Homemade 1000w cool tube!

[Mellow Man]

Mellow Man,

Congrats on a very well written FAQ... Hopefully, it can get turned into a thread over @ the FAQ section. Nice!

-turtle420

That would be cool to see,despite the grammer of my thread lol.....Like I said in this forum I found a few links and stuff for homemade cool tubes but I found the information on how to make it was not in compleshion........a couple of pictures! or a diagram drawn up that was not detailed enough...So I said what the Hell I'll post this FAQ right here in Cannabis message boards so the members here don't have to search out all the half detailed information......

[Mellow Man]

I should mention that I can bring the light really close too the top of the plants if I wanted too! but it's a fresh batch of plants I just put into flowering and I like to gradually bring the light closer to the plants,not because of the heat or anything lol because there isn't any just so the plants can get use to such a strong blast of light a 1000watter can give!......if I wanted to I could have the plants touch the glass tube without any effect to them....

[Garden Knowm]

hey mellow man.. i was sharing your thread with some other poeple and they had concerns that that fan can not take the heat that is being generated by the HPS and drawn through the fan.. they said the fan may take a crapper and then the glass will heat up and explode and possibly kill a pet or something.. yikes

what do you think?

still a great set up.. but worth considering...

[indicloset]

The air booster itself probably wouldn't vent out or exaust say a full grow room,but certainly would help,could be used to bring fresh air to the plants,but to use that air unit for just exaust may not be powerfull enough..perhaps a small grow box!

The air booster is powerfull enough to vent the heat from a cool tube set up because where it's a tight space,and the volume of space is small therefore the air pass over the bulb quickly where it's a small place and the heat comes with the air being sucked.................grow room exaust I say no! grow box perhaps it would..................About the glass tube or candle cover or what ever we want to call it lol,come in many sizes and length's....the one I bought fit the 1000w hps bulb perfectly,and there was many more glass tubes(candle covers) there that were much bigger! and many that where smaller...You could defentialy find one to fit your bulb,they even had the huge fat candle covers that would fit a 1000w mh bulb........man you wouldn't believe how plenty full this stuff is,it's everywhere once you get out and have a look around.

Actually, it is a small linen closet...see my thread in the basic growing section - titled "1st Closet Grow - Indica - 400w HPS"...so maybe i'll give it a try along with a couple computer style fans for intake/out in the door. Maybe i'll give yours a bit to see how it goes though. If it stays so cool that you can touch it, I cant see there being a heat problem with the fan seeing how it is made to move hot air around in the first place, but who knows.

[Mellow Man]

hey mellow man.. i was sharing your thread with some other poeple and they had concerns that that fan can not take the heat that is being generated by the HPS and drawn through the fan.. they said the fan may take a crapper and then the glass will heat up and explode and possibly kill a pet or something.. yikes

what do you think?

still a great set up.. but worth considering...

It's good for people to have caution when dealing with any kind of eletrical source,and to be honest I took the heat into consideration when I bought the fan!,first thing I should mention the glass tube wouldn't break if the fan was on or off! the glass is tempered! I don't know how hot the glass could get before it cracked if it would at all? I had the system running for over a hour without the fan hooked up and I believe within a hour the bulb would have reached maximum heat! the glass never split or broke! and when the fan is on as you could see I could actually hold the glass tube in my hand and felt warm like the top of your dryer! r........

I could actually touch the 1000w bulb myself with my fingers it was hot but not hot to the point you couldn't touch it with your bare flesh.....I might take a picture later to illustrate me touching the bulb while it's turned on just to show that the fan works so well that the bulb it's self is being cooled down!................

The fan doesn't allow the bulb to heat up enough for any consideration for heat! as soon as the bulb produces heat the cool air is sucked into the tube and pass'es over the bulb so quickly that any heat generated is being wisked away with the air coming into the glass tube that is drawn by the fan........Like I said earlier I was shocked! that it worked so well and I'm the type of guy that gets paranoide when dealing with heat and electric sources lol..................but this set up really has my mind at ease.......

The manafacture of this fan recommends not to use the fan in a air duct that exceeds 155 degree's the bigger fans can handle 180 degree's........I guess what one can do is take a tempature gauge and put it close to the 1000w bulb and see what it reads? maybe it won't reach 155?.............of course with the fan sucking the heat very quickly the heat is reduced to almost a tropicial breeze! or less.........and I am sure this fan being used inside of a full hot roaring furnace probably producing more heat then a 1000w hps bulb?..

Come to think of it I remember a couple of times I would be down in the sub basement of my old house working around the furnace and actually touching the duct work that runs of from the furnace and that being almost untouchably hot!.......and the duct work on the cool tube is no where near hot! not even close!..........................

I am a very paranoide guy when it comes to heat sources and always fear a fire in waiting lol....but this set up makes me feel completely comfortable.....but just for arguement sake and my own peace of mind I will pick up a tempature gauge and leave it in the exaust of the out take duct and see what temps I get!.....................................Could possibly someone from this forum put a tempature gauge close to their 1000w bulb and tell me what reading they are getting?.............Like I said though I feel the fan is working great and my tempatures are no where near 90degree's.....

All and all safety is the key issue when it comes down to anything! and I recommend anyone who attempts such projects takes all safety into consideration..........

[Mellow Man]

Actually, it is a small linen closet...see my thread in the basic growing section - titled "1st Closet Grow - Indica - 400w HPS"...so maybe i'll give it a try along with a couple computer style fans for intake/out in the door. Maybe i'll give yours a bit to see how it goes though. If it stays so cool that you can touch it, I cant see there being a heat problem with the fan seeing how it is made to move hot air around in the first place, but who knows.

I think it could help out alot with your grow spot go ahead give her a try!..but I would put a foot of duct work on both sides of the air booster anyhow that will help the duct build up suction....and increase the air current!
maybe not even a foot of duct on both sides maybe just 6 inch's on each side of the air booster.....good luck..

[lemonboy]

Great thread. Thanks for the info and pictures.

[Mellow Man]

Just to prove to anyone who may think that the fan I selected wasn't up to the job for cooling down the bulb take a look here! these pictures illustrate me making full contact with the 1000w bulb that has been on for more then 6 hours straight!.as you can see I actually am putting my bare fingers onto the 1000wHPS bulb ,now it will get uncorfotable to the touch but not after several seconds with direct contact with the flesh! so if I can actually touch the bulb should show you that there is no way that heat can get to the point that the fan might melt! or stop functioning.........how many people can actually touch a 1000w HPS bulb after 6 straight hours of use? I know I can lol...

[Garden Knowm]

mellow man - great explanation.. and I see your point exactly (thanks to your great explanation)... regarding the bulb never heating up enough to send 155+ degree air to the fan... maybe you could put a thermometer right in front of the fan to check the air temp right before it gets to the fan...

anyway..GREAT explanation... thanks..

and you are DA MAN!!!!!!

[lemonboy]

Do you think it would be possible to run two 250W bulbs in a setup like this? Perhaps a MH and a HPS.