sun system blazer 6" air cooled hood

[señorsloth]

ok so why the f$%^ is it so damn hard to find any decent information on reflectors?!?! i look at the catalog and the description for every single hood is exactly the same, they don't even post dimensions! you would think they would want to explain what differentiates the different models in your lineup, so that people know that there is a use for each shape or size of reflector but i cannot find a single place anywhere that will tell the differences between a blazer, yield master, magnum xxxl, or cool sun, or any of their other hoods...were i too only have the catalog i wouldn't have even realized their dimensions were different slightly...but even with the internet i cannot find any info on why a magnum is a magnum or why a blazer is a blazer! what the hell?!

isn't it in a businesses best interest to make this information clear and available?! i mean they wont tell you why you should by one of their models over another?! what is that?! am i missing something here?!?

even weirder is the total lack of any type of customer review! anywhere! even amazon doesn't have any reviews for them, and they get 200 reviews for plastic toothpicks! hell i can't even find anything on this site about the blazer reflector, i have tried half a dozen searches for nothing.

i guess i have 3 questions, most importantly, has anybody here tried a sunsystems blazer reflector and how was it?
why is it so hard to get information on sun system lighting?
how do other people pick hoods with the total lack of online reviews?

 

[farmer jones]

Hope i can help a little. I have a yield master II supreme. It is 22.75L X 19.75W X 7.25H and 95% reflective 6" vents. Works very well for me and have good results. Can't campare to anything else, because it is the only one have owned. Been 4 years with no problems. Don't know of any reviews but planetlighting has all the dimensions of sun system hoods listed. Not a lot of info on any of the hoods. If i was to get another it would be a sun system. Just a up grade in watts. Good Luck!

 

[loyalty7]

i got four of them...they are quality air cooled hoods that are really good if you have short ceilings, they swing down for easy cleaning also...Sunlight have the best hoods at the moment...

 

[groer]

The dimensions are right on the website. Blazer is a little smaller than a blockbuster, which is a little smaller than a magnum.

 

[señorsloth]

well block buster is square, whereas the other two are rectangle, so that makes a pretty big difference, they don't really work well in a rectangle footprint.

i'm pretty much set on the blazer, i just can't believe there isn't better info out there on them!

 

[señorsloth]

I guess it doesn't really matter but i figure considering the lack of reviews or testimonials on this stuff online i'd give my opinion of my new blazer hood.

well this thing is pretty sweet, i mean it's similar to the one i already owned, wich was also brand new, but this one is much wider than the one i had in there. the main thing i notice is that above my light it's very very dark now, all the light is going straight down, nothing is making it above the light, and because it's so wide the dimensions perfectly fit my cab, so i literally get great coverage from the corners all the way to the center...

as far as air flow the blazer is still very good considering how wide it is, i can't tell the difference between it and the skinnier one that i replaced with it, truly, i can't even tell the difference between it and my old cooltube, that obviously had a very aerodynamic tube, but a huge bulking socket that got in the way, the one on sun systems hoods is triangular so it's pretty aerodynamic. so it cools just as good as a cool tube, reflects 2-3 times better, and is 10 times easier to clean...there is just no reason to use a cool tube in my mind unless, like i did a few years ago, you are starting on a tight budget...those cooltube kits on amazon go for like $150 with chords and ballast, it's a really great deal for what you get but my blazer with my new adjustable digital galaxy ballast are gonna blow it out of the water for about double the price.

the quality of the blazer hood is really good, i'm extremely impressed with what i got for the price,i would recommend it too anybody with a grow somewhere in between a square shape and a rectangle, the footprint is wider than my previous hood i think it's called yeild master 2, not sure, lol it's at it's new home in my buddies basement already, it was something "2", pretty sure yeild master lol. i think that hood would have been better for a more conventional rectangle shaped grow, but my grow was more of a fat, short rectangle so this blazer was perfect for me.

 

[DarkLotus215]

Hope i can help a little. I have a yield master II supreme. It is 22.75L X 19.75W X 7.25H and 95% reflective 6" vents. Works very well for me and have good results. Can't campare to anything else, because it is the only one have owned. Been 4 years with no problems. Don't know of any reviews but planetlighting has all the dimensions of sun system hoods listed. Not a lot of info on any of the hoods. If i was to get another it would be a sun system. Just a up grade in watts. Good Luck!

Good to hear it's a decent reflector. I just picked up one today. I got it used so it did not have the glass, do I have to get that through the company website?

 

[señorsloth]

I think thats probably the best place to get it...

 

[Nor'Easter]

I was thinking of getting 6 inch Sunwing reflectors (HTG) for 2 1000W lights in a 7 x 7 area. The area is square, but the footprint each would cover would be rectangular. I too find so little info on reflectors. Some of the reflectors for air-cooled lights are so tiny and then you have the Big Daddy that is huge. I imagine the huge ones would be more difficult to cool, but which would spread the light so the corners get decent light as well? If you had this space, which reflector would you use and why? I want something I can get at the store too as I do not have a good mail order option. This is very much in line with what others are asking here and I hope the answer to my question helps others as well. I apologize if I hijacked the thread but don't think I did as the subject is the same. thanks

PS. which planetlighting do you refer to? I saw 3 or more different ones when I did a search!

 

[señorsloth]

thats really kinda on the low end of of the watts per square foot isn't it? like 40? i usually figure 1000 watts covers 16 square feet, your tent is is 49. if you plan on going all the way too all the corners you might want to get a third light...

