Reflector & Grow space decisions.

Hey people im a first time indoor grower so im taking some decent time deciding on what products im going with.

I would really appreciate help deciding which reflector & what grow space will suit best.

600w Electronic Ballast to go with reflector
550 cfm inline extractor

Reflector's Available

Super Sun 2 Reflector w/ 6 in. Vent Fittings - Sun System
Yield Master II Classic Reflector - 6"
Cool Sun Reflector - 6"
HydroFarm Xtrasun White Air Coolable Grow Light Reflector

I have read forums & although performance varies with different peoples equipment, overall i have seen the Super Sun 2 be the best? Please correct me if im wrong guys, im paying a crapload to import this

As for the shape of the reflector and dimensions what would be the best size frame to build to accomodate the reflector eg. the sun system 2? I want to make sure that im not losing any vital light due to poor frame size of my box.

Any help will be awesome, big thanx people

Super Sun 2 is very similar to my reflectors (mistral). I would defo recommend it. They're air cooled, but also have the metal finish on all internal sides and the build quality looks solid (as are mine).

You'll be able to get the plants right up to the glass if you choose. I use 2 x 600w digi ballast, 2 x Mistral Aircooled reflectors and a single 6"RVK (A1) and Carbon filter. It all produces very little heat.


As for the cab size ... I always say the bigger the better. air flow is very important, particularly in flowering stages.

Mobius, great thanx for your reply bro. Sun System 2 is probably the way to go, look some people might think others work as well but i do like the fact that it gives out the 95 % reflection has a nice us build quality & it will last me quite long? Im paying like 300 $ to get it imported so im thinking all should be good?

With my airflow im sticking to the 550cfm inline fan, i guess if i want to play with how much its extracting ill have to look into speed controlls & carbon filter size ?

4x4 ft footprint on the cab under that light. About 6 ft high. Match the filter to the cfm of the fan (ask at a hydro shop). Use a variac for speed control.

Super Sun and Yield Master hoods both perform well. I use the Blockbuster with a 600 Lumatek and it lights a 4x4 space very well.

filter size should be half the cfm rating of the fan. 4x4 space is suitable for 600w. are you going perpetual? i would sog 3x3 or 4x4 with 600. or scrog 4 plants in a 4x4. i prefer cooltubes with more lights ay x2 400w but would get a hood for a single light, yeild master sucks hold alot of heat, go with the cool sun or the super sun(but this is more designed like a cool tube with a smaller footprint)

if you are going to actively exhaust i would get an open reflector(not sealed) suck the air from above the light and blow into the filter out of the room this way you would get all the benifits from the light, filter smell, filter is out of the way, and cheaper reflector. i use co2 and run my light ducting separate from my filters

polyarcturus said:

filter size should be half the cfm rating of the fan. 4x4 space is suitable for 600w. are you going perpetual? i would sog 3x3 or 4x4 with 600. or scrog 4 plants in a 4x4. i prefer cooltubes with more lights ay x2 400w but would get a hood for a single light, yeild master sucks hold alot of heat, go with the cool sun or the super sun(but this is more designed like a cool tube with a smaller footprint)

if you are going to actively exhaust i would get an open reflector(not sealed) suck the air from above the light and blow into the filter out of the room this way you would get all the benifits from the light, filter smell, filter is out of the way, and cheaper reflector. i use co2 and run my light ducting separate from my filters

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Ive had many cool tubes and sold them all. Theyre just terrible, half the light never reaches the plants. Granted, if you have a tiny grow area and cant fit a 'proper' hood then a cooltube is better than a open 'dutch barn' but seriously, nobody should be encouraged to buy them.

i use small space but the cooling effect on the bulbs is way better than hood other than that filter on the ducting and clean the glass every month im a happy cutomer.

polyarcturus said:

i use small space but the cooling effect on the bulbs is way better than hood other than that filter on the ducting and clean the glass every month im a happy cutomer.

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Way better? No way. Ive two hoods that are super cooled by a single fan. The bulb is much closer to the glass in a cooltube (within an inch or two) so I don't know how you can believe its cooler than a hood which has more distance between the bulb and glass.

