Couple questions about using 9W LED bulbs in a DIY light rig.

OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Recently there was a promotion selling 9W LED light for a buck each so I bought 2 dozen 5000K and a dozen 2700K. I have a bunch of vanity fixtures I bought a few years ago and plant to make a nice little veg light big enough to cover one of my RubberMaid tub DWC units with. Or start seedlings etc.

The sockets on the fixtures are 12cm/4¾" on center. Is that a decent distance?

I just put the parts on the floor and if that looks good I'll attach them to a couple pieces of aluminum flat bar where I drew the black lines and put screws for hanging at the ends of the long ones where I put the black dots.

LEDsetup19101701.jpg

Another quick question. What's the best way to remove the globes off these Luminus bulbs. I'm hoping a heat gun will soften the joint and I can just pull them off. I'll screw a porcelain light socket to my work bench to hold the bulb in place, heat up the joint and pull the globe off. Yay or nay?

LEDbulb04.jpg

:peace:
 
nfhiggs

nfhiggs

Well-Known Member
OldMedUser said:
Recently there was a promotion selling 9W LED light for a buck each so I bought 2 dozen 5000K and a dozen 2700K. I have a bunch of vanity fixtures I bought a few years ago and plant to make a nice little veg light big enough to cover one of my RubberMaid tub DWC units with. Or start seedlings etc.

The sockets on the fixtures are 12cm/4¾" on center. Is that a decent distance?

I just put the parts on the floor and if that looks good I'll attach them to a couple pieces of aluminum flat bar where I drew the black lines and put screws for hanging at the ends of the long ones where I put the black dots.

View attachment 4030072

Another quick question. What's the best way to remove the globes off these Luminus bulbs. I'm hoping a heat gun will soften the joint and I can just pull them off. I'll screw a porcelain light socket to my work bench to hold the bulb in place, heat up the joint and pull the globe off. Yay or nay?

View attachment 4030080

:peace:
Click to expand...
If they wont snap off, I'd just cut them with a dremel.
 
CobKits

CobKits

Well-Known Member
those bulbs are all the same, the globe is glued to the base around the outer edge

easy way is to spear the globe straight across with a screwdriver and then use screwdriver to pry the globe off as one piece
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
nfhiggs said:
If they wont snap off, I'd just cut them with a dremel.
Click to expand...
I got a Dremel with lots of cutoff bits so if I have too I'll do that but was hoping to find an easier method.

CobKits said:
those bulbs are all the same, the globe is glued to the base around the outer edge

easy way is to spear the globe straight across with a screwdriver and then use screwdriver to pry the globe off as one piece
Click to expand...
Sounds like the way we got oil filters off when we didn't have an oil filter wrench. :)

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll try the heat gun thing first I think then go from there.

Any thoughts about the spacing for the bulbs? They seem to be OK from what I've seen in other threads but this is new for me. I was going to use CFLS but glad these LEDs came along. 26W CFLs, 100W equivalent, are about $6 each in bulk and use 19W more each but have twice the lumens at 1610 compared the 800 from each LED bulb. I know with the globes off that the light is more directed and intense but are there any more lumens?

Not a big deal as I have 400W HIDs that will be used once plants get a little bigger. I just like to use enough light to get the job done and a 400W is overkill at the start until there's a bit of a canopy happening.
 
kingtitan

kingtitan

Well-Known Member
I got the same rebate deal going on and changed ever bulb in my house for under 60 bucks. I bought lots of spares in all kinds. I pulled the covers off with a mini flat head screw driver by prying enough to loosen it then just used some elbow grease to get it off. the 100w equivalents @ 5000k work great for seedlings.

The ones I have, I can push in the plastic bulb if I push hard enough so its not too hard to get them off. I can do 4 per minute now lol.
 
kingtitan

kingtitan

Well-Known Member
OldMedUser said:
I got a Dremel with lots of cutoff bits so if I have too I'll do that but was hoping to find an easier method.



Sounds like the way we got oil filters off when we didn't have an oil filter wrench. :)

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll try the heat gun thing first I think then go from there.

Any thoughts about the spacing for the bulbs? They seem to be OK from what I've seen in other threads but this is new for me. I was going to use CFLS but glad these LEDs came along. 26W CFLs, 100W equivalent, are about $6 each in bulk and use 19W more each but have twice the lumens at 1610 compared the 800 from each LED bulb. I know with the globes off that the light is more directed and intense but are there any more lumens?

Not a big deal as I have 400W HIDs that will be used once plants get a little bigger. I just like to use enough light to get the job done and a 400W is overkill at the start until there's a bit of a canopy happening.
Click to expand...
The Noma ones @ 5000k 100w equivalent 1800 lumen. 2 pack for $6 at Canadian Tire. Saw Lowes with 3 pack 60w for 1.99
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
kingtitan said:
I got the same rebate deal going on and changed ever bulb in my house for under 60 bucks. I bought lots of spares in all kinds. I pulled the covers off with a mini flat head screw driver by prying enough to loosen it then just used some elbow grease to get it off. the 100w equivalents @ 5000k work great for seedlings.

