Cool Tube Reflectors create hot spots????

[JazzJazz]

Hi All,
2 questions here....Does anyone have experience with cool tube reflectors causing hots spots and burning fan leaves and how far should my reflector be from my plants. I use a 1K hortilux and keep it cool with vortex inline fan. I did turn my fan down a bit as it was getting abit cold in the tent but the burning is kind of in a circle around the reflector. I'm thinking of ditching this unit...what do you think?

Thanks,
Jazz

 

[JazzJazz]

Someone must have some thoughts of how well there cool tube works and if they've ever had issues with reflective hot spots. I'm debating weather to replace this unit for my next grow and would like some advice and or thoughts of how well these units work for them.
I'm running a 1K Hortilux bulb in it.

Thanks,
Jazz

PS...I hope this is the right forum for these questions.

 

[wantaknow]

i do ,i cut the reflector down where it would not wrap so far around the tube ,helped a lot

 

[Brother_Monk]

I've been using a cool tube in my veg room, for about a year now. I run a 600MH conversion bulb in it, and never had one problem. I keep it about half meter from plants tho. If I was to use a thowie like you, i would be nervous lowering it any closer to the tops. That's a lot of lumens in a tent!

 

[JazzJazz]

Thanks for the replies everyone. So can you burn a plant from the lumens and not from the heat of the light. I always thought ( which i think i may be wrong here ) is get it as close as possible and keep the fan turned up to keep the heat down Does this sound right? I do have my lights at around 10 " over top of the plants. This is my first go around with a 1K bulb as i've always ran a 400 watt hps which is alot cooler. Maybe it's not my reflector at all and it might be my light distance but i hate the way the light is distributed in my tent by the cool tube.

Thanks,
Jazz

 

[Taproot]

thats too close to plants. try about 20 to 24 inches away from tops. Taproot

 

[Brother_Monk]

Yeah bro, 10 inches with a thowie is wayy too close. You can burn plants with intensity, as well as heat. Actually, they more or less get bleached from the lumens if it's too close. I run my 1000w in a large air cooled hood, and keep it almost 3 feet away from the tops. Gets much more coverage that way too. Maybe you should not be using the cool tube for your space if you are not happy with the footprint.

 

[JazzJazz]

Wow man i have the reflector way too close then. Shit, i thought it was the style of reflector causing the burning ( hot spots ). I didn't realize how much of a difference there is between the 400 and 1000 watt bulb.
My space is a 4' x 4' sunhut which is just right for me. Is a 1K too big for this?
I would like to keep the cooltube going as it hooks up nice and looks slick for my setup.
I will raise the lights now and hopefully i will notice a difference for the next run.
Do you think my yields will increase because of less light stress??

Thanks,
Jazz

 

[tree&leaf]

Cool tubes are rubbish at distributing light, the internal reflector is a waste of time. You'd get far better results either using a proper air cooled hood or, removing the internal cool tube reflector and hooking the cool tube up to a more efficient reflector like the adjustawing.

The problem is twofold 1) the internal cool tube reflector is tiny and can't be expected to evenly distrbute light over a wide area and 2) Users tend to use cool tubes low over the canopy to get the maximum light penetration, but using an inefficient reflector that low reduces the amont of light distribution - the lower the reflector, the less light is distributed over a wider area.

With a 1000w bulb, I'd hook it up to an adjustawing (with heat shield) and use it about 18 inches over the canopy.

 

[JazzJazz]

Thanks everyone....Shit i've bought so many reflectors it's wild...

Tree&leaf : you are right for sure on the light distribution of the cool tubes...that is why i had it close in the first place and burned my plants.

Now i'm thinking of buying one more fucking reflector for my hut but i want it to be cooled so does anyone have any suggestions for one that is reasonably priced???
Again i want this to be my last one.

Thanks,
Jazz