I'm glad youre a happy customer, but I wouldn't want a newbie being mislead into buying what is essentially an inferior product.

One other thing, in this world you get what you pay for. Cooltubes are like half the price of a decent hood. If Cooltubes were better, we would all be using them.

polyarcturus said:

filter size should be half the cfm rating of the fan.

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This is wrong. It's the other way around. Filter rating should be twice that of the fan. That way, there's no drag on the fan, and it's able to pull it's full cfm rating. If you were to do as you've suggested, it would severely impede the fan's ability to fully function, and would also lead to premature failure.

Moebius said:

Way better? No way. Ive two hoods that are super cooled by a single fan. The bulb is much closer to the glass in a cooltube (within an inch or two) so I don't know how you can believe its cooler than a hood which has more distance between the bulb and glass.

I'm glad youre a happy customer, but I wouldn't want a newbie being mislead into buying what is essentially an inferior product.

One other thing, in this world you get what you pay for. Cooltubes are like half the price of a decent hood. If Cooltubes were better, we would all be using them.

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I totally agree.

wow for srry felling for this guy.

banditos PM me if you need some real info. not saying cool tubes are the way to in your case btw. i wouldn't. they are application specific depends on how you grow.

Sorry guys but I disagree with all of you. Fan and filter should be matched, taking into account any losses through bends and length of ducting. If the filter is too low in rating, it will stress the fan. If it is too high, it will pull air through too fast without effectively filtering it.

Thanx for the input guys, using a cooltube is seriously the most last resort i would take. Doing the cool hood using the Super Sun 2 is probably going to be my best bet, taking into consideration the filter and the fan, matching them up like cues has explained.

Poly thank you for that man, i could get a open reflector no problem & locally im just thinking wouldnt i be better off just using the supersun 2 ? at the end of the day getting the hood closer does infact have its benefits right ?

Yes, you want your light as close as possible (without causing light bleaching)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law

But you also want to have the spread, so don't get a vertical-sided hood and then drop it on the middle of a 5x5 area and expect proper development at the edges. Best test I've seen of hoods, you can see not only total reflectivity, but reflectivity of specific areas so you can decide how much spread you want and pick a hood based on that too. If you're spending the cash to do it once, it's worth the long-ass read.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=51325

banditos701 said:

... i be better off just using the supersun 2 ? at the end of the day getting the hood closer does infact have its benefits right ?

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FWIW, the SS2's dispersion is governed by its height above the canopy. For example, it has to hang ~15" above the canopy to (somewhat) evenly cover a 3x3 area with a 600. SS KoolSun and Blockbuster can sit closer to the canopy, while offering increased dispersion, given the constraints at hand. Good luck.

Edit: Just saw the post above. OP, we've tested quite a few hoods on IC. This doesn't have to be a guessing game.


Simon

http://www.canfilters.com/faq.html go to this website it will tell you what you need to know about filter.

second an open hood would be better and you can get it just as close as a hood with glass as long as its air cooled.

third if your growing on regular AIR, sealed hood are a waste of cash. glass blocks light.

so if my plant can receive the same amount of lumens under a hood with glass 3 ft above or one without 4 ft above it which do you think has a wider coverage area?

to all you guy about filters trusm me half the rating is the way to go it ensures your filter is properly filtering the air. trust me yesterday(yes Friday the 13th) the gasman had to come in my house and be like 5ft away from my shit worried about smell? nope

haha simon D dont know what you said(ignored you) but DO NOT LISTEN TO A THING HE SAYS peace brother PM if you need info.

polyarcturus said:

haha simon D dont know what you said(ignored you) but DO NOT LISTEN TO A THING HE SAYS peace brother PM if you need info.

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I don't really understand what this is all about, but I will say that I own a pair of SSIIs, a SS, several CoolSuns, several Blockbusters, a pair of Daystar ACs, etc, etc. I commented, because I've used and measured all of them in a variety of configurations and noted the results over time. Some examples of my work can be seen in my sig. Good luck with your grow, if you actually have one.

As for filters, I'd suggest running the biggest one possibly can, but what do I know?

Simon