Air Cooled Advice

[Harry Lime]

Hey!

My outdoor thermometer is hovering just above zero but I'm thinking forward to the long, hot summer and wondering if I should go air cooled.
At the moment I have 5 600 watt mantis reflectors with heat shields and I love 'em but temps can get way too high in there on hot summer nights.

I've seen those air tubes but they don't look much to me. What are the best air cooled reflectors, in your opinions? Can I string five of them together?

Presumably there needs to be plenty of slack in the duct connecting the lights but does that all get very noisy with the air going around all those bends?

If I intake air to the fans from outside the room, I wont have to filter it before expelling it, right?

Anything else you think I should consider before going air cooled, please chip in.

 

[Mr.Gr33n]

air cooled lights/tubes is always a good idea,
you can get the air cooled reflectors also,

The more money you got to spend, the better products you can get
for me - you get what you pay for

Since the light(s) can be placed closer to the plants
More light penetration and more solid nugs at the end
Also will control your room temp alot better also


The straighter you can keep the pipes, the better the fans work
You can get insulated ducting that will cancel some of the noise also aswell as a silencer

A carbon scrubber would be a good idea aswell, Since it will remove the unWanted smell
But since your removing heat, you may want another room extractor + scrubber for the smell

bet i missed summit, lol

 

[mellow yellow]

I have a cool tube - love it brought the temps right down. use insultated ducting outside the tent so the noise of the air moving is little. good luck and enjoy

 

[daybreamer]

so if i was running 3x600 air cooled in a dr240 what size fan would be sufficient? i would plan to have the ducting coming in from outside the tent and obviously exiting aswell thus presummably reducing the need for an additional carbon filter? i will be runnng a 6" rvk and rhino filter for tent extraction but am stuck on intake? i guess 5"? i understad your running alot more than me but any help would be greatly appreciated, cheers

 

[Harry Lime]

So, I'm gonna love the aircooled? That's what I was hoping.

Mr Gr33n, do I really need to scrub air from outside the room if it's directed straight through duct, past the lights then up the chimney? Thanks for the encouragement, you too Mellow Yellow.
Daydream Believer, I have no experience at all of using a tent so I'm not the person to ask. Pretty sure you'll find the right info somewhere on here though.

I do have to say that at the moment, I can get my mantis reflectors with heat shields in very, very close, just six inches or so above the canopy. I do keep a desk fan blowing directly at each one though!

 

[nut]

so if i was running 3x600 air cooled in a dr240 what size fan would be sufficient? i would plan to have the ducting coming in from outside the tent and obviously exiting aswell thus presummably reducing the need for an additional carbon filter? i will be runnng a 6" rvk and rhino filter for tent extraction but am stuck on intake? i guess 5"? i understad your running alot more than me but any help would be greatly appreciated, cheers

the set up im using is 3x600w hps using 1 x 8" ruck fan (1095cfm) sucking air through a 8" rhino filter that then blows that air through the 3 air cooled hoods (8") my plants can touch the glass and not burn, infact i can put my hands on the glass and not feel any pain. My system is over kill it could run 6 x 600s easy

 

[nut]

So, I'm gonna love the aircooled? That's what I was hoping.

Mr Gr33n, do I really need to scrub air from outside the room if it's directed straight through duct, past the lights then up the chimney? Thanks for the encouragement, you too Mellow Yellow.
Daydream Believer, I have no experience at all of using a tent so I'm not the person to ask. Pretty sure you'll find the right info somewhere on here though.

I do have to say that at the moment, I can get my mantis reflectors with heat shields in very, very close, just six inches or so above the canopy. I do keep a desk fan blowing directly at each one though!

if you blow the air through the hoods and not suck the air then if your air intake is not sucking any air into it from the grow room then you will not need to use a filter, its better to blow air over a hot bulb than to suck air over it.

1 its better on the fan
2 it cools the hood better.

 

[Mr.Gr33n]

Mr Gr33n, do I really need to scrub air from outside the room if it's directed straight through duct, past the lights then up the chimney? Thanks for the encouragement

you wont need to scrub incoming air my friend, i was thinking more of the outgoing room air
Since you have 5x600w im guessing thats a fair amount of plants/smell
Up the chimney will indeed be a good idea, also i dunno if the smell is a problem for you - built up area - nosy neighbours - growin a super dank skunk/cheese

im the cautiouse type always, id try and remove the smell, if there was even a chance sumone caught the smell in the air,
then adds that to the fact i have a 30'x20' shed, lol

But if smell isnt a problem for you, up the chimney is a good job.

you'll be super happy with the cooler room temp harry,
And indeed best of luck to you and your green ladies!

 

[nut]

Another way you can do it the way i do it up in the loft is like this

 

[daybreamer]

thats really helped me thanks for he input and sorry to hijack the thread was mega high last night, surprised my writings where even comprehensiveable, peace

 

[Harry Lime]

Blow not suck, hey Nut? Sounds like good advice, thankyou. So do your reflectors have 8" spiggots for the ducting? do you have a reducer from the fan down to 6"?
Overkill is cool in my book!
That diagram is cool. I could do with drawing something like that to set out my grow room. Is it done with a program on your PC? I'm not very computer literate myself.

Gr33n, I hear you. I'm always cautious Man. Security is the bottom line here. I alwayys say it don't matter what kit you use or how good your genetics are; if your security isn't tight your f***ed. I pull air through a Rhino then vent it into my chimney.

Oh and Daybreamer, chip in what you want Man, as high as you like!

