Quazi's DIY Cool Tube & Reflector

Hello everyone. Time for another DIY guide to help you along in your travels. Things are a bit more complicated on this one but the payoff is sweet.

This time, I bring you a cool tube and reflector that you can make at home with just a few simple pieces.

I looked at a lot of examples and couldn't find a simple solution to having a cool tube and a reflector. So, I decided to just woke some smeed and walk around my local Dome Hepot. After an hour of walking around and fitting things together, I'm pretty happy with the result and so are my plants so I decided to share it with everyone.

Quazi's DIY Cool Tube & Reflector





Here's what you'll need to get started:
Pliers
Flathead Screwdriver
Tin snips (or something similar)
Hammer (or something similar :wink: )
1 x Hurricane Glass Tube from Craft Store
-5 inch cylinder
2 x 4-inch duct hangers
2 x longer screws to replace the ones that come with the duct hangers (same width, just longer 'cause you're gonna widen 'em out a bit)
1 x Sheet Galvonized Metal
-Find it near the duct work
1 x Tube of Titanium White Paint from Craft Store
4 x 22 gauge (I think that's the correct gauge) metal strips
-Find them near the lumber connectors
-Get the ones that are thin with just holes going down the middle
1 x package of screws that fit through the holes on the metal strips with nuts
2 x length of chain links
2 x eyelet screws for the chains
2 x hooks for the chains

You'll want to get your reflector measured out and finished first. Remember: measure twice, cut once.


You'll want to be sure to add a couple of inches as you'll be bending the reflector in a few spots. In order to attach the reflector to the cool tube, you'll need to plan for having a 1-inch middle that will have bends immediately going upward. Look at the pictures and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I recommend making a drawing of how you want the folds and then marking it on the metal as I have done here:


Please wear gloves when you are cutting this stuff. You can create some really sharp edges and/or shards of metal. Once you cut out the metal reflector from the sheet, you can bend it using the edge of a table, books, vices and wood, however you want. I would not recommend using your hands as clean bends are best for throwing the light.


Now, you're going to take one of your strips of metal and place it in the 1 inch area you have put in the middle. Make the short edge flush with the edge of your reflector and make a dot in the 2nd, 3rd and 7th hole.

Now that you know where your holes are going to be, you can punch some holes in your reflector. I used a screw, a roll of duct tape and a hammer:


Now you can go to painting your reflector. Set up a fan in front of it so it dries quickly. You'll probably get 3 coats, maybe 4 out of a single tube. So go ahead, start painting, what are you waiting for? Make sure you do more than one coat. Also, make sure you make your major bends before you paint. Otherwise, it's possible that the paint may crack when you're creasing it.


While that's drying, you can start the construction on your cool tube. Take your 4 inch duct hangers and wrap them carefully around the Hurricane tube.


Insert the longer screws you got and tighten it down gently and not too tight. Otherwise, you'll get all finished and then while it's sitting out in your living room waiting to be installed (or after it is installed) you'll here a pop in the middle of the night and you'll wake up the next morning and see this:


So just don't tighten them down too much.

Set that aside for later.

On to part II...

Quazi's DIY Cool Tube & Reflector Part II

Quazi's DIY Cool Tube & Reflector Part II

Now we're going to work with the metal strips. First we're going to make our socket-holder. This was made for a 150W HPS that was remote ballasted, so that's what you'll see in these pictures.

Bend the strip right around the 4th hole until there's a 45 degree angle or so. Now bend the strip perpendicular to the top. This hole is where you will be screwing your socket in so make it nice and straight. Now, make another bend on the other side similar to the one above and then straighten the strip out. In the end, it should look like this (don't mind the bug, he happened to show up so I let him make a cameo):


Now let's get back to the cool tube. Attach two of the strips to the duct hangers at the 1st and 5th holes. You can cut the excess off whenever you like:


At this point, you can start to put on some aluminum tape for duct-reducing/increasing on the cool tube as it's easier to work with without other pieces attached.


Hopefully you finished your reflector first because you'll need it now. Use your pliers and bend the links to attach the chain to the eyelet srews.

This part is tricky so be patient.

Carefully place the socket holder in the glass tube and get it adjusted so that the top is on the same level as the horizontal metal strips. This will take a bit of bending and adjusting so be careful.

