Knuckles' Best - Can-O-Sunshine

[Knuckles]

GIVEAWAY

Hi Everyone,
I'm tired of freeloading off all you generous people so I'll take a turn & pitch in. I was digging around & found an extra can of sun that hadn't expired yet & thought what the hey I might as well share the love. I had an extra 10 seconds today & threw this together with a bunch of parts I had in storage:

DSCN0110 by blu-bear, on Flickr
Inside
DSCN0114 by blu-bear, on Flickr
Outside
DSCN0115 by blu-bear, on Flickr
Lit up
Untitled by blu-bear, on Flickr
Happy plants
DSCN0111 by blu-bear, on Flickr

This is a 70W Metal Halide complete growlight setup up for random giveaway. Includes Nais electronic ballast & is shown with a 10000K DE bulb which is more towards a bluish color. I will include a new 65000K bulb & should find one in storage by the end of the week for the lucky winner.
Well maybe not 10 seconds... It did take some time & effort to put this together from many different parts. The base is from a shop-light, can is coated with aluminum on the inside, all connections are done with wire nuts & elec tape, & everything had to be wired from scratch. The can has been sanded & ground down so it is not sharp & I put on some hooks so it can be hung from something or sat on a metal/glass shelf. The pictures do not do justice for how bright this light is as the camera auto-darkened to compensate. These lights get hot so please use some sort of cooling fan with this setup. I've used these lights for both plants & corals with excellent results. They can be fitted into a terrarium hood or nanocube style aquarium. This is not a trade & will be drawn at random by next weekend. Shipping will be $9 weight is 2lbs.

Rules:
-US only
-Paypal only
-Must be a contributing/active member (does not mean you have done giveaways)
-Must actually need the light (would be great for indoor growers, people with fluorescents, nepenthes & other plants, ppl with growshelves/terrariums, anyone who needs more/better light)
-Must post a pic of it over your plants for our viewing pleasure
-This is a giveaway for anyone

Good luck to all. I can answer questions if you have any & I really hope you enjoy

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[KATastrophe]

Wow this is great did u build this yourself? Do u maybe have instructions on how i could make something like this until i get the grow system i have set up after much needed renovations are made to the sunporch/greenhouse?
I would totally go in on this offer but i already have what funds i can spare tied up in other things that require shipping costs incase i get picked. You can pm me if u have instructions/a link to share thanks again. Goodluck to the lucky winner

 

[Sashoke]

1. Sashoke - Wow thanks so much for doing this Knuckles, I think this might be the best giveaway ive seen on this site!
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[Harow]

Not joining the giveaway but this is definitely neat for indoor growers, thanks Knuckles!

 

[Knuckles]

Thank you guys =)
Yes, I built this from scratch from a few individual components. I mentioned to some folks here on TF that I planned to offer up a fixture for trade or giveaway so I finally got around to digging for treasure & creating this. I made it well b/c I want the winner to enjoy its longterm use & would never offer anything shoddy with my name behind it. Heres a quick breakdown of what you would need to build one. If you go for it, just pm me & I can give detailed instructions with pics. A prebuilt light would run you $80 for a cheapy to $180+ for a known brand fixture. DIYing 1 yourself will be cheaper but still much more pricey than the fluorescent route.

1. Metal Halide electronic ballast 70-150watt ($50+) Careful with purchasing extra cheap ones. I've had cheap ones buzz loudly, overheat, & not start properly. Hatch, VS, Nais are a few brands of choice that have worked great for me. There are also common brands used in aquariums that are fine with more features.
2. Rx7s socket for your DE double ended bulb. ($5-10) These are the same size for 70 or 150W.
3. AC power cord 10amp 120v minimum grounded. ($10) Free if you have an old computer power cord or heavy duty extension lying around. Black & brown = hot; white & blue = neutral; green & yellow = ground.
4. Wire nuts & electrical tape. ($3) Soldering & shrink wrapping would also be fine. Just electrical tape is not safe.
5. Reflector. ($0) Get creative. A pie tin would work great for example. I dremeled my sun can & coated with aluminum tape after marking the design.
6. DE 70 or 150W MH bulb ($10-$80) Depending on brand.
A cheap $12 shoplight from your hardware store can kill 3 birds with 1 stone. It contains your rx7s socket(may need slight modification), reflector, and power cord. + a bonus enclosure if you choose to use it (ugly lol).

If you made it through that rambling just know its simpler than it sounds. =)

 

[Cindy]

I can't take part as I am on another side of the world but thanks for the generosity and 3 big cheers to the creativity!!!

 

[David F]

1. Sashoke - Wow thanks so much for doing this Knuckles, I think this might be the best giveaway ive seen on this site!
2. David F- Inspiring design, thank you so much!
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[KATastrophe]

Hahaha i enjoy the rambling! Thanks ill have to write this down for when i get some available funds to try and pick ur brain on how to create this contraption

 

[AnIsleAteHer]

1. Sashoke - Wow thanks so much for doing this Knuckles, I think this might be the best giveaway ive seen on this site!
2. David F- Inspiring design, thank you so much!
3. An Isle Ate Her - Thanks, I need to start a grow light setup, this should hold me over for a bit and save me some money =]
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[Knuckles]

Thx, thx, =)

Shipping updated. Fixture weight = 2lbs so it will be $9.

