Sun System Epic Sealed Hood Reflector...eventual Review

[Junk]

Anyone using/tried one of these yet? I can't find anything about them online so being the curious mind that I am, I picked one up. Also, the hydro store had the price labeled wrong, so I took advantage of that. He still made out like a champ. The only reason I pay them for products is to have access to their knowledge & support local business. But I paid $325 or thereabouts. I think cost is around $200.

This thing is massive. From what I have read on most sites, it cannot even be delivered w/standard UPS/Fedex, it must be shipped freight. If you have a compact car, & you are over 4 ft tall, you are not going to be able to take it home in the box. The only way I got it home was to take it out of the box & put it on the back seat.

You may be wondering why I am surprised at the size of it. Well, when I picked it out, all that was visible was the side of a box. I paid, he said to pull the car up, I got out of the car and saw just how big this thing really is (in the box at least) They say it's the largest on the market. I couldn't care less about that, but if you do, I think "they" are right. Lengthwise, it covers almost my entire dining room table. "Large" is an understatement.

I'm going to try to put it up today, which will be tricky as I can't move the plants. I think I figured out how to do it though. I'll let you know what I think as I use it. Having only ever used hoods from Sun Systems, I don't know how helpful I can be in that regard.

P.S. Those are 8" stubs, to put things into perspective.

 

[PROTOPIPE]

She's gorgeous imho. I adore sun systems products ive bought in fact they have run strong for me since 2010! Watching to see how she does for you, i want an upgrade myself!

 

[Junk]

She's gorgeous imho. I adore sun systems products ive bought in fact they have run strong for me since 2010! Watching to see how she does for you, i want an upgrade myself!
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Yeah, I really flirted with the Raptor as the numbers it posts are impressive

http://growershouse.com/blog/best-l...eview-8-raptor-vs-8-magnum-xxxl-vs-8-massive/

A couple things swayed my decision. 1. This is made in the USA 2. I like Sun Systems quality overall 3. I like the thumb screw design better than the raptor latches (I saw someone break their glass one time. Broke the bulb & everything because they went to latch it & didn't notice something was in the way. The tried to latch it & BOOM) 4. I like the glass stop better than the raptors 5. My preferred hydro store doesn't carry the raptor lol. I'm big on supporting my local guys. I wish everyone would have that same spirit. If you can, try not to go through the self checkout lines, every time you do it, you are helping take someone's job away. Which is all good...until it's your job. People would have you believe that we are still in a massive economic downturn, it hasn't been that way for many, many, years. Dow was trading at 18,000 a year or so ago. Major corporations posting record profits, for a long time now. But what they do is pay CEO's, COO's etc tons of money, to pay you as little as possible, & have as few of "you" as they can. We are being squeezed for every nickel & dime so that the people who don't need nickels & dimes can have more. The people who say Capitalism "is the best" are either not the ones being trampled on, they are being convinced that they deserve what they get, or they are just plain stupid. Capitalism in the 50's was great, because companies shared the wealth to a degree. The difference in executive pay vs. worker pay was something like a factor of 10x. Adjusted for inflation, the average person makes less money now, than they did in the 50's. Similar job, harder actually, more hours, they pay you less than they did 60 years ago. If you are "middle class" your wages have gone down considerably, & continue to decline since the late 50's. Executive pay has gone up by a factor of almost 4,000. We need to realize how the deck is stacked & act accordingly. The execs are getting paid, in large part, to make sure they run on the least amount of workers, & pay them as little as they can. But few people observe it, are aware, or bother to care. Think about it...the average "you," your wages have not even stayed the same since the 50's, you are getting paid as much as 35% less when adjusted for inflation. In the 50's, average middle class meant working dad. Who was the only income earner & people got along fine. Things got tougher...so women entered the work force to help pay the bills. Now, a mc household, typically both parents work. However, that is still not enough, most mc households cannot pay their bills without credit cards. On NPR the other day they stated that 40,000,000 American households work 40 hours a week or more, for less than poverty wages.

We went from needing one income earner, to needing two, to needing someone to lend us money to cover monthly expenses. Corporations profits however, have been doing nothing but increasing the entire time. What happens when credit is no longer enough to keep us afloat?

Major corps like Google et al funnel money out of the U.S. so they don't have to pay taxes on it. Billions upon billions of dollars. Then they cry when they want to bring it back into the U.S. & have to pay taxes on it. They go to congress & cry all over their little high chair & bib. About 10 years ago, congress made a concession & said all these companies (Google, Pfizer, Microsoft etc) could bring the money back in, that they sent out, & they wouldn't have to pay taxes on it. They could bring it back into the US, & still not pay taxes on it...a one time deal...it would be good for the economy those companies argued.

Immediately after congress gave the ok, the companies took the money into the USA, & immediately ditched 70,000 jobs & gave the execs raises & bonuses, or sweeter than expected retirement deals. I could never be a politician, because if I was in that Congress, & saw that guy from Pfizer again, I would thrash him so hard none of his companies medications would help him.

