An idea...liquid cooling your lamps

[Helix]

Why not use a cool tube-esque type setup to liquid cool your lamps? I mean, I don't think that it would be that difficult to seal the bulb at the base and pump in pressurized (around 5 psi or so using an Iwaki direct mag-drive pump) coolant to an oversized radiator thus keeping the heat out of your cabinet and making the your (our) job that much easier in the tempature managment department.

Of course, there are some issues that I could think of:

1. Pump failure. This could be solved quite easily with the use of a simple flow switch / relay to kill the power should the pump fail. If you used a quality pump I don't think that you would have to worry about that, and would get many many years of service out of it.

2. Bulb rupture - I don't know if 5psi would be too much for the bulb to handle in both the hot and cold conditions, however I don't forsee this really being that much of a problem as the glass that those lamps are made of is not paper thin.

3. Decrease in lumens - now if it was straight distilled water I don't really think this would be a problem either as there would be no "splashing" of the coolant, it would look "solid", and if made properly wouldn't interfer with the reflector.

So, what do you veterans think? To complicated for such a minimal gain? Lets see where this goes.

 

[Four Fingers]

Forfingoz

 

[mushupork5]

haha

 

[DeadlyFoez]

Is that a condom on your bulb?? I think this idea will you lead to you screwing urself...all possible puns intended.

 

[OGDread]

Spensive. Must have no water mix with electra and all that. Air: cheap, no leaky issues. Snot like, an overclocked pc, orso, where coolance is everything.

 

[pontiac]

Water cooling will greatly decrease light output. Stick to aircooling; you cant beat a cooltube.

 

[Helix]

Ahhh, well we would not want to decrease light output, thread dead.

 

[GratefulPhish]

http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/product.php?productid=2360&cat=178&page=3

Water Jacket Liquid Cooled Vessel #2360

Please see options window below to choose model:

The Hydro-Coil is a handcrafted vessel made from high temperature borosilicate glass. It is fitted over a High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamp. In operation, water is pumped through the vessel. The water absorbs the radiant heat emitted by the lamp.

Hydro-Coil is a water cooled tubular glass coil that fits over your existing HPS bulb. The water never comes in contact with the bulb, and there is very little light energy lost ( less than 3%). However, now you can put your lights right down on the plants without burning.
How efficient is it?

The device will remove more than 93% of the radiant heat emitted by the lamp. However it must be remembered that light is a high energy form of heat, and will become heat as it is reflected around the growing area. When the Hydro-Coil is installed, the lamp will therefore still deliver sufficient warmth for the plant - but the heat will be delivered indirectly.
Will total lumen output be reduced ?

Both glass and water are completely transparent to visible light. The only change to the light spectrum is that the infra-red band (which is not used in photosynthesis) is removed. The physical distribution of the light emitted does change slightly due to refraction, however at no given point is this variation more than 3%. If dirty water is used in the Hydro-Coil, light output would of course be reduced.

Who can use it?

Anyone with a tubular (not bulbous) H. I. D. Metal Halide or Sodium Vapor lamp can use the Hydro-Coil. The Hydro-Coil is available in two sizes. The smaller size will fit a 250, 400 or 600 watt lamp. The larger size will fit a 1000 watt lamp. The Hydro-Coil can be used in conjunction with any commercially available reflector except one which has an non-removeable end plate opposite the mogul (the mogul is the ceramic housing around the base of the globe).

What else is needed?

Everything is supplied except a reservoir and pump. On reading the manual, you may also wish to purchase and use a few yards of 1/2" black polypropylene (reticulation) hosing. The reservoir should have a volume of least 45 gal. per lamp, although the instruction manual describes a variety of ways to reduce the size of the reservoir required. The pump should have a minimum flow of 50 gal./hour @ 6 ft. of head.

How much attention does the device require?

Every six to twelve months the vessel and hosing may have to be cleaned. We recommend that you use rainwater or reverse osmoses filtered water in the reservoir to minimize the need for cleaning. Apart from the pump, the device is silent and has no moving parts. No other maintenance is required, apart from usual maintenance of the pump.

How long will the device last ?

In normal operation, the vessel should last indefinitely, unless it is broken through accident. Unlike other water cooling systems for H. I. D. lighting, with plastic housings, our patented vessel is made of high temp. glass. Plastic housings will have to be replaced every two to four years due to degradation caused by UV light. Glass, however, is not affected by UV light and glass actually becomes stronger when in contact with water. Once again... in normal operation, our glass vessel will not degrade....

 

[Helix]

That's cool, but damn expensive. Hmmm at least my idea had some merit, but looking at it and thinking about it, this setup would be just one more thing that I would have to look after.