Now, we're going to put this sucker together:
1) Put the eyelet screws through the 1st and last hole on the reflector


2) Take your last strip of metal and put the eyelet screws through that
3) Put the 1st eyelet screw through the 2nd hole on your socket holder.
4) Secure the eyelet screws
5) Place an additional screw through 1st hole of the socket holder and the top metal strip and secure it.

Congratulations, you're finished.

A note on the angles of the reflector. FreezerBoy noticed that the angles of the reflector in some of the pictures are parallel. This is not good as the light will be bounced straight back into the lamp as illustrated by his helpful picture:

FreezerBoy said:

Click to expand...

Ultimately, you'll want the angle of the reflector shallow enough that light will be thrown downward as it is when it is installed:


This was made to be hooked up in my cabinet to my modified Lasko blower so I used aluminum tape to create a duct reduction to hook into my 4 inch ducting.

Temps with lights on are +/- 1 degree of ambient.

It's very sturdy and barely warm to the touch.








Here's a couple of bonus pictures I took just for this DIY guide with and then w/out the flash:


Please let me know if there are any questions, corrections, or if you want more pictures or details.

Good luck in your travels!

-Q

Hot DAMN! Now THAT'S a tutorial!

nice clean DIY setup there
i have seen others do the same thing but it never looked that nice

Thanks guys. Glad you like it! Works for me anyway.

-Q

That is the shyt man, very serious.

Nice "cooltube" setup..........What kind of glass is the hurricane tube made from??........Tempered, pyrex??

Not sure.

It's made to be a candle shade.

It barely gets warm with the 150W sitting in it.

-Q

Danksta408 said:

Nice "cooltube" setup..........What kind of glass is the hurricane tube made from??........Tempered, pyrex??

Click to expand...

Most lamp shades are not tempered like Corning's Pyrex bake-a-round tubes, but they're a lot cheaper and easier to find.

The time when these non tempered lamp shades are most likely to crack is when your dark cycle begins. For the most of us, that's when the ventilation system shuts off too, leaving the lamp shade vulnerable to the heat from the still hot HID bulb. If you set your ventilation system to continue running for at least 15-30 minutes after your lights go off, you'll extend the life of your shade.

O and this is for you Quazi:

: Thanks pontiac!

You have no idea how much that means to me (or maybe you do).

As for the ventilation, mine runs all the time as I have one blower for veg and flower. That's a great suggestion to ensure your blower runs just a bit beyond when your lamp goes out. Those things put off heat for a little while after they go out for sure.

-Q

nice diy, looks great.

one quick question. what was the total cost for this beauty and would it handle a 400 watter?

Thanks man!

I would say it's big enough to handle a 400W.

Total cost for tube, paint and metals was less than $50.00.

-Q

pontiac said:

For the most of us, that's when the ventilation system shuts off too...

Click to expand...

Really? I keep my ventillation running 24/7, is that a bad idea?

Depends on your situation I guess. I have mine running all the time as well to keep fresh air going and to keep air moving over the plants. Without the lights on, it's a couple degrees cooler than ambient in there. Ambient doesn't really ever go below 72 or so.

I guess it could be a bad thing if your temps were getting too low or if you were trying to conserve energy.

-Q

Thanks a million for this idea.Quazi.Ive already ordered the supplies to make it....Im gonna use the computer fan grill for mounting thw socket

Hey Q, as for tightening the clasps too tight... If you put some weather stripping of some kind, be it felt or low density, between the glass and the clasp/clamps you can better gauge how tight your making it. So you then only tighten up to the point where you see the strip squish. With just a little preasure the strip wont let the glass move at all. (unless you force it)

One Quality

Cozy Amnesia said:

Really? I keep my ventillation running 24/7, is that a bad idea?

Click to expand...

No not bad, but if you put your fan on a timer you can save power and lessen noise if any. For example, run your fans only Xmin/hr for lights off. Just enough to replace the air and keep the Humidity down. I think it's a good idea for ppl that have stealth cabs but not so stealth fan setups.


But he may have a dedicated vent on lights? idk.

Nice work on the DIY C/T Quasi....

How exactly do you wire the socket? Do you just take it out of the old reflector, and wire it? Im confused on the wiring process and I really want to make one of these for my babies. Thanks

The wiring is done by setting up a remote ballast. The ballast sits in my electrical room and the wire goes in the ventilation ducting there. The wire travels along the ventilation, where it connects to the socket, inside.

More information about how to remote ballast this 150W lamp can be found in the thread in my signature.

-Q