Squiggle Is Testing The Sylstar GL4000a: Multi Strain Grow, In A Brand New Set Up!
- Thread starter Paul Squiggle
- Start date
Hey Squiggle! That white widow going to be a beast! They all look great! 
And I'm glad the Mrs is mending well
And I'm glad the Mrs is mending well
- Thread starter
- #323
Paul Squiggle
Well-Known Member
Thank you on both counts. So much for autos being sensitive, she's been dropped twice, starved of everything and she is steaming ahead.Hey Squiggle! That white widow going to be a beast! They all look great!
And I'm glad the Mrs is mending well
Thanks again.
Muchos grassy ass
There's a lot of myths about Autos. One is that they can't be given too many stresses. Done at a very young age it can stress a plant and stunt it, but that can be said about most plants.
Take this one, she was stunted, and thus removed from the tent and tossed ontop of a metal garbage can, in cold temps. Several days later she was still alive so I tossed her into a solo cup on the window sill for weeks. Then I eventually got around to putting her in soil (1st soil grow for me!). I keep forgetting about her. She's had a couple of MC feedings and is in some compost (store bought).
I'm not sure, but I may even have one that I just harvested recently trying to reveg (I'm holding out before calling it- there's only a few small odd shaped leaves starting)
There's a lot of myths about Autos, & they're highly misunderstood IMO.
H1gherD1mensionz
Well-Known Member
Hey @Squiggle The plants are looking great, the LST looks very clean. They'll be beasts for sure.
Looking good mate. For the drivers you'll just need some cable and a couple of waterproof connectors from eBay or somewhere. Easy job. As Trala said Vit D is a big one. When I had optic neuritis and they did tests for MS etc they checked my Vit D levels and they were about 15% of what they should've been. Vampire level. I think something crazy like 80% of adults are deficient and it can make a really big difference in how you feel.
Bud Love
Well-Known Member
Hey mateDay 8 of veg
Day 28 from birth
Day 32 from soaking seeds
Light: Sylstar GL-4000a. Set @ 24inches, set @60% , drawing 150 watts
Lux: 25000
Par: 440 approximately
Medium: Store bought compost.
Final pot size and type: 2.5 gallon or approx 12 litre, plastic
Grow space: 1metre X 1metre X 2metre
Strains: 1xSour diesel. 1xStar dawg. 1xBlueberry OG. Both photoperiod and 1x White widow Auto
Nutrients: Pre-charged soil and liquid organic feed (if needed)
Water: Mineral, pH'd to 6.5
Temperature: 27
RH: 60
Howdy do folks. Hope all's growing well for you lot
Quick photo dump update. Everything is chooching along quite nicely.They've had their drink after 3 days of drying out; 400ml each for the WW and SD and 250ml for the BB
I have ramped the light up to 150 watts and they are happy. I will be making a suggestion to @Sylstar on how to improve this light, after I've done a dump..
Here is the White Widow
Here is the Sour D
And the runt Blueberry OG
All is growing in the right direction
Right! The light!
It's starting to get a bit toasty in there and it's only set at 150 watts, the drivers are at 40°C
And that's with a fan blowing on them . I gave it a short blast at 300 watts and It was into the 50s (lost that photo and they are asleep now) I know this is unavoidable; as all drivers generate heat and other brands of light have the same issue.
So, @Sylstar , it would be beneficial if the drivers were removable from the board. With small extension leads, it would give the user the option of mounting the drivers outside of the tent, when needed.
In the winter, this light is going to be perfect. No heater required. But, in the summer, its going to add heat to the environment that I could do without.
Anyway, I know this will void my warranty, but I will be making my own extension cables.
This is the back of the board at the moment
The leads on the left and right of the drivers which feed the LEDs, will be getting cut and extension cables made to join them back together. The drivers, along side the dimmer control, will be mounted externally onto an aluminium heat sink. I will be using cable with the same rating as the existing; with suitable connectors for that cable. This modification will help eradicate a lot of unnecessary heat in the grow environment..
Anyway. That's next week's job, I've got to source the connectors and this cable. ..
The longer cables shouldn't cause any voltage drop issues, so it won't impact the performance of the light.
