UK-How do you make your cfl bulbs into a workable lamp?

Sorry guys I'm a dope with anything like this. Once I buy my cfl bulbs what do I need to buy and what do I need to do to be able to plug those bitches in. Seriously don't just start yelling numbers at me. I need the idiots guide ...

Ideally I'd like a big light or 2 with a reflector at the top hanging horizontally with some side lights. I'm in the UK so what cable, fittings etc do I need? A tutorial with pictures would be good if you have the time

i wouldnt buy big watt cfls or bother with reflecting. buy 23watt or comparable to 100 watt and just get a shit load. you can buy a pre wired outlet for them or wire one in yourself. buy a shitload of splitters...basically you screw this into a bulb outlet and it makes two. then you can screw more into these to make bulb sites for all your plants bud sites augment your light so it hits every budsite and covers the plant. you will have to move it as the plant grows and add splitters and what not but you can reap some good smoke. sorry no pics hope this helps. good luck and happy farming

2 core flex wire
bayonet cap sockets
bayonet bulbs

Thanks for the heads up about the big lamps

cacamal said:

i wouldnt buy big watt cfls or bother with reflecting. buy 23watt or comparable to 100 watt and just get a shit load. you can buy a pre wired outlet for them or wire one in yourself. buy a shitload of splitters...basically you screw this into a bulb outlet and it makes two. then you can screw more into these to make bulb sites for all your plants bud sites augment your light so it hits every budsite and covers the plant. you will have to move it as the plant grows and add splitters and what not but you can reap some good smoke. sorry no pics hope this helps. good luck and happy farming

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Cheers man. No diagram or nothin? haha

WeedKillsBrainCells said:

2 core flex wire
bayonet cap sockets
bayonet bulbs

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Grimnebulin said:

Cheers man. No diagram or nothin? haha

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a simple setup one bulb to one plug is fairly simple
cut a wire the length you want
strip both ends, so 2 cables each end, one blue one brown
on one end you wire the plug, blue going to the left side of the plug, brown to the right. no earth cable needed. look up a plug wiring pic if you need help
on the other end you screw in the blue cable to the side of the socket that says 220v and the brown cable goes in the side that says 3a
itll make more sense when you buy the stuff but its simple

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Cheers man. I was joking about the diagram but that picture I understand. I didn't know you could get that shit at homebase. Thanks for dumbing down Bro!!

WeedKillsBrainCells said:

a simple setup one bulb to one plug is fairly simple
cut a wire the length you want
strip both ends, so 2 cables each end, one blue one brown
on one end you wire the plug, blue going to the left side of the plug, brown to the right. no earth cable needed. look up a plug wiring pic if you need help
on the other end you screw in the blue cable to the side of the socket that says 220v and the brown cable goes in the side that says 3a
itll make more sense when you buy the stuff but its simple

View attachment 1811680

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Grimnebulin said:

Cheers man. I was joking about the diagram but that picture I understand. I didn't know you could get that shit at homebase. Thanks for dumbing down Bro!!

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Yeah, though you can get the shit cheaper on eBay to be honest. The wires like £7 there and £1/£2 on eBay. The sockets are two pound a piece or so and bulbs... Well, we don't get cheap Chinese imports like America does. CFL's are worth it to yanks because of A) extremely low prices B) bulb sockets that plug straight in, no wires. Neither do we have (unless u ship from china on eBay). It's probably worth getting an envirolite or hps tbh

Thanks man. My head is chocker with this shit now. No wonder it's £10 a gram. I'm at the stage were I feel like buying a kit like a secret jardin with all the shit u need and trying to blag people it's a light tent for photography. That wouldn't arise suspicion with my fambo because I've got all kinds of camera and lighting gear. Mind you, the big fuck off duct and the drone of the fan would be hard to explain away. I just asked this in another place but does the fan go off when the ladies are asleep? If so I could have their nightime in our day time and that would help with the stealh angle. I could get the tent and just leave it sitting there for a month to give anyone time to get over the initial curiosity. I feel like I'm going fucking nuts over it to be honest. My mates reckon it's well on top and I'm off my fucking head but I like to smoke but even taking it really easy I'm on a £10 a day habit. 6 months ago that was not a problem coz i was working but now it's way too much.

