cool tubes

[vuitton]

i am just in the process of doing some upgrades to some of my lighting
im changing 3 cool tubes from the 125 to 150 size as i think these will disperese more light and i think they will be cooler as more airflow

the tubes will go into a y piece then my inline fan
at the begining end where they suck the air in would it be better to go through a y peice at the start or to have 2 openings? hope that makes sense

any recomendation on 600w bulbs is welcome (flower)

thanks guys

 

[1satyr]

Well I can tell you that you are about to loose 25-30% of your light, when using cooltubes. Now I know you may think I am crazy, but never the less, thats the truth.

A lot of the loss comes from the dirt you collect on the bulb, the inside glass, and the outside glass. 3 surfaces collects 3 times as much as one surface.
How do you filter your air for your cooltubes ? You need special filter that are not Carbonbased, cause the release small carbon particles that will stick very well to glass.

The problem with upgrading to 150mm and increasing the velocity and volume of air, is that you cool the bulb to much, which means its not operating at optimum temperature and therefore will loose its stated lumens and photons, this is more severe than you would think off handed. Either you you dont cool it enough and its working optimum or you cool it enough and it will never reach its max output.

You will not get rid of hotspots or radiated heat from the bulb no matter how much air you push, it will still go through the glass, and the hotspot from cool tubes, are more concentrated than from reflectors. Besides that its a shitty reflector and light has to penetrate the glass twice before its reflected.

You looose 5-10% light each time light passes through glass if sterile cleaned, lots more when not.
In the end its easier and much more economical to use less watts and a reflector with heat radiating and absorbing qualities like an Adjustawing or a copy.

Cooltubes sound like a good idea, but they are some of the most stupid inventions for normal growrooms, they are no good except for sealed growrooms with Co2.


Satyr

 

[vuitton]

thanks for your imput, but you didnt actually answer any questions i asked

 

[1satyr]

Oh I did...maybe my aversion towards cooltubes disguised it.

You basic question, is whether you should upgrade to 150mm instead of 125 mm, cause it would increase airflow and lower the temps. My answer is that you will lose lumens, rather, even more lumens by doing it.

The increased cooling effect will rob the bulb its correct operating temperature which is much more important than you would think, hence it will not deliver what the specifications says. You will still have hotspot problems with a 150mm but overall your temp will go down, as your lumens will.

If you stick with your 125mm, it will not cool very much, but the bulb will have a better operating temp as a consequence and therfore give off more lumens and photons.

So, what I tried to illustrate, no matter what you chose, its an imperfect solution.

You should evaluate whose your worst enemy, temp or less light. Still, good airshifts and proper airflow would make it work in most cases, much better than cooltubes, not to mention the saved kWatts.


Satyr

 

[hiboy]

If you Y the input ducts , two smaller ducts from the cool tubes then attaching to the Y, then the single input shoud be enlarged. Say two 4" would Y to a 6". Obviously two separete ducts would be better but then u have two fan motors. One would work fine
h

 

[vuitton]

em interesting stufff do u have some science to abck it up? i am not doubting what u say, well i suppose i am actually lol, in my brain more of thge bulb is exposed to glass so i would have thought that more lumens would get out?
maybe im being a bit retarded
im limited as to what reflectors i can put in that room as its an roof grow and i have angled walls so space is a premium as at the top of the triangle space is tight any recomendations for air cooled reflectors .

ps its a semi closed system

 

[JayBee]

Isn't a semi closed system an open system? :-)

 

[vuitton]

the air con waste is removed.

 

[1971]

I use one of those dust shrooms and have been quite happy with its ability to keep things clean. Plus, you can use motorcycle filter cleaning kits.

I've been super happy with my melon heads, they stay clean, and using a light meter they throw way more light than my plants underneath can handle at a little over a 1' away.

Ushio is a very reliable bulb made in germany.

not sure what the size difference is between a 125 and 150 cool tube. you have a link on the specs?

 

[putembk]

I am running 2 600w cool tubes in a 4'x8' room. I have my carbon filter hanging from the top of the tent and have them in line running ducting through each to the outside. One nice thing is they are light and easy to adjust as the plants grow. However I don't like them because they have to be taken down and disassembled to clean. 1satyr is right on on his assessment and when I upgrade I will not use these again.

 

[joehank]

I just read a very lengthy discussion about airflow and Cooltubes in another section ( I will find it and linky) and I agree with what was said.., You would have to be blowing below freezing temps across the bulb to affect any change in lumen output. And that would only be due to the colder temps and taking longer to heat up to proper operating temp


Wow i just noticed how old this was...

 

[rick ratlin]

Push the air, don't pull, you don't want that hot air passing through the inline. I tried the y pipe, get 2 inlines instead, unless you have a perfectly symmetric pipe set-up. If you use a 600 watt, use a socket extender like in my pic. I'd definitely go with the 1000W. Get the longest cool tube you can find, and modify it to attach to a adjust a wing. The AAW is pricey, but gives a good spread. They're right, you can't eliminate the hot spot without a rotator, especially since this light can hang a foot or less from the canopy. Without the rotator, or moving your plants daily, you will experience bleaching. By then you are into a lot of money. Also, the mass of flowing air will degrade the bulbs much faster, I change mine within 90-110 days. There are good arguments for both sides. Here's a pic of the mod. FWIW, I'm changing to open air lighting, sealed room with co2.