Fresca Sol water cooled lights

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Ridgegoo

Active Member
I'm about 1/2 way through my first indoor grow with a 1000w HPS in a Fresca Sol fixture. I love the fixture and I love how cool it runs. Has anyone else used one of these? My local shop is willing to sell me their old fresca sol floor model for a GOOD price and I can't decide if I should buy it or not since I haven't harvested anything with this one yet. Anyone have any idea if the quality of the final product is any different with these?

I am considering switching from a 1000w hps to 2 600w hps in the two fresca sol side by side in my 4x4 hydrohut. I can slam the light down on the plants, as close as a few inches b/c it's running so cool but then only the center plant gets the intense light. The others don't grow as fast. When the light is raised so they all get equal light, the center plant doesn't grow as fast. I also would like it incase i decide to expand later.

Any opinions of these water cooled lights? I know there are lots of naysayers out there, but I have found it to be great so far. I have a 1000w HPS with a 55 gallon barrel as a resevoir for the cooling water. On the way back from the light the hot water goes through a heater core from a ford pickup (w/fan blowing on it) to dump heat before going back in the barrel.

I did have one major incident with it that was 100% my fault but I think that in the end it just speaks well of the design of the light. I left for a 3 day weekend after messing with the return line. Apparently I didn't secure it well enough as it worked it's way out of the barrel and drained all of my cooling water onto the floor of the basement. The light ran for a few days w/o any cooling water, only the fan for the room. All of the water in the fixture boiled away and left a nasty mineral residue on the bottom of the glass. The glass didn't break but it did melt some of the plastic water fittings. Quick trip to the hardware store for fittings and scrubbing and windex got it back to new. Obviously I've got the return line secure now and I'm trying to decide between redundant pumps or a no flow/no light switch of some kind as a safety.
 
Styl!st07

Styl!st07

Well-Known Member
Ridgegoo said:
I'm about 1/2 way through my first indoor grow with a 1000w HPS in a Fresca Sol fixture. I love the fixture and I love how cool it runs. Has anyone else used one of these? My local shop is willing to sell me their old fresca sol floor model for a GOOD price and I can't decide if I should buy it or not since I haven't harvested anything with this one yet. Anyone have any idea if the quality of the final product is any different with these?

I am considering switching from a 1000w hps to 2 600w hps in the two fresca sol side by side in my 4x4 hydrohut. I can slam the light down on the plants, as close as a few inches b/c it's running so cool but then only the center plant gets the intense light. The others don't grow as fast. When the light is raised so they all get equal light, the center plant doesn't grow as fast. I also would like it incase i decide to expand later.

Any opinions of these water cooled lights? I know there are lots of naysayers out there, but I have found it to be great so far. I have a 1000w HPS with a 55 gallon barrel as a resevoir for the cooling water. On the way back from the light the hot water goes through a heater core from a ford pickup (w/fan blowing on it) to dump heat before going back in the barrel.

I did have one major incident with it that was 100% my fault but I think that in the end it just speaks well of the design of the light. I left for a 3 day weekend after messing with the return line. Apparently I didn't secure it well enough as it worked it's way out of the barrel and drained all of my cooling water onto the floor of the basement. The light ran for a few days w/o any cooling water, only the fan for the room. All of the water in the fixture boiled away and left a nasty mineral residue on the bottom of the glass. The glass didn't break but it did melt some of the plastic water fittings. Quick trip to the hardware store for fittings and scrubbing and windex got it back to new. Obviously I've got the return line secure now and I'm trying to decide between redundant pumps or a no flow/no light switch of some kind as a safety.
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How are thoose Fresca Sol lights working? Im interested in get one for my 4x4 Homebox. I wanted to get a chiller for my setup cuz i cant have a big 55gal rez in my bed room. More like 30gals in a tuperware is good for me. I found allot of cheap chillers on Ebay for $300 for a 1/3 drop in chiller.

If u dont mind me asking, how much did u buy ur for? Glass fixture, hose, rez, and socket. I have my local hydro Guy thats knows a few ppl from Best Coast Growers and he said he will hook me up cuz ill be the first one to buy one. Plus he a cool mother fucker too.

