. maybe you have a friend who can assist you, it's no big deal.....good luck.

Boonqueesha said:

All right, sounds great! I just want to make sure I take every precaution I can to protect myself and my family. I'm brand new to this, so the more I look around and investigate, the more questions I seem to have. Hopefully I can make it the inverse of that soon.

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It's all good, seeing how cautionary you are you could go around adding up all the wattage/amps of appliances on the circuit your box will tie into. This is generally unnecessary for a small project like this, but it couldn't hurt either. Ie, If it's in your bedroom closet and your bedroom has a big tv/dvd/xbox system AND a computer AND a good sized AC AND some other electronics then you might want to put things on pause while you make sure your circuit can handle it. The box you're building looks like it will probably be quite a bit below 500watts total which is about like plugging in a desktop computer (a normal space heater is around 1500 watts) so you should really have nothing to worry about.

DeeTee said:

As stated you should be fine, make sure the extension cord is heavy duty, hold the cord while everything is powered up to make sure it doesn't get too warm. it may feel a little warm but I'm sure you'll be fine. if it gets hot then I would start to worry obviously. do you have a little knowledge on how to connect a male plug and female outlet, if so you could run 14/3 romex cable ( you can buy at home depot or lowes at there elect department ) from your outlet to your grow room and you should be even better, basically you're making an extension cord with 14/3 romex, that would work even better. maybe you have a friend who can assist you, it's no big deal.....good luck.

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We actually have some of that laying around in our shed. My dad used to work as a master electrician and would always do crazy projects like building sheds, installing new lighting, etc. It's unfortunate I can't ask him to help me setup my operation. LOL. "Hey, dad, do you think you could help me grow a plant?" I think I'll just pickup a longer power strip with grounding and surge protection, build my setup and test it out for a few days by keeping a real close eye on it. I'll ensure the strip isn't too hot, nothing in the box is getting too hot, nothing around the box is hot etc. I think in the end I'll be OK though. Thanks for all your help!

webguy16 said:

It's all good, seeing how cautionary you are you could go around adding up all the wattage/amps of appliances on the circuit your box will tie into. This is generally unnecessary for a small project like this, but it couldn't hurt either. Ie, If it's in your bedroom closet and your bedroom has a big tv/dvd/xbox system AND a computer AND a good sized AC AND some other electronics then you might want to put things on pause while you make sure your circuit can handle it. The box you're building looks like it will probably be quite a bit below 500watts total which is about like plugging in a desktop computer (a normal space heater is around 1500 watts) so you should really have nothing to worry about.

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Thanks for being so informative! I won't be running any other electronics from the same circuit after I get it setup. In fact, the only other thing that will even be plugged in is my small TV across the room that I only use at night anyway. Like I said above, I'll test out everything before I call my build solid.

Thank you both SO much for being so helpful. I love you guys!