Rocket Soul
Well-Known Member
I dont think this is a bad idea, only maybe a bit complicated in the execution. When i was playing with this idea i was looking at much bigger extrusions, big enough to put a sponge dipped in bleach and push it thru with a broomhandle in order to clean the insides, and wide enough for 2-3 strips wide. But problems arise as soon as you start putting screws thru the profiles, how are you going to push the sponge thru?
One work around would be pushing air from the outside thru the fixture, sorta like a cooltube a la hps, but that means you have to have another fan system and adds complication.
As for mold: dont know what your situation is like, all i know is that Murphy seems to laugh at us every time we try things like this in our grow: whenever you leave a possibility hes there to fuck you up. No space, volume or surface is beyond where we can reach for cleaning, and we even run an ozone generator. It looks like you got a serious operation there, comercial? Then its probably best to keep things easy to clean, just to make sure.
Temps: i dont think its worth it for efficiency. But it might be worth it for other reasons. I agree with @cobshopgrow : whats your temps? If this thing dropps temps from 65C to 45C id say its worth it: if you can keep your leds at less than 50C they will last much longer, to the point where you will never really need to exchange them due to deterioration in light output.
Our solution in the end was to use less power per diode on pcbs with the diodes are well spread out for dissipation. Our pcbs are no more than a few degrees over ambient, even without heatsinks. I sincerely rec anyone who wants to diy a large space the Fotop boards from Meijiu, its an absolute breeze: just make a frame and attach the boards with no heatsink, you can make a 4x4 in half an hour or so.
One work around would be pushing air from the outside thru the fixture, sorta like a cooltube a la hps, but that means you have to have another fan system and adds complication.
As for mold: dont know what your situation is like, all i know is that Murphy seems to laugh at us every time we try things like this in our grow: whenever you leave a possibility hes there to fuck you up. No space, volume or surface is beyond where we can reach for cleaning, and we even run an ozone generator. It looks like you got a serious operation there, comercial? Then its probably best to keep things easy to clean, just to make sure.
Temps: i dont think its worth it for efficiency. But it might be worth it for other reasons. I agree with @cobshopgrow : whats your temps? If this thing dropps temps from 65C to 45C id say its worth it: if you can keep your leds at less than 50C they will last much longer, to the point where you will never really need to exchange them due to deterioration in light output.
Our solution in the end was to use less power per diode on pcbs with the diodes are well spread out for dissipation. Our pcbs are no more than a few degrees over ambient, even without heatsinks. I sincerely rec anyone who wants to diy a large space the Fotop boards from Meijiu, its an absolute breeze: just make a frame and attach the boards with no heatsink, you can make a 4x4 in half an hour or so.
