Well one of the best days for growers is that lovely switch to flower. I have my XXXL's and until that day I absolutely love them. So my plants are monsters time to remove glass n switch bulbs. First part always seems very nice, change bulbs, forgot something. Walk back in room bamb #&*#*&(#@ man is that some steel that just crack my head oh yeah not a riper it is a fuking XXXL. Of coarse seeing stars time for smoke break. Oh what the fuk I will clean the glass too. Back into room crack oh fuk....not twice man oh man this aint so funny. Oh yeah here comes trickie part....reflector hanging and gettting that monster glass back on.....crash boom bang....fuk that hurt a plant or two. whew the 2nd time light one done....on goes the story... Of coarse this is the morning after and I am laughing and figured where else can I share this story. Oh yeah good old gc. From now on I will just take reflector down every time probably easier then doing it hanging with one person. Anyone else have a secret for how they are changing bulbs in these monster hoods? All in all though these hoods totally rock just changing the bulb with room full of plants not my idea of fun!! The worst part is using your head as the ball and the reflector as the bat...these things definitely make you see stars...
Ive hit my head so many times, especially after changing light height after being used to a certain height... shit fucking hurts. Be careful I have 2x Super Sun 2, I almost got the XXXL but I went with these instead, my glass is on a hinge I usually just drop it down hold with one hand take out bulb. Other way is to remove ducting and go through ducting 6" or 8" hole (easy if you can get to it).
I sympothize with you on the banging of the head...Nothing pisses me off more. As for the changing of the bulb...this can be done by unhooking your exhaust ducting and changing the bulb through the flange. I run a couple Sun System Magnum XXXL's and change the bulb by reaching in through the flange with my hand, unscreweing the bulb, and carefully pulling out. These reflectors work great for light distribution but are heavy as hell. Good Luck
I did this the first day I hung my XXXL and about fell over. Once thing is for sure, it's built well! I went tape crazy, so I have no choice but to remove the glass every time I change bulbs. It's be awesome if they put in an access hatch through the top for these massive hoods.
I have a Magnum XXXL and when I first set it up I just slid the glass part of the way out because I had already done all the rest of the setup. Next time I have to switch a bulb I will remove the duct going to my fan, I just used a screw clamp on it and it works like a champ so I didn't wrap it all up with tape since it was nice and snug with no leaks. But yeah those fixtures are a bit heavy and built like a tank, love um!
Oh and one more thing so far I have been flowering in another area using cheap 4ft T8 shop lights and they are kicking ass so I see no need to go through all that trouble and have to go buy a MH bulb also. For the price of the MH bulb I can go buy hella T8 fixtures and bulbs from Lowe's or Home Depot. Wally world also has them pretty cheap with bulbs included too. Might be a better option for you and you could have a full time veg/flower rooms going all the time.
You know I really am kicking myself. For some reason I thought the MH was bigger then the duct hole. So talk about really feeling like duhhhh.... Thanks for making me take off my stoner hat for a minute!!
