Lets talk about hoods...

[Guest]

Hoods...Reflectors...Batwings...Parabolic


We've all got one, they've all got their plusses and minuses, lets get them out there in a discussion.

currently I am in the market for a dual bulb hood, so I can fit a MH and HPS under the same hood get the mixed spectrum truly mixed - some important features would be upgradability (aircooled later on), light footprint (will it spread light all over the surface area of my grow?), and cost (lets face it, if i can do it on the cheap i'd rather do it that way)

I had plans of building a parabolic plywood & mylar hood with a cut for each of the two bulbs, to cool tube them i'd go with the bakearound/fan/dryer hose method but add an additional hoseclamp to tie the two bakearounds together, but this setup is kind of shoddy and I'd rather go with quality if I am able to.

The main purpose of this thread is to get out the following:

Basic reflector options
Pros and cons to each
Where to get the best price
Modifications that can be done

 

[valk]

Hood pros: higher quality construction, easily setup for air cooling, maximum % of light reflected, able to customize light pattern with lamp position

cons: expensive, bulky, can be cumbersome to work with in larger multi light setups

Batwing pros: cheap, small, lightweight

Batwing cons: generally smooth reflective surface that may create hot spots, harder to air cool, most batwings don't allow mogul adjustment so you cannot create custom light patterns

parabolic pros: maximum light coverage

parabolic cons: can be as expensive as hood, harder to air cool, usually large footprint.

I hope I don't offend anyone with my batwing or parabolic (cons) comments. They come from observation, not personal experience.

 

[cough_cough_eer]

I made a batwing hood that has an adjustable footprint. I've only just started using it but so far its been preety good.Also has a cool tube but I have to get a better exhaust fan for it by summertime.







I have other pic's in my gallery on page 1 and 2

Heres a pic of my old hood.It had a small foot pattern.It was perfect for my last grow as I only had one plant But my grow befor I had 6 and only the ones right under got any real light.

 

[Dr. D]

u can get the adjusta-wing reflectors here in the UK ijust got one its a 250 hps along with the super heat spreader under ur bulb u can get nine times more light to ur plants with a much more even light spread over a bigger area too, theres a really good article in one of the recent weed world mags on it, il post some pics of mine later on....

 

[BuzzBob]

It sounds like you've already done a lotta homework, Danimal! But I'll toss out my two cents worth...

I built my own "batwing" style reflector based on the *~ Tick's bends a $15 Reflector ~* thread over at OG.

It has been serving me well for a few months now! A few of the things I really like about it are:
* Cost Efficiency!!! -- Hard to beat!
* Simplicity
* Adaptability
-- Bend it where you want, anytime you want, as often as your want!
-- Use a Bake-a-Round cooltube, or not. Add it when you like!
* Very lightweight, and easy to position/maneuver

I've not done it as yet, but you can easily {and cheaply!} build more than one style, and achieve significant variation in footprint. Here are two pics from Tick's thread that really demonstrate this point:

I think it was close examination of those pics {look at the reflected light patterns from each design}, and the overall simplicity of it, that convinced me to go with this design when I was look'n to build my own...

If I had to point out a 'con,' it might be that light from the the ends of your lamp does not get reflected down. But if your are working in a small, rectangular, space, the footprint works well and the walls can reflect inwards!

Hope that helps!

 

[Guest]

a piece I read sometime back from UncleBen, stated that the "pebbled hoods" have the best reflectivity. just somethin to think about.

CBF

 

[BuzzBob]

Hey CBF! --

Pebbled, eh? Interesting... You mean like what Tick {from the thread I ref'd in my post above} started with in this pic {before covering it with mylar, which I did not do}?

 

[Guest]

I bought a sunleaves hood for about $65 usd and added the lights i wanted. I mounted up to four different bulbs in the hood. The hood has a glass shield with a fan attached for air cooling. Inexpensive and efficnent. I stopped using my batwing because it reflected the heat along with the light.

