I've been building my own T5 fixtures lately, which are perfect for cloning/vegging since they give good light and have very low heat, meaning you can keep them closer, reducing inter-node spacing and leaving you with bushier plants. It also cuts down on the height you need since the fixture is under 5" thick overall, so would be great for an under-shelf type system as well. This tutorial is for making two 4-bulb, 4-foot fixtures. You could also easily make a single eight-bulb fixture with some basic modifications to the materials. Efficiency is about 85lumens/watt, which is pretty decent.
OK let's get started. You'll need to order the following parts:
Two 4-bulb 54-watt T5 ballasts
At least 16 T5 screw-on sockets. I order 40-50 at a time to save on shipping, and because I make several fixtures at once. You need two per bulb, eight per ballast.
And from your local hardware store you need the following:
One 1"x8"x8foot pine "appearance board." Try to get one as flat as possible.
Two 1"x2.5"x24" oak boards (if they have 16" long boards, even better)
Twenty or so feet of 3-strand 20-gauge insulated solid copper wire (mine has red, white, and green strands)
At least 32 #5, 1/2" long machine screws. You need two per socket. Mine come in packs of 25.
Wood glue (I use titebond)
1.5" wood screws (get a pack of 200 or something for a few bucks)
16-gauge stranded-copper, two-conductor cable. I used speaker wire, but any stranded cable will work fine. This will be your power cord, so choose length accordingly.
Two bolt-together power plugs
Tools needed:
Tape measure
ruler/straightedge
pen&pencil
circular saw (a hand saw can be used, but will be a pain in the butt. I suggest getting a circular saw anyways as it is a very useful tool. You can get one for $30 or less)
electric drill
1/8" drill bit
5/64" drill bit
phillips driver bit
soldering iron (optional but recommended).
Steps:
1. Measure the 1"x8" board lengthwise and mark off 47.5" on each side. Using the ruler, connect these lines. This will leave you with a line across the board at 47.5"
2. Cut along this line using your saw. Be sure that you err on the side of caution - it's better for the resulting board to be a bit larger than 47.5" than smaller.
3. Measure the remaining length of board to 47.5" and repeat the cut. This will leave you with two 47.5" boards.
4. Measure the width of your board. Mine was 7.25" wide
5. Using this measured width, mark off a line of that depth onto a piece of the redwood.
6. Cut this piece off and repeat. You need four of these pieces total.
7. Mark off a line 1" from the bottom of the redwood. Grab the sockets and evenly space them along the line. Using a pen, mark through the holes of the sockets onto the wood.
8. You should have something that looks like this, with the holes marked in pen
9. Using the 5/64" drill bit, drill out the holes.
10. repeat this process for the other three redwood boards.
11. Screw the sockets down into the holes using the #5 screws. You should use the drill with phillips bit, but be careful not to over-tighten - go slowly. Also, make sure that the ends that accept the wires are facing the shorter side of the wood.
12. Run a glue bead along the edge of one of the 47.5" planks.
13. Take one of the redwood pieces with the sockets installed and place it edge-wise on the glue line. Align it so that it fits flush with the edge of the board. MAKE SURE the wire-accpeting ends of the sockets are facing AWAY from the board, or you will have a hell of a time wiring it later. Turn the whole thing over and use another piece of redwood further down as a temporary spacer.
14. With the glue still wet, take the drill with a 1/8" bit and drill pilot holes through the pine board into the redwood. I drilled three holes - one in the center and one by each end. Make sure the keep the redwood pieces aligned properly as you do this.
15. Swap out the 1/8" bit for the phillips driver bit. Grab some wood screws and bolt it down. Apply pressure and make sure the screws go in deep. Some glue should be squeezed out of the gap.
16. Run your finger along the corners to smooth out the glue.
17. Repeat for the other side. I put a bulb in the socket before drilling the screw holes to make sure everything fits.
18. Take four more wood screws and bolt the ballast to the top of the fixture we just made. Begin wiring as per the instructions on the ballast (it has a printed diagram)
19. Route the wires around. I used staples as first, but they broke through the insulation, causing a short which FRIED one of my ballasts internally. So don't do this. Use either tape or proper cable securing devices. At this point the fixture itself is done.
20. Now we need a power cord. Remove the housing screw rom the bolt-together plug. Wire it up using the 16-guage cord. The "fat" blade on the plug is the neutral wire. Pay attention to which color or stripe of wire you used. At this point I solded the wires to the plug terminals after bolting them down. This is not essntial but I like to be sure nothing will become loose. When done, replace the housing screw.
21. Strip the other end of those wires and remove a few strands to make them skinnier. You don't have to tin the wires but it makes it easier to slide into the ballast.
22. Wire them to the ballast. Remember which lead is neutral are wire it to the neutral socket. The other wire is "line." Then you have two options. You can install a switch, or you can bridge the switch terminals with a wire so that when the lamp is plugged in, it's on. Since I use an external timer, this is what I did.
23. Apply some reflective material. I just used aluminum foil taped on and it works fine.
24. Add your mounting hardware. You can either hang them from chains or mount them under a shelf or to a wall using "L" brackets. They are quite lightweight.
25. Enjoy! You can get these VERY close to the plants. I don't feel any heat until just about touching the bulbs. The heat has enough space above the lamps to disappate, so this lamp is very easy on your plants.
