how much BANG am i getting for my BUCK

[katy]

im using a cool tube with a 600w hps.

i lose 10% through the glass

although i can get the lights much closer,

but inside the glass catches dust from the CF, and is a pain in the arse to clean, because of the connections, so it's usually dusty, so thats at least another 10%

thats a loss of 20%, before it sets off !

a naked buld gives off 33% more usefull light ( as Heath robinson has shown )

seems to me i could be increasing my light output by 50% by getting rid of the 'tube

hmm..

[javadog]

or you could put the CF on the exhaust side if the fan to keep dust down. best of both worlds

[Mr Swilly]

One way to use a cooltube is to blow through it, into a cf outside of groom.
the fan will last longer as you are not sucking hot air into the fan.
Got mine about 4 inch above canopy.
However I too am not sold on it's performance , despite the closeness of the light.
Many suggest putting a Dutch barn reflector over the top of it to help light spread.

[katy]

my setup is cf-fan-tube-tube-outside the house.

im thinking of hanging the bulb vertical with a fan directly below, blowing up, then cf-fan-out at the apex of the loft, giving more height as well

[Bobby Digital]

http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/image_thumbnailer.aspx?i=images/prods/parabolic-reflector-4-web.jpg&w=309&h=309

get one of these from Greens if ya got £50 to spare,

[DrGreen]

im using a super nova 600w 150mm carbon ducting.. am i loosing any light??

[katy]

http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/image_thumbnailer.aspx?i=images/prods/parabolic-reflector-4-web.jpg&w=309&h=309

get one of these from greens if ya got £50 to spare,

it wouldn't fit in my space too well as its a loft

[Black Star]

my setup is cf-fan-tube-tube-outside the house.

im thinking of hanging the bulb vertical with a fan directly below, blowing up, then cf-fan-out at the apex of the loft, giving more height as well

Best move you could make IMHO

[Bobby Digital]

it wouldn't fit in my space too well as its a loft

ahh that sucks you growing in a tent?
will fit a 1mx1mx2m tent

[katy]

http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/image_thumbnailer.aspx?i=images/prods/parabolic-reflector-4-web.jpg&w=309&h=309

get one of these from Greens if ya got £50 to spare,

been thinking about this,

the loft is about six foot tall, and i would be limited to the width of that reflector,

but the ceiling is well insulated, so i could just give then another coat of white paint and the jobs done

[katy]

ok, don't know if anyones listening, but here goes,

got down to fockus this morning and bought some flat white emulsion, and splattered that around the sloping walls, which are now the "reflector"

i exchanged the 600w in the cool tube to a 400w HPS, and lowered it, and then fixed my built in 250w ballast with a long lead so i could hang a 250wMH naked bulb

the results are amazing ! the 400w doesn't seem to be as bright as the the 250w MH, and after the first two hour test period, temps at plant level are stable at about 24C, and the plants have turned their leaves in the direction of the MH. i will try and get some pics and report back.

i'm toying with the idea of getting rid of the cooltubes and upgrading the ventilation so i can hang the 600W HPS as well.

is anyone else doing this? (naked bulb)

[Mr_Bimble]

Did you clean the glass inthe cooltube when you swapped bulbs? If your hanging the bulb vertically - the white sloping sides are acting as the reflector (a poor man's parabolic shade).

You could try one of these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AIR-COOLED-ECOTECHNICS-DIAMOND-REFLECTOR-LIMITED-SALE-/360329166587?pt=UK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBu lbs_JN&hash=item53e54abefb or just make a mount so you can hang the bulb horizontally.

I've got the non air-cooled version for 250/400W bulbs and I'm pretty happy with it in a 1M * 1M * 2M tent.

You would also have to blow through your filter which isn't as efficient & you have hot air passing throug the inline. lamp->ducting->inline fan->ducting->filter.

I thought the point of a cooltube was that you had one inline blowing air through the tube and straight out the side of the tent so the airflow was uninterupted, the positive pressure in the cooltube would prevent growroom smells being blown out with that hot air. You would have another inline with a filter fitted to remove the smell, create negative pressure inside the tent and extract warm air. The cooltube would then allow you to get your lightsource nearer the plants which would make up for the light loss caused be the glass (-10%).

So you would have cold air inlet->inline->ducting->cooltube->ducting-> hot air outlet and Filter->ducting->inline->ducting->stale air outlet.

[Water Farmer]

Ok so is it better to blow or pull the air through a cool tube? Ive seen the 150cm cooltube doesnt have sealed glass so wouldnt that cause problems with smell?

[Mr_Bimble]

If you blow through the tube you dont have hot air being sucked through the fan and will have positive presure in the tube which will stop any smell leaking.

[Forest]

you hanging you bulbs vertically? ive seen a bit about that, saying it can be a good way to grow moving the bulb up and down though you lights on time to get plants to give good sized buds from bottom as well by placing plants in a ring and turning them 1/2 or a 1/3 each day the leaves turning towards light make the plants grow better as it simulates am & pm sun and some shade as they would get out side! its ment to make plant short and bushy you never have to bulb above the plants
the theory sound sound i guess any one know anything about this type of growing?
regard G-Man

[katy]

the 250 and the 400 gave way to a 600W MH, hanging vertically.

as you said, the light shines on the sides of the plants, and encourages bushyness. i turn the plants ( those i can) a 1/4 turn a day.

there are practically no heat issues and the lights are within 5 inches of the bulb !

this method saves alot of light being reflected from the shade and shining directly on the plants instead.

instead of lighting one sqaure metre under the light, you can easily light two square meters by having the bulb in the middle. simples

[Forest]

im just building a new flower room ive got about a 2m x2m 2.3m height and have been thinking of giving this method a go it can be made perpetual by introducing two plants every two weeks or starting with a full room and harvest early two plants and so on as long as you have them in veg ready you should be able to harvest two plants every two weeks so ive read ive got a 600w hps i think i may try this im after any more info about this type of grow its ment to give you a much higher yield?
thanks for some info katy ive been hard press to find anyone growing like this and was wondering if it was worth a try im using hempy buckets as my diy dwc which works well doesnt lend it self to this type of grow as it muti site have you competed a grow this way yet? i wonder how wide the plants get on ave? you can train branches down as well cant you ?
thanks for any help given
kind regards G

[katy]

check out heath robinsons tree grow on breedbay, he uses a flip flop system that halves the energy consumption, it's his RDWC, combined with vertical bulb that produces the real magic