150w HPS Club and Resource Guide......

[narnold]

walls

walls

I've got a question, I hope this also sparks some extra conversation... I need to paint or put a reflective material on the inside of my cab. I'm using.....a 150w HPS, and the cabinet is wood, painted black right now (not used yet), and one side is actually a cardboard type deal. any suggestions, I've seen a lot that were just painted white or other light colors. I've also seen some use the mylar material, which isn't a bad price, but with paint in the house already is it that big of a difference?

 

[catman]

narnold - flat white paint is only a tiny bit less reflective than mylar.. your fine with the paint i use panda film which is black on one side and white on the other, but that is only because i had it layin around

 

[McSnappler]

I'm in the construction process right now narnold, and I'm doing like catman says - flat white paint all round. Sounds like your preparing your growspace with the same theory I am.. If I can use what I've already got laying around in the garage, all the better!

 

[d4twamp]

narnold - flat white paint is only a tiny bit less reflective than mylar.. your fine with the paint i use panda film which is black on one side and white on the other, but that is only because i had it layin around

Catman so r U sayin' you wouldn't have used it if it wasn't layin around...I like the Panda film, So much that I use it over my flat white paint...lol...

 

[Pipedream]

Even though my current set-up has mylar on the walls, my vote is always for 2 to 3 coats of flat white paint. It's much neater, easy to install, and will scrub dowm much better. As a matter of fact, while not the cheapest thing out there, they now even make a special reflective flat white base that actually exceeds the reflective rating of mylar.

 

[Dubbelkrukan]

I'm currently planning my first HPS grow in a small box less than 1m3 (about 3 cubic feet i guess, for those of you that still stubbornly refuse the metric system ) and want to use a 150w in a DIY cooltube.

Now, my question is what fan(s) do you think i will need? I'm cheap and very concerned with noise, so i'm thinking of using one or several computer fans. Will that be enough?

My calculations (from a forumla i found on another message board) says i will do with about 95 m3/h (which should be somewhere around 160 cfm) which some PC-fans should be able to handle. But these calculations could be all fucked up for all i know and besides i know that airflow is not all. It's also about preassure and stuff.

So what do the experience tell you?

 

[McSnappler]

If you're hoping to install a carbon filter for odour control, which is highly recommended, you're better off with at least a bathroom extractor fan, as PC fans won't work well against the back pressure of the carbon scrubber, and won't last long under those conditions either.

I would personally get an overspecified inline fan with a DIY silencer if noise is a concern.

 

[catman]

Catman so r U sayin' you wouldn't have used it if it wasn't layin around...I like the Panda film, So much that I use it over my flat white paint...lol...

Haha. I didn't have any paint and wiht the film I didnt have to wait for paint to dry, but I didn't 100% cover the inside of my cab like I could have with paint.

I'm currently planning my first HPS grow in a small box less than 1m3 (about 3 cubic feet i guess, for those of you that still stubbornly refuse the metric system ) and want to use a 150w in a DIY cooltube.

Now, my question is what fan(s) do you think i will need? I'm cheap and very concerned with noise, so i'm thinking of using one or several computer fans. Will that be enough?

My calculations (from a forumla i found on another message board) says i will do with about 95 m3/h (which should be somewhere around 160 cfm) which some PC-fans should be able to handle. But these calculations could be all fucked up for all i know and besides i know that airflow is not all. It's also about preassure and stuff.

So what do the experience tell you?

You sure you don't mean you have 3 square feet? If it really is 3 cubic feet I couldn't imagine you needing anymore than a 70w HPS.

If your concerned about noise and want to do everything possible to minimize it.. You need to use a Panasonic Whisper fan. The down side is that you will need to make room for it. My 80CFM is 12x12x8 inches, but it is noticeably more quiet than a 120MM fan at 80CFM and it'll actually pull through a carbon filter. They'll run you at least $100 USD however. If you don't need odor control (can't imagine why you wouldn't).. you'll be fine with axial fans aka compuer fans. Computer fans run off DC and there are AC axial fans that handle pressure better.

I know you work in the metric system, but provide your information in our imperial units and we can help you out. The general rule of thumb is 5 air exchanges per minute.

Cubic feet of space divided by fan rating in CFM = air exchanges per minute

Most people here will suggest your overkill your fan as more is much better than less, but.. this won't allow you to minimize your noise. Check out my thread in my signature. My computer is much loud than my 150W setup and I don't even use a cool tube, yet.

