Aircooling lamp's on the cheap

[Guest Peppi]

hi all been thinking of making one of these myself

do you think thinish wood would be safe to house a 400 w hps ?????

peppi

[MarkoSmoko]

hi all been thinking of making one of these myself

do you think thinish wood would be safe to house a 400 w hps ?????

peppi

I'd say its the same as the problem I'm having. Keep a high air flow so the inside temp doesn't get above 70 degrees and you should be safe.

Paper doesn't burn on it own (no ignition source) till over 100 degrees I think

[SirBob]

Im planning on doing a similar idea with the intake and out take.

This is also good if you are using CO2 and dont want it getting sucked out too quickly.

BUT

i have one problem, outside the grow room gets hot too, which is where the out take goes,

and where the intake gets its supplies.

I cant duct outside through a window, or maybe i could...But how do you guys vent your out takes?

Im thinking my best option is to (as im renting) to buy a new bedroom door, have an extractor on

that, hopefully cool air will come from beolw the door.

Then when i have to move, ill put the old door back on.

What do you think?

Hi mate, i grow in a bedroom. I have a closet, and intake from the bedroom, and have the exhaust going into the attic.

you dont want the intake and the exhaust in the same room, because it will recirculate the stale air.

Hi ppl, quick question.

What thickness glass did everyone use and what type?

I got some 2mm glass for mine and it cracked through the heat within 20 minutes.

Admittedly, there wasn't much air moving so I might put 2 exhaust fans on, but I was just lookin to see what the people on here used.

Cheers

Hi mate, i found 6mm glass works fine. i got mine cut to fit from a hardware store, and it works great. i have a Ruck 125mm fan blowing the hot air from the light, and it really hepls to stop the temps going sky-high.

hi all been thinking of making one of these myself

do you think thinish wood would be safe to house a 400 w hps ?????

peppi

I used 10mm MDF, which wont burn too easily. TBH i wouldn't use plywood or anything, just to be on the safe side. Make sure you coat it in a (non flamable) reflective material to stop the wood from getting too hot too. Aparantly you can get that dimpled aluminium sheeting that is used in reflectors from B&Q.

[Guest friendly electrician]

try not to chop the hole right over the lamp, or even at 90* to it. the reflector in thies areas is doing a lot of work. its better to draw the hot air away and out the shade in the lamp holder area usually.

i wouldn't use normal glass, if it dooms over your buds....

pop down the wholesaler. the front off a low bay fitting will cost £10 and is for the job.

[deanbo]

I'm going to copy a jetstream hood at my local comprehensive's night classes,when it opens again in september.

I'll say i'm making a hood for my eldest daughters aquarium :wink:

I made myself a neck-jig there.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_suppl...es.html#details

I saved loads of cash by copying that,and i use it a lot too.

I've got some great pics of how the air is pulled over the bulb and out,and in the growell mag they have a hood that does it the same way too.

I'd make one now but laughably i can't find anywhere that sells sheet metal !!!

I know that sounds daft,but i haven't been able to find anywhere that sells it in S-O-T.

I can get horticultural glass though,is that what i should use then ?

I don't understand quite what you mean by wholesalers ? Electrical wholesalers ? or Growshops ?

If so i avoid mine at all costs,very dodgy geezer.

[Guest friendly electrician]

low bay fittings are available from either your grow shop or electrical wholesalers. the electrical one will be cheaper and quicker to get spares though.

[firkin]

Not on the cheap, but I have just heard thar there is a super nova with a vent at either end. So is sucking or blowing going to be more effective, either in a diy or a pro setup, considering friendly electricians comments. I have read elsewhere on this board that blowing is better...

[deanbo]

That's what i've heard too.

Mine will have a 5 inch hole at BOTH ends,and it'll blow cool air in and the exhaust will be sucking on the other end.

That's what the growell one looks like.

I'll probably have to monkey around a lot with some DIY dampers i've made for adjusting flow if i do it like that though.

How does anyone else with a hood with holes IN and OUT conect them ?

[Guest friendly electrician]

That's what i've heard too.

Mine will have a 5 inch hole at BOTH ends,and it'll blow cool air in and the exhaust will be sucking on the other end.

