Lighting Apollo HPS/MH combos standard hood or Cool Tube...size vs. temp. Opinions?

[TxOld Dude]

I'm getting a new HID system and was wondering something. I should have asked this question before BUT...

Between the Cool Tube and the standard winged hood, the CoolTube appears to have a smaller reflector than the standard hood. I did not get the tube as I felt the need for optimal light reflection versus cooling. This is a separately wired dimmable digital ballast that could be placed outside the grow area/box.

Your opinion??

 

[TxOld Dude]

Bumpin' it!!

 

[phoenix rising]

Hey TX,i got the Apollo 400w version with the cooltube in a 4x4 tent,yup,the reflector is smaller but it covers the tent pretty good.My temps run about 84f in the tent with a 65f ambient room temp that the tents resides in.I could probably knock the tent temps down more if I had a bigger fan,i'm running a 4" windtunnel ducted up to fit the 6" cooltube and pullin thru a 4"phresh filter on the tailend.

 

[Son of Hobbes]

Instead of which one is better; I think a more fair rhetorical question is "what is better suited to my grow area." Which begs the next question, what's the dimensions of your grow space? Is space an issue?

The advantages of the cool tubes is that they are generally more compact (in area foot print) than hoods, lighter (in weight) than hoods, and cool better (due to the tubular design, which allows better air flow and reduces air turbulence.) The advantage hoods have over the cool tubes is the uniformity of the light dispersion. Some hoods have a more shallow reflector which disperses light over a wider area. Some have a higher vertical reflector which causes more of the light to be focuses downward.

I have two 6" cool tubes for my 400W HPS/MH and a 6" vented hood on my 1000W HPS/MH. The 1000W hood is a behemoth compared to the cool tubes, but covers a far more uniform "square" pattern of light in the grow space. On the 6" cool tubes, the bulb socket is at the end of the tubes, and with my 400W bulbs (iPower brand, not sure if other HPS/MH vary much in length or not as that's all I buy), they are not quite perfectly centered in the tube like a person would think they should be. You can add on other reflectors if don't like the wing reflector that's usually included with the cool tubes, but they do a pretty good job reflecting the light.

Just my brother! :stylez rasta smoke:

 

[TxOld Dude]

Thx Phoenix!
First, how long has it been in use? I seen some bad rep on them.
Second, are you keeping the ballast in the tent?
Third, how long is the ballast fixture cord (not the AC)?

This will be my first MH/HPS lamp and afraid these guys will be a dud. As long as your coverage is good in 4x4, I'm good with it. I bought the the "other" one thinking I can handle the temps, but was worried about coverage.

Peace!

Fish

 

[TxOld Dude]

Instead of which one is better; I think a more fair rhetorical question is "what is better suited to my grow area." Which begs the next question, what's the dimensions of your grow space? Is space an issue?

The advantages of the cool tubes is that they are generally more compact (in area foot print) than hoods, lighter (in weight) than hoods, and cool better (due to the tubular design, which allows better air flow and reduces air turbulence.) The advantage hoods have over the cool tubes is the uniformity of the light dispersion. Some hoods have a more shallow reflector which disperses light over a wider area. Some have a higher vertical reflector which causes more of the light to be focuses downward.

I have two 6" cool tubes for my 400W HPS/MH and a 6" vented hood on my 1000W HPS/MH. The 1000W hood is a behemoth compared to the cool tubes, but covers a far more uniform "square" pattern of light in the grow space. On the 6" cool tubes, the bulb socket is at the end of the tubes, and with my 400W bulbs (iPower brand, not sure if other HPS/MH vary much in length or not as that's all I buy), they are not quite perfectly centered in the tube like a person would think they should be. You can add on other reflectors if don't like the wing reflector that's usually included with the cool tubes, but they do a pretty good job reflecting the light.

Just my brother! :stylez rasta smoke:

Thx Vaporhaizer!
It was in the poll question; 4x4. I thought I was fairly clear with the emphasis on the reflector. Venting will not be an issue, but I did not purchase the cool tube, just the larger, open reflector/socket (not hooded either). If the fixture cable is long enough, I can keep it out of the enclosure. That'll reduce the heat some and venting w/ 4 fans; 2 intake and 2 exhaust (above the light). I guess the question should be "Does the cool tube make that much difference in a 4x4 grow area? Yes, both being factors but wanted to keep it simple and was more concerned about reflected light between the size of the reflectors.

