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

[hoosierdaddy]

He just built the thing..how would he know?
Maybe send him your light meter?

The tube will allow your plants to lay against the glass without burning. Without the glass, they would fry that close.

 

[growDaddy]

He just built the thing..how would he know?
Maybe send him your light meter?

The tube will allow your plants to lay against the glass without burning. Without the glass, they would fry that close.

Sorry, just asking to try to get an answer. I am having heat problems and seeing his I was thinking of making my own, but can't afford to lose that much light.

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Maybe you have more issues going on than the light. Seems to me like keeping a 150 cool is the easiest thing to do. If you are having heat issues, you need to sort out your air flow, then worry about the lighting. I have a cab space half the size of yours, and I can keep it cool burning 2x150wHPS w/no tubes and exhausting the air out properly.

 

[growDaddy]

Maybe you have more issues going on than the light. Seems to me like keeping a 150 cool is the easiest thing to do. If you are having heat issues, you need to sort out your air flow, then worry about the lighting. I have a cab space half the size of yours, and I can keep it cool burning 2x150wHPS w/no tubes and exhausting the air out properly.

I started out with 2 150hps but the heat made me get rid of one of them. Now I have turned off the second one, down to just cfl.
I have been working on the ventilation problem all year. The girls are looking better now and I am waiting till the weather cools off a bit, then I'll go 12/12, and use the 150hps. Just so hot this summer.

I've got 42 cuft, a 6" hose going to the attic with a 245cfm fan pulling into a carbon filter. On the same hose inside the cab I have a 200cfm fan blowing out towards the attic. that should flush my are 4-5 times per minute.
I have a 6" hose coming into the room from the AC, and a 8" hole at the bottom coming in from the bedroom with a 200cfm fan in front of the hole blowing in to the cab. I have a 4" hole from the clone room. That seems like enough ventilation for such a small space.
This room is in my garage and has foil backed insulation all around the room, but it's been so hot this summer.

My temps are always in the high 70s when I look in on them and there's quite a breeze blowing inside.

This is my first hydro grow and I have been fighting problems since I started, but I think I have most of them worked out. Just not what I'm hoping for in my grow.

 

[Cozy Amnesia]

I started out with 2 150hps but the heat made me get rid of one of them. Now I have turned off the second one, down to just cfl.
I have been working on the ventilation problem all year. The girls are looking better now and I am waiting till the weather cools off a bit, then I'll go 12/12, and use the 150hps. Just so hot this summer.

I've got 42 cuft, a 6" hose going to the attic with a 245cfm fan pulling into a carbon filter. On the same hose inside the cab I have a 200cfm fan blowing out towards the attic. that should flush my are 4-5 times per minute.
I have a 6" hose coming into the room from the AC, and a 8" hole at the bottom coming in from the bedroom with a 200cfm fan in front of the hole blowing in to the cab. I have a 4" hole from the clone room. That seems like enough ventilation for such a small space.
This room is in my garage and has foil backed insulation all around the room, but it's been so hot this summer.

My temps are always in the high 70s when I look in on them and there's quite a breeze blowing inside.

This is my first hydro grow and I have been fighting problems since I started, but I think I have most of them worked out. Just not what I'm hoping for in my grow.

Damn, that's a lot of ventilation. But I guess you'll be needing it for the hot temps outside if your growing in a garage. But if your box's temps are in the 70's then you got me beat. My box can get up to 86*F if I close the door to the room, which is only at night (hey, I gotta sleep). With the door open the temps stay around 81*F.

So obviously I have some issues I gotta work out too. The room the box is in is a storage room that houses my hot water heater and a/c/heater unit. It's the ambient room temps I'm battling. Heat is coming from the hot water heater, the box itself, and the ballast (which would burn me if I touched it). I know I need to do something, but I'm not sure what. My ventillation system as it is now is simply a small 65cfm axial fan which pulls the exhaust through the open ended cooltube, down about 4ft of 4" ducting, and up several more feet of 6" ducting which ends up in the attic...I think. I live in an apartment and when I moved in there was this big storage area with a very large pipe leading from the floor to the ceiling of my building with a very large hole in the bottem, perfect!

So that's a lot of ducting for a small fan to pull through, but it actually does a good job. It keeps the cooltube cool enough to hold your hand on and not feel any discomfort, but it is warm. If anybody has any advice for how I can improve my temps, I would greatly appreciate it.

growDaddy: I think that a cooltube would greatly improve your heat problem when running 150 watters. The glass does block some light (so I've been told), but it's worth it because you can get the plants closer. I have mine at 4-5" away, but I think I could get away with them being closer.

It was pretty simple to make. To keep costs down I didn't use a starter coller or 4" to 5" reducer or anything like that described in the DIY tutorial. All I did was, with the socket mounted using pipe strapping, I stretched the white-plastic-type-ducting over the end of a hurricane lamp (found at hobbylobby for $6) and secured it with lots of aluminum foil tape. Keep it simple stoner!

