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Customizable Compact Fluorescent Strip Light
These are the directions for building a customizable compact fluorescent [CF] strip
light having two 14W compact fluorescent bulbs. These CF bulbs
are the types used to replace incandescent bulbs in standard incandescent bulb bases such
as lamps.
CF bulbs produce among the most lumens per watt of any bulb type except metal halide
and sodium. They produce about 50-86 lumens per watt. The
fixture below will produce about 1700 lumens of light for 28W of power. This is the same
amount of light produced by two 60W incandescent bulbs.
However, the incandescent bulbs will need 120 watts of power to drive them. That's 4.3
times as much power! The difference gets converted into heat.
Higher wattage bulbs can be used, however there are dimensional limits due to the
increasing CF bulb diameters at higher wattages versus the vinyl
gutter depth.
The cost to build the fixture is about $12 with everything specified below. The bulbs
cost an additional $6 each. About $24 total. Assembly time is about 1/2 hour.
COMPONENTS:
- A length of "modern" pattern/design gutter from Menards. Not the
"traditional" pattern/design gutter. Get the dark brown color.
- Two matching gutter end-caps.
- About 6 feet of standard black lamp cord: 18G, 2 conductor wire.
- One quick connect electrical plug.
- One in-line cord switch.
- Two Phillips pan head machine screws, 1" long, size 8, 32 threads per inch.
From Ace Hardware.
- Two nylon 1/2" long barrel spacers with a hole through it to accommodate the pan
head screws. From Ace Hardware.
- Two stop nuts or lock nuts to fit the pan head screws. From Ace Hardware.
- Two "L" bracket lamp holder bases. These bases consist of a plastic base
to screw the bulb into, two electrical contact screws at the bottom of the base and a
small, 90 degree steel bracket with a hole in it. Leviton makes them. I have only
been able to find them at retail at Home Depot.
I think the SKU# is 635-3352.
- Two 14W, Phillips compact
fluorescent bulbs. These are the type that replace normal incandescent bulbs for
great energy savings.
- White, tub and tile caulk.
- Three, 16" long pieces of heat resisting, aluminum foil, duct mending tape.
About 2" wide. The aluminum itself, not a fabric, carries the adhesive.
- One shoulder washer or finishing plug. You may want to vent the strip light for
cooling purposes. From Ace Hardware.
This piece is a hollow plastic cylinder, about 1/4" in diameter and about
1/2" long. It has a collar that prevents the piece from falling through the
gutter strip as it sits in a drilled hole. You might also try a nylon, vented
finishing plug used to plug sheet metal in plumbing and HVAC applications.
TOOLS:
- Bladed screwdriver.
- Drill.
- Appropriate sized drill bits: 11/32" for screw holes.
- Tape measure.
- Wire stripper tool.
- #2 Phillips screwdriver for the pan head screws
- 11/32" socket or box wrench for the nuts.
PROCEDURE:
- Cut gutter to appropriate length. About 29 1/2" for a 20G long aquarium.
I do this on a table saw. A hacksaw will also work.
- Drill a hole about 3 1/2" in from one end of the gutter strip. This hole
should be centered in the bottom of the gutter as it would normally be used. Repeat
for the other end of the strip. The hole diameters need to accommodate the pan head
screws you use.
- Loosen the electrical contact screws on one of the lamp holder bases. Separate the lamp
cord wires on one end of the cord by about 2". Strip the insulation off each
wire by about 5/8". Insert one conductor/wire under one screw and tighten down.
Insert the other wire of the pair under the other screw and tighten down.
Which wire goes to which screw is not important.
- In one of the holes insert a pan head screw so that the head is on the outside of the
gutter. Place a nylon spacer on the screw then the "L" bracket lamp holder
and then the lock nut. Tighten the nut, making sure the lamp holder is parallel to
the trough of the gutter section and the end to receive the bulb is pointing toward the
center of the gutter strip or aquarium.
- By eyeball, cut and place strips of the aluminum duct tape to cover the estimated area
between the lamp holder bases you are going to install. This simply provides a good
reflective surface to get the light into your tank. If you are happy with the bright
white color of the inside of the vinyl gutter then skip the tape.
- Attach a gutter end-cap to the end having the first lamp holder base installed.
- Loosely attach the other lamp holder base in the second hole at the other end of the
gutter strip. We are doing this for measurement purposes only for the moment.
- Lead the lamp wire attached to the first lamp base past the screws of the second lamp
holder base by about 1.5 - 2.0" and cut it off. Now separate and strip [as in
#3 above] these wires in preparation for connecting to the electrical screw contacts of
the second lamp holder base.
- Remove the second lamp holder base. It will be easier to do the remaining
electrical connections with the lamp base not mounted on the screw.
- Separate and strip [as in #3 above] an end of the remaining lamp cord. Now insert a pair
[one wire from the first lamp base + a wire you just stripped] under one of the screws on
the second lamp base and tighten. Insert the remaining pair of wires under the other
screw on the second lamp base and tighten also. The only trick to doing this is to
make sure that the wires coming from the power supply [electric wall outlet] are
separately attached to the screws of the second lamp holder base. In other words,
make sure that no more than two wires are ever attached to any screw on any lamp holder
base and that if two wires are attached to any screw that they don't both come directly
from the power supply.
- Now attach the wired second lamp holder base to the gutter strip as in #4 above.
- Drill a hole in the remaining gutter end-cap, about in the middle of the end-cap and
thread about 5-6 feet of lamp cord through it. Cut the cord off square and even.
- Attach the second end-cap to the gutter.
- Attach the electrical plug to the lamp cord end. See package directions.
- Attach the in-line power switch to the lamp cord about 4-5" from the gutter
end-cap. Follow package directions. This is not entirely essential, however it
allows you to control the light over each tank without unplugging the cord. If you
do install the switch be sure to use a screwdriver or similar to separate the wires of the
lamp cord. Using a razor blade or knife is too dangerous in terms of cutting the
insulation and exposing the wires. You just need to force the wires apart,
separating them for about 5/8" and then cut a 1/8" section out of one of
the wires. Place the wires carefully in the groves of the switch housing and
press the halves together. In doing so, the insulation is pierced by the switch
components to make a circuit only when the switch wheel is rotated.Again, follow the
manufacturer's directions.
- Screw in both compact fluorescent bulbs and plug the cord into the wall outlet. I
have made about 10 of these so far, and had only one fail to light the first time.
It was due to a faulty assembly on my part of the in-line switch. I took it
apart and re-assembled it and it worked fine.
- If the light woks, apply small dabs of white [because you can see what it is covering]
caulk to the screw terminals on the lamp holder bases to cover the wires as a corrosion
preventative.
- While I have not found it necessary to vent the lights for cooling purposes, you may
want to do so. I did vent one light strip by drilling a hole in the top center of
the strip between the bulbs and inserting a shoulder washer or finishing plug there.
You can just drill a hole in the light strip, but that will allow light to escape
from that hole and possibly affect your sense of aesthetics. I also found the light
source annoying as I worked near the tank as it was a bright spot in an otherwise dark
area. As the opening of the shoulder washer or finishing plug rests about 1/2"
below and inside the top of the light strip, light can't easily escape yet allows cooling
especially if you use CF bulbs larger Than 14W.
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