where to get CF mini spirals that fit?

[RoxyDog]

Hi all,
I read through old posts and found where some pple use CF mini spirals (Phillips I think it was) in their old hoods.  I went to Home Depot and picked up a pack, but they still are too big for my incandescent hood.  I wondered where pple get ones that fit?
Thanks!

[darkdep]

I get mine at Home Depot :lol:

Are they too WIDE to fit your canopy or too LONG?  If too wide, you're probably out of luck...

[AQUAFREAK]

Yes they are big.  Have you checked out the 13 watt ones,  they are a little smaller.  You could choose to look at re-trofitting your canopy with the new straight pin CF lights,  they come very small and should fit in your incandescent canopy.  The fixture cost about $25 and the light another $15,  but they last along time.  What size tank do you have and do you know anything about electrical wiring.  It's really not that difficult.  Instruction's usually come with the fixture and you have all the wires you need inside your canopy already.

Good Luck

[squeeker]

I use the 13 watt ones.  I picked them up at either Home Deopt or Canadian Tire.  They fit just fine...

[darkdep]

That's what I use as well.

[RoxyDog]

didn't see any 13 watt ones, saw a phillips "daylight" one at 15w and "marathon" 11w.  they were the smaller "mini spirals", but are still too wide for my hood.  the hood  is very old and has an off-white reflector that gets in the way.  I'm not good with wiring, so I'm not going to try and retro fit it that's for sure!    I thought about trying to get the reflector off, but I'm not exactly handy and I'm a little worried about it being so old.  I think I'll just make do and someday buy a new fluor ballast.  thanks for the suggestions.

[valiko]

I had two 13 w CF in my 10 gallon aquarium.

Now, where do you get 13 w bulbs in > 5000K ?


All of the bulbs I've seen are 3000K, I want something better ...

[darkdep]

Look for the Phillips Daylight bulbs.  They are at least 5000k.

[squeeker]

Roxy, it sounds just like my hood... bring it to work and we'll see what we can figure out...

[luvfishies]

Sounds like it's the ballast that's the problem. I've used the "fat ballast" ones by removing the insert inside the hood, and replacing it with lumar.

[motoman]

can you get a cf fixture at home depot to retro fit a canopy? I've got one for a 20 gal that I'd love to retro fit so that I can use the canopy again. It would slow down the evaporation. Where would I get a retro fit kit? Do they make small cf bulbs somewhere between 20" and 30"?

[valiko]

umm ...

ahsupply.com ?

Or get a ballast, and a bulb locally.

[motoman]

I know that you can get them from AH supply but if I remember correctly they were quite a bit more than $25 as was posted in this tread. I'm going to check.

[luvfishies]

What I've done in the past is used a dual fixture contraption (for kitchen/bathroom) and wire an extension cord to it, and then use raingutter with the inside painted gloss white. Works really well, and costs about $10 total.

[BigDaddy]

can you get a cf fixture at home depot to retro fit a canopy? I've got one for a 20 gal that I'd love to retro fit so that I can use the canopy again. It would slow down the evaporation. Where would I get a retro fit kit? Do they make small cf bulbs somewhere between 20" and 30"?

There's a 36 watt compact that's less than 18 inches long.  Then you go up to 22 inches with 40, 55 and 65 watt bulbs.

The 36 watt will run on a standard dual bulb electronic ballast rated for F32T8 or F40T8 bulbs.  (I'm running one that way right now).  Any of the other bulbs, you'll need to get a ballast from Buchanan or Marchard, as you will not find them at HD.

Don't forget, its okay to slightly overdrive a CF bulb (just like my 36watt on a 40watt ballast), but you definately do not want to UNDERDRIVE one (i.e. 65 watt bulb on a 55 watt rated ballast).