# Diy cfl light and fixture



## ashaf22789 (Apr 16, 2011)

So i just got dome with my diy light. Totoal investment is about $10. I already had some of the materials which helped keep it on the cheap.

I started out with some plastic gutters. I cut it to 12'' and added the end caps.

Paint of course! I hafto make it pretty! Flat black on the outside and gloss white on inside.

I bought a $3 light base and a cheap extension cord and wired everything up. The hard part was how to mount it in the housing, i just drilled a few holes and used tie wire because i didnt feel like going back to the store. 

















WHALA! Cheap easy fixture for cheap! The only thing is my girlfriend is paranoid that this thing is going to burn the house down(she had a bad experience with fire as a kid). It is 2'' off the water and will be plugged into a power strip but do you see any thing i should be concerned about? The bulb is not touching the plastic and doesn't get really hott.

Yeah the tank is cloudy because it just got set up today! First tank and cant wait for it to fill in!


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## jetajockey (Nov 11, 2010)

looks simple and effective, and my favorite part, cheap.


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## killacross (Apr 29, 2010)

its almost perfect...instead of the zip ties
get a cheaper base w/ mounting port
then you could bolt it into the hood and it would be clean w/o any light spilling from the sides


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## B-9 (Apr 11, 2011)

Looks good. I wouldnt be concerned. It isnt a fire hazard IMO.

Ive used similar DIY lights like this in the past. Very effective for the price.


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## ashaf22789 (Apr 16, 2011)

Yeah i wanted to do that but i was tired of running to homedepot! I must have made 8 trips for one thing or another. Ill probably touch it up later and mount the light the right way.


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## funnytrash (Sep 5, 2010)

from my own experience the only thing that id have to say to watch out for is the light socket is made of a card board like material and that tends to soak up moisture from evaporation so yeah :/


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## funnytrash (Sep 5, 2010)

for me i just used a over head transparency to cover the opening up and i gorrila glued it shut LOL


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

3 things:

1. CF give out about 40% of the actual vattage as light. Forget what the bulb box claims. Look how many watts it consumes. Your tank gets 40% of that. A total waste of electicity.

2. The base of CF spiral bulbs gets pretty hot. Scorching hot. Make sure it does not melt the cheap housing, the tank, your entire world.

3. CF spiral bulbs are an obsolete, heavily marketed technology. I don't even thing it's marketed heavily any more.

Overall - you are truly spending next to nothing on this DIY project. And getting next to nothing too. Cheap all around.

--Nikolay


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## cath0de (Feb 23, 2011)

Niko's math is pretty close but I've seen some pretty nice growth from these cfls. Of course it's not as efficient or as bright as a halide or t5 but no one said it was. I don't know why niko even browses the diy forum.


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## jetajockey (Nov 11, 2010)

niko said:


> 3 things:
> 
> 1. CF give out about 40% of the actual vattage as light. Forget what the bulb box claims. Look how many watts it consumes. Your tank gets 40% of that. A total waste of electicity.
> 
> ...


Just wondering if you had a link for the data supporting that 40% thing. As posted above, lots of people use screw in CFLs, it's probably one of the first upgrades people get on their incandescent hood setups.

The base of the bulb gets hot, sure, ever touched an incandescent bulb while it's on?

I think they are still pretty heavily marketed, there's 75% of a lighting aisle dedicated to them along with signs and banners about electricity savings in any big box store you go to.

I prefer t5ho's because they are very affordable and get the job done, if one can work with a 2ft or 4ft fixture then it is a really cheap investment. However, this is DIY. It costs less money (in time and materials) to buy a prefab tank stand, or have someone reseal a tank for you, but that takes the fun out of it.


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## grim (Mar 13, 2008)

i have been running a cfl hood for four years or close to by now and i am just starting to see problems with it. I have grown every plant i have ever tried to grow. The only problem i have had after the four years is that the underside of the hood gets so hot that it actualy is starting to break down the wires. The rubber shield around them is all dried out and cracked so i will be having to change them soon but in all honesty i do not see a problem with cfl hoods. they are a cheap way to grow plants not all of us can afford to spend anywere from 80 to the ungodly amounts of money on a hood. I spent twenty bucks and got four bulbs wired into the the stock hood on a 29 gallon tank and can grow anything my local stores have.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Why do I have to explain what you are about to read if you care to read it?

Because at times it's refreshing to play with commons sense. It could be refreshing.

The writing below is not argumentative in any way. The experience, attitude, and learning curve of some people here are exactly what I have gone through myself. So here it is:

Look at the (cool) design of any compact fluorescent bulb. How much of the entire swirled glass tube is visible to you?

Half.

The light bounces inside the swirled bulb and can't find a way out. The light also bounces between adjacent tubes and can't find a way out. The only light that makes it out is the light from the outside of the swirled gizmo. From the area that you can see.