Avid

 

[Guest]

Hey CBF! --

Pebbled, eh? Interesting... You mean like what Tick {from the thread I ref'd in my post above} started with in this pic {before covering it with mylar, which I did not do}?

thats the stuff, UB did a comparison of a few diff hoods, usin diff materials. each was measured with a light meter, and the pebbled stuff had the most reflectivity. think flat white paint, he even listed the best brand, came in second or scored high.

CBF

 

[badmf]

Hate to burst any DIY hood dreams, but light isn't just haphazardly reflected, it needs precise angles of refleection or you will reflect back into the bulb solving nothing. I think with a computer designed hood with specular inserts work best. But why not go vertical best of all solutions; no hood! in da hood!

 

[valk]

a piece I read sometime back from UncleBen, stated that the "pebbled hoods" have the best reflectivity. just somethin to think about.

CBF

pebble aluminum is supposed to reflect 95% or so I've read

 

[Guest]

Well lets Talk Hoods shall we! I like my Hoods on sweaters.....Ummm. Sometimes Jackets.... I've lived in the Hood & depending on where you live. I still do.... I also Prefer I have one on my car, Thats a must! Lets see....... Oh and last but not least I myself am a Hood...lum that is. But I dont reflect light.

Blatant

 

[badmf]

Valk a specular insert is a pebbled one, just a note.

 

[Guest]

Well lets Talk Hoods shall we! I like my Hoods on sweaters.....Ummm. Sometimes Jackets.... I've lived in the Hood & depending on where you live. I still do.... I also Prefer I have one on my car, Thats a must! Lets see....... Oh and last but not least I myself am a Hood...lum that is. But I dont reflect light.

Blatant

Hey bruddah from another muddah lol always with the smart replies

yea
i love hoods on my sweaters
i love hoods on cars
i sorta live in the hood?

but the hoods I am now deciding between are the Growzilla and the Sun System Super Spec..leaning toward the super spec with remote ballasts and some creative wiring solution, i dont like how the bulbs are next to eachother on the growzilla.

:friends:

as far as doing my own hood I planned on doing it in AutoCAD based on a derived parabolic equation modeled around the covered area i need light to be reflected upon, but a dual bulb parabola will be bulky and hardly adjustable seems like the hoods I mentioned above really are the only way to go for dual bulb under the same hood

badmf - i'll take your advice on the pebbled covering on the hood for sure!

 

[Pactivist]

my thoughts on reflectors

my thoughts on reflectors

Heya danimal, I have been using a superspectrum from sunlight supply for about 6 yrs and have nothing but good things to say about it. It is a well designed hood with a very efficient light spread pattern for smaller gardens. easy to air cool, and both sockets are adjustable. I just recently added a 400w switchable ballast light to my grow room to increase the wattage, since i increased the overall size of my grow. I am a firm believer that a little MH during flower really tightens up the nugs, this is from experience, i have flowered under both mh and sodium alone and i find that i like the mix a little better. no overall loss in weight at harvest time, just tighter denser nugs that look a little smaller.
on the DIY reflector bit - I just recently built a "flatwing" reflector for a 175w MH which i bent at home with no special tools - other than a dremel - which exactly matches the dimensions of the specular pebble insert that came inside my super spectrum hood, and if i had a cam i would have done a tutorial. This reflector works very well, even though it could use a little better reflective coating, I am considering painting it titanium white, it has a very even light pattern and the heat is vented out the sides. like a 175w generates a lot of heat anyway right? this reflector is attached to a 175w MH remote ballast that i also built.
a flatwing reflector is just as efficient (it's what the big name co.s put inside their hoods) as almost anything that you can buy - if it is built right, and much easier to bend at home than the curved batwing.
without a camera it is very hard to describe the exact steps that it took to bend this reflector, but i will say that i measured the specular pebble insert inside my super spectrum hood and did my best to bend an exact copy of the dimensions, using nothing but old boards and some drywall screws.
I also once built my own version of a mini superspectrum, bent by hand reflector, 175w mh on one end, 150w hps on the other end, worked good for a while but got too small for me after a bit .
all-in-all i'd say that if you could find just the specular pebble insert from a large horizontal hood, and mount a light to that then you would be in business. as a matter of fact-this just came to me-i bought my 800w "superspectrum" from a co. called midwest hydroponics and if memory serves me(it usually doesn't :wink: ) they sold specular pebble material in sheets solely for homebuilt reflectors.
and finally i am a huge fan of lightweight, cause in all honesty, this sunlight supply hood is so heavy that i had to mount a support on my ceiling just to hold this beast up. the hood with bulbs probably weighs about 40-45 lbs. and the ballast for this beast weighs about 70 lbs.
IMO if i had to do it all over again - i'd stick with the super spectrum as it has been a very reliable system, but i would try to get a lighter version of the reflector hood.
peAce
pacT
side note to cough_cough_eer- not bad reflector, but if you were to eliminate the flat spot directly above your bulb it would not have to reflect that light back through the bulb.
sorta like this

