DIY COOLTUBE W/ BATWING REFLECTOR

i just got my pyrex bake a tube in from ebay earlier for 30 bucks and incorperated it into my ss batwing reflector

i welded(weld good for 5000 psi 65% nickle) the tube holder to the the light on one side cut the holder alittle short so i can put the 4"-6" connector on there to hook up my exhaust hose, which ill get the connector tonight, i used a wire(ghetto rigged) to hold up the other side

one thing i like better about this idea is you have use of a full reflector rather than havin a tiny strip of mylar or whatever in the tube for the reflector like most diys are and bought ones

everything is definatly goin like clockwork with 2 DIY'S back to back

enjoy and good luck with everyones DIYS:D:smokin::stoned:

Eh Tex, that was quick! Didn't that thing only come in the mail like... yesterday? :D
Quick-draw on the torch... lol

i got it about 2 hrs ago

what can i say i want to get my cab done
i need more room so i can crack my premium seeds:D

Looks good. What about the air flow on the socket end? Seems like it would be restricted quite a bit.

if i have to pull 1/4 -1/2 off the socket side no problem, but the light bulb is already restricting the flow of air right behind it so its probibly not goin to mess with me much

If that bulb is really close to the glass, i would be concerned about it being a "cooltube" perse. What really makes a cooltube great is being able to not only pull the air from the bulb, but also pull from the room. I'm not sure how that bulb will be if you have it in such a tight confinment, the life of the bulb might be compromised, but i'm not 100% on that. It looks great, the only thing i think i would change would be to get a bigger glass, and connect some tubing to the end to your fan, you have a 500+cfm fan so you should have no problem pulling air out.

Another than that, great job.

i just got out my dial calipers and measured the outside diameter of the light bulb and the inside diameter of the bake a tube
the bulbs outside diameter was 1.8"
the inside diameter of the bake a tube is 3.55"

the difference is about alittle less than half of airflow around the bulb total

well the cfm's are measured by an unobstracted push/pull. so your 500+ cfm fan has now been cut in half just with the bulb, and then the block that you have at the other end. I could be wrong, but i would definitely look into that as far as how much air your sucking out and then how much air your pushing in. Just a thought is all, other than that, i think your doing a great job....keep up the good work.......

Yeah, moving the tube down some to the other end of the socket... Should help.
Good luck!

TexasGrass, I've got two store bought cool tubes hooked together in one of my cabs and, with all the twists and turns in my vent line, plus the carbon filter, my 467cfm fan is probably at about 50%. I have no heat issues whatsoever. The MH bulbs I have are a real tight fit - about 3/8" clearance all the way around - and they still stay cool.

You should be fine, although you might have to trim your mounting bracket some, but judging from the quality of your work, you seem to be all set up to do that easily enough.

If you don't mind a suggestion, get some caulking and caulk real well where the 2x2's meet the walls on the inside of your cab. Those small cracks are a great place for mold to live and breed.

Good work on the cool tube and the cab! :thumbsup:

PC :thumbsup:

back to the drawing board. YALL WERE CORRECT ABOUT NOT ENOUGH AIRFLOW, but i tried and people know now not to buy the pyrex bakeatubes from my experience

the temp off the tube got hot as hell, 114 and melted the thermometer's case alittle(lmao)

for all the diy cooltube i wonder which bakeatube people buy

i guess my cooltube wont work and ill have to go buy a new one

now with my bake a tube i can make a badass loaf of garlic bread. yum yum

and as you can see i have short runs in the exhaust and a 90 here and there, it is a vortex 6" fan so that shouldnt be a problem. i did try to disconnect my carbon filter which holds 15lbs of carbon and the fan was sucking way better(filter could be alittle too big). i was able to touch the glass after 20 minutes but ws still way to warm, i think its too small of a glass and is holding the heat in more.

TG - 114 degrees isn't that hot. I just held the heat sensor for my thermometer against my cool tube with the 1,000w hps and the temp of the glass was 118. I have two cooltubes in this cab and the temp stays around 78 with lights on.

Most people use a 6" bake-a-round, it sounds like your is 4"????

PC :smokin:

Hmmm.. did not know that they made a 6 inch..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by evertking

Hmmm.. did not know that they made a 6 inch..

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When I was thinking of making my own cool tubes, I thought I saw 6" bake-a-rounds. A quick look at Ebay now and they all seem to be 4". So, either they also make 6" ones, or my memory sucks - both of which are entirely possible.

PC :smokin:

When selecting a cool tube, select glass that does not block too much Uv light. Some bulbs are rated for open fixtures and have some Uv block built into the glass bulb. If you use the wrong kind of glass cool tube, you block too much Uv light, which the plants love.

since that didnt work i dropped 130 on an aircooled hood
temps holding around mid 80s :)