Is This Cool Tube Any Good?

I am not happy with my aircooled hood which clumsy and doesnt cool that well.

I was going to go DIY cool tube but by the time I buy the bake tube, the socket & power cord, I am over half way there and I still have to make some hardware.

http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-CoolTube-6in-Reflector.asp


I might make a better hood for it.

Appreciate any comments. Thanks.

Found a cheaper one on ebay.

For $20 more you can buy cooltubes with a bettter reflector i paid $120 for mine.
And as for cooling i'm only running a 250mh in it atm, and it is as cool as 20w cfl

Pic below of my cooltube

It's good to know that it cools so effectively. I have metal working equipment so knocking out a hood is not a big deal for me.

One of my concerns is the quality of the glass. Are the cheaper tubes more fragile?

Id say they are made by the same manufacture just diff shades.
As for the durabilty, i guess the glass is maybe 3-4mm and i dont see it being broken
in normal use.

That being said, it's kinda like a glass bong treat it with respect and it will last forever.

Ive the hydrofarm brand before and their nice. I wouldnt worry too much about the brand of a tube, because the science is prettey basic behind it. Its 6" tube,as long as their are no air leaks they all perform the same. I may be worried about running a 1000w hps in a small tube without a powerful fan. You would have a high heat source almost touching your most likely mylar ducting.

3-4mm thick sounds good. It wont be as fragile as those lantern glasses they sell for a few $$. I am running a 600W mh and the 4" vortex fan does a decent job of extracting the heat except for the glass window.

I think one of the advantages of the cool tube is a smaller volume, which forces the air to move faster over the surface of the glass and cool more efficiently. The compact design is a significant advantage in my closet where the hood is just big and clumsy.

Thanks for the advice

pyrex is a very strong glass anyway.

Pyrex (just a name brand btw) is pretty durable material. As long as you don't physically try and scratch it, let cool water hit a warm or hot shade.
Have to agree with Hoagtech in that you need to use a good sized fan with limited resistance, bends and kinks in the pipe, as this drasticly reduces performace of the fan.

What air cooled hood are you using now? Have a shot of your exhaust? Perhaps, we can rectify your problem without you having ot buy anything.

auswolf said:

For $20 more you can buy cooltubes with a bettter reflector i paid $120 for mine.
And as for cooling i'm only running a 250mh in it atm, and it is as cool as 20w cfl

Pic below of my cooltube

View attachment 1696296

Click to expand...

thats tidy i like that , in fact im gonna do the same, but use a 4 inch to pull plenty of icy cold english air into my room !

Ive had a few people asking about the cooltube and where i got it.

I bought mine from ebay australia for $120au. But i have found a place in the US selling them for $89.
http://www.hpsgrowlightsusa.com/accessories-reflectors-hood-html-6.html

These cooltubes are big, it was advertised being a 150mm x 600mm, but the actual overall length was more like 800mm, the reflector on it mesures 640mm x 750mm.

That photo above, and the ones below show the cooltubes being setup in 10x5x7 tent just to show how large they are.

Ive broke two cooltubes in the last few months, the glass doesnt take much to break. They are good tho for the price and make a big difference to grow room temps even if there light spread is a bit naff. Gonna get myself a couple of super suns i think.