 

[jahovia]

the blazer is nice...im kinda partial to the blockbuster cause I like the square footprint...but I like the blazer cause of the new hinges and the fact that it isnt so deep from top to bottom

 

[farmer jones]

DarkLotus215, you can get a replacement glass at the same website in my earlier post. It was $15.90 plus shipping. They are always very quick and discrete.

 

[señorsloth]

the blazer is nice...im kinda partial to the blockbuster cause I like the square footprint...but I like the blazer cause of the new hinges and the fact that it isnt so deep from top to bottom

ya ive been thinking about getting a blockbuster for a tent im setting up, they mostly seem to come in square sizes so it seems ideal, plus if i were able to run a 600w id be going for a 3 by 3 foot square regardless to tent size, and i would want a 4 by 4 foot square for 1000w, so i can see how the blockbuster would be a much better setup over rectangular hoods for those types...

with my grow room though, this hood is the shit, and makes cooltubes look like cheep toys...my nodal spacing has been cut down by half since switching, and growth is faster, buds seem thicker already, and half my light isn't being wasted above the stupid cooltube, now it's all being reflected down very efficiently...i am one happy camper and will be leading the charge in the future against cheep cooltubes...i mean, i used mine for a year...i can't imagine how many hundreds or thousands of grams i sacrificed by not switching up...the real problem is there are still people out there claiming cool tubes are a viable grow system and not many people are disputing them...i for one, will be, in the future.

 

[Guest 349079]

i have just bought a dr90 grow tent & the hydro shop recomended
i buy the blazer instead of the blockbuster 2 shade so i hope they are good it will be deliverd on monday

 

[señorsloth]

i think the different reflector models of this brand are all about the same quality, the difference is all in the shape of the light footprint...they make longer, skinnier ones, for long skinny grows, or ones like the blockbuster for square shaped grows...then they have several that are in between.

the blazer is sorta in between, it's a wide rectangle, not as wide as the xxxl but wider than the original size...i don't know what size a dr90 is but i'm assuming it's square?

 

[FunkBomb]

I've used the Yieldmaster reflectors and they're great. The design of it is similar to the Cool Sun, Blazer, Maximizer, and Low Rider.

-Funk

 

[Guest 349079]

i think the different reflector models of this brand are all about the same quality, the difference is all in the shape of the light footprint...they make longer, skinnier ones, for long skinny grows, or ones like the blockbuster for square shaped grows...then they have several that are in between.

the blazer is sorta in between, it's a wide rectangle, not as wide as the xxxl but wider than the original size...i don't know what size a dr90 is but i'm assuming it's square?

hi senorsloth sorry i didnt reply to your pm yet as i dont have enough posts my tent is 90s x90cms x 200cms...my local hydro shop said the blazer would be excellent shade for my tent i hope so its here tomorrow...thanks for the pm

 

[Guest 349079]

well i got my blazer reflector and i a not happy with it..as it dosent light my 1m2 dr100 tent
when i phoned my grow shop which is excellent i said to the guy i wanted the blockbuster 2 for my dr100 tent which is 1m2..he said i would be better off with a blazer for my tent well at the moment i have a 400watt in the blazer and its short by 30cms so some plants dont get much light...which sucks maybe when i put the 600watt in it there will be better coverage Peace gtbh

 

[señorsloth]

i'm sorry to hear that, ya a square grow is best covered by a reflector made for square grows...a 400w bulb will have a hard time covering a square meter either way...a 400w light covers about a 6 square foot area perfectly, or like 60X100 cm, a 600 perfectly covers 1 square meter or your square meter tent, so you would probably have best luck getting coverage with a 600...

the issue with having too much square meters per light is that in order for the light footprint to cover the whole area the light has to be raised higher...the smaller, and more even your canopy, the closer you can generally put your light to your buds, meaning bigger, denser buds...higher quality buds...but if you have a reflector that isn't shaped right for your grow, even if you have the right watts per square cm(about 65-75w per 30cm squared)you will have trouble getting even coverage all the way to the edge...i think that's why the same company makes so many different shapes of basically the same reflector...so that there is one for every sized grow...

with the right sized reflector and the right wattage per square meter, you can get nice, even coverage, edge to edge...fitting a rectangle reflector into a square tent likely means you have to choose to either raise the reflector as little as possible, so that longways the light footprint just barely covers your plants, you have sort of a widescreen effect, a strip on either side of tent wont be getting much light. however, if you raise the light higher so that the light covers the whole area you find that the short sides get too much light, and the longsides are getting just barely enough. we must also remember that the amount of par watts(plant version of lumens) diminishes super fast, so every few inches you raise the light lowers the overall strength of the light by a large amount, that is why it's important to pick a hood that has a light print that matches the shape of your grow, and to get enough watts to cover it properly, this allows you to lower the light to it's lowest possible setup, maximizing yield and quality...

honestly if i were you id use the blockbuster and a 600w bulb for a 1 meter tent...but there is technically no reason why you can't run the blazer hood with a 400w bulb, you just have to squeeze those plants into more of a rectangle, and leave about 30 centimeters of the tent closest the door without any plants, this will allow you to get even coverage, proper light strength, and no plants receiving less light, which can make for a stretchy uneven canopy, and occasionally in lesser stock even cause a bit of hermie...

 

[Guest 349079]

i just went and raised the hood and the light does fill the tent better so do you think i should use a 600watts metal hailide instead of the 400watts the 600watt an be raised
and i should still get a good light spread from it thanks for the info