From: Sandy King (sanking@clemson.edu)
Date: 02/07/03-09:10:51 PM Z
Joe wrote:
I certainly trust you and your experience. I am going to go the simple route to
get going quicker and maybe tackle building one from scratch later on.
>
As I noted before, you will not sacrifice anything in building with
the dual-tube holders. The slightly closer spacing that you can get
by using individual bi-pin holders just does not translate into
faster exposures in practice.
Just for example, if you wanted to make a unit that would give you an
exposing area of about 26" X 48" here is what you would need.
1. (1) piece of 1/2" plywood, 29" X 51" = top of unit
2. (1) piece of 1X10X51" clear white pine or equivalent = back of unit
3. (2) pieces of 1X10X271/2" clear white pine or equivalent = sides of unit
4. (1) piece of 1X6X51" clear white pine or equivalent = front of unit
Remember when buying wood that the first two figures, thickness and
width, are nominal values that correspond to unfinished lumber, but
the length is real. Thus, a 1X10X51" is actually 3/4" thick X 9.5"
wide X 51" long.
5. Six dual-tube holders, for 48" tubes.
6. 12 tubes, BL, BLB or SA
7. A heavy-duty cord rated 12amp, to which all of the wiring from the
dual holders will be attached.
8. Wire clips and extra wire to tie all of the wire together.
9. A 4" fan, which will be placed at one end of the unit. You can
order one directly from Graigner but I can't find the part number
right now.
10. A box of #10 1 1/4" flat head wood screws
Equipment needed.
1) Circular saw
2) Drill
3) Screw driver to fit the #10 screws
Sequence of operations.
1. Place the 29X51" plywood on a flat surface and lay out the six
dual-tube holders, butting them up to each other on the sides, with
the top plate on. Depending on the exact size of the holders there
should be a minimum of about one-inch clear on all four sides of the
assembled holders.
2. Remove the top place and mark the holes at the bottom of the
holders with a pencil. There should be one hole at each end, and
perhaps one in the middle. You will drill the points for small bolts,
which will be used to attach the frame of the holders to the plywood.
3. Once you have marked all of points to drill, remove the holders
from the plywood and drill the holes.
4. Before attaching the holders to the plywood punch out the
knock-outs that are the sides of the holders so that you can pass
wires through. Be sure to do this before assembling the holders on
the plywood because you will not be able to do so later.
5. Paint the inside of the plywood white.
6. Now, bolt the holders to the plywood, using bolts the size of the
hole that passes through the holders. Attach the bolts with the heads
on the outside of the plywood, and countersink them.
7. Assemble all of the hot wiring from the ballast to a common point,
and then carry this point to the outlet cord. This is the most
complicated part of the operation but if you don't know what you are
doing get help at this point.
8. Ground all the units together, and then run this point to the
ground of the outlet cord. The ground point is where you see a green
screw, but in reality you can establish ground at any metal point on
the holder.
9. The next part is a little tricky and the exact sequence will vary
according to the exact kind of dual holder in use. However, when you
assemble the holders next to each other what you will find is that
the tubes are spaced unevenly, with a greater space between the two
tubes in a holder than between the tube in one of the holders and the
one next to it. With most holders you can remedy this situation by
actually moving one of the bi-pin holders so that the tubes in a
given holder will be closer together. This will even out the spacing
so that when you are finished every tube will be about .75" apart.
How easy this is to do will vary with the holder.
10. Cut out a hole in the middle of one of the end pieces of 1X10X27
1/2 large enough for the fan. Also, cut a hole for the outlet cord.
11. Paint the 1X pieces of wood whatever color you want for the
outside of the unit.
12. Now assemble the sides, bottom and front the plywood, which now
carries the six dual-tube holders. Use the #10 wood screws for this,
and be sure to countersink the heads just a bit.
13. Wire and install your fan. I have this on a different outlet than
the tubes but you could tie them together if you want to.
14. Run your outlet cord through the hole in one of the ends of the
unit and connect it to the hot wires and ground tie the six dual-tube
holders together. Again, if you are not sure how to do this get help.
15. Insert your tubes in the holders and plus in the outlet. They
should all come on at once, and immediately. If there is any
flickering or if one or more of the tubes does not come on it
probably means that you screwed up the wiring.
This may sound like a lot of work but if you are used to working with
tools are just a bit handy you should be able to completely assembly
a unit of this size in 2-4 hours. Apart from painting it took me just
over three hours to entirely assemble such a unit, and over an hour
of this involved moving the bi-pin holders to achieve even tube
spacing.
I hope this sketch should give you some idea of the work. Let me know
if you have specific questions.
Sandy King
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : 03/04/03-09:19:08 AM Z CST