Problems with air cooling...

[monkeyman]

So I am having a pretty big problem with my air cooled light. The temps under the light are crazy hot, like 90 degrees during the day and now 78 at night. That's 78 degrees with 66 degree ambients.

I thought air cooling was supposed to bring the difference between cab temp and ambients down to within liek 5 degrees?

I am using a 400 watt HPS with a 172 Eco Plus. Any idea why the temps might still be running so high?

I know the bend in the vent hose isn't ideal but it still causes quite a bit of pull. When i put my hand near the light it sucks towards my hand.

 

[Guest]

Is that a sealed light or is it just sucking near the bulb?
off the top i'd say you need a fan to blow the air around in there. Are we talking ambient temps or hest directly under the bulb?

 

[monkeyman]

The light is in a hurricane tube which is then attached to the hose that sucks the air. I used the standard DIY instructions on making the cool tube. The light is open ended.

The temp is for directly under the light. I put it right next to one of my plants so I would get a better idea of exactly what temps they were dealing with. When i put it on the wall of the cab it is a lot cooler.

 

[Guest]

It's hard to tell from your pic but is your cab inside a closet or in an open area? Could be that you're heating the air around your cab & then just sucking it back in. You might need to expell it into another room or into the attic or at least get the exhaust away from the cab. Having done that, I'd then add a couple more small vents.........say one on each side.
Get a small desk fan to circulate air around also.
Looks like you've got a start on a nice little set-up goin there!!
Hope this helps.

Bh

 

[monkeyman]

It's hard to tell from your pic but is your cab inside a closet or in an open area? Could be that you're heating the air around your cab & then just sucking it back in. You might need to expell it into another room or into the attic or at least get the exhaust away from the cab. Having done that, I'd then add a couple more small vents.........say one on each side.
Looks like you've got a start on a nice little set-up goin there!!
Hope this helps.

Bh

Its standing free. Yeah, I thought about that too, but then I put my thermometer by my intake and it was reading like 15 degrees cooler then the cab. I mean it definetly could be it and I might put more holes in tomorrow during daylight, but I still feel like something else is wrong.

I added a fan inside the cab and aimed it at the light. This seems to be doing a little help, it dropped the temps another 5 degrees or so. Is there a better place to be aiming it? Should I aim it to blow across the plants themselves or is the light a better choice?

 

[Guest]

i use a 449 vortex for my 400... and im not even using a scrubber.. your cfm isnt high enough to make a reasonable difference with the aircooling, and venting the whole cab.. even without the scrubber.. it would be kind of low... imo

 

[Guest]

I think most folks try to blow air across their plants. And with more air intake locations, I'll bet your temps will drop some more.
Been dealing with similar problems myself in a cab I just built & I think I've got my situation worked out. I finally vented into the attic.

Bh

 

[Guest]

i use a 449 vortex for my 400... and im not even using a scrubber.. your cfm isnt high enough to make a reasonable difference with the aircooling, and venting the whole cab.. even without the scrubber.. it would be kind of low... imo

^^Would tend to agree with this as well.

Bh

 

[monkeyman]

I'm not using a scrubber atm

 

[monkeyman]

The fan seems to have helped a ton. I'm now down to almost a 10 degree tempeture difference between the room ambient and the cab temp, which is the difference the formula says I should be seeing with my set up.

 

[Guest]

There ya go.....recirculating air is a must to avoid heat build-up directly over plants.
Good job and good luck mang. Now post some more pics when ya got something going on.

 

[Dr.Feelgood]

Run the light at night?

 

[bostrom155]

Hey monkey,
Is that your thermometer on top of the black tape? I was wondering where you were measuring the temps at. Measure the intake temp and the exhaust temp. and see what the diff is.
Also, just an option to think about, if your going to keep the intake fan, raise your hood close to parallel of the fan and get rid of 90% of that part of the hose. Prop up your plants or get some wire shelving for air flow. Nice set up bro.

 

[vaporedhaze]

drop your fan level to your light i had the same problem trust me just keep the fan as close to your light as possible

 

[bostrom155]

drop your fan level to your light i had the same problem trust me just keep the fan as close to your light as possible

I say raise it, other wise you will have too much exhaust hose going out the cab, plus if you swap your light around you'll be good

 

[SPARKY420]

how many cfm is your fan?
i recommend at least a 6 inch can fan to cool anything 400w or above cuz you need lots of air movement.
btw 6 inch can fan is about 450 cfm
i use an a 12 inch fdk fan that moves like 2100 cfm to cool 4 1000 hps lamps and it works fucking awsome.

 

[SPARKY420]

but my reflectors are sealed that helps a lot

 

[Jnugg]

Monkeyman,I have the same setup as you only an original C13.I use a 4" 170cfm eco plus and a 400w HPS n a a/c hood.Ambient temps are kept between 65-75F.Temos in the cab range from 75-82F depending on ambient temps.

Right now where I lie it is warming up fast (I'm in the S.E. U.S.) and is already like 80-85F outside.

I'll post some pics in a few minutes to show you mu setup and it's temps in the cab.

 

[Jnugg]

how many cfm is your fan?
i recommend at least a 6 inch can fan to cool anything 400w or above cuz you need lots of air movement.
btw 6 inch can fan is about 450 cfm

6" Standard Can Fan pushes 265 cfm ad the 6" High Output Can Fan pushes 449cfm.

 

[Jnugg]

The fan seems to have helped a ton. I'm now down to almost a 10 degree tempeture difference between the room ambient and the cab temp, which is the difference the formula says I should be seeing with my set up.

You like the chart/FAQ I posted eh?!

Yeah with a 130cfm fan and a 400 w HID you should see a 10 degree temp diff but with a 465cfm fan you would get a 3-5 degree temp diff.