Removing glass from air cooled hood.

[Situation420]

Thanks situation that was a really good read. I just spent 3 hours repotting the plants and popped the glass off, lights are due on at 12.30. Ill see what it does to the temp. Thanks again.

No doubt dude. Alotta important stuff in this thread that can help out your harvest.

Hey how did things end up working out for you or are you still tweaking your system?

 

[AllEyeDoIsSmoke]

I learned so much reading this thread. Situation420 I've read a bunch of your posts and saw your pics. You definitely got this all figured out

 

[District]

To be sure to be sure got mh 2ft away currently 28.4 without exhaust fan. Is repotting always do time consuming 18 plants.

 

[Red1966]

30% ! But you need the air to work the filter. Perhaps I should should remove the glass and crank it up too super lumen maybe the extra heat will compensate.

No, you can hook up just the fan and filter. Too much heat will cause premature failure of your bulbs. Look on the packaging that came with the bulbs. Most bulbs REQUIRE enclosure as a safety precaution

 

[District]

To be honest ive just got the filter and exhaust to put up which will take considerably less time and effort than repotting. Its a rhino rvk combo but I noticed alot of carbon in the packaging and ive heard stories about the fan blowing out carbon for a while. Not looking forward to that.

 

[Red1966]

LOL not true bro its a fact that glass due to its crystalline lattice structure refracts and distorts light intensity by 10% (depending on its thickness) . Add fingerprints or dust to your lights and its even worse. If you know the principle of how hid bulbs burn you would know that the lumen output is directly proportional to the intensity of the bulb is based on the temperature of the air you are cooling your lights with and the temperature of the gas burning. As too your light meter I doubt it exists, otherwise you wouldn't be using a metal halide bulb if you were that into your grow technicalities. As to the comment about manufacturer's stop selling them there are other practical applications for air cooled lights like if you cannot afford an ac or are having excessive heat issues.

Exactly what gasses are burning? Bulbs are designed to work in a particular heat range. Exceeding that range will cause a loss in performance and lifetime.

 

[District]

Dont remember much reading material coming with the digilux. Spose I'll have to get on that shit and get the fan and filter up. Dont be mad bro's I know it should have been done already.

 

[Red1966]

Also, isn't 110,000 lumens dropped down to 85,000 lumens a 23% loss of light?...

110,000 initial drops to 90,000 average without the glass. He was comparing it to the 90,000 figure.

 

[Red1966]

True i was thinking about that after i posted about that but didnt want to go back and edit my posts. I took my glass off and i got more than i ever did. The point is if you plants are that close to the glass they are going to block the light from the surrounding plants anyway. If you raise up your lights and take off the glass you get the same lumen intensity with more coverage and the same temperatures. Basically the most efficient way to use point source lighting.The heat you feel is also from light intensity (sorta), lol sometimes i think i can feel how many lumens im feeling because ive used hps for so long and know what feels perfect to the touch to use.Isn't indoor lighting from converted electrical energy, that is turned into light and heat energy? so is it fair to say you can judge light intensity if you know or feel the heat intensity?

No, more heat just means more electricity wasted as heat. It doesn't indicate more light. Distance decreases light intensity by the square, so a few inches may decrease the light much more than the slight increase (if any) provided by eliminating the glass.

 

[Red1966]

Yes sure no problem. A metal halide bulb is 10 % less efficient than a HPS bulb in terms of light intensity and power consumption. MH bulbs are typically used in veg because they have higher lumen output in the blue spectrum than metal halide bulbs and help slow vertical growth and create shorter stockier and sturdier stems that are able to support more flower weight. ( This is an outdated method of thinking due to new technology). Also, MH bulbs give off more uv light that is believe to increase THC content by many. Typically 15% of the energy that is used by MH lamps is emitted as PAR as to 13% for HPS but the white light emitted by the MH bulbs lacks in the red spectrum intensity that is necessary for flower development and photosynthesis. They are good when the amber light of a HPS bulb would blow up your spot while a MH bulb is less recognizable as a grow op with its white light output. To get the benefits of MH and HPS bulbs together i use a HPS bulb that has an added blue spectrum to balance out the red spectrum to keep the plant from stretching too much. Then during the last two weeks of flowering switch in my MH bulbs to drastically increase my THC content.

I've only seen claims of moderate increase in potency at best, and those were pretty subjective. I've seen people buy oregano and claim it was the best pot they ever had. I would hope that someday soon someone will do a controlled scientific comparison of the various lighting systems with real measuring equipment.

 

[Red1966]

That 10% loss of light I'm talking about is 8% of the visible light spectrum and nearly all of the invisible light spectrums after it is refracted through the glass (about 2% of the HPS bulb and 5 % of a Metal Halide bulb) so glass makes MH useless in terms of UV light output if you use glass to cool your lights meaning all you have left to compare is visible light spectrum where MH comes up short in comparison as well.

