250w in a handmade cooltube in 70x70x60cm - dream or reality?

[Student_grower]

Hello everyone
For the moment I'm using 120 watt of fluros in my cabinet (if you used to English measures it is 2x2 2.3 ft high). I'm not still sure, but possible plan is to upgrade to HPS 250. Unfortunately there is no possibility to buy a ready-to-use cooltube in the place where i live. The most possible thing to make it from i found for now is a round aquarium... so the tube will be made of simple (not Pirex, nor anything termo-isolating) glass about 3mm thick, i guess. Do you think it is possible to keep the temps in a normal range? How powerful must the fan be? What will be the distance from the tube's glass to the colas?... More questions will appear later it's 4-30 am now, and my brain is a bit slow
Thanks in advance to everyone, every thought is appreciated, practical expereince is prefered, however

 

[Jnugg]

I wouldn't use anything smaller than a 6" 265cfm inline centrifugal fan (Can Fan).

but seriously,you can't build a box that 2' x 2' by like 4' high?

 

[Snowdog27]

That's a pretty small cabinet for a 250hps you temps are going be high and you should probably scrog it to conserve room and use a cool tube. You would be better off using a 150hps or mh.

 

[Guest]

You would need a good fan. I run a 400 cooltube (210cfm 5 inch inline fan) in the same foot print but 5 foot high. If possible i would double your height then you shouldnt have any props.

 

[Student_grower]

More height is not an option For now my GB isn't stealth completely, but looks not too "offensive" and I don't want to change this... There will be a scrog, or SoG setup, I'm not sure for the moment.
Snowdog, I'm thinking about leaving 2 of current 4 30w fluros+ HPS 150... The question is - are the commercial cooltubes made of some special glass that offers many benefits in comperance with the common glass? Guys who use cooltube, what are the distances from tubes glass to the plant for HPS 250?
PS Hydro setup will be a subject to discuss later.
TIA, S_g

 

[Underground Man]

some of these fan estimates seem really high. I run a 160 cfm centrifugal with my 250 in a cool hood and it is adjusted way down with a speed controller.

Lucas suggests that you only need wattage/4 cfms.

2.3 feet of height is doable (barely) with scrog. I have about 3 feet and I ended up putting books under my pots to raise them up a bit.

As for the glass, just use your judgement. With proper ventilation, heat-resistance shouldn't be an issue. As for distance to plants, 0-12 inches is probably ok. I think you won't have any choice about light distance in that small of a cab honestly.

 

[Student_grower]

I think you won't have any choice about light distance in that small of a cab honestly.

Of course the distances will be minimal. So I'm trying to understand will it be possible, or the plants will be totally burned...

 

[[db]]

250W is too much for your grow space.

I'm thinking about leaving 2 of current 4 30w fluros+ HPS 150

Right solution!

 

[Sauce]

I have a 250w hps with 80cfm bathroom fan and it does the job. I'm using a C25 (30" x 20" x 72") and only use the bottom portion which is about 4-5' in height. The glass tube I found at Target for $6.

There is no special glass, however tempered glass is safer than regular glass. Glass will knock down 6% of the light, polycarbonate (strong plastic) only knocks down 4% of the light however finding clear tubes of it is more costly and scarce.

I'm not sure if the candle tube I'm using is tempered but it has worked fine for about a month now. Allows the plants to get about 1" away and I can easily touch the glass, even the bottom of the bulb.



I love my cool tube, I highly recommend using one. They do a great job and allow the light to get right next to the bud.

Btw <1 week left til those are chopped. Hoping for 2-3oz (3plants)

In your situation I think a 250w would be a little tricky in there. Without a powerful fan (>150cfm) or more height you're not going to be able to cool. Considering the light and pots, you're going to need to do some heavy training or use Lowryders. I think what people are saying, to go with a 150w, is probably the better route. A 250w is probably possible just hard to do properly, and you would need to confirm that temps could stay at an ok number.

Good luck with whatever you do.