Thanks Bender! I decided to go bigger though - I found a perfect glass cylinder at Michael's. I'm still working on it...but it's gonna be awesome when it's done. I have a 6" fan going into a 5" tube, so hopefully that creates a little extra air flow. EDIT: Well, it's done. I got a little impatient and was tired of running back and forth to the hardware store, so I finished it with what I had. It could use a little finalizing to make it look more professional, but it's working just fine. Lowered my temps about 6 or 7 degrees. I can now have my 400w MH 12 inches away and it's still only 80 degrees F. I might move it closer depending on how well it does at this distance. Awesome tutorial!!! Oh yeah - the original tube I had broke when I was putting it together yesterday. But it was a good thing, cause I went back to Michael's and found a better tube. The glass is thicker and it's a little longer. You can probably find it in the candle section...it comes on a metal base that you put a candle on, and the glass cylinder just slips over it. Perfect for a cool tube.
This is a good DIY, the only problem is that you mention to get some 1" clamps and a 3" clamp and as far as I can tell never use those. I wanted to mention too that my local Lowe's doesn't have the cafe rod brackets (yes, asked for help finding them), for this I bought galvanized steel hanger tape (Lowe's AMERICAN VALVE 10' Roll Galvanized Hanger Tape : Questions, Answers, How To, FAQs, Tips, Advice, Answers, Buying Guide), made sure it was secure enough. Also the rubber pipe self adhesive insulation tape was quite expensive (because they only have 30' long rolls), I would call around locally to find a better deal. For the other parts (mogul socket, ballast, clamps) I would go to a RESTORE or someplace similar before Lowe's. (My Restore has a mogul socket for $4, a ballast for $5). Also, instead of spending $30 on a pyrex tube off of ebay go to a Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Joann's or other craft supply store (even TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Gabriel Brother's) and look in the candle section you will have your pick of long glass tubes (hurricane or not), I got one for less than $4.00 yesterday. I could have bought a (wall) hanging candle holder that included the perfect tube (exactly like the pyrex, but longer) for $20, and it would have included a $5 candle, but I was feeling cheap. Hope that helps people! I hate to see you guys buying those things on ebay for 5x the price! EDIT: If you get a glass tube that's not the bake-a-round then you might need a different set of clamps. Be sure to get the tube first and bring it to lowes with you to check.
I was going to do it this way but for me to get a bake-a-round it would cost way to much from ebay as ppl charge a arm for shipping. So I went to Micheals craft store and grabbed a 11" hurricane glass for $10(cad). I had a spare batwing with socket already so I was able to bolt the brackets($2cad) to the socket housing on the batwing. Then used a vent clamp($2cad) to hold the glass to the brackets.On the other end of glass I grabbed some galvanized strapping($3cad) and strapped it to the bolts that are already in the batwing. The end of the hurricane glass was perfect size for venting hose to slip on to. Went from temps of 86-90f down to 78-83f. And I still have to get a different fan for it as Im just running it with a 200cfm cpu fan.
I'm having a hard time finding the candle holder types, like the hurricane candle holders. They either have a closed bottom or they're too long. Here's a 14in hurricane candle holder http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/14-clear-hurricane-shade-793026/
10" L x 6" D straight glass tube but amazon is selling them by the 6 pack. They're just begging people to do multi-light setups... On the other side, all 6 are 27$ so you can't really beat it. http://www.amazon.com/Hurricane-Candle-Holder-Ended-Clear/dp/B005JFS3NC/ref=sr_1_4?s=furniture&ie=UTF8&qid=1379881191&sr=1-4&keywords=hurricane+shade
All clamps are being used, though they probably aren't all necessary. The 1'' is used on the ceramic base to hold the spacers. The 4'' is used to clamp the cafe rod bracket to the bake-a-round/whatever you use as your tube. The last two 5'' clamps are used to clamp the ducting to each side of the tube. A little redundant, but that is how they are all used. I got 3 bake-a-rounds by mistake on ebay. Actually didn't think I'd win a bid, so now I can re-sell them or use them for baking, pun may be intended. Yeah, more than a year late but I'm trying to do this and I'm already hating it. Mostly due to the people at home depot. They'll hire anyone and not train them I suppose? Been to home depot the last 3 days for over an hour there. Day1 didn't walk out with anything. Day2 finally got clamps and rod brackets. Day3, got the foam tape. Mine is a bit different. I took apart my econowing to use the ceramic base (mogul?). Do you poke a hole through the ducting to get the wire through? I am going to attach more ducting on the other side so I can put my air-filter on as well. Now just waiting for the tubes to come in.
will the bake-a-rounds work on a vertical 1000 watt halide bulb? Going to eventually convert to 4- 600 w HPS but for now I have 2 1000 watt systems and Im sticking with them? any suggestions for these larger bulbs? thanks in advance.