Overdriven Shoplights!!! (Before you buy a T5 READ THIS) - Cannabis Cultivation

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DrGreenThumb

Registered: 08/09/08
Posts: 487
Loc: Phish Tour

Overdriven Shoplights!!! (Before you buy a T5 READ THIS)

#602656 - 12/24/11 05:27 AM (12 years, 10 months ago)

So here it is once again: OD Shoplights.

Building an Overdriven Shoplight.

In order to build an OD shoplight you are going to need 2 lights in order to make 1 fixture. The idea is to combine 2 shoplights into 1. Instead of 1 ballast running 2 fluorescent tubes, you are going to have 1 ballast power 1 tube (and another ballast power the other). Why you ask? This effectively doubles the amount of power (wattage) to the lights. You run regular 40W T8 bulbs at 80W! This is much more then any 54W T5 setup you might be thinking about buying.

Additionally, it runs much COOLER than T5's do. When I veg, many times the plants actually TOUCH the bulbs. As long as they are watered and a small oscillating fan is running they will NOT BURN.

In my opinion this is completely safe. As long as you are not an absolute moron, putting this together is easy. Once you build one the next one is EASY. I have been running 3 of them side-by-side in a small closet 24/7/365 for well over 2 years. I've never even burnt a bulb. (I changed the bulbs at the 2 year mark)

You will need:
2 Lights of America Model 8045E Shoplights (Wal-Mart hardware $10 each) hint: keep your receipt
1-2 boxes of wire tap splices.

Tools: Leatherman, Flathead Screwdriver, Hacksaw

---Take apart both lights---
1. Use your fingers to pry off both endcaps. They are held on by little clips on the reflector. Just twist them a little and they should come off easily without a problem. Then remove the center piece covering the wires. It should pull right out of the reflector very easily.

2. Take the end without the ballast and remove the endcap. Use the flathead screwdriver to bend the plastic surrounding the tabs holding the endcap together. Then jimmy the tabs and it should come apart. Then pry off the wire covers. Some wire covers are easy while others are glued to the post. Just work the screwdriver under the cover and pry up gently. Remove the jumper wire and take the wires out of the endcap.

4. Remove ONE of the ballasts from the reflector by removing the GREEN ground wire.

You should now have 2 ballasts in front of you with three long wires coming out of them.

---Assemble & Wire your light---
5. Remove your ballast caps the same way you did the endcaps. Bend plastic holding tabs. Jimmy tabs. Be VERY CAREFUL with the ballast covers that you don't break anything. Arrange your ballasts like you see in the pic.

6. This is what you see when you open the ballast (1st pic). You want to connect the black and red wires together so they make ONE wire. Use a tap splice. Snip off the end of the black and red wire from one side (2nd pic). And connect the RED to RED and BLACK to BLACK (3rd pic). Do this with the ballast still connected to the reflector.

7. Now you want to take your loose ballast and run your power to the other side so you have 1 cord to power BOTH ballasts. To do this you COMPRESS and TWIST this little plastic piece with pliers (leatherman) until it pops out (1st pic). Then cut the plug off and remove the cord (2nd pic). Note: To close up this side of the ballast you are going to use one of the leftover endcaps without a hole.

HERE COMES THE HARD PART. This is a PITA to do the first time but after you do it once it becomes easy. I can make a complete light in about 30mins.

8. Run the power cord that you just cut OVER THE TOP of the ballast circuit board, through the slot and over to the other ballast. You can remove the ballast circuit board from the box if you take the wires off the light terminals.

9. You want to take the 3 LONG wires from the other side (RED, YELLOW, BLACK) and feed those through the slot over the ballast board. Now connect the RED and YELLOW wires from the other side together using a tap splice. Connect these RED and BLACK wires to the corresponding terminal from the ballast on the other side. Remember, you are using 1 ballast to power 1 bulb. It should look like this.

10. Do the exact same thing to the other side only splice the power cords together. When you run the power from the other side be sure to keep the cord STRAIGHT and FLAT so you can follow where the individual wires go. Separate the wires and find out which wire is connected to the K terminal (on the ballast circuit board) on the other side. Tap splice into the power wire on the K terminal. Do the same with the other wire and just cut the ground wire off. It should look like this in the end.

11. Now put the wire covers back in place. This keeps the wire oriented straight to the bulb terminal and HELPS keep it from pulling out.

---Put it back together---
12. Snap the ballast covers back on. This is not very simple! You need to get all the tap splices oriented right in order to press them together. It may be a tight fit and the ballast casing may bulge a little. This is OK. Just be aware that it may cause your lights to fit tighter. That's good. Just be careful putting bulbs in.

13. Take the CENTER WIRE COVER (The one that runs down the middle of the reflector) and cut off 5 inches using a hacksaw.

14. Snap the ballasts back onto the reflector and replace the center wire cover. Use a twist tie to shorten the power cord running down the center. It should look like this.

Can you tell which one is Overdriven?

The results speak volumes. Short internode spacing, vibrant growth. I can veg for twice as long. Here's a progression.

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“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” -Dr. Seuss

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