I hope some of that helps

 

[growDaddy]

growDaddy: I think that a cooltube would greatly improve your heat problem when running 150 watters. The glass does block some light (so I've been told), but it's worth it because you can get the plants closer. I have mine at 4-5" away, but I think I could get away with them being closer.

It was pretty simple to make. To keep costs down I didn't use a starter coller or 4" to 5" reducer or anything like that described in the DIY tutorial. All I did was, with the socket mounted using pipe strapping, I stretched the white-plastic-type-ducting over the end of a hurricane lamp (found at hobbylobby for $6) and secured it with lots of aluminum foil tape. Keep it simple stoner!

I hope some of that helps

Thanks for the info. I am going to try the glass like you have. Hoping that will help. So you have a 150hps 4-5" away? I have my cfls 5-6" away.
Once I get all this worked out, life will so much better.

btw. someone put a KU on the bird sitting on your leaf.
oh that's right, you're not from Texas are you?
see you on 11/15!

 

[Cozy Amnesia]

btw. someone put a KU on the bird sitting on your leaf.
oh that's right, you're not from Texas are you?
see you on 11/15!

What? ...

 

[growDaddy]

What? ...

sorry, just giving you a hard time

I live in Austin, so UT, you have a KU with a bird so I assume Kansas jayhawks? the two teams play football on 11/15 at Kansas. . .

again just passing time! let's go smoke one!

 

[Cozy Amnesia]

Oh I see, a funny guy eh?! I'll most definitally be at that game so see ya there!

 

[growDaddy]

Oh I see, a funny guy eh?! I'll most definitally be at that game so see ya there!

I'll be wearing a longhorn cap

good luck!

 

[Pipedream]

We did a bit of testing a while back with regards to light-loss thru a cool-tube.

We used my light meter which is a Minolta IIIF meter with the color head attached.

The same 150 was put thru a Bake-A-Round, a hurricane chimney, and a globe from a Coleman-type lantern. Those are the 3 most used pieces of glass when making a cool-tube.

Suprisingly, all three had about the same light loss. They came in between 7% and 8.5% measured at 1.5 foot. The lantern globe had the lowest loss but only by a very small margin. The majority of the loss, in all cases, was at the higher color temps towards the UV side of the spectrum.

Keep in mind that light falls off using the rule of inverse squares. So a small amount of distance makes a big change in the available light. With this in mind, the loss can easily be made up if the cool-tube allows you to close the distance between the light source and the plants.

 

[growDaddy]

Keep in mind that light falls off using the rule of inverse squares. So a small amount of distance makes a big change in the available light. With this in mind, the loss can easily be made up if the cool-tube allows you to close the distance between the light source and the plants.

thanks for the input.

Do you think it gets hot enough to break a piece of glass such as you can buy at home depot, very thin I think?

 

[Cozy Amnesia]

Do you think it gets hot enough to break a piece of glass such as you can buy at home depot, very thin I think?

It's possible, especially with inadequate cooling. Most people use tempered glass, which is what the bake-a-rounds, coleman lanterns, and hurricanes are all made of (IIRC).

Yesterday when I was doing some service work to my box (gave the cooltube it's own intake and exhausted the cab with another fan) I accidentally dropped something fairly heavy right on top of the hurricane glass. To my relief it didn't break and I didn't see any fractures or anything.

 

[growDaddy]

thanks cozy, I'll get a hurricane top when I can.

 

[vintner]

Great info PD!

 

[BennyHogan]

anyone in the market for a 150HPS security light modded into a cooltube w/ remote ballast?? i just upgraded to a 600w digi HPS and have no use for it now.......hit me up.

 

[Quazi]

Just Wanted to Say Thanks!

Just Wanted to Say Thanks!

Hello everyone! I wanted to introduce myself briefly. This is my first post after a long time of reading these forums.



Just wanted to give a quick thanks to everyone who has participated in this thread. I have gotten a chance to read all of it and it has been great! PipeDream, sugabear II, iriebowl, DiscoDuck, and all the others: your work is awesome, inspiring, and definitely appreciated.

Taking the time to wade through the abundance of material that exists on the subject can be quite a task. However, this thread has been one of the most informative stops on my road to becoming a grower.

I have decided to go ahead and start a 150W HPS cab based on this thread and I'm stoked to begin construction. I'll be sure to come back and let you guys know when I have my own thread setup. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute some helpful information to this thread soon.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[growDaddy]

quazi

one word, ventilation

 

[Pipedream]

Quazi - Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride. Grow Safe & Grow Smart!

 

[Quazi]

Thanks a bunch!

I've got my first couple designs finished and as soon as I'm allowed to actually post pictures I'm gonna show you my blueprints. I'm definitely looking forward to joinin' the club!

quazi

one word, ventilation

Thanks growDaddy. Ventilation has been one my biggest hurdles and considerations in the design for my cabinet. Since stealth isn't the biggest concern, that will make things a bit easier. But, I am definitely taking it into consideration in every step along the way.

As I said, once I am able to post images, I will be sure to throw my designs up here for critique before I get started.

Hello again everyone and thanks!