MH reflector

[jherrin215]

Just wondering if anyone had a good suggestion as for what to use to make reflectors for my hood?? TIA

[tamra&steven]

well you can just buy them if you are using some common lighting like MH. JBJ makes a really nice reflector. if you want to make it your self you need pollished aluminum and make a few nice sharp bends to go around the light. ou can use a sheetmetal brake to do this and a sheet metal sheer to cut the metal to the size you want.

[jherrin215]

I have access to a shear and a brake. I just needed to really know what they were made out of. I might just be able to get my hands on some sheet aluminum too!! Thanks T&S

[tamra&steven]

not a prob

[ccCapt]

Sanjay did a 5 part study on MH reflectors. Basically it comes down to home made reflectors are useless...or at least no better than just painting the inside white. Part 1.

You can try DIY Lumenarc's if you have the room to even use them. Some people have made them using Solar Tubes from HD or Lowes.

[jherrin215]

I don't see where it says that a homemade reflector is uselsee, the only thing i saw was where he says "As can be clearly seen from the data, having any of the above mentioned reflectors is better than just having a painted hood."

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[ccCapt]

I guess it depends on how you take what he wrote.
"The total light incident on the three different areas 3’ X 3’ ft, 2’ X 2’ and 1’ X 1’ at 6” from the lamp using a flat sheet reflector with white paint..."
I look at a DIY reflector as being a flat sheet reflector made out of aluminum flashing. If you search around and I'm sure you can find tests which show the difference in reflectability between flashing and white paint. Neither is very good compared to any of the engineered reflectors Sanjay tested....which is my point.

Even if you make your own from whatever scrap aluminum you have laying around, you still need to buy a mogul base and a bracket to mount it to the reflector. You can buy an engineered reflector with the mogul base for $30. Seems like a no brainer to me .

[jherrin215]

i already have the bases and boxes for the wiring. They are working and there is a white piece of metal behind them, that's what I'm trying to get rid of. I just need to know what material to make them out of so I can make some. I won't just put a flat piece of aluminum behing the lights, I will bend them up on the break at work to make them reflect like they need to. Also another advantage of me finding my own material is that I can make a half a$$ reflector for my 2 24" VHO's that don't have built in reflectors. My 2 6' VHO's have built in reflectors So I don't have to worry about them.

[tamra&steven]

duh haveing refelctors are beter then nothing haha you paint your hood thats dumb refelctors are good duh