8 Fixture CFL Lamp with Pro Reflector

[FatMarty]

I have a 1000 Watt MH I surround with CFL's for my small medical grow and always wanted to get more control over the CFL reflection than anything I could find to buy utilizing multiple CFL lamps. So I decided to make one; it came out well I would like to share it with you.

My first stop was my local grow shop where I purchased a "Value Wing" Reflector made out the same stuff Sunlight System uses on all of their reflectors. It is rated at 95% reflectivity. I paid $22 for it.

The one I got was listed wrong in catalog, and is supposedly only available in an 8-Pak; so if your shop can't get you a single they also sell this "Econo Wing" which comes with a nice long pigtail to feed the lamp with as a consolation for the extra $20.

The rest of the parts you will need are:
Metal Stock - I used 1/8" thick x 1 1/2" wide Aluminum from Home Depot @ $20. You can use any stiff metal sheet that is 7" wide x 18" long as an alternative. I choose alimunum because it is non-corrosive in a garden environment.
4 Power Strips - I used some Belkin models that were $2.88 each from the Home Depot; so $12 for these.
8 Plug In Medium Base Sockets - $2.09 at Home Depot totaling @ $17 for the lot.
Wire Nuts/Butt Connectors - Use to join 4 power strip lines to feed line.
Rivets/Screws - 6 sets of 1/4" x 4" with double nuts/washers, rivets or bolts to assemble frame if not using solid sheet for top of fixture.
A 10 pak of 'Precision Lock' zip ties - $2 Home Depot.
2 4-paks of CFL Lamps - I used 19 Watt, (75W equiv.), bulbs rated at 2700K. @ $12 for two 4-paks at Home Depot.

I came in at around $90, (minus my mistake parts:sweating), so even if you have to buy the more expensive model of the reflector you should be able to do this complete for no more than $120.

I hope someone takes this concept and starts making something like this for us:hi
These would work well for closet gardens, corner/side lighting, and spot lighting for single plants.

 

[FatMarty]

CFL Reflector

The first thing you need to do is drill out the 3/16" aluminum rivets holding the spine brace/mogul socket bracket to the reflector. Save this because you will need it later.

Next line up the power strips with medium base sockets in place and measure distance between centers and then drill the holes @ 1 7/8" diameter. I only had a 1 3/4" drill bit and I ended up jamming a 1 1/2" champered end PVC pipe through the holes to enlarge them - don't do this!:fighting0085: - get the right size hole saw and save yourself lots of grief and an imperfect alingment.

I tried to save a few bucks making the top frame and it ended up costing me time and money; but you get the idea here with the power strips mounted on something stiff with 6 holes drilled in it to accept the 1/4" screws that suspend and align the reflector. 4 of the holes are already drilled in the reflector where you removed the rivets.

Add two more near the center like I did. You want the reflector to be mounted stiffly to the frame or else it leaves yours bulbs vulnerable to breakage.

In the photo above you can see where I added a piece of sheet metal for the reflector spine bracket we removed. You should just use the one that came with the reflector here after drilling the extra holes if you have a solid frame above to accomodate the reflector mounting bolt pattern. Even if you do make your own frame like I did - don't use the bracket up top - you it down here on the reflector back and add more 1 1/2" flat stock top in lieu of my example.

Whatever you do here - make sure the reflector has support along the back of the spine. Next add the 1/4" screws to the refector, and double nut them with lockwasher in between to insure they don't loosen over time.

 

[FatMarty]

Once the reflector bolts are tightened add another double locknut set to each; these are adjusted later to set the reflector distance from the top frame.

You will have to wire up the 4 power strips to one common power feed, or else you will have a snake pit of wiring coming off of the unit that would surely skew it's hanging balance. I used butt splices; you could use wire nuts. In the above photo you can see how I 'dressed' the wires to prepare them for connection. Don't rely on tape here - be safe.

Always be safe. That means you must use a three wire safety ground pigtail and you must make certain that the reflector, and All metal on the frame/fixture is attached to the safety ground feed. Any other approach to wiring a metal lamp fixture in a garden environment is a potential death trap. Don't be a statistic - always follow good electrical wiring practices.

White leads go to the longer prong of the power line plug while Black leads go to the shorter one. Green to Safety Ground.

In the above photo you see my mistakes and the 'fix'. I tried to skimp on flat stock and not completely support the power strips and it simply was not rigid enough to prevent the unit from twisting a bit while handling and that caused a couple broken bulbs. Well in the process of doing it wrong the first time I also pretty much screwed up the power strips to be mounted another way; so I tediously removed the internals of the ones I had already wired together and replaced the power strips housing with new ones. It's the cost of blazing new trails I suppose.:banana1sv6:

 

[FatMarty]

So because of my mistakes I had to go back to the Depot and pick up some more parts and disassemble my original.