Wow, I'm banging on here, you should charge by the hour Mr WeedKillsBrainCells for your councilling service

WeedKillsBrainCells said:

Yeah, though you can get the shit cheaper on eBay to be honest. The wires like £7 there and £1/£2 on eBay. The sockets are two pound a piece or so and bulbs... Well, we don't get cheap Chinese imports like America does. CFL's are worth it to yanks because of A) extremely low prices B) bulb sockets that plug straight in, no wires. Neither do we have (unless u ship from china on eBay). It's probably worth getting an envirolite or hps tbh

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I'd get the jardin to be honest and just have a 150w hps or 400 for flowering or something. I was gonna try and cut costs and diy the whole thing but the wiring itself is doing my nut in. And yeh a while back I was doing roughly same as you, £80 on a Friday and sometimes it'd only last to the Thursday or Wednesday (then again probably because I didn't get the weight I paid for, eventually dealers start asking for ten a gram and he would deliver to my door so convenient). I'm over that phase now though but I really wanna stick with this. I've set my aim for Christmas bud. If I get it I'll be happy enough to do a perpetual grow. Otherwise I'll have to buy constantly off 15 year old scummy dealers, which I'm tired of.

Oh and fans don't need to be on at night as long as the plants have enough air for photosynthesis I'm pretty sure. An intake hole and the exhaust with no fans running should do. They can mostly be used just to cool the lights, unless you have like 10 plants in a small area where they need lots of air.

Thanks man. Yeah if I do go for this I'm thinking the same. The trouble with the cfl is all the different lights and positions etc. And also having to get double the amount. daylight for veg then red for flower. The HPS system seems like less work for more yield. Is a 400w lamp really very hot? Does it make any kind of spike in the bill? ANd can it be a fire hazard? When you say exhaust, what do you mean? Also, you wouldn't have a link to a diagram of the setup or somthing would you? Thanks for your time man.

WeedKillsBrainCells said:

I'd get the jardin to be honest and just have a 150w hps or 400 for flowering or something. I was gonna try and cut costs and diy the whole thing but the wiring itself is doing my nut in. And yeh a while back I was doing roughly same as you, £80 on a Friday and sometimes it'd only last to the Thursday or Wednesday (then again probably because I didn't get the weight I paid for, eventually dealers start asking for ten a gram and he would deliver to my door so convenient). I'm over that phase now though but I really wanna stick with this. I've set my aim for Christmas bud. If I get it I'll be happy enough to do a perpetual grow. Otherwise I'll have to buy constantly off 15 year old scummy dealers, which I'm tired of.

Oh and fans don't need to be on at night as long as the plants have enough air for photosynthesis I'm pretty sure. An intake hole and the exhaust with no fans running should do. They can mostly be used just to cool the lights, unless you have like 10 plants in a small area where they need lots of air.

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exhaust meaning hole at the top of the box with a fan in, most jardin/grow cabinets will have one. look up ur past leccy bills and youll have a price for kw/h. so do a bit of math and work out 400w instead of 1000w per hour. 600w is like 2 pound every day, which for me would be profitable if youre growing like 6+ plants, but im not so i cant really use it. 400w would be perfect for 4 plants or 2 big ones. setup for hps? or what? its just plug n play really

Thanks fella. I think I have my head around it all now. It's just getting the balls to do it now.

WeedKillsBrainCells said:

exhaust meaning hole at the top of the box with a fan in, most jardin/grow cabinets will have one. look up ur past leccy bills and youll have a price for kw/h. so do a bit of math and work out 400w instead of 1000w per hour. 600w is like 2 pound every day, which for me would be profitable if youre growing like 6+ plants, but im not so i cant really use it. 400w would be perfect for 4 plants or 2 big ones. setup for hps? or what? its just plug n play really

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