But that light is NOT 50% of what swirly gives to your plants. Because cheap people use cheap housings. They double as reflectors. They serve as tank lids and as monuments to frugality too. The side of the bulb that is staring at the housing/reflector gives out light that does not make it down to the water. And the housing/reflector directs the light toward the water in a scattered fashion. A reflector designed (poorly anyway) for a linear (or incandescent?) bulb does not work great with swirled CF bulbs although it looks like it will.

So half becomes... less than half. I call it 40%.

But forget words. I have experienced the "efficiency" of swirled fluorescent bulbs myself. Back in 2005/6. Took me but 3 months to figure out that CF bulbs are a bad, bad choice. I have a very quick mind... 60 watts of CFs do not equal 60 watts of T8 linear fluorescent bulbs. But for a small size tank what can you do?

About the marketing of CF bulbs: They are not the easiest thing to recycle. But manufacturers and even entire countries have bet heavily on the benefits of CF bulbs. They are not going to stop their momentum because the measly Nature is getting hurt from old CF not being recycled as the rosy dreams depicted. I have no data to support these statements. I like to make things up out of thin air.

On the topic of being cheap: People would use cheap contraptions for their aquariums for many months, often years. I cannot help but wonder how much money they blow on useless stuff during these months and years. But things like a cheapo CF bulb, or a dirt cheap DIY yeast CO2 reactor are somehow justified. And fun. Again - speaking from experience, I'm no different from many folk here. Just been in this hobby a long time. I'm a person that has used the same VHO bulb for 10 years without ever chaning it! If someone calls that smart, or not being able to afford something better, I don't know what to say.

--Nikolay


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## ashaf22789 (Apr 16, 2011)

Well even though they arent 100% efficient, it works. My tank has been going for almost two weeks now and everything is looking great. For something that cost me less than $10 is works AMAZING!

If i were to buy a fixture it would cost me $50 or more. I decided to take the cheap rout and haven't looked back yet. 

As far as efficiency all the plants are doing good. I also have the same CFLs on my terrarium for over a year and the tank looks great. My bormiliads and irises have new growth all the time. I can contribute 100% of the plant health to the lights because both tanks get 0 sunlight.

Im not arguing your point just saying in some cases(like mine) that work fine.

And to FunnyTrash, i didnt buy the cheap ones with the cardboard. Its a metal socket with a thick heavy rubber liner around it.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

It does not look like it is grounded. National Electric Code (NEC) requires this for metal reflectors and/or housings. It in no way looks waterproof; the socket or the wire connectors and you have it over open water.

*Make sure its on a GFIC so it cant burn the house down.*


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## pepetj (Oct 2, 2008)

I used 4" diameter high pressure grade PVC cut through its length and placed CFLs in it. I built at least two 30"L and two 36"L lamp units this way. I ran two of those DIY lamp for six months in 12-14 hours of lights on per day and one in particular (not painted) I let run 24/7 (not over a tank of course). I used several CFLs of different wattage to monitor the long term effect of heat in the PVC.

27W-21W created a dark "burn" mark while 20W and below did not. I posted about it in another forum (look for reply #22 "Fire Hazard" in page 2) I would monitor that lamp unit just in case.

Find the thread I refer to here:
http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/diy-do-yourself/48679-easy-diy-pvc-lighting-upgrade-2.html

There is a fire hazard that should not be minimized. I replaced all CFLs with T8 and T5 (normal output) without problems. I did try High Output lamps in these DIY lamp assemblies but today I rather use only normal output in them.

The quality of light of CFLs decays quite rapidly with the use given in planted tanks (12 hours of on time per day) due to the high re-strike of CFLs. I had to replace lamps every 6 to 8 weeks due to poor plant growth. The CFL will emit light but not in fair quantity for photosynthesis and that makes CFL not cost effective unless you're trying to buy some time until a better lamp is in place (like linear T8 or T5 with a remote electronic ballast).

Pepetj
Santo Domingo


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## RickRS (Dec 20, 2010)

Newt said:


> *Make sure its on a GFIC so it cant burn the house down.*


While a Ground Fault Interrupter is excellent protection against death from accidential shocks, it is possible for a CFL, and any other fixture for that matter, to overheat and catch on fire without tripping a GFIC or a regular circuit breaker.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

That may be partially true but my comment was based on the non-waterproof fixture being exposed to open water and condensation. As soon as the GFIC senses an imbalance between the hot and neutral it trips off.


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## ashaf22789 (Apr 16, 2011)

Every outlet in out house is on a GFI. While i do like my little DIY it does make me a little nervous and a $50 lamp is a little cheaper than a house. I have seen AMAZING growth in the tank since i set it up but do plan on updating the fixture eventually.

While it is not waterproof it is 2-3'' off the water and doesn't gather any condensation. Im also not worried about the fixture too much because it seems to hold up to the heat just fine(2weeks @ 12hour light cycle) with no warping or discoloration.


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## poly-sperm-ahhh (Jan 28, 2011)

I have all of those types of lights mentioned above and do not have issues with any of them. the only one that seems to have issues is me! ;0)


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