 

[Hasanen]

Got a 150w HPS too and tried to grow Hash Plant in a stealth closet, dimensions: 65cm x 45cm x 35cm (height 65cm). When the plant grew up and there were 20cm to HPS, the plant got so big light burnts that it didn't ever recover... Too much light inna so little closet! SHIT! You can check some pics of the grow in my gallery... Sad to watch.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Hasanen, you say your plant started burning 20cm (~8 inches) away from the bulb? Do you have a fan blowing on the bulb? This will allow plants to get closer to the bulb without burning. 65cm is not very tall (~25 inches) but you can tie your plants down to keep them from growing too tall.

If you haven't already, check out the threads for SCROG, LST and super cropping. Each of these is a way to deal with making your plant shorter and easier to deal with.

 

[Dubbelkrukan]

@ mcSnappler and Catman
Thanks for the help. That's what i thought but i was hoping otherwise since i've got a couple of old computer fans from before.

@ Catman
My bad, 1m3 is more like ~27 cubic feet

 

[Hasanen]

DiscoBiscuit, i had a scrog greatly filled and the plant had 3 months veg. I didn't have any fan blowing straight to the bulb, but right next to the bulb was carbon filter blowing air outside the closet.

 

[Hasanen]

And yeah, they burned badly when there was like 15-20cm to the bulb. And there were 3 glass shields between the bulb and the plants. As you can see, the plants did get some light burnts even in the veg too, when there was 30cm to the bulb.

 

[Cozy Amnesia]

And yeah, they burned badly when there was like 15-20cm to the bulb. And there were 3 glass shields between the bulb and the plants. As you can see, the plants did get some light burnts even in the veg too, when there was 30cm to the bulb.

That doesn't seem right. Three glass shields?

Did you have a fan blowing on the bulb or a cooltube or anything? What was temps in the cab? I have my tops about 5-10cm from the bulb and no problems with lightburn.

 

[djbenzo]

my 150w hps gets the room soo hot when its warmer outside..
any way i could rig a cooltube like setup without
having to macguyver my light apart to take out the ballast...
like some way i could directly vent the warm air from the floodlight
without having to take it apart..

 

[nissan 420]

Light distance

Light distance

That's an interesting light nissan. I have T5's and love them for veg. I'm doing a test flowering run right now. They have been on 12/12 for 2 weeks now.

The company must believe the T5s have near the same penetration as a 150w because the 150s look to be only a couple inches higher in the light. I have a 150w grow at this time too. I want to do a comparison between different lights. So far exact clones are stretching less under the T5s.

On average how far away do you 150 users keep your light?

I usually keep my light 9-12 inches away unless it is really cool out

 

[vintner]

I usually keep my light 9-12 inches away unless it is really cool out

Yeah, that seems to be the limit of a 150. Most everything beyond 12 or so inches from the bulb is popcorn. The plants can be much closer though w/out ill effect depending on your temps and ventilation. 4-5"

 

[Cozy Amnesia]

my 150w hps gets the room soo hot when its warmer outside..
any way i could rig a cooltube like setup without
having to macguyver my light apart to take out the ballast...
like some way i could directly vent the warm air from the floodlight
without having to take it apart..

There are a couple of things you can do to help with temps, which you already know is important, especially as the seasons get closer to summer.

A cooltube helps a lot, but most say a fan blowing directly on the bulb does just a good a job. Do you have an exhaust fan extracting the hot air inside the closet? If not, you're grow will not be successful. You need the hot air sucked out (thats why I use a cooltube, because it's the hottest of all the air in the cab) and replaced with cool air from another room.

If nothing else, you can leave the door to the closet open and have a bunch of oscillating fans blowing around. I've seen this, hell I even had to do that in the middle of last summer.

Oh, and remote ballasting the light will help a lot. You definitely want to do that. Search for the DIY buy Quazi.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

djbenzo, Cozy is right, you need to exhaust the warm air from the closet. If you don't want to remote the ballast, take the glass out of the frame or take the glass and frame off all together. If you mount a pc fan in such a way to blow on the bulb you'll see some relief.

 

[HydroSpice420]

i started from seed 12 days ago in my 2-2 ebb flo with my 150 hps in my 10 gall res i used half a recommended amount of Humboltdt Organic Grow Nutes and my plants are still very small and scraggaly looking very unstable what is going on?!?!