Air cooled reflector testing with Digital footcandle meter

[spiralsmurf]

pico, did i go overboard with my ventilation....two 8" vortexs pulling through 1-8" carbon on the inlet and at the end a 10" vortex all to cool 8-600s. i have speed controls for all the fans so i'm planning to run them at slower speeds unless needed.

 

[pico]

No such thing as going overboard when it comes to ventilation, but you probably would have been fine with just 1 inline at each end. Sounds like that should cool those very nice. If you are running CO2 make sure your hoods are fully sealed. Tape them up with aluminum duct tape or use high temp silicon around the glass. I usually use insulated ducting so all the heat gets out.

 

[Guest]

plenum= An enclosure in which air is at a pressure greater than that outside the enclosure ??? Let say that the can filter
blows air thru a duct to the hood, then duct to another hood, and so on...then
the air gets hotter as it passes thru all the hoods, not a good idea.....So, if maybe you attach a Y duct on the can fan exhaust, then connect 2 air ducts
and attach each one to each hood,and cool air to each and no sharing of HOT AIR!!!.... Is there any ideas that would be better please share.....The Silverstar 6" is a GREAT HOOD! Very Bright!!! Peace!

a plenum replaces the "Y" duct....
the idea behind using a plenum is that each light hood would get it's own cool air as opposed to hooking hoods up in series where hot air gets passed on to the next light hood. when each light gets it's own cool air less cfm is required to cool each light. that's the reason the bell lighting hoods have 4" cooling duct fittings; they are designed to be cooled individually.

an example to cool 4 light hoods individually with a single fan: a 6" or 8" fan pushes air into a plenum box. from the plenum is 4 duct outputs which supply an equal amount of cfm to each light hood individually. at the exit side of the hood the hot air is pushed out of the room in either a single oversized collector duct or each hood's duct is routed out individually. pushing air has two advantages: it pressurizes the plenum evenly so each output gets the same amount of cfm and if there are any small leaks in the system it will push air into a room as opposed to pulling stinky air out of a room and potentially causing smell to escape.

i don't believe everything i read but bell lighting seems to have put he most research into designing the most reflective hood. i haven't seen any other manufacture supply as much info as bell has.

http://www.belllighting.com/product/lr-mv-photo.htm

 

[masterlow37]

The New/Improved Daystars & Radiant AC Reflectors

The New/Improved Daystars & Radiant AC Reflectors

I have a picture of one in the March-April Maximum Yield mag, just can't find a picture on the internet of the new ones for posting...but yeah it has a top mounted cord (just behind hanger), a built in air-socket that seems to be a little less restricted & a hinged/sealed lens...with all that i could care less about a few hundred lumens being lost (if it was the case)...Peace

 

[macster]

forty grit ; I liked your old avatar better, but i'm a pig

 

[Ray of Light]

Anyone HAS A FREAKING CLUE where to get those 7 or 8 inch AirCooled reflectors in Europe??? God'damn... I am searching for those for two weeks now...sending emails to growshops.... wtf is wrong with Europe! If someone knows they got those in Amsterdam... Ill drive there to pick them up! I'm sick of those f**king cooltubes that I cant even stick my d**k in....

Ray

 

[pico]

Geez, the batwing tested horribly.

21 inches


1. 700
2. 1060
3. 1110
4. 610
5. 1410
6. 2680
7. 2680
8. 1220
9. 1460
10. 3040
11. 3020
12. 1290
13. 780
14. 1310
15. 1350
16. 700

Average 1526.25

Right about the same as the CoolBreeze 8" that did poorly as well.

I have another style of batwing that is a bit smaller that I am going to test as well. I bought 4 of these for a quick room but I might have to trade them in and just spend the money on supersun 2s if the numbers look this bad.

 

[pico]

ok here is batwing number 2. This one is made by sunsystems. Tested better than the last unit.

21"

1. 810
2. 1640
3. 1400
4. 1000
5. 1800
6. 3290
7. 3530
8. 1970
9. 1860
10. 3380
11. 3670
12. 2210
13. 940
14. 1460
15. 1550
16. 1000

Average 1950

 

[Ganico]

Pico, you ever try a "SunGro" air cooled reflector? The square ones?

 

[mrwags]

Daystar AC!

I think it will be close to the Supersun2, it is a compact reflector... but I wonder If it can be used well with 1000w bulbs...IE good spread? or super big hotspots in the middle? I run 600s in the Daystar AC currently.

The 1000's work great I only wish I had an extra to send pico for this excellent freakin test.



Mr.Wags

 

[mrwags]

if the glass doesn't come off, i don't want it. it has to come off for cleaning.. they get grimey. I have 5 daystar AC hoods, the old model. It's the only hood I use, and Im just curious how it stacks up to the Coolsun, and the Supersun2.

The new Daystar AC has a top exiting lamp cord, which is very awesome. The model I have, you have to pull the lamp cord through the ducting, creating holes and leaks... and ughhh... headache.

Sorry for this second reply BUT metal foil tape works best to seal up the Daystar's and don't forget the holes where the hooks go in as well and the sides and both ends hahahahaha.


Mr.Wags

 

[Stealthy]

AWESOME AWSOME THREAD GUYS!!!
Pico,
Have you been able to test any Cool Tubes yet? I've got a couple extra 6" Hydrofarm Cool tubes. I would be willing to kick in a couple bucks shipping to help further our knowledge!! It's not a keeper though...I would have to get it back from you when your done testing. Hit me up if your interested cause I'd love to know if these bitches compare to my Cool Suns!

P.S.
What happened...no updates in over a month....your slacking Pico!!!

 

[Neptune]

10-4 mr. wags, i hate those little leaks.. bad bad bad designers.

 

[Guest]

I dont understand why a company as big as the makers of the super sun II didnt ask a grower about sealed hoods!!! I love the hoods and I would not grow without them, But why do I have to use silicone or tape to seal the damm glass in????? To clean the glass in my super sun II's I remove the ducting on the one side every cycle and clean the bulb and the glass, I do love those big ass hose clamps, If I used tape like I used too it would really be a PIA. It seams that the manufactours that think about us cleaning them go the extra step in putting in the drop down glass and rubber gasket. However for coverage as has been proven in this fantastic thread the Super suns are by far the winners. Even with the silicon or tape. Coverage IMHO is the Most important factor. But thats just my opinion I could be wrong!

 

[pico]

i don't even think the ones with drop down glass and rubber gaskets are that nice. They don't have a very good clamping mechanism so the hood still is far from sealed. It think I have a picture of the Arctic Sun in the first few pages with this problem.

I am with you, coverage is key.


stealthy- yeah i guess I have been slacking a bit in this thread. Deffinately plenty of other things in the works over here. Thanks for the offer of sending me a hood to test, I will think about it. I don't have a good safe addy at the moment. I will just see if i can't get a cooltube from the hydro shop to test, that might be easier.

 

[WildFire.ca]

WoW

WoW

Wow great thread I am sure the community thinks as I do when saying Thank you for your efforts they are greatly appreciated.

 

[Guest]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to pico again.

 

[Stealthy]

No problem Pico. If you do happen to find a safe addy to use I'll be happy to temporarily donate one of my cooltubes. Either way I want to see how these bad boys compare to my Cool Sun 6"ers. I assume that they probably don't hold a -foot-candle (haha @ the pun) to the CS but I'd like confirmation anyway.

 

[pico]

Thanks fred, your the man.

Stealthy, yeah I think you are right. I would put money on cooltubes being the worst reflector I will test. The coolsun isn't that hot either compared to the Super Sun 2. If I get a safe addy I will let you know. Thanks man.

 

[budvapor]

very nice!