The ones I have, I can push in the plastic bulb if I push hard enough so its not too hard to get them off. I can do 4 per minute now lol.
Click to expand...
I doubt I need that level of speed but good to know!

They just had these 60W equivalent ones but I can always upgrade down the line if I figure I need more. I have an 85W 5000K CFL and it vegs plants great so I should get decent results with this little rig.

Right now I have a half dozen gifted plants under my old 8-tube bank of T-12s and it still vegs plants OK. :) One of the ballasts seems to have packed it in so I may just scrap it. Getting hard to find the better tubes like the Daylight Ultimate 6500K ones. They're all the 36W dim ones now and not worth using IMO.
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
CobKits said:
you shouldnt need a heatgun. if you want some heat just screw em in a socket those things get pretty hot
Click to expand...
Whatever adhesive they use to join them would have to take their heat without loosening and I have a heat gun that will set wood on fire so I'll give that a go and see what happens. I got decent DIY skills and have worked as a machinists helper, welder carpenter etc etc. Shop full of tools so there ain't much I can't build. Or dismantle. Might not be pretty but if it gets the job done who cares. :)
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Went and tried the heat gun. Warped the globe and left a nice place to get the tip of a flat screwdriver in and it popped right off. Seems pretty easy but if they just screwed on and off it would be lots easier. :)

LEDbulb03.jpg

Thanks for the tips guys! pass.gif

:peace:
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
kingtitan said:
Its silicone adhesive so the heat gun wont do much :bigjoint:
Click to expand...
Lots of different adhesives these days. Epoxies will soften with boiling water and that's what I've used when building or rebuilding fishing rods. Hot water doesn't hurt cork or synthetic grips so it's easy to replace a worn reel seat or damaged grip.

I think I'll go with the screwed down light socket, bit of heat to open a spot for the screw driver and pop the tops off. I'll do a few spares while at it. I still have a couple of three socket units I could make a nice smaller light fixture with too. Wish I had a nice little sheet metal brake so I could clad them in a custom case to look real professional but it won't affect their output so why bother. I got a big roll of 12" wide aluminum flashing powder-coated white on one side that would look nice.

All hot to get this thing built now so will post some pics here once it's up and running.

:peace:
 
CobKits

CobKits

Well-Known Member
ive opened dozens of these from many manufacturers and never used heat at all. its almost always silicone
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
CobKits said:
ive opened dozens of these from many manufacturers and never used heat at all. its almost always silicone
Click to expand...
When I was a kid I worked in a plastics plant where we made all sorts of plastic things like meat totes up to 8' septic tanks using heat rotational molds. We used silicone caulking like you can buy anywhere and mixed it with concentrated acetic acid, vinegar, to spray in the molds before applying heat and dumping in the needed amount of polypropylene pellets with whatever colouring needed to get it right.

Horrible job with temps over 120F sometimes until I staged a sit-down protest and made them install decent A/C. Became the shop steward there and in 3 other plants I worked at in the years to follow. Retired member of a half-dozen unions. :)
 
D

Dave455

Well-Known Member
OldMedUser said:
Recently there was a promotion selling 9W LED light for a buck each so I bought 2 dozen 5000K and a dozen 2700K. I have a bunch of vanity fixtures I bought a few years ago and plant to make a nice little veg light big enough to cover one of my RubberMaid tub DWC units with. Or start seedlings etc.

The sockets on the fixtures are 12cm/4¾" on center. Is that a decent distance?

I just put the parts on the floor and if that looks good I'll attach them to a couple pieces of aluminum flat bar where I drew the black lines and put screws for hanging at the ends of the long ones where I put the black dots.

View attachment 4030072

Another quick question. What's the best way to remove the globes off these Luminus bulbs. I'm hoping a heat gun will soften the joint and I can just pull them off. I'll screw a porcelain light socket to my work bench to hold the bulb in place, heat up the joint and pull the globe off. Yay or nay?

View attachment 4030080

:peace:
Click to expand...
You can also put dual socket in each and double up the bulbs !!!
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Dave455 said:
You can also put dual socket in each and double up the bulbs !!!
Click to expand...
At $5 each that's cost prohibitive for me and will shoot light all over instead of straight down like I want it to go. I've got a few I've used with CFL setups and they sure are handy to get extra light when needed. I also use 40W CFLs for even stronger lighting but those puppies are around $15 each.

Good tip tho!

:peace:
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
These 3 bulb units would work great in my planned fixture. Could have 33 bulbs going with enough spread to give a footprint at least twice the size of the actual fixture. 33 x 800 lumens = 26,400 which is about half what a 400W MH puts out but using 33x9W= 297W. Suddenly doesn't seem like the best way to go.

I just want my unit to veg little guys enough to put them under a 400 without wasting light not hitting greenery. I see guys sprouting 4 little seeds in solo cups under 600s and think what a waste when a couple CFLs would do a great job for the first couple of weeks. If light is hitting the floor it's wasted.

If I'm just doing a few clones I can screw in a few bulbs instead of running all 11 so I can just use as much as I need for the job.

Thanks again for the input!
 
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