I really want one so bad. I have allot of heat problems in my tent cuz i cant vent the hot air (from my light) out of my house. It goes from my tent to anothere room so my A/C has to run all day just to keep it cool. So i have a 600w + 2 6" fans going + My A/C running at all time and my electric bill is getting out of hand. So my plains where to get a Fresca Sol to control my heat issues once and for all.

Tell me what u think of this setup on the Fresca Sol

1 Fresca sol with a 1/3 chiller in a 20 gal rez. Do u think that will be enough water to run that light at 77 deg.?

Also how is your light coverage on that one fresca sol? Do u have a hood to reflect the light? Do u have any pics on your setup? Please give me any advice on get this light fixture i wood be very happpy to here from u soon.
 
R

Ridgegoo

Active Member
hello. The fresca sol is awesome. I would think that with a chiller you would be able use less than 30 gallons even. Also, remember you could use multiple containers for your cooling water. Since I started using the heater core from a truck with a decent fan blowing on it the temps in my 4x4 closet have stayed fairly low, but I still need to run the vent fans to add some cold air from the surrounding basement.

What you have to realize is that the heat doesn't disappear with these things, it's just transfered to water, which has a few advantages over air. First, it uses smaller tubes, I'm using 1/2" for the cooling water rather than 6" air ducts. It also makes it easy to seal off the enclosure, although you could argue that a cooltube does the same thing. my water pump is hanging in the cooling water so it's very quiet. Hard to hear over street noise etc. Water also won't carry a smell, so your pretty much 100% safe in that regard. Also the water does store a certain amount of heat which can be dissipated when the lights are off. What I mean is that you could release the heat from 12 hours of running the lights over 24 total hours. This will raise the temps in your grow as water temp dictates how much heat travels through it.

Again, remember you have to dump the heat somewhere. I'm not 100% familiar with a chiller but I assume it's basically an air conditioner for water? This will still need to vent heat somewhere. I.E. Your getting back to having the room be hot etc.

Why can't you get your heat outside right now? Could you get 1/2" lines outside with water? You could hide a heat exchanger outside and easily dump the heat from a 600w, but you still need to move it outside.

If you have unlimited water supply you can always dump cold water into the light/resevoir to replace/cool the water supply. This could be pricey unless you live next to a river or don't pay for your water. Something like cold water comes in, hot water goes down the drain.
 
holmes

holmes

Well-Known Member
hello, thanks for experimenting and posting.
i have yet to find a positive comment for water cooled lights, would you mind posting some pics of your set up and plants.
also, can you explain how the ford pick up heat thingy your blowing your water with works, could you leave it be with a 55 gallon res without chilling?, how close do you place the lamp to the plants? do you have previous experience without the water cooled lamp to compare results?
sorry for the:spew:
 
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Ridgegoo

Active Member
hello, thanks for experimenting and posting.
i have yet to find a positive comment for water cooled lights, would you mind posting some pics of your set up and plants. [/QUOTE]

I'll try and post some good pics later. My plants don't look good right now due to spider mite infestation. I have some older ones that show the equipment a little better.


also, can you explain how the ford pick up heat thingy your blowing your water with works, could you leave it be with a 55 gallon res without chilling?
[/QUOTE]

Just how it works in your car. Hot water runs through a radiator/heat exchanger and something cold, in this case air is blown over the fins and the hot water transfers the heat to the cold air. you could do the same thing with water, like in a stream or something.

holmes said:
how close do you place the lamp to the plants? do you have previous experience without the water cooled lamp to compare results?
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uhh, 8-12" inches away? I'd have to measure.

Not in this setup. I had the same size light (1000w) in a small closet and had aweful temp problems. This grow tent is much easier to vent though so it doesn't really compare. It is pretty cool though.
 
