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| First,ensure complete parts and components plus tools to construct the PL lighting system: 4X Philips PL-L36W/840 Tubes , 8x PL Clips 1x Double Tube Aluminium Polished Reflector Nuts & Bolts, Washer , Cutter , Power Drill etc. |
| The 40W Electronic Ballast set implemented for this PL design.( Verify that the e-ballast really works before installing.) |
| Align and mark the each position of the PL clips placement. |
| Once the spots are marked. Proceed to drilling holes. Tighten the clip with bolts and place a spring washer with regular washers in between to avoid clips from coming loose.Place a PL tube on to the clips and check clips alignment with the tubes |
| Easy DIY PL Light system !! By Robby |
| Once all the PL tubes are in position, connect the wires from the e-ballast to each designated tube.Make sure the length of the wires are correct. |
| I did not remove the excess output wires because just in case the ballast fails in couple of days, I can still return it for an exchange. The e-ballast are secure with double sided tape as they are light weight and will hardly budge. |
| Note: The construction is fairly simple as long as you have the appropriate tools to work around with, e.g. Power Drill, Correct size drill bits, Plier, Test Pen. Due to time constraint, I took about an hour to construct the whole set.As my plants are not doin so well and desperately needed the extra boost. I did not took the effort to make any enhancement except for the reflector length because it won't fit into my tank hood unless I trim 1" off each side. Anyone who love DIY lighting or anything and need a hand, feel free to contact me at cjming@hotmail.com. Warning: Though the design was straightforward, you still need some basic knowlegde to work with electricity to avoid any mishaps. Comments and feedbacks are always welcome!!! |
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| Fig 1. This was requested by Stan: 8 PL tubes in one reflector (4 each sides). Due to heavy load on the reflector, it's advisable to install the 8x e-ballasts a wooden hood. |
| Fig2. Dom's configuration... |
| Fig3. Which is better... 5 or 6 tubes? |
| Installation of Fan Notice I placed the fan on one side and not centre. Reason was I have an AC fan (suck in) running at 24/7 positioned on right side of the tank while the DC fan runs on timer placed on the lefthand side (blow out). Result: Temp dropped 1 degree celcius. from 27.8-26.5C |
| Extras.... |
| Other pages: Misc. photos Layout |
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