DIY DWC 5 Gallon bucket grow

**superstoner1** · 06-23-2012, 01:08 PM

scooby, with your setup you should try parabolic reflectors. works great with watercooling.

**ScoobyDoobyDoo** · 06-23-2012, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by superstoner1

scooby, with your setup you should try parabolic reflectors. works great with watercooling.

from everything i've read they are the most inefficient reflectors out there. makes total sense to if you look at how they redirect light. even the horizontal bulb ones are really ineffective. plus, i'd much rather get that heat off the bulbs and the canopy. much more efficient that way.

no way could i even think about doing it here at my house. i use ice boxes to cool the exhaust on my lights which is blown back into the tent. then i just have a single fan, carbon filter, and ice box that acts like a spot ac. it's hooked up to a thermostat controller. i would have to get 5-6 of those things going just to cool 1 tent if i wasn't cooling the exhaust on my lights.

at the big room i ducted all the lights to the return on the water cooled air handlers. much more effective that way. if i installed parabolic reflectors i would need 2 air handlers in each room.

those reflectors are worthless in my opinion. i know some guys love them but i can't see how they can be effective with water cooling.

**superstoner1** · 06-23-2012, 03:28 PM

you have your mind set, obviously. but i will say that after testing bare bulbs, blockbuster reflectors, sun system2 reflectors, and parabolics with a meter that i get a much better spread and concentraion of light with the parabolics.

**ScoobyDoobyDoo** · 06-23-2012, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by superstoner1

you have your mind set, obviously. but i will say that after testing bare bulbs, blockbuster reflectors, sun system2 reflectors, and parabolics with a meter that i get a much better spread and concentraion of light with the parabolics.

i'm game for anything that grows better plants bud. i've just seen a few tests that show that parabolics are the worst of the reflectors basically. what kind of meter are you using for your tests? PAR, fc, lux, lx?

it's also hard to use parabolics with a smaller room and water cooling. you need to cool the exhaust of each light with water cooling and parabolics aren't designed to be air cooled so it kind of defeats the purpose. in larger setups where we use water cooled air handlers it might be something to look into.

**DJAJGROWSTOO** · 06-24-2012, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by ScoobyDoobyDoo

sweet bro, sounds like you got some work ahead of you when you get to the new house. good luck with that.

i have 3 4x8 tents in the garage right now. 1 is for veg and has 2 600's in it. i keep moms on one side and vegging plants on the other. i built a little shelf with a t5 setup on top of that light for clones. the flower tent has 2 600's as well. the other tent i use for drying and curing. i put the girls in there for 48 hours of darkness before i chop them. then i hang them in there to dry as well. i have 1 more tent that i need to setup. just got it; gonna run a hydro setup in there with 2 600's as well. i run everything on a 3hp commercial chiller. all closed environment. just run a manifold suppy and return from the chiller through the tents. ice boxes on all the hoods, water cooled co2, coils for the reservoirs, ice boxes and fans on thermostat controllers as spot a/c's in each tent. absolutely love it. water cooling is just so much more efficient for me. probably use half the electricity i would if i had to buy ac units.

Yes i do, and im looking forward to it, ill be posting a new thread and pics of everything i do, probly will be posting that around august, cause we gotta be out of the house we are in now by july 31

**DJAJGROWSTOO** · 06-24-2012, 08:54 PM

heres an update, my 3 skunk og's are getting big fast, they are starting to get to the point where they take off(the Best part) My other plants are looking good too. the buds are really starting to build up crystals, and fatten up.