Transcription of the videotutorial for the Cool Tube reflector:
Today we’re going to learn how to install a Cool Tube reflector, ideal for grow spaces with high temperatures.
We open the Cool Tube’s box and we see that inside there are various elements, firstly the biggest one, that’s the main part of the reflector. We’ve also got instructions in English, the gland valve for the cable, and the Plug & Play cable we’ll use to connect to the ballast.
We’re going to see how the wings are tucked away inside the reflector and we’re also going to see how to make the connections. These are the two wings and the bulb holder…
The first thing we’ll do is to remove the bulb holder from this slot to be able to wire it comfortably. Important, before we connect anything, we need to pass the cable through this hole and not forget to first fit the cable gland valve. Okay? Well that’s the first thing we’ll do.
Taking the cable by the stripped end, which is this one, we insert it into the gland valve… and just like that, we pass it through the hole. This nut need to go on the inside to get a good hold on the gland valve. We pass it through here, the nut as well, we tighten firmly… and we’re ready to start the wiring.
We have 3 wires (Live, Neutral and Earth), the Live and the Neutral have to be inserted in their respective holes on this side, and we’ll connect the Earth to the shell of the reflector.
But pay attention, the screws are here, inside the bulb holder itself, okay? Let’s start. We’re going to unscrew first, so that the cable will go in, one and two… enough to fit the cable and that’s it, we insert the blue on one side, and tighten. It’s vital to tighten firmly, so it doesn’t come loose due to the heat halfway through your grow, and now we fit the brown cable, in this case in the other terminal… and the same, tighten, firmly with strength.
And the Earth cable gets connected to the casing if the reflector, it’s more of a protective measure than anything else. We put it in its place and tighten it up. This will mean that in case of any short circuit of any kind, the fusebox won’t be affected and we’re safely protected.
Ok, we’ve got the cable hooked up, let’s pull the cable through and put the bulb holder in its place, in the slots that we removed it from earlier. Perfect, we insert it, tighten it, and now we can pull the cable to its full length and tighten the gland valve firmly. Now we’ve got the Cool Tube wired up.
Now to fit the wings to the reflector. Let’s turn it around so we can see where each wing goes, we can see the slots, which are here. We always fit the wing on this side, with the blue side towards the bulb, that’s the reflective area, let’s insert one wing into the slot and do exactly the same on the other side.
Don’t forget to remove the blue plastic, it’s only there for protection before it’s assembled. Once removed, the wings will reflect the light much better, and if we leave the blue plastic on, it’ll melt and won’t work properly to reflect light. In the bag we can also find some little screws which serve to fix the wings to the Cool Tube. These screws are self-tapping and screw directly into the plastic, pushing firmly to make a hole in the plastic to fix the wings.
We’re going to get our Cool Tube reflector working now. Let’s take the bulb, always holding it carefully with some paper so as not to touch the glass with our fingers, and we sure it into the reflector. Firmly, so it’s well-fitted, but without forcing it and breaking it…
Ok, perfect, we’ve fitted the bulb. 2nd step: connect the Plug & Play of the reflector to the ballast. 3rd step: connect the ballast to the mains supply, it’ll take about 8/10 seconds to light up the bulb.
Meanwhile, I’ll tell you how the Cool Tube is a reflector designed to use with intake and extraction, in other words air is pushed in one side and pulled out of the other side to reduce the temperature in the grow space, and of the bulb itself.
What do we do in these cases? It’s easy, we take the intake and extraction ducts and fit them on either side of the reflector, and from here to the intake fan or extractor fan. In this way, all the heat produced by the HPS or Metal Halide bulb won’t be released into the grow tent, the plants won’t notice it, instead it’ll go straight outside.
There, you’ve seen how easy it is to assemble an air-cooled reflector, the Cool Tube from Prima Klima. At www.alchimiaweb.com/en