That was quite a tangent. Due to the limitations of physics, sometimes I punch people with my keyboard. A diatribe, while not as satisfying as a physical beating, at least keeps my from punching people who don't deserve to be punched.

This video was new to me...he says in it, that the raptor can be used for MH or HPS bulbs

http://hydrobuilder.com/raptor-8-air-cooled-reflector.html

I don't have a lot of experience with hoods. I have only owned/used 5 or 6 of them, most of them borrowed. But I thought if they were clear to run one type of HID, the other was also good. Am I wrong? Or is it just marketing blabber...

Also I have seen some of these fixtures now coming in a dual bulb format (not DE, two actual bulbs). I wonder if I could retrofit this to do the same. It certainly has the room. The more I think about it, the more I wonder why they didn't make it like that in the first place.

 

[PROTOPIPE]

Good point and i must say where i reside in northern new england it seems as if the 40 hour work week has been phased out, these new companies mindset's are oh ok raise the minimum wage(nowhere near livable wage of course) then we cut hours across the board! Your post may have been a diatribe but it shot alot of good sense and facts to me myself. As for experiance with those bad ass big boys i don't have enough as of yet, spent from 2010 till now still stuck in kooltube's lol.

 

[DemonTrich]

I run 4x big kahuna hoods, massive hoods at 45lbs+ (just wish they were 8" vs 6"). I would highly recommend sealing up all spot welds, and seams with silicone caulk to avoid any air your not wanting to suck thru the hood and out your tent if your using a scrubber.

 

[Junk]

I run 4x big kahuna hoods, massive hoods at 45lbs+ (just wish they were 8" vs 6"). I would highly recommend sealing up all spot welds, and seams with silicone caulk to avoid any air your not wanting to suck thru the hood and out your tent if your using a scrubber.

Good to know! I've got some stinkers coming up...

 

[DemonTrich]

I also added some weatherproof window sealer/mounding where the hinged glass "door" meets the body of the hood. you would believe how much stinky air will get sucked or hot air will get blown back into the room. put the moulding on the glass part. will be about 3.00 from HD or lowes. get the medium density foam.

 

[Junk]

I also added some weatherproof window sealer/mounding where the hinged glass "door" meets the body of the hood. you would believe how much stinky air will get sucked or hot air will get blown back into the room. put the moulding on the glass part. will be about 3.00 from HD or lowes. get the medium density foam.

Being the endlessly curious guy that I am, I'm going to see how badly it leaks before I do any of that. It's not that I don't believe you...I'm sure the thing is not absolutely sealed. I just like to thoroughly review stuff.

In other words, I'm sure I will end up sealing some stuff up, but I actually want to see how badly it leaks first.

Here is a pic in the space. This does not capture how large this hood really is. It's E-N-O-R-M-O-U-S.

I have the reducers on there (obviously I haven't even sealed those up yet) because I don't have an 8" fan, nor the money to get one at the moment.

It's a b* to hang by yourself, I can tell you that much about it so far.

Initially, I thought, "Cool, handles to carry it." Then I realized it was not an "extra feature" Sun Systems decided to add. It's not a luxury item, they are necessary just to move the thing around.

 

[DemonTrich]

better to seal it up nice and tight BEFORE you mount it in the room. now you'll have to take it back down, mess with the light cycle, use other light source during lights off to remove said hood to do the sealing repairs, then put it back up, and possibly cause hermies from fucking the light cycle up. but hey, do what you like. im just one grower whos done this before. if you see light peeking thru the cracks or welds, well then you have air leaks.

 

[stonestacker]

I don't know how you hung them by yourself! I have a hard time just caring my hoods alone. Then I set them on the floor and slowly raise them.
I have to get back home to see exactly which hood I have. Missing and worrying about my garden. I do like my big ass hoods though only kind I've ran. Some homies have switched over to them to try to catch me lol. Kinda gives me a big head lol.

Peace

 

[PROTOPIPE]

Wow man what a pain in the ass those big hoods can be, think i'll stay with the kooltubes reflectors for now.

 

[DemonTrich]

they are only 45lbs dude. im old (42), 6'1 and 175 lbs and a soccer player petty much all my life. all my strength is in my core and lower body (hence the soccer players physic). I use 600lb test chain (I like overkill), 175lb carabineers, and eye bolts thru my ceiling joists to secure them. my hoods do not get lowered or moved period (reason why I do all my sealing before hand). I raise my pots to meet my height needs. cinder blocks work perfect for this and don't absorb water.

 

[DemonTrich]

Wow man what a pain in the ass those big hoods can be, think i'll stay with the kooltubes reflectors for now.

you'll say this now, swap to a bigger hood and you'll kick your self in the butt for not switching over earlier.

my big kahuna hood has an adjustable light holder, up/down/forward/backward. unlike other brands that are fixed. you can manipulate the light focus this way.

 

[gravekat303]

I love them I've been running one for a few cycles now it was a pain to do alone but I'm pushing over 1# per 600 with this bad girl

 

[PROTOPIPE]

this is for me living beyond all my means lol.......i may actually splurge if i can afford it! great thread imho.