Here it is.


Peace!

Fish

 

[Son of Hobbes]

The 1000W HPS/MH (magnetic ballast) has been in use for probably like 4 or 5 years total now and still going strong. I've been using the cool tubes for about 3 months. I do not keep the ballasts in the tent; I honestly think that's a terrible place to put the ballasts (humidity and water hazards, and the ballasts produce heat (which would disperse into the tent,) and heat wears out the life of electronics, so if anything (in my opinion) you're shortening the life span of your ballast.

I am using iPower digital ballasts for the 400W HPS/MH, they have small fans in them and I would compare the noise to a computer fan; they are not very noisy at all.

The lamp cord (according to the web site) is 15 foot; and I believe it; I have it stretched out about 6 feet in my grow space and it's slung over the top of a door and draping down; so there's easily 12 feet right there. Plenty of cord.

Don't worry too much about it being a dud; that Apollo light looks like it gets great reviews on several stores, and that picture of the Apollo ballast looks suspiciously like my iPower ballast. Often times the ballasts are manufactured in the same factory and rebranded (with company logos and colors,) so even though they might say Apollo or iPower, they very well could be based on the same architecture. I have several digital timers that are all different company names, but the timers are all the same model (with model numbers.)

You'll be fine dude!

 

[Kozminski]

I have used both cool tubes & standard vented "square" reflectors. I had a 4 x 4 tent, and the Radiant square reflector did put off a more uniform square pattern that worked well in my square tent, and it seemed to direct mor light downward. But it was a bit heavy and one day it broke the zip ties that I had holding it up (my fault), so then I put in the cool tube while I fixed the other, and I found that the cool tube threw out more light to its sides, and in an enclosed tent this wasn't a bad thing. At the time I was growing some sativa heavy plans that were kinda tall, and the cool tube seemed to work well for these large ladies, bouncing more light off the sides to get over and around their top colas. I didn't quite need the light on top of them, because of this side light, so my bulb could be closer to the lower parts. Hope that made sense.

edit: they both seemed to cool about the same for me, but I wasn't paying that close of attention.

 

[TxOld Dude]

Dang I can't type tonight!

Thx Kozminski! Spasiba!

Excellent! I'm going for very short profile, Dragons to start, due to limited overhead and wanted to keep the max light focused where it's needed. I've got fixtures for CFL side lighting, but if these respond well to LST, I may not need them. All works according to plan, next round will be Hydro-SOG. i'm used to closet photos back in the day, but these autos are something else! (It's been a while!)

Fish

 

[TxOld Dude]

The 1000W HPS/MH (magnetic ballast) has been in use for probably like 4 or 5 years total now and still going strong. I've been using the cool tubes for about 3 months. I do not keep the ballasts in the tent; I honestly think that's a terrible place to put the ballasts (humidity and water hazards, and the ballasts produce heat (which would disperse into the tent,) and heat wears out the life of electronics, so if anything (in my opinion) you're shortening the life span of your ballast.

I am using iPower digital ballasts for the 400W HPS/MH, they have small fans in them and I would compare the noise to a computer fan; they are not very noisy at all.

The lamp cord (according to the web site) is 15 foot; and I believe it; I have it stretched out about 6 feet in my grow space and it's slung over the top of a door and draping down; so there's easily 12 feet right there. Plenty of cord.

Don't worry too much about it being a dud; that Apollo light looks like it gets great reviews on several stores, and that picture of the Apollo ballast looks suspiciously like my iPower ballast. Often times the ballasts are manufactured in the same factory and rebranded (with company logos and colors,) so even though they might say Apollo or iPower, they very well could be based on the same architecture. I have several digital timers that are all different company names, but the timers are all the same model (with model numbers.)

You'll be fine dude!

Same Chinese manufacturer I'll bet! Actually, those were the 2 I chose from. Pretty much identical, but bad reviews on the sellers is what made the difference. As I said, this is my first HID, but didn't have the scratch for the bad boys. Gotta take what I can get (cuz my ex takes everything else!!ROFL!!!). Thanks for the info on the cord! That'll do just fine. I'll be venting into the attic using PC muffin fans and a plenum. I got more muffins than Sara Lee!

Fish :Cool: