Enigma
Well-Known Member
I think I'll have to spend the $$$ on some sheet aluminum and roll it around a cylinder per your DIY thread. I'll plug your thread when it is done in my journal!The double parabola shape of batwings assures all reflected light is going away from the tube and toward the plants.
Also, either a cooltube or cooled hood should have a closed air circuit and its own blower, sourcing and dumping air outside the room's airmass. Coupled with a main exhaust blower capable of shifting the room's airmass in 3-5 mins, this will make the room airmass temps very stable. Mine is now 25C +/- 1.1C at all times with closed ckt cooltubes and a 600CFM blower for a 500cu ft space.
A cooltube must have its own blower for a constant air supply during lights-on, plus a 15 min cooldown period after lights-off, necessitating its own timer as well. I've seen attempts to use the cooltube's blower as the room's main exhaust blower. Since one cannot run such a blower on a thermostat, the room temp stability is sacrificed. Room temp will be intake temp plus 1-3C.
Nah, run it at 1400 @ 5.8, the newbs won't mind a bit. I run all my flowering tanks there.
Not sure how you're going to go with air circ at 8/sf but I guess you'll cross that when you come to it.
heh, you need a big assed slab of 12mm thick PVC and a hole saw. Wot to do with all the offcuts?! Might make interesting beer coasters.
I'm using modified Adjust-A-Wings, but they're pretty expensive to buy and then just throw away the lamp mount and socket to fit a cooltube. AAWs are Australian but you ought to find them in the US & UK. You might consider making a homemade batwing reflector for your cooltube.
The FREE timer that comes with the HPS kit has two sockets and can handle 2000w MAX. So, I think I will run it on the timer with the cooltube on its own duct. Then have a seperate one with a carbon air filter for the vegetation.
I don't think I'll need 600cfm for just the cooltube...?
I'll need at least a 100cfm fan to exchange the air in a 4x4x6.5 sized room every 1 minute.
Is my math wrong?
4x4x6.5 = 104 cu. ft.
I'll test and tinker with the nute concentration.. but I will use 1000 PPM as a base and work up to the 1400 PPM mark.
Is the reason the levels can be so high because of the water level?
In the other DWC we never went over 700 PPM.. then again, I was security.. not horticulcurist in that op. (6 gal DWC /w 6 plants)
The excess PVC will probably be used for covers/supports at the base of the plants.. they sell them, but I'm and engineer.. we make use of ANYTHING!
Enigma