covering top of cool tube with foil to stop light loss?

hey guys, does anyone know if covering the top half of my cool tube with aluminum foil ( i know, not the preferred option, but if its gonna be touching hot glass idk of another option) will help reflect the light more down rather than having what I'm assuming is a significant amount of lumens lost because it just kind of throws off light every which way?

here is a pic of my setup.

View attachment 2274817


thanks

Well, It might reflect light, but it creates hot spots because foil is not smooth. I think they sell nice reflectors for cool tubes pretty cheap.

I went to Lowes and bought a piece of 10 in wide flashing and put 2 pieces together and made one. Its not perfect but it beats tin foil.

what do you mean a piece of "flashing" ? excuse my ignorance

You put your reflector on upside down. I would assume so, my cool tube came with an internal reflector so light is already going in the right direction. That one is a bit weird.

Flashing, it comes in a roll silver colored aluminum. Its used under the area where a roof overhangs. Its like a trim piece.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_12524-205-66020_0__?productId=3010400&Ntt=aluminum+flashing&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo=

sykk said:

Flashing, it comes in a roll silver colored aluminum. Its used under the area where a roof overhangs. Its like a trim piece.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_12524-205-66020_0__?productId=3010400&Ntt=aluminum+flashing&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo=

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flashing is Aluminum


trust me.. foil will serve you well in what you are doing with it ... with no hot spots.. you just want to direct the light down.. .. this will work just fine

yeah idk my light didn't come with that top half circle piece of reflector.. only the wings u see attached. weird. oh well. well see.

foil would work better than nothing but i would just get a cheap air cooled reflector or one made for it. like someone posted above, you can get them pretty cheap.

Get a price of vent pipe that they use for a clothes dryer vent. It's a flat price that u snap together. Take some metal shears and cut the ripple end off and you can bend it however you want to make a reflector. My cool tube came with a metal reflector in the tube over the light plus a reflector that mounts on top of it to disperse the light. The one you have is probly for vertical growing.

thanks for the easy DIY tip. i may do that. the foil seems to be working fine for now. my tent is honestly so small that i can't imagine I'm losing that much as long as its pointing down at the ladies.

my metal reflector on my cooltube gets SO hot, even though i can put my hand on the cooltube glass.. what can i do ?

mr2shim said:

You put your reflector on upside down. I would assume so, my cool tube came with an internal reflector so light is already going in the right direction. That one is a bit weird.

View attachment 2275991

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your high.lol he is CLEARLY missing hes central reflector.




hey buddy i lost my inside reflectors too. i was covering with foil(foil is fine use dull side keep smooth) then havac tape(adhesive is melted all over glass cleaning it will be a bitch, its not that bad just an irritation to clean) now im just gonna go get either a piece of 6"duct and cut it both lengh wise and across to make it fit. or get some sheet metal and bend/cut it myself. another option is to tape those wings together(in a V length wise) and tape them to the top of the cool tube

Saldaw said:

my metal reflector on my cooltube gets SO hot, even though i can put my hand on the cooltube glass.. what can i do ?

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get a bigger fan, lose the filter and separate light cooling from exhaust, get a bigger cooltube.

choop said:

thanks for the easy DIY tip. i may do that. the foil seems to be working fine for now. my tent is honestly so small that i can't imagine I'm losing that much as long as its pointing down at the ladies.

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if your tent is 5'or under then i wouldnt worry to much cause one the ladies get big the ligh will be at ceiling anyways plus it will give you better light dispersion in the tent more like a hood