Isn't the bulb itself made of glass?

 

[Red1966]

Are you unfamilar with burn-in?

Burn-out is starting to get a little too familiar. Does that count?

 

[Clown Baby]

Such a crock of shit man....I know this is B.s.. If you have a light meter you will be able to do this litte test. I have a Mh bulb thats 110,000 lumens intial and 90,000 mean. With the glass in and a 450 cfm vortex fan i have 85,000 lumens at my plant tops. Less than a 5% drop from the actual lumens. Take your meter and measure the light intensity at the tops of your plants with the glass and fan on. Now measure again with the fan and glass off. You will notice less than a 10% decrease. If glass really reduced your lumens that much then manufactures would stop selling them..

This guy just gave you some real life, practical application knowledge, and you just shot him down based on forum rhetoric you've crossed. You need to listen to this man.

Why would there be fingerprints all over your glass, anyways? Windex that shit and let it be.

 

[Red1966]

To be honest ive just got the filter and exhaust to put up which will take considerably less time and effort than repotting. Its a rhino rvk combo but I noticed alot of carbon in the packaging and ive heard stories about the fan blowing out carbon for a while. Not looking forward to that.

Yeah they do, but its very fine and not much of it. It won't hurt your plants. I take mine outside and run it full blast a few minutes before installing it in the grow room. Don't know if it helps or not. The carbon seems to come out over time. At least I don't notice any accumulating the first few weeks.

 

[Situation420]

Exactly what gasses are burning? Bulbs are designed to work in a particular heat range. Exceeding that range will cause a loss in performance and lifetime.

I believe they're Sodium vapor, Mercury vapor, and Xenon for the HPS (depending on the design) and for Metal Halide it's Mercury vapor, Argon, and Xenon gas. I might have left some out but I think I have it covered for the HID grow lamps. The way the lamps work for HPS is that the sodium alloy and mercury have to draw the arc for the bulb. The temperature of the sodium alloy is determined by the lamps power that is used to an extent. As the temperature of the Sodium vapor increases, the higher the pressure of the mercury and the sodium vapor get, that increases the terminal voltage of the lamp. As you increase the temp of the bulb, the constant current supplied to the light allows the bulb to increase in voltage and power until it reaches its max. Not allowing the bulb to properly reach its maximum temperature means your bulbs operate less efficiently and maximum power cannot be achieved. Also, the lifespan of the bulb will be reduced due to added stress on the bulbs components by the greater demand for more voltage to maintain the arc in the bulb causing it to fail much faster.

 

[AllEyeDoIsSmoke]

Truuuuuuuuuuuu lol damn my brain hurts after trying to understand that but I think I get it. So basically the stuff in the bulbs that burns cannot get as hot and means the bulb doesn't burn as bright?

 

[Situation420]

Truuuuuuuuuuuu lol damn my brain hurts after trying to understand that but I think I get it. So basically the stuff in the bulbs that burns cannot get as hot and means the bulb doesn't burn as bright?

Yup and shortens the life of your bulbs.

 

[kpmarine]

I believe they're Sodium vapor, Mercury vapor, and Xenon for the HPS (depending on the design) and for Metal Halide it's Mercury vapor, Argon, and Xenon gas. I might have left some out but I think I have it covered for the HID grow lamps. The way the lamps work for HPS is that the sodium alloy and mercury have to draw the arc for the bulb. The temperature of the sodium alloy is determined by the lamps power that is used to an extent. As the temperature of the Sodium vapor increases, the higher the pressure of the mercury and the sodium vapor get, that increases the terminal voltage of the lamp. As you increase the temp of the bulb, the constant current supplied to the light allows the bulb to increase in voltage and power until it reaches its max. Not allowing the bulb to properly reach its maximum temperature means your bulbs operate less efficiently and maximum power cannot be achieved. Also, the lifespan of the bulb will be reduced due to added stress on the bulbs components by the greater demand for more voltage to maintain the arc in the bulb causing it to fail much faster.

So you're saying a cooltube creates enough of a reduction to actually prevent your bulb from reaching a proper operating temperature? Do you have some sort of documentation of this? The way I see it, you can point a box fan at a 1000w space heater all you want, it's not going to cool those coils off enough to change operation. Unless you're running some insanely huge duct/fan combo; it doesn't seem reasonable to expect it to effect operation of your lights in that manner. I'd be willing to bet that the bulb would still burn your hands inside a cooltube.

 

[Bakatare666]

What's a "Mozzy"?

 

[kpmarine]

What's a "Mozzy"?

Mosquito, I think.