 

[nut]

Blow not suck, hey Nut? Sounds like good advice, thankyou. So do your reflectors have 8" spiggots for the ducting? do you have a reducer from the fan down to 6"?
Overkill is cool in my book!
That diagram is cool. I could do with drawing something like that to set out my grow room. Is it done with a program on your PC? I'm not very computer literate myself.

Gr33n, I hear you. I'm always cautious Man. Security is the bottom line here. I alwayys say it don't matter what kit you use or how good your genetics are; if your security isn't tight your f***ed. I pull air through a Rhino then vent it into my chimney.

Oh and Daybreamer, chip in what you want Man, as high as you like!

The reflectors are 8" spiggots i use 8" accustic ducting and a 8" ruck fan, but the end that i attatch to the chimbly i use a 8"-6" reducer (did not want to risk the stack falling down).

The ducting and filter along with the hoods make no sound you could sleep in the room with them its not noisy at all.

its better to blow air over the bulbs, Iv killed one 6" fan using cool tubes before by pulling air through them thats why i changed to the 8" set up and now blow/push air through the lights.

when your food is hot what do you do? blow on it to cool it or do you suck to cool it?

I used M$ paint to do the diagram.

 

[Harry Lime]

Interesting advice Nuts. What make of shades do you use with an 8" spiggot?

 

[theherbalizor]

All about the Blockbuster aircooled shade. Weigh a ton tho...

Or as you have mantis already, why not do like me and buy cool tubes, the most effecient for ducting air away and bastardise them onto the mantis shade. Then you have the cover and spread that you are used to and the addition of coolling.

 

[Harry Lime]

This sounds interesting, I do love my mantis reflectors. I can't see how this would be done though. Have you done it yourself and could you explain how?

 

[BPJR]

Im a huge fan of air cooled hoods.There are many benefits.
You can get the lights much closer to the canopy and best of all it keeps the room from having huge temperature swings. Lack of temp swings keeps my humidity in check. My large vent/filtration system almost never comes on because the a/c hoods have already done most of the work. I have 6 hoods inline without issue btw....

 

[nut]

Interesting advice Nuts. What make of shades do you use with an 8" spiggot?

I looked all over the place for the ones i got they are made by ecotechnics and called ultra cool, the only 8" hoods i could find in the U.K, that was going back a few years ago you might find others these days? I know 8" hoods are popular in Canada not so much here in the U.K? especially with loft growers like myself i could not grow without them in the summer.

The hood im using, but be warned they are fffff-ing big The box they come in you could make 2 Seater Settees out of them

http://www.blunt.co.uk/hydroponics-shop-uk/hps-grow-lights/ultra-cool-shades/index.html

 

[nut]

This sounds interesting, I do love my mantis reflectors. I can't see how this would be done though. Have you done it yourself and could you explain how?

This is not my work, its from overgrow before it got shut down might give you some ideas?

Adding Glass Shields to HPS reflectors

1. First of all, you'll need a Reflector with HPS of course I think that way of adding glass will be suitable for many kind of reflectors.

[Editor's note: Venus has used a batwing, but this technique can be used on many different shapes of reflectors, as long as there is adequate clearance between the bulb and glass. Large 1000w MH bulbs may not fit inside glass-enclosed reflectors]

2. That is all u need: Pliers, Sidecutter, "Philips" screwdriver, 5mm bit for making holes in reflector, 4 bolts, 4 "L" shaped brackets, a ruler, electric drill and isolating band (rubber/elastic tape). Note the bolts and "L" shaped brackets that I used.

3. Now, to make this done u will need a peace of glass. Take the ruler and measure the size of glass u will need. Hardware stores, windows shops, etc will cut any type of glass you want. Bring your measurements. I used regular, 1/8 (3 mm) window glass. Here is the peace they cut for me using sizes I gave them.

[Editor's note: most window/glass stores can make fabricate/cut tempered glass (high heat resistance, thin & light, but high cost), or regular plate glass (lower cost).

Tempered glass is preferrable for high wattage lamps, as their heat is extreme. Plate glass can crack under these hot conditions.]

4. Take the electric drill and drill 4 holes in each corner of the reflector. To make this, I used a 5mm bit.

5. Take the isolating band and cut it with scissors in half......I doing this because the width of the iso-band is more wider than the "L" shaped bracket. Now ,take that half cut iso-band and just roll over the "L" shaped bracket. That way, the glass will sit on a soft surface instead of a metal surface - protecting it against scratches, vibrations and slip over...

6. Take the bolts & brackets and screw them all together to the reflector......

Then, flip over the reflector and slide the peace of glass into it.

Here u can see how it will look with the glass sitting on the brackets and just below the bulb......I kept 1.5 inch (4 cm) between the glass and bulb.

7. After all dirty work is done, the final product looks gorgeous and will do the job it was intended to do......

With all stuff prepared before doing the job ,yuo can finish all this in about an hour ....

 

[Harry Lime]

Thanks for chipping in BJPR. All positive, I think I'm sold.

Nut, fancy being able to pull out that thing from OG! Nice one Man and very interesting.
I like the look of your ecotechnics hoods. At £135 a pop I may have to sell my furniture so the boxes will come in handy. I don't think I can give rep yet but you have my thanks.

The UK heatwave is some months away yet so I'm going to be mulling all this over for a bit before deciding my next move.

 

[theherbalizor]

Adding the Mantis reflector onto the cool tube is really easy.

If you just remove the lamp housing from the mantis shade you are left with purely the reflector.

Now if you remove the small reflector from the inside of the cooltube (around £60) and work out a way of attaching the mantis, normally wire and metal tape does the trick. And you then have an aircool mantis. To a degree.