That's what the [ADVERT REMVOVED] one looks like.

I'll probably have to monkey around a lot with some DIY dampers i've made for adjusting flow if i do it like that though.

How does anyone else with a hood with holes IN and OUT conect them ?

if your shades have both in and out, then as long as there propperly sealed, you can bring in air down a duct, then take it through light after light after light, before the hot air leaves the room, without any smell. thats an ideal situation, and you would use the fan on the cold side. you put it cold side so its cold, but also so any air leaks mean air enters the room, rather than room air gets sucked out.

however, most people have the cupboard/room with everything in place. There looking for a way to get the hot air away from the lamp, and also a glass barrier to cut down on infra-red heat transmission. the infra-red radiant heat will warm the glass, and the airflow will see some of that heat removed.

now the bad news. it aint worth the hastle of trying to make propper ones. anyone thats tryed them knows the radiated heat passes through the glass like it was hardly there. there's a short period of heat soak, then the glass becomes red hot. try it, hold some glass in place. there's a lot of rubbish talked about both air and water cooling. i made a watercooled lamp and thought it was leaking. within no time at all the piece of wood it was sat over (50mm away) was steaming as i was playing in a damp cellar with old bits and bobs. the glass was from explosion proof fittings, no cheap thin stuff. good flow rates straight from the tap for the trial. you cant get 'that' close at all. that is using a 10mm water jacket to sweep heat away.

the best way of implementing air-cooled lights on the cheap is simply hanging a sheet of glass by looping a bit of wire round your shade to hold it there. then use your existing fan to hoover out the hot air 'at source' as that is the only effective thing about the whole matter. to make your shop bought carbons capable of sucking, you can pop them in a box. seal the carbon in the cardboard box so its sucking it to death, then cut duct holes in it.

cost? well....not a lot really!

effectiveness.... as good as bought ones. why ever not?

[MarkoSmoko]

Here's my new shade, my old homemade job didn't throw the light far enough so I'm on to phase 2.

Its gonna hold a 250w HPS (maybe a 100w as well at a later date)

1 question to people, should I put my old glass (which is smaller) on the bottom to allow air in and a hole at the top, or 2 holes, one exhaust one inlet.

I'm goiing to have a 100mm RVK sucking the air.

[RedEye07]

How do you grow? Tall, short, sog, scrog etc?

im a complete first timer. whats the differance between these ways of growing and what the hell is scrog and sog?

[RedEye07]

dont worry guys i know now. cheers

[ghettogrower]

Cant post picts of my air cooled lamp as its in use and where it is the pictures would be useless....

If you buy a 1000w outdoor halogen light fitting for about £12 it comes in a nice metal sealed box, with a reflector and its all behind a peice of 8mm tempered glass. 1000w halogen bulbs are 189mm long, so the fitting is pretty big.

All you need to do is cut a 100mm ducting hole with a hole saw and drill some intake holes.

edit... And obviously adapt for the e40 screw fitting

Edited February 12, 2007 by ghettogrower

[firkin]

Got an air cooled supernova with 2x 125mm apertures very tidy bit of kit and works well. Only problem found is the noise of the air rushing into the shade - its louder than the fan itself! Cant seem to find a way that this can be silenced. Blowing is indeed more effective than sucking with the added bonus of warmed intake air.

[Magic]

Got an air cooled supernova with 2x 125mm apertures very tidy bit of kit and works well. Only problem found is the noise of the air rushing into the shade - its louder than the fan itself! Cant seem to find a way that this can be silenced. Blowing is indeed more effective than sucking with the added bonus of warmed intake air.

please forgive me if im wrong (which i probably am) but would it not be better to have the fans connected the other way round? that way you would be sucking the heat directly away from the lamp and then extracting it, as opposed to trying to blow cool air over the lamp?

i always thought sucking was more powerful than blowing, like pulling versus pushing....again im probably wrong . im sure they have been designed with that in mind, its just that my air cooled hood sucks the heat away from the lamp, and thus out of the room altogether.

this is not a criticism, its just that i would like peeps input due to the fact that im thinking of buying a couple of the supernovas for a future set up for my mate.

peace

merlin