 

[DemonTrich]

I used a 6' ladder as another "hand" when raising my hoods. I also had a spare 6' chain. lift hood, put 1 end on ladder, support other side with arm, use other hand to hook carabineer to eye hook on ceiling joist. now hoods supported on one side, while holding other side, remove (kick ladder aside) and mount other side of hood same as other side. easy peasy. white boy grower engineering at its finest. I grow by myself. I let NO ONE in, near, or know where my grow is. shit my wife doesn't even know where I grow, and I keep it this way. so I figure out how to do everything by myself.

 

[Junk]

they are only 45lbs dude. im old (42), 6'1 and 175 lbs and a soccer player petty much all my life. all my strength is in my core and lower body (hence the soccer players physic). I use 600lb test chain (I like overkill), 175lb carabineers, and eye bolts thru my ceiling joists to secure them. my hoods do not get lowered or moved period (reason why I do all my sealing before hand). I raise my pots to meet my height needs. cinder blocks work perfect for this and don't absorb water.

52 pounds for this one. & 42 isn't old.

I didn't know you were a soccer fan. Aside from the UK thread, I've not met another one. A lot of Americans say it's "boring." I don't find it boring at all. I find it much more exciting than Baseball, & the game is over in half the time! Just because a game ends 0-0 (that's what you will hear a lot of people say) doesn't mean it's not exciting.

I should have been clearer. It's a pita to swap the hood out 1. By yourself 2. When you have 25 ft2 or so of plants that you can't move & are shoulder height (all the plants are in a plumbed res hydro setup & a scrog on top of it) So it's not as simple as shoulder pressing it over your head. You have to hold it away from your body & lift it, the whole time holding it up high enough so you don't break any tops. It's large, at that distance away from your body it's heavy, & the shape makes it awkward.

As far as light goes, I can already tell everyone I wish I switched sooner. Not because I have established that the reflector works better, but because I wish I had done it when there were no plants in there lol.

Reading this again, I don't think you were even talking to me...lol.

I'm trying to figure out the numbers on how much difference 98% reflectivity is vs. 95% I know it's 3% but what would that theoretically be in par values. Then compare it to the XXXL or Dom, & take my own readings to see how far off (or close) it is.

Basically, I want to see how it stacks up to the Raptor, or other big hood's numbers, in theory on paper, & then in real life. Anyone in the New England area have a light meter? That's the only way we are going to get any good information out about this hood. On line, there is virtually nothing about it, save a couple youtube videos that only explain the obvious...

 

[Junk]

I used a 6' ladder as another "hand" when raising my hoods. I also had a spare 6' chain. lift hood, put 1 end on ladder, support other side with arm, use other hand to hook carabineer to eye hook on ceiling joist. now hoods supported on one side, while holding other side, remove (kick ladder aside) and mount other side of hood same as other side. easy peasy. white boy grower engineering at its finest. I grow by myself. I let NO ONE in, near, or know where my grow is. shit my wife doesn't even know where I grow, and I keep it this way. so I figure out how to do everything by myself.

Yeah, I mounted one side first, while keeping the hood so that if it was on, it would be lighting up the floor area to the right of the plants. Get it up as high as you can, then walk around to the other side of the plants bringing the other end of the hood with you, so that now you are swinging it so that it will be over the plants, & hang that side. But the plants area & height are what make it tricky. It isn't hard mentally to figure out how to do it yourself, but actually doing it with this hood, I had to move one of the walls in the space to mount it like I said above, all said the thing is almost 4 ft long.

Plus, if I dropped it? There goes all the plants.

Coincidentally, I have always mounted my hoods permanently too & move the plants up & down. It makes them easier to work on, & you can manage canopy height even if you are running multiple strains. With plumbing now, that's not as easy.

 

[Junk]

better to seal it up nice and tight BEFORE you mount it in the room. now you'll have to take it back down, mess with the light cycle, use other light source during lights off to remove said hood to do the sealing repairs, then put it back up, and possibly cause hermies from fucking the light cycle up. but hey, do what you like. im just one grower whos done this before. if you see light peeking thru the cracks or welds, well then you have air leaks.

Indeed, but I already had it up by the time I read your post :( I'm confident once I tape the reducers it will be as airtight as Sun designed it to be, that will be fine for this round.

After this round i'm going to mount it differently anyway, I just need the plants to be out of the way.

 

[DemonTrich]

if using tape, use the 3m hvac tape, not duct tape. duct tape delaminates from the heat and will separate.

and HUGE soccer/football fan. played 18 years in youth league, 2 yrs starting in middle school, 4 yrs high school starting all 4 yrs, lettered, coached 4yrs u-14 boys, FLA state certified referee (long time ago). I record EVERY Liverpool, Chelsea (fav team), arsenal, everton (only cause howard is team USA goalie).

I did find some 150lb rope ratchets, and I have on my veg hood (once again a big kahuna). I do have my usual chains as backups in case the rope ratchets fail. had these up for 1+ months and still holding strong. I might suggest using these if the need to raise and lower your hood. these are 150# each, not as a pair.

just an idea