Any advice on light butchery would be gratefully accepted.
@Sylstar please do not take this as a negative comment. The light is an awesome bit of kit. Affordable quality, with high end performance.
I would not choose any other brand of light now. I am a customer for life.
I just believe with this simple modification, it would make this light perfect for every set up..
That's it guys.
As always. Thank you all for stopping by.
See you all on your side
Squiggz
Ps. Missus is on the mend!!
Hope your well, and glad to here your other half on the mend
Great idea on shifting the drivers. Do you think that those little Wego connectors will do the job? I used them to extend some thin cable on a 65w led.. all worked fine.
Also you got any ideas on what your going to use as a heat sink?
As you say Squiggle.. it’s a great light. Just a bit scorchio past 50% power in my little tent.. It’d be perfect with longer leads for the drivers.
peace to y’all
- Thread starter
- #328
Paul Squiggle
Well-Known Member
Cool. She's a fighter then.. You are another that has confirmed they aren't as sensitive as people make out to be. I may start a thread on it. Get as many auto growers as I can to contribute and try and dispell the myths. Thanks for replying. Its changed my point of view..There's a lot of myths about Autos. One is that they can't be given too many stresses. Done at a very young age it can stress a plant and stunt it, but that can be said about most plants.
Take this one, she was stunted, and thus removed from the tent and tossed ontop of a metal garbage can, in cold temps. Several days later she was still alive so I tossed her into a solo cup on the window sill for weeks. Then I eventually got around to putting her in soil (1st soil grow for me!). I keep forgetting about her. She's had a couple of MC feedings and is in some compost (store bought).
I'm not sure, but I may even have one that I just harvested recently trying to reveg (I'm holding out before calling it- there's only a few small odd shaped leaves starting)
There's a lot of myths about Autos, & they're highly misunderstood IMO.
- Thread starter
- #329
Paul Squiggle
Well-Known Member
Thanks man. It's been a mission to get this far. I will be popping over to your side soon.. haven't you harvested today? I will be on that train in 10 mins.. from Newcastle central station to sample the goods , do I head north or south
- Thread starter
- #330
Paul Squiggle
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the compliments.. Vit D is essential, I didn't realise how important it was.. kebabs and pizzas don't have much of it in
do you take suppliments? I had to look up optic neuritis, I didn't realise it can be caused from chemical exposure, as well as other stuff.. you didn't breath in any nasty chemicals while you were serving, did you?The cable and connectors; I've order some off eBay, but I'm that impatient, I went to my local electrical supplier today and bought the same stuff at double the price
the connectors aren't waterproof, just water resistant Unfortunately.I've actually done the job and it's up and running. I will be uploading in a few hours.. thanks for popping in
- Thread starter
- #331
Paul Squiggle
Well-Known Member
Howdy do mate. Yeah we are both fine thanks for asking..
Scorchio
that word makes me giggle.. I've never watched the fast show for years..The connectors need to be a bit more heavy duty mate. They are handling 250 watts. There's a national electrical branch called YESs electricals. I got everything from there today for 12 quid.. I will be posting the build soon. The Temps have dropped in the tent by 2°c already after 45 mins and still dropping. I would recommend doing it. I will be showing my methods , just pick the bones out of it..
Thanks for calling in. See you over at yours soon
I didn't know that either.
They just told me it was an auto immune thing and needed to do some tests to make sure I didn't have MS. I best look into that. Will have inhaled all sorts of crap. I remember the wind changing direction suddenly and getting engulfed in orange smoke once. I was blowing out orange snot for about a week
H1gherD1mensionz
Well-Known Member
Yes indeed, I chopped her in the dark this morning. You're gonna have to come all the way down to the south east mate, make sure you consume some edibles before the journey lmaoThanks man. It's been a mission to get this far. I will be popping over to your side soon.. haven't you harvested today? I will be on that train in 10 mins.. from Newcastle central station to sample the goods , do I head north or south
- Thread starter
- #334
Paul Squiggle
Well-Known Member
Jubus krypes. Orange snotsI didn't know that either.