Bagelthief

Bagelthief

Well-Known Member
i think its a cool concept, but after i did some research, it seems the water filters out a lot of the usable PAR light (mostly in the red wave-lengths) that the plants use for flowering. id rather use air cooled lights and keep the extra brightness.
 
holmes

holmes

Well-Known Member
yeah, that should be right, water would filter some of the light, but how much?, i wouldnt think enough to make a real difference. The heat control is a great benefit, worth sacrificing a few lumens, it thats the case. The manufacturer states that you can put them 5" to the lamp, surely you must be gaining more light then losing.
it would be nice for one of the senior members to advise here.
i think the real benefit of this lamp in cylindrical designs, where the plant are oriented around the bulb, ex: omega garden, or colliseum.
so buddy, you have the fan blowing on your res?
 
Styl!st07

Styl!st07

Well-Known Member
Ridgegoo said:
hello. The fresca sol is awesome. I would think that with a chiller you would be able use less than 30 gallons even. Also, remember you could use multiple containers for your cooling water. Since I started using the heater core from a truck with a decent fan blowing on it the temps in my 4x4 closet have stayed fairly low, but I still need to run the vent fans to add some cold air from the surrounding basement.

What you have to realize is that the heat doesn't disappear with these things, it's just transfered to water, which has a few advantages over air. First, it uses smaller tubes, I'm using 1/2" for the cooling water rather than 6" air ducts. It also makes it easy to seal off the enclosure, although you could argue that a cooltube does the same thing. my water pump is hanging in the cooling water so it's very quiet. Hard to hear over street noise etc. Water also won't carry a smell, so your pretty much 100% safe in that regard. Also the water does store a certain amount of heat which can be dissipated when the lights are off. What I mean is that you could release the heat from 12 hours of running the lights over 24 total hours. This will raise the temps in your grow as water temp dictates how much heat travels through it.

Again, remember you have to dump the heat somewhere. I'm not 100% familiar with a chiller but I assume it's basically an air conditioner for water? This will still need to vent heat somewhere. I.E. Your getting back to having the room be hot etc.

Why can't you get your heat outside right now?
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Im in an apartment at the moment and its very hard to deal with heat in here. Im in a 4x4 tent and i have to vent all my heat to anothere room but i still have to leave the AC on while its winter. My bill is kind of high but i wood love to have a fresca sol to cut down on the AC and venting.

Could you get 1/2" lines outside with water? You could hide a heat exchanger outside and easily dump the heat from a 600w, but you still need to move it outside.
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I think if i was to get one I wood get a 1/3 chiller so i can run two lights at the same time with a small rez. I can keep the chiller in another large room to vent all the hott air and not have to keep my Ac running all Winter.

If you have unlimited water supply you can always dump cold water into the light/resevoir to replace/cool the water supply. This could be pricey unless you live next to a river or don't pay for your water. Something like cold water comes in, hot water goes down the drain.
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There is a pool right out side my bed room but it might look crazy to have a hose running to my window. :lol:

How much coverage are u getting on that 1000w light? If u drop the light down dont you drop the coverage too? I wood love to see sum pics when u get things back in order.
 
Bagelthief

Bagelthief

Well-Known Member
the water filters 30% of the red light. if you have only glass, then it filters only 10%. since water cooled lights have glass (not to mention the glass is double paned) and water, you are losing a lot of light. air cooled lights are just as warm, you can touch the glass with your hand and its only slightly warm if you have a big enough volume of air going through the hood.
 
holmes

holmes

Well-Known Member
the pool water would have to be clean, you wouldnt want leaf and gunk on ure lamp, run garden hose in a way that wont look suspicious.
install a make beleive water supply thing that runs to your lamps
 
holmes

holmes

Well-Known Member
do you think it would be easy to put one on a light mover?
does fresca sol make hoods for their water cooled lights, i know liquid lumens has em.
also, can anyone comment on the difference, which is better?
 
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Ridgegoo

Active Member
Here's some pics from 9/11. I was in the middle of straightening up all of the cables but the setup is more or less the same today. You can see the two hoses going into the blue barrel. One goes through the heat exchanger before returning to the barrel.
 

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R

Ridgegoo

Active Member
also I plan on trying using the light vertically instead of horizontally as I do now. It's just a matter of screwing on some hooks to hang it from.

