Glass lenses in panels with UV-B

KDiaz

KDiaz

Active Member
I was researching trichome production, and as everyone one knows UV-B increases resin production. But they mentioned that glass and plastics absorb UV light so I googled "does UV penetrate glass?" and found this on Wikipedia

"Ordinary glass is partially transparent to UVA but isopaque to shorter wavelengths, whereas silica or quartz glass, depending on quality, can be transparent even to vacuum UV wavelengths. Ordinary window glass passes about 90% of the light above 350 nm, but blocks over 90% of the light below 300 nm."

And The UV-B spectrum is 315nm-280nm. So wouldn't it be more beneficial, especially during flowering, to remove the glass lenses from our panels? Granting there are no heat or other issues?
 
FranJan

FranJan

Well-Known Member
K, if you want my opinion as long you realize you could be screwing with the cooling efficiency of the unit, why not take the glass off? You are exposing them to the elements of your grow area and you lose some dispersion the glass provides but you could gain some output depending on the type of glass the panel maker is using. I take the glass off of my panels and nothing bad has happened, but then again my panels don't cost that much compared to others, so I'm willing to risk it. Now my question to you is, who's putting out LED panels with UVB diodes? I thought those diodes are used in photo-therapy and germicidal products, that they're highly specialized and from my understanding cost a bundle. Plus they gives ya the cancer if you hang out around them long enough so I don't know who would want to be responsible for the shitstorm of litigation that would start up in ten to twenty years from now when everyone growing with these things gets fuckin' skin cancer or leukemia. At least that's my take on it. Happy Growing!
 
KDiaz

KDiaz

Active Member
FranJan said:
K, if you want my opinion as long you realize you could be screwing with the cooling efficiency of the unit, why not take the glass off? You are exposing them to the elements of your grow area and you lose some dispersion the glass provides but you could gain some output depending on the type of glass the panel maker is using. I take the glass off of my panels and nothing bad has happened, but then again my panels don't cost that much compared to others, so I'm willing to risk it. Now my question to you is, who's putting out LED panels with UVB diodes? I thought those diodes are used in photo-therapy and germicidal products, that they're highly specialized and from my understanding cost a bundle. Plus they gives ya the cancer if you hang out around them long enough so I don't know who would want to be responsible for the shitstorm of litigation that would start up in ten to twenty years from now when everyone growing with these things gets fuckin' skin cancer or leukemia. At least that's my take on it. Happy Growing!
Click to expand...
Thank you for your opinion, I see what you mean. Most companies are using 380nm which is UV-A, so its just a sales gimmick then since UV-B mostly contributes trichome production. If we wanted UV-A we could just use a black light, or even a bug zapper, in the room. And all uv rays can cause some form of cancer. So, either way, they will face a "shitstorm" one day.And as far as germicidal that's UV-C which is 280nm-100nm.

The issue of cooling issues or other issues is the real reason I made this thread. I am using 2 pro-grow 180's in a 20"x36" tent, so i have some money tied up in lights but not nearly as much as I would going with another company. None the less I don't want to ruin my lights, this is the real incite im looking for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top