Compact Flourescent
1. First thing's first: gather all your supplies. I got mine at Home Depot and Canadian Tire; any hardware store should be fine. This includes (Fig. 1):
- Bulbs(Duh), I got 6 for $20 at home depot
- bulb sockets(2)
- something to hold the sockets to the hood. I used PVC U clamps used for holding plumbing, You'll probably need to find something different; step 4 will show why.
- Electrical cord: I used a cheap extension cord and cut the female end off
- A couple feet of wire. I used 16ga. speaker wire, Because I had some lying around.
Figure 1: Everything ready to go.
There are other odds and ends too; screws to hold the U clamps, something to use as a reflector(I used aluminum foil), solder(Not mandatory), and Heat shrink tubing. Heat shrink goes over the wire, and when heat is applied(From a cigarrett lighter, etc.) it rapidly shrinks, forming a watertight seal around the wire. It isn't absolutely necessary, but It's great stuff; IMHO, it ranks up there with Bungee cords and Vice Grips as mankind's greatest accomplishments.
2. Prep the old hood. My origional hood was a incandescent unit, so there was nothing to pull out (Fig. 2). Newer hoods will have to be completely gutted; this means the flourescent tube, the plastic(usually white) behind it, and anything under that. The tube can be removed by simply rotating 90 degrees and pulling; the white plastic is help on by screws, which you'll see when the tube is removed.
Figure 2: My hood. Although it isn't completely gutted, the light sockets in the center will be remaining; for this article I'll be installing two additional sockets on the sides. Ignore the wireing and endcaps for a flourescent tube; it is irrelevant to this post.
3. Wireing. This is usually the most time consuming step, but it's straight foreward. First, cut the extra wire into two equal lengths(So they can reach opposite sides of the hood). Then, all the wires need to have their ends stripped. I used a pocket knife, but wire strippers would be quicker.
Figure 3: The female end of the cord cut off, and all the ends stripped.
Here you can see both positive wires soldered to the positive end of the electrical cord. Soldiering isn't absolutely necessary either, but it's a good idea. NOTE: if you intend to use heatshrink, make sure you put it over the wires
before you connect them!
Here we have both the positive and negative ends connected to the power cord, and the heatshrink done. Not that there are two wires coming off, each with a positive and negative.
Closeup of the heatshrink. Amazing stuff!
Next, if there isn't one there already, Drill a hole in the hood for the wires to pass through. Once that is done, pass the power cord through the hole, and join the individual wires with the sockets. Some sockets require you screw the wires into them; mine had about 4" of wire already, so I soldered it to the speakerwire.
The bulb sockets, wired and ready to go
4. Mount the sockets. One of the big things with DIY, is that small things often go wrong. Case in point: I had bought U clamps to hold the sockets in place; These proved to be too large! I will have to find another method. However, I suspect that most people will find another way to do the mounting, so I'll continue. For the time being, I'll use another great invention - Two sided tape. No one said I was a professional.