I cut a 3 foot long piece of 1 1/2" wide stock in half, and riveted them to the frame.

The rivets made little bumps where the power strips mount; so I cut up some 3/16" foam strips, (from an old mousepad I think), and layed them under the units before mounting them. This kept them level to the reflector.

Next I loosely attached the power strips to the frame with 8 of the zip ties.

Don't tighten these all the way down until you check you alignment with sockets and bulbs in place.

Mine were a bit off the mark, and the foam really helped the aligned power strips to 'grab' the stock once the zip ties were tightened.

 

[FatMarty]

Now that the lamps are mounted and the zip ties are tightened you will want to do final adjustments for reflector alignment.

Get the reflector as close to the tops of the CFL ballasts as possible. Tighten the double nuts under frame and then add nuts and lockwashers to the bolts on upper side of the frame to secure reflector.

Finally you will need to add some sort of hanging mounts. I used 5/16" eye bolts mounted in 3/8" holes. The holes were drilled larger than needed to allow adjustment for centering to get a level hang once tightened.

A shot of the reflection showing the spread. This pattern changes depending upon angle of the shot; but it is uniform and looks like I'm getting very good spread.

Above is a closer shot of the reflection showing light patterns in normal lighting.

 

[ttystikk]

Something similar I put together...

I like your idea for a reflector behind the CFL bulbs! That's the one thing I didn't know how to add to my own CFL lighting arrays. Thread with pics below:



As you can see, I used bathroom fixtures which, at $2.00 each at a used home builder's supply shop, didn't cost me much. This may have solved the issue you kept running into trying to align the reflector with the power strips.

I think your design is more efficient since it has a good reflector around the bulbs and mine doesn't. On the other hand, mine is larger, and does a good job of area coverage across a flat surface. Different applications...

 

[FatMarty]

Time for a real life test run.:cool0041:

Here is a shot of the fixture hanging over a plant that shows the 2700K color of the "Soft White" CFL lamps quite well.

Next is a closer view of a plant under the fixture, as you can see the light is really making the trip down to the foilage nicely.

Lower the fixture a bit and set a fan on the side and we have a real life simulation of a closet type grow sans an enclosure.

Thanks to Hazeman for the Elephant Stomper to make my project shine.

This fixture is very versatile. You can use this in a plastic bin garden like Lifeless designed. You can use this as a helper spot in a full scale bloom room. You can swap lamps out for $ 12 and run 5000K, "Daylight", CFL's for vegging.

I will probaly add some reflector ends at some point; but I think I am going to design some sort of airflow across the lamp ballasts there.

That's another day though. Hope you enjoyed my article and I hope this helps you design and build your own multiple CFL reflector fixture.

 

[FatMarty]

I like your idea for a reflector behind the CFL bulbs! That's the one thing I didn't know how to add to my own CFL lighting arrays. Thread with pics below:



As you can see, I used bathroom fixtures which, at $2.00 each at a used home builder's supply shop, didn't cost me much. This may have solved the issue you kept running into trying to align the reflector with the power strips.

I think your design is more efficient since it has a good reflector around the bulbs and mine doesn't. On the other hand, mine is larger, and does a good job of area coverage across a flat surface. Different applications...

Hey. I saw your thread and really liked it. You were thinking like I do. I think you could get a reflector and a 1 7/8" hole saw and really improve your box concept.

That thing should really toss a beam down with a nice reflector in there. There is another reflector that is a little longer for around $30 that is an add-on for the "Fresca-Sol" system at Sunlight Supply. That might work better for your application.

 

[CrippledArcher]

Kick ass DYI skills +1 for that :)

 

[FatMarty]

Kick ass DYI skills +1 for that :)

Thank You very much. I got a big grin from that.

-----------
Additional thoughts on the project:

If you want to use the larger 23 watt or 27 watt CFL's the diameter is the same, (1 7/8"); but the depth requires at least 4 1/2" long 1/4" bolts for the reflector mounting bolts.

Another idea is too hang the top frame higher than I did and then add angled bends to the three cross member pieces, (8" long x 1 1/2" wide x 1/8" flat stock).
In this manner you could match the CFL's angle to the reflectors where the holes are drilled. I believe this would be well worth the extra effort. This would eliminate the extra ballast portruding into the reflecion area.

 

[Donnybrook]

Nice DYI project Marty ,

Yankee Ingenuity at it's finest ,,,