^^Above is some bagseed moving along nicely. You can see the short node length thanks to the close lights. There's some dead stuff down below that was the result of a PH problem earlier on, but it has been corrected and they look very healthy now!
OK let's get started. You'll need to order the following parts:
Two 4-bulb 54-watt T5 ballasts
At least 16 T5 screw-on sockets. I order 40-50 at a time to save on shipping, and because I make several fixtures at once. You need two per bulb, eight per ballast.
And from your local hardware store you need the following:
One 1"x8"x8foot pine "appearance board." Try to get one as flat as possible.
Two 1"x2.5"x24" oak boards (if they have 16" long boards, even better)
Twenty or so feet of 3-strand 20-gauge insulated solid copper wire (mine has red, white, and green strands)
At least 32 #5, 1/2" long machine screws. You need two per socket. Mine come in packs of 25.
Wood glue (I use titebond)
1.5" wood screws (get a pack of 200 or something for a few bucks)
16-gauge stranded-copper, two-conductor cable. I used speaker wire, but any stranded cable will work fine. This will be your power cord, so choose length accordingly.
Two bolt-together power plugs
Tools needed:
Tape measure
ruler/straightedge
pen&pencil
circular saw (a hand saw can be used, but will be a pain in the butt. I suggest getting a circular saw anyways as it is a very useful tool. You can get one for $30 or less)
electric drill
1/8" drill bit
5/64" drill bit
phillips driver bit
soldering iron (optional but recommended).
Steps:
1. Measure the 1"x8" board lengthwise and mark off 47.5" on each side. Using the ruler, connect these lines. This will leave you with a line across the board at 47.5"
2. Cut along this line using your saw. Be sure that you err on the side of caution - it's better for the resulting board to be a bit larger than 47.5" than smaller.
3. Measure the remaining length of board to 47.5" and repeat the cut. This will leave you with two 47.5" boards.
4. Measure the width of your board. Mine was 7.25" wide
5. Using this measured width, mark off a line of that depth onto a piece of the redwood.
6. Cut this piece off and repeat. You need four of these pieces total.
7. Mark off a line 1" from the bottom of the redwood. Grab the sockets and evenly space them along the line. Using a pen, mark through the holes of the sockets onto the wood.
8. You should have something that looks like this, with the holes marked in pen
9. Using the 5/64" drill bit, drill out the holes.
10. repeat this process for the other three redwood boards.
11. Screw the sockets down into the holes using the #5 screws. You should use the drill with phillips bit, but be careful not to over-tighten - go slowly. Also, make sure that the ends that accept the wires are facing the shorter side of the wood.
12. Run a glue bead along the edge of one of the 47.5" planks.
13. Take one of the redwood pieces with the sockets installed and place it edge-wise on the glue line. Align it so that it fits flush with the edge of the board. MAKE SURE the wire-accpeting ends of the sockets are facing AWAY from the board, or you will have a hell of a time wiring it later. Turn the whole thing over and use another piece of redwood further down as a temporary spacer.
14. With the glue still wet, take the drill with a 1/8" bit and drill pilot holes through the pine board into the redwood. I drilled three holes - one in the center and one by each end. Make sure the keep the redwood pieces aligned properly as you do this.
15. Swap out the 1/8" bit for the phillips driver bit. Grab some wood screws and bolt it down. Apply pressure and make sure the screws go in deep. Some glue should be squeezed out of the gap.
16. Run your finger along the corners to smooth out the glue.
17. Repeat for the other side. I put a bulb in the socket before drilling the screw holes to make sure everything fits.
18. Take four more wood screws and bolt the ballast to the top of the fixture we just made. Begin wiring as per the instructions on the ballast (it has a printed diagram)
19. Route the wires around. I used staples as first, but they broke through the insulation, causing a short which FRIED one of my ballasts internally. So don't do this. Use either tape or proper cable securing devices. At this point the fixture itself is done.
20. Now we need a power cord. Remove the housing screw rom the bolt-together plug. Wire it up using the 16-guage cord. The "fat" blade on the plug is the neutral wire. Pay attention to which color or stripe of wire you used. At this point I solded the wires to the plug terminals after bolting them down. This is not essntial but I like to be sure nothing will become loose. When done, replace the housing screw.
21. Strip the other end of those wires and remove a few strands to make them skinnier. You don't have to tin the wires but it makes it easier to slide into the ballast.
22. Wire them to the ballast. Remember which lead is neutral are wire it to the neutral socket. The other wire is "line." Then you have two options. You can install a switch, or you can bridge the switch terminals with a wire so that when the lamp is plugged in, it's on. Since I use an external timer, this is what I did.
23. Apply some reflective material. I just used aluminum foil taped on and it works fine.
24. Add your mounting hardware. You can either hang them from chains or mount them under a shelf or to a wall using "L" brackets. They are quite lightweight.
25. Enjoy! You can get these VERY close to the plants. I don't feel any heat until just about touching the bulbs. The heat has enough space above the lamps to disappate, so this lamp is very easy on your plants.
^^Above is some bagseed moving along nicely. You can see the short node length thanks to the close lights. There's some dead stuff down below that was the result of a PH problem earlier on, but it has been corrected and they look very healthy now!