 

[cough_cough_eer]

Hey, thanks Pactivist, I never thought of that. Just when I tought I've done all my homework. I could probably slide a v shaped piece of metal above the light preety easily.or maybe a w shaped. uuummmm what do you think. the top is about 2 in. wide.

 

[flipmastermike]

There is some good discussion about hoods going on here.
Danimal I also have a 1000w and a 400w. I am currently only using the 1000w agrosun gold in a hydrofarm a/c hood.I have the 400w hps in the same sunleaves a/c hood Avidlearner mentioned ealier. Both are awesome hoods with great refectivity.

I was also considering buying a dual spectrum hood for use w/both my lights but still not sure what we are going to do w/ the 400w yet.
Keep me updated on what you decide to do.
Do you actually need to use a reflector in your set up.Depending on exactly how many lights you are planning on going with the infomoration I have seen leads me to beleive having the light set up verticly w/ the plants around the lights is also a very productive way to set up your lights.I think it would probably work better with bigger ops. Anyone remember how Krusty use to set up his lights, or there was also a BC commercial grow that Gypsey and Bubbleman visited a couple years ago when they were posting alot at og visited and they were pulling 20lbs out of a medium size room using no reflectors with the bulbs hanging vertical.
Just an idea. I still use hoods myself as im not trying to grow 20lbs

 

[Guest]

I have had the best experience with air cooled lights but it seems once summer temps hit the grow room 4 inch cooled hoods don't help cool enough. So i upgraded from the small sunsystem hoods that had small but intense foot prints to the Super Sun Cool Hoods with 6inch Air Cool Duct. Parabolic seems to have the most intense footprint but the hood designs are behind in cooling i believe. imho Veritcal are ok but the distance you have to keep the weed from the light is too great. The heat is harder to control aswell with the vertical. But i haven't worked with aircooled vertical bulb systems yet just ones with hoods. Would like to hear more on the new hoods coming out. Good Luck Jubei

 

[Guest]

Well flip here's the thing, in my space 6Hx4Wx3.5D I do not have the headway to hang vertical lights then put plants around them and maintain the canopy amount I am shooting for if say i had a 6Hx7Wx5D type room it'd make more sense to do a few rings of midsize plants in there with hanging lights, but maybe when i upgrade my room.

my current focus is to spread that 800w mixed spectrum as best I can and as intensely as I can over my SCRoG'd plants, doing this I hope to maximize the amount of weight the budsites produce I am shooting for 2-3oz per plant with a 3ft finished height.

 

[badmf]

Jubei, I don't know how handy you are but you can retro-fit the 4" vent openings to 6 or even 8 with most hoods! If you aren't able a metal shop that makes a/c parts could do it for not much, just a thought.