Nateair Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 I want to put a metal halide bulb in my Nano cube but wanted to know if anybody has tried it. Id like to put a 150w bulb at 50,000K with a medium base in there but I'm afraid ill melt something or have a heat problem. If that is not feasable I guess i could settle for a 70w, but its only 10,000K, and i like the blue coloring. I want to be able to grow anything i want so thats why im looking into the 150W. Any Ideas? Link to comment
Nateair Posted November 23, 2004 Author Share Posted November 23, 2004 Sorry, forgot to mention that yes I am crazy and would like to retrofit it into my hood. (It sits on the kitchen counter, I want it to look good) Link to comment
xcajx Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 No way, melt city. Is there a 50k bulb? I know there are 20's. I have a MH in my nanocube, but I have a new canopy to house it. It just gets too hot for that plexiglass to handle, plus I doubt it filters the UV. Link to comment
embryoguy Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 yes i would love if you do this. i would want to do same thing. please i hope someone responds to this thread with info. so far people have replaced there covers. but i think a 70w mh would work. dont know about the plastic cover. i think it will melt. Link to comment
Nateair Posted November 23, 2004 Author Share Posted November 23, 2004 Yeah check it out @ hellolights.com...So I couldnt do it with the 70w either? I could reinforce the hood a little more with some CPU cooler from a computer or something but I dont want to build a hood because it wont look as good as the one on there. Just looking for some ideas. Link to comment
ccjung Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 I will be working on a 70w MH too.. Wish me luck. Link to comment
MattGecko Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 I don't see how it could work without making the hood into frankenstien? Link to comment
embryoguy Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 yeah i agree, alot of people modify the hood to a point where you dont even recongnize the nanocube anymore. the reason why i bought it bec i like the look. so if any of you guys can retro a MH in without cutting the hood apart wtihout a million wires hanging out the back. please post. Link to comment
ccjung Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Thats my attempt.. I have been able to safely keep temps down in a 96w iteration (in the stock splashguard area) .. If i add MH I intend on adding a uv filter. There are many many disadvantages to this setup ie height above tank, heat, etc etc.. so to be more realistic, i think maybe even something smaller like a 39w MH setup with mucho T5 or PCs. would be viable.. none the less, I will try to investigate the possibilities of doing this.. I have gotten pretty handy with sheetmetal tools (production models will be manufactured..), and the replacement heat sheilds are fitting nicely, save some of my mistakes... Link to comment
Nateair Posted November 23, 2004 Author Share Posted November 23, 2004 since im at work and cant really see my hood, i guess my idea would be to put some heat dissipators behind the reflector(or something that is very hard to heat up) and on the other side i could have a few heatsinks in the hood pushing the heat out through the side panels and the upgrade the fans on the back to some 80mm 2000-5000 RPMS. everything would still be in the hood that way. i was just wondering if anybody has tried it. If it worked, what did they do. If it didn't work, what went wrong so i can learn from it. One more question, is the only problem with the 150W the heat? Its not too much light for a 12g nano cube? If thats the only problem then ill probably try to retrofit that one. Link to comment
ccjung Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 This is a photo of the lamps when assembled in hood with my drop in, bolt up, prototype of the 72w kit.. I have found a way to use forced induction to cool the nanocubes hood to much lower temps than that of stock, while adding another bulb. It is running at 110F vs 126F stock. I think with more searching, I will be able to find more fans to add to further ventilate the unit.. Link to comment
embryoguy Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 cjung are you selling yoru retro hoods yet? i didnt know there were mh s below 70wts. does anyone have a 32wt mh? bec i like the light effect of mh. Link to comment
ccjung Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 80s wont fit back there because the clearance is pretty tight.. 70s would... when i go MH i am adding 4 x 50mm fans on the top of the hood. In the pic above, I have punched holes in the h/s and mounted 2 50mm fans. the MH will have an additional 2 in the center area. The rear fans are a quandary.. Without punching a hole and sacrificing one fan, you wont be able to keep your tank cool. You can keep your hood cool if you stick to 60mm x 15mm fans, much thicker, you "choke" the fans because there isnt sufficient airflow (the cover is about 1/4" from the fans if you use a 25mm fan, ie the thermocool or stealth (which work great in the nanocube OG/DF)... I supplemented the power to the stock fans while adding the 50mms to be powered by the JBJ DC power that used to power the stock fans... posting pics.. Link to comment
ccjung Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 the wiring and top down look at shield. Link to comment
ccjung Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 bolts up in a bout ten minutes tops... (starting now..) Link to comment
embryoguy Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 impressive cjung. your one of the few ive seen with nice modifications that look manufactured. and not simply diy. Link to comment
ccjung Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 It shocked the hell out of me that i have those skills... heeh.. j/k.. Im a mechanical engineer/software engineer/etc/moron.. I just like playing.. I like nateairs line... I'll always be a kid, just bigger toys. This is like Legos for me.. Im six years old again.. My gf has gone overseas for 2 weeks, and ive just been slummin it... Ok.. time to shut up.. Link to comment
Nateair Posted November 23, 2004 Author Share Posted November 23, 2004 i think if you put some heatsinks directly on that then it should make it cold to the touch which should allow you to put a lot of heat underneath it. (just a thought) Link to comment
embryoguy Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 engineer! thats not fair. than this is easy stuff for you! hehe, i m crossing my fingers youll be able to add mh to the nanocube Link to comment
ccjung Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 yep i have the vantec HDD coolers for that reason.. They fit under the hood.. I havent put it on this, because for this kit, i need to keep it affordable/reasonable.. Its only getting to 110F which is great... It can always get better tho... Link to comment
ccjung Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 ok time to stop hijacking. ill start a new post.. Link to comment
embryoguy Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 i use to want to upgrade my 48wts but im holding off on mhs. the look is jsut so much better. cjung do you have to top off your water alot? in the dx the cover over the fans really hellp slow up water loss, where as in my old nano, i have fans in but the water loss is high, so i disabled my fans for the winter. and now i dont need a heater Link to comment
ccjung Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 I top off the Nanocube OG i have about every 2 days, my DX about every week. Link to comment
embryoguy Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 yeah thats about what i did before i shut off the fans., my temps in both tanks run around 78-80 w/ 48-56 wts. but i only have zoos and muschrooms. everythign seems good so far at 8months. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.