best reflectors for 600w

I have been using the euro reflector, 6" air cooled hoods. After a run or two I am thinking a better reflector would do me a world of good in my flowering tent which is now a 4x8x8. So I am looking to disperse two 600s over two 4x4 areas and then I have a few leds to help the edges. Looking for aircooled hoods that are airtight since I will be scrubbing with the same fan. I am already cooling two lights and scrubbing with the same fan so not worried about heat. Also what kind of the circulation fans are best for larger tents and dont take up floor space.

i run an 8 inch cool tube reflector with my 600w. you can use any inline fan/odour system and it will be airtight. works great and keeps the bulb WAY cooler than other types of hoods. u can also take out the reflector from the tube to do vertical growing as well.

I am not having a heat issue and could easily switch to parabolic reflectors. My high temps are 74 4" below the 600, with air temps 71 and low is 65. I can easily bump the temps by opening the tent or changing the thermostat, and do. I would like to be able to keep running thru summer with my main flower tent so I am looking to match two hoods to two 600w hps and a 4x8.

Banana444 said:

I have been using the euro reflector, 6" air cooled hoods. After a run or two I am thinking a better reflector would do me a world of good in my flowering tent which is now a 4x8x8. So I am looking to disperse two 600s over two 4x4 areas and then I have a few leds to help the edges. Looking for aircooled hoods that are airtight since I will be scrubbing with the same fan. I am already cooling two lights and scrubbing with the same fan so not worried about heat. Also what kind of the circulation fans are best for larger tents and dont take up floor space.

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i use my maylar tent as one big reflector i never use hoods in my tents no real need if u are in 100% maylar

I like gavita triplestars for non air cooled.

Parabolics are proven to suck, so don't go that route.

- Jiji

Get a radiant 8s if you have heat problems, 6s if you dont. If you dont need aircooled i would just go adjust a wings, the have a super wide spread and are also cheap.

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rob333 said:

i use my maylar tent as one big reflector i never use hoods in my tents no real need if u are in 100% maylar

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google inverse square law for light, you're losing all the light that comes from the top half of your bulb

jijiandfarmgang said:

I like gavita triplestars for non air cooled.

Parabolics are proven to suck, so don't go that route.

- Jiji

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ARE YOU KIDDING ? Please explain boarder about parabolics .. They really are good, compare with adjust wings,euro and so on..

Just think about it. Just a guess but about 95 to 99 percent of the light comes from the sides of the single ended hps bulb. So basically the light coming out of the tip is near useless. So all that light has to hit the reflector before it hits your plants on a parabolic reflector.

Even if you assume a parabolic reflector has a perfect light spread and uniformity, all the light instead of about half or so on a normal reflector bounces off that reflector.

When the reflector is brand new and clean your probably only looking at 90 percent reflectivity (give or take 5 percent).

So your losing a few percent off the bat using a parabolic.

I know these are generalities but they should give you an idea.

P.S. adjust a wings suck too. The light isn't uniform and it has hot spots on the edge of the foot print.

- Jiji

Thanks for your reply.I'm a new grower.I've changed my cool tube 5 inch to the parabolic reflector and now I'm very happy how it works.It covers all my plants.I believe that using this reflector I'll get more stuff than with cool tube.. So what would be the best reflector for 1.2m tent ?

Plus I thought about 8 inch cool tube, but they are poor .. http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-8-Inch-Air-Cool-Tube-Reflectors-Hydroponics-Indoor-Garden-Hoods-/111349015660?pt=US_Hydroponics&var=&hash=item19eceb246c

http://hydrobuilder.com/og-grow-light-hood-air-cooled-8.html two of those would be freaking bad ass bro.

I think every bad design hood has been mentioned lol.

Except for the radiants, at least the older ones are good, I could have swore I saw a new design that was nothing like the old ones, not sure though

List of reflectors that suck
----------------------------------------------------------
Anything where bulb is vertical (unless it is bare bulb).

Cool tubes

adjust a wings

Cheap Chinese or bottom of the barrel brand name reflectors that don't have a full insert (painted white ends)

- Jiji

The parabolic with vertical bulb I think quite a good choice.

alegro77 said:

The parabolic with vertical bulb I think quite a good choice.

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Based on what?

Also, a lot of oldschool parabolic reflectors don't have a square or rectangular footprint. Its all about even light distribution with overlap for even lighting.

- Jiji

Look at "domes" that have a very large spread (48 inches +) along with using wings - you find that set -up in many commerical grows. If want addresses let me know

I've always done good with 600 adjusta wings . I prefer raptors for thousand watts though

There's video's on youtube that test various reflector designs and the parabolic got the worst scores....by a bunch.

Sorry, I can't remember what hoods got the best scores. I DO remember that spending more money on an air-cooled hood didn't necessarily get you a better hood though.

I think a lot depends on the area you're trying to light. If you're grow area is rectangle, then a hood that is rectangular would be best.....square area, square hood.

Here's some interesting test results:

http://www.greners.com/reflector-test.html

Get a hood that has insulated glass. Then you can get that light down close to the ladies.