NEW! HYDROFARM RFCOOL6 6" Aluminum Cool Tube HPS/MH Grow Light Reflector Hood

Bought three of these lights because it seemed like a great improvement over the heavy metal reflectors I had been using. This is a case , I think, of having a great product-almost. It is light (pun intended) and compact, which makes it great for small spaces. Here's the hang up, It's the hang up cable. They really took off their thinking caps when they came up with the cable and crimp system that's on their. It feeds through the metal collar so can't be removed without cutting the cable which I wouldn't advise as it probably voids your warranty. So, here we are with cables that hang the light a minimum of 8" below whatever you are hanging from. Add a few for a pulley to raise and lower your light and whatever size pot you are using. I don't know about you but that doesn't leave me with all that much free air space for dangling. Don't get me wrong, I like the cooltubes themselves! Ok, OK, there is just one other thing that isn't even really a problem for me but could be for you. It's the collars themselves. the one on the socket side has the socket mounting bolt heads through the collar. The light plug comes out on that collar also so, it is obvious they did not intend you to attach to that end. That's fine if you are pulling air from the room to the outside to cool the room but, and here's where the caps came off again, what if you want to pull outside air in, cool the light and send it back out. All they had to do was give a little more length to the collar on that end. They could use the extra metal they saved on the shorter hangers!

The light fixture looks and feels of higher quality than most of the one's I've come across. The only gripe I have is the hangers. They don't allow any adjustment. There's even more... They force you to hang the light at a minimum of about 9" from what you are hanging it from. Add in a set of hooks and the closest you can hang it to the ceiling is about 1 foot (12"). Add in another 6" (height of the glass tube) and the highest you can get the bottom of the light fixture to the ceiling is about 1.5 feet (18").... I couldn't have that so I went to the local hardware store and bought the following items:6' of 1/16" steel wire(4) 1/4" threaded steel eye bolts(8) 1/4" threaded steel nuts(8) 1/4" lock washers(8) 1/4" washers(6) 1/16" ferrules(1) cold chiselUnscrew each of the original hangers and discard. Load up each eye bolt with a nut first, then a lock washer, then a washer. Stick each "assembly" in though the existing holes from the outside. From the inside of the light fixture, load up a washer, then a lock washer, then a nut. Tighten all (4) internal nuts. Then create your own hanging cable out of the 1/16" wire and ferrules (use the cold chisel and a hammer to seal the ferrules).The loop I created sits about 1" off the top of the glass now versus 9" the original one did.

This is not the first time I have purchased one of these reflectors. They are very well built, and with the 6" size it's easy to move enough air to keep the bulb heat away from your plants. These are versatile as they can be used either horizontal or vertical. I would highly recommend this fixture to anyone who wants a compact glass tube type reflector.

Make sure to vent it with a fan. Recommend the 8".

Thanks