This garden is just a big experiment. I want to try as many things as I can.
 
Styl!st07

Styl!st07

Well-Known Member
Ridgegoo said:
also I plan on trying using the light vertically instead of horizontally as I do now. It's just a matter of screwing on some hooks to hang it from.

Ridgegoo said:
This garden is just a big experiment. I want to try as many things as I can.
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U should try useing a chiller that way u can keep ur water at 77 deg. at all times of the day. U have enough water that all u need is a 1/10 chiller. U can find thoose on ebay for $150. With the chiller cooling the water u can chunck that fan on ur babies and through that heat exchanger away. LOL

Why i say that is cuz u have everything else way not spend alil more and get a chiller and then u will be even more THE SHIT on the site. I know u have spent allot of money cuz i was looking at the same set up. I nice to see it all cum together in ur place.

Please note any pros and cons about this way for growing.

The reason i was going this route was becuz im growing in an apartment in i cant cut holes in anything. So i was looking into the water cooled light. Now i have seen it all........

Nice setup Goo, its the shit :hump:

I like ur "No Holes Bar" grow stand too.

Later

Styl!st
 
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Ridgegoo

Active Member
Thanks for the kind words. The cooling water doesn't get much above 80 degrees since I started using a more powerful fan than the one in the pic. I might look into a chiller in the summer depending on how the heat holds up.

I'm loving the setup so far. Only con is that if the water doesn't flow it gets funky. Heats up real quick and the water boils.

I'm harvesting the first round right now. 9 plants, one per night. I'll let you know how much I get in 8 more nights. I like the Advanced Nutrients Connoisseur nutrients I'm using.
 
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notyourkind

Well-Known Member
Hey Ridge, I know this is an old post but I have to ask - exactly how much light does this set-up actually filter out? The one guy commented on page one of this post that the water filters out 30% of light with an added 10% per glass shield. Is that true? 50%??? I just bought one about a month back and have had nothing but a positive experience. Havent harvested yet, 6 weeks away. So I cant say what yeilds are like. I would think that only 3/4 of an inch of water wouldnt do much damage though, but that guy sounded pretty confident on page one..... Any info would be great!

Oh, and that is a Hell of an idea - the aluminum radiator trick. I cant wait to try that.

-NYK
 
holmes

holmes

Well-Known Member
that is way too much, i dont know what the loss is because the company wont post how much is lost.

but you can place it so much closer that it more than makes up for the small loss
 
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notyourkind

Well-Known Member
Hey holmes, check this out. I found some pretty good "scientific" info here for all the nay-sayers regarding water filtration of red wavelengths. It is an easy read with some good diagrams. I think the site is about underwater photography: Check it out - http://www.seafriends.org.nz/phgraph/water.htm



"Water particles interact with light by absorbing certain wave lengths (see diagram). First the reds and oranges disappear, later the yellows, greens and purples and last the blue. Loss of the colour red is dramatic and is already noticeable at 50cm! At 5 metres depth some 90% has disappeared"
 
OregonMeds

OregonMeds

Well-Known Member
I'm a basher, but I'll list where they would work well and where they make no sense...

If you want to cram a 1000w light into a tiny cabinet, they make sense.

If you want to use 1000w light on just a few plants where you can drop it down, they make sense.

If you're using less than 1kw lights, or not trying to cram insane lumens into a small area, then an air cooled cooltube makes more sense.

It's as if you answered your own question of whether you should buy it when you said something about how if you cram your light down as low as that would benefit you, then you couldn't support the grow area you need to cover anyway. So, why give up the lumens of the water and two layers of glass? (what the loss is I don't know, but it is significant)
 
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notyourkind

Well-Known Member
Hey Oregon - do you know around how much the glass filters or reflects? The water part doesnt seem all that significant to me, around 3% at 3/4 of an inch of water.

And yes, I do think AC hoods work more efficiently with bigger operations. Mine is 3 1/2' x 3 1/2' so it makes good sense for a scrog.... I think
 
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