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Mylar Vs. Foil

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I think when the time comes I'll probably just order my mylar from scientifics online since there won't be any creases. Do you guys keep the front part of your grow-shelf open? Like.. no mylar just a shower curtain for humidity? A mylar shower curtain would be handy there. :P
 
av8tor1,
what is the spray glue you use called?
do you just spray it on the whole underside of the light fixture?
also, is there any fire hazard to your method?
I have been thinking I should of bought the steel fixtures for alittle more $ but glueing mylar to it seems like a great fix.
thanks for the idea.
Peace,
Zero:)
 
Zero,

It is Elmer's "Craft Bond" acid free multi purpose spray adhesive...

and I made sure i kept the vents open at the ballast...

curious.. what fixtures do you have?... I havent seen any non-metallic ones at wally world, mine are the electronic ballast (for cold starts) stainless steel finish model 8055ss, ive used them for several years and had just one fail

I cant even build my own with a cold start ballast for as cheap as wal mart has them, but their "stainless steel" finish is a joke when it comes to effciency

I wouldnt use mylar for anything other then fluorescent!!!

HTH's
Av
 
oops, I didnt answer all your questions...

yes, I just spray the entire surface and lay the mylar down carefully. I'll warn ya... have someone help or you will get bubbles and wrinkles.. and even then I still do, but I dont worry about them... not pretty but you will be surprised at the diff.

Mylar relfects infrared really well and the plant lights I use put out a lot of energy just above what we can see in the red spectrum, plants can use this energy the most effciently..

so you should see a diff in your plants regardless of bulb choice,

If i had tons of money I would buy the beautiful, sexy and highly effcient TEK brand T5 fixtures with the german reflectors but omg 200-400$ for a fluorescent light ahhhhh no

Av
 
You can buy a roll of self-adhesive metallic tape from auto supply stores that people use as trim on their cars/trucks. This is a foil and is a lot easier than messing around with spray adhesives that you have to mask off. Spray tends to get into places you don't want it.
 
thanks for the info:)
av8tor1, I have the lights of america or american lights white fixtures, came in the red lettered box next to the stainless steel fixtures with the blue lettering. the white was cheaper then the steel so I got the white ones. around $7
 
Spray on glue, eh? I could have some fun with that. >: ) Just kidding..

So these light fixtures do you guys buy them online or at like Home Depot? Hard to find good fixtures at places like that around here... then again I haven't looked but... y'know... those places are HUGE!

I have no idea what kind of lights or fixtures to get.. all the numbers and stuff I read just don't sink it. >_>
 
Chrono,

Zero and I are talking Wal-Mart, where hillbillies shop and go to meet new women LOL, (now before i get nasty emails I am a hillbilly and proud of it, so just smile ;) )

I chose the model I did (stainless steel with blue lettering model 8055ss) because my set up is in a unheated basement, Mine must have a cold start ballast (-20f rating)... temps in my basement can get pretty chilly during the winter 40-50ish (f) if below zero outside

I think lowes carries the same fixture as well.... not sure

yep they do

Av

(Chrono, regular fixtures will struggle if it gets much below 60, if you expect cool or cold temps go with the cold temp ballast... and I havent tried it but you might be able to "overclock" them and make them much brighter... I dont know for sure if the Lights america fixture can be done, but it is a technique where you the unused output of a 4 bulb ballast and put them in parallel with the 2 that are being used, boosting the secondary current levels... i think, its been a while since i was researching it... google it )
 
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the comment about the GFI protecting him, well ahh it more then likely wont if you get shocked by the output of the ballast, since the secondary output is probably isolated from L1 and ground

just thought i would mention that LOL
 
Wow! You guys use THOSE kinds of light fixtures?! Wow. o.o I can't believe they fit on a plant shelf like that. Looks like I'm going to have to clear out more room than I had planned. It also looks like Tuesday is going to be a driving day. I printed out the shopping list from the plantshelf tutorial so I have a reference.. thinking of writing down the stats that my lights should be like lumens and whatnot. Then I need to remember to get some mylar and a shower curtain.

I've never heard of overclocking lightbulbs before. Only computers. :P I'd rather not start a fire or electrecute myself so I think I'm not going to touch that.

Thanks for all the info!

Oh wait I have one more question... how long do those light bulbs last?
 
Oh.. well at least they're kinda cheap. And what do you mean by stagger?

Is there some way to recycle lights? Since I'll be replacing em every year when they technically still work, I wouldn't want to just throw em out.
 
What's the problem with the creases, other that it looking funny, if I may ask? Does it matter if the light is reflected in various directions?

I ask because if it's only asthetic, then I will replace the shower curtains I'm using on my indoor greenhouse with those mylar blankets. If the creases are a problem, it won't be so practicle.
 
personally, I dont worry about them... I would have to think that no creases would be better... but at some point you are picking the fly doo doo out of the pepper so to speak



Av
 
FYI...

Av8tor1, I looked at that light that you bought from lowes via the link, I noticed that it says in the product description; "Not recommended for use with timmers."

So make sure you don't illuminate bundles of fur (a timmer) with your fixture. ???

Anyways...

What do you guys feel is more important to have covered in Mylar, the sides of the stand, or the back of the lights on the fixture? I could see both giving a lot back in terms of extra light, but to add that for my stand they both sound like equal amounts of work to me.

Always looking for the easy way out...
-Nate.
 
You can always get plexiglass or lexan mirrors. Pretty expensive though about $40-$55 for a 24"x48" sheet. You can get it self-adhesive coated for extra. The biggest sheets I've seen were 48"x96"
 
MFT,

I hadn’t even noticed that before, I have a pretty strong electrical/electronic background (ISCET) and cant really see a reason for it... but in today’s world of litigation who knows, I wouldn't be surprised if this was found on any fluorescent light... and since this has come up let me say be sure and follow all mfg recommendations and only make mfg approved modifications yada yada yada (now my lawyer will be happy)

???

The way I figure it... half the bulb is pointed up and away from the plants, so that is a major effciency issue, now in the case of my wally world lights, considerable gains were had by adding the mylar to the fixture ... after that everything else is icing on the cake IMHO, since the law of inverse squares applies.... the gains would be a lot less then those of the fixture, for example if the relfector "curtain" is 5 inches from the light and also 5 inches from the plant what you would be reflecting would only be 1/50 of the original energy... and that would be reflecting at 100% effciency... Ive not done measurements, but this is what I would expect to see take place (if I did that right in my head... (5x5)+(5x5)=50 or would it be 10x10 hmmm LOL ah heck I dunno but distance makes a big difference LOL

but then I could be :crazy:

Av
 
hmmmmm....instead of 1/50th it may be more correct to say the equiv of a light 50" away... I'd need to freshen up on my physics :0o:
 
Hmm it's a thinker...

My fixtures are really really cheap-o's. The bulbs are so close to the top of the fixture that I'd have to say there can only be 1/4" of space from the fixture to the bulbs. If not less.

If I added Mylar to that surface, do you think it'd still make any difference or just end up reflecting that light back into the bulb?

I've been thinking about it all day here and I'm pretty sure I'm going to do both anyways. (Sides of the stand, fixture, and top of the shelf) It'd be really interesting if I had the patience to only do one and see the results.

-Nate
 
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