I also have a few old pics of one of my previous open top terrariums that some may be interested in. These shots show the growth change after switching this tank to a 70w mh light. The plants loved it & I had it mounted 2-3ft above the top.

Triple flower stalk
DSCN0065 by blu-bear, on Flickr
Very tall & leaves beginning to blush
DSCN0012 by blu-bear, on Flickr
Old growth brown & new growth size difference with same type of light
DSCN0069 by blu-bear, on Flickr

I couldn't find any nice shots of the whole thing but there are many large pitchers. Ill search for other pics of separate tanks when I rummage for the 65000k light. I hope the winner has just as favorable results as I have had in the past.

 

[Fatbunny]

Wow, that's a really cool DIY project. I can't help but chuckle at your first picture of the can of sunlight I got a tank recently so this might be a great setup for it. Thank you!

1. Sashoke - Wow thanks so much for doing this Knuckles, I think this might be the best giveaway ive seen on this site!
2. David F- Inspiring design, thank you so much!
3. An Isle Ate Her - Thanks, I need to start a grow light setup, this should hold me over for a bit and save me some money =]
4. Fatbunny
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[planturd]

that's one niiiiice can

 

[afrodisa]

1. Sashoke - Wow thanks so much for doing this Knuckles, I think this might be the best giveaway ive seen on this site!
2. David F- Inspiring design, thank you so much!
3. An Isle Ate Her - Thanks, I need to start a grow light setup, this should hold me over for a bit and save me some money =]
4. Fatbunny
5. afrodisa - Thanks
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[SerMuncherIV]

Not entering, but wow, fantastic and unique giveaway! I look forward to seeing the winner's photos!

 

[Knuckles]

Thanks fellow plantaholics

Good news- I found the 65000k bulb yesterday & started its break-in burning for a few hrs. This period should be a few days before showing its true color. It looks great being extremely white & crisp. Metal halide is just about as close as you can get to natural sunlight & plants grown under mh look identical to plants grown under the good ol sun. I will use random.org's number generator tomorrow at 9pm central to select the winner. Here is a little information about MH if you're intimidated by my little sun can.

There seems to be few interested in this custom grow-light; but, that just means better odds for the participants. This isn't surprising as most CP enthusuasts use fluorescent tubes, sunlight, & sometimes LED. It is extremely common to use retro-fit & DIY metal haldes in other areas. MH is mostly used commercially, with specialty plants, & with corals. It produces a cool bright light with much blue making for a very crisp, natural, & visually appealing result. MH produces a very broad spectrum that is ideal for both vigorous vegetative growth & flowering. The bulb life is around 10000-20000hrs & if you have it on 12hrs a day it will give you about 2-4 yrs of great growth. After that the bulb will still work but is recommended to be replaced. If this giveaway were placed in a reef forum there would be a line out the door for it - lol. Basically, this is a pre-assembled retro-fit mh setup + bulb. Retro-fits are entire light systems in parts that have not yet been assembled allowing the user to customize it for themselves. These usually run for about $100 on the cheap end.

Here is an example of an enclosed unit: http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/hamilton-technology-70w-metal-halide-hqi-de-system.

Also, try not to be scared of my electrical skills! this isn't my 1st rodeo & I've built many a fixture in my day from scratch for plants/corals including MH, LED, & fluorescent. I do not use high wattage such as 400, 600, or 1000, due to heat & power consumption. I have no need for that much light b/c these are usually for a small surface area of coverage over terrariums, tanks, & racks. I have also built many custom fixtures for fellow reefers. Salty people tend to be obsessive about how appealing their system is, where as plant growers care more for how the plants look.

Here is the only example of a MH light i could find that I customed into a a friends desk lamp here in TX. The tank isn't running here but you can still see the fixture. I have some unique customs over clam tanks with very nice fixtures on my old computer but need to pull the hard drive.

DSCN0123 by blu-bear, on Flickr

As far as heat, if the light is over a rack or open top terrarium it won't be much of an issue. If this light is ever used for seedlings or cuttings it should be about 3 feet up. 1 ft is fine for nepenthes & other cps. A small cooling fan will suffice aimed across the reflector. If you have an old computer lying around you can gut it for a cooling fan & I can show you exactly how. Anything like these fans will work fine. I have so many that I may do another non-cp giveaway soon including a computer cooling fan great for anything.

DSCN0126 by blu-bear, on Flickr

Well those will be my closing words before the drawing tomorrow. Good luck to the participants & for anyone else interested please feel free to join. I hope yall had a nice weekend. Yes, I do say yall =P.

 

[Sashoke]

Thanks for the good info here Knuckles.

 

[KATastrophe]

Lol ur so good at making this stuff knuckles

 

[Sashoke]

Waiting intensifies

 

[NemJones]

 

[Sashoke]