That could have been anything, . I think I googled it wrong. It came up with toxic optic neuropathy is caused by chemicals.. I've been reading the wrong stuff. I'm as high as a kite at the mo, sorry mate. But, you never know. Auto immune diseases can be caused by chemical exposure..- Thread starter
- #335
Paul Squiggle
Well-Known Member
Congratulations, I will pop over to have a look.. Ive Already consumed loads of edibles and I can't move off the sofa, it's like my body is made of iron and the sofa is a magnet.. I'm stuck
H1gherD1mensionz
Well-Known Member
We'll meet in the weedverse when I'm also smacked off my face once the Gelato is ready lmao, this mid Stardog won't open the gate you see 
Yeah maybe once or twice.
LOLLINGGGG
Set up looks great btw
- Thread starter
- #338
Paul Squiggle
Well-Known Member
Yup!! I will meet you in that higher dimension you mentionWe'll meet in the weedverse when I'm also smacked off my face once the Gelato is ready lmao, this mid Stardog won't open the gate you see
- Thread starter
- #339
Paul Squiggle
Well-Known Member
Yeah maybe once or twice.
LOLLINGGGG
Set up looks great btw
Thanks for the compliments mate
- Thread starter
- #340
Paul Squiggle
Well-Known Member
Howdy do guys, I've butchered the light and made it so the drivers are outside of the grow space.. Do you want to see how i did it? .........Yeah?
Ok then; here we go.
Sylstar GL4000a driver modification
The Gl400a drivers (transformers) are mounted directly on to the heat sink of the light.
They can reach a temperature of 50°C + at full power on a bad day. This, combined with the heat the LEDs create, can cause problems with heat build up in the environment. This is not just confined to this brand of light; there are plenty of others on the market that have the same design and if you don't have an Ac unit and a powerful exhaust systems , this can be an issue in some circumstances.. so, I decided to void my warranty and modify the drivers, so they could be mounted else where.
First things first. Choosing the correct cable..
All quality cables have numbers and identification marks printed on them. The driver cables are 2 core, 1.04 mm squared Wire (that's 17AWG, for our imperial cousins). They have a 300volt rating, the sheathing can withstand temperatures of 150°c and it's chemical resistant.
So, I popped to our local electrical supplier and picked up 2500 mm (8' ISH) of the stuff and also 4 pairs of suitable push fit connectors.
The next thing, is choosing the correct tools for the job
Now, all we need to do, is cut the cable between the driver outputs and the led input. Then bridge them back together with the connectors.
They are only wired with 2 core cable, so you have a positive and negative or a black and red. In the UK, we use brown as live and blue as neutral.. if you are colour blind, you have a 50/50 chance of getting it wrong..
The actual dimming module is already attached to the drivers, so there's no need to do anything with that.
That's the bridge done. Now to make the extension cables.
Now I can remove everything from the back of the light and mount the drivers and dimmer module on to a piece of plywood; that I can keep outside of the tent. The board can be anything, as long as there is an air gap between the driver and the mounting board. It does not need a separate heatsink. As they are originally mounted with only an air gap..
Now for the big moment. The test
Ok then; here we go.
Sylstar GL4000a driver modification
The Gl400a drivers (transformers) are mounted directly on to the heat sink of the light.
First things first. Choosing the correct cable..
All quality cables have numbers and identification marks printed on them. The driver cables are 2 core, 1.04 mm squared Wire (that's 17AWG, for our imperial cousins). They have a 300volt rating, the sheathing can withstand temperatures of 150°c and it's chemical resistant.
So, I popped to our local electrical supplier and picked up 2500 mm (8' ISH) of the stuff and also 4 pairs of suitable push fit connectors.
The next thing, is choosing the correct tools for the job
Now, all we need to do, is cut the cable between the driver outputs and the led input. Then bridge them back together with the connectors.
They are only wired with 2 core cable, so you have a positive and negative or a black and red. In the UK, we use brown as live and blue as neutral.. if you are colour blind, you have a 50/50 chance of getting it wrong..
The actual dimming module is already attached to the drivers, so there's no need to do anything with that.
That's the bridge done. Now to make the extension cables.
Now I can remove everything from the back of the light and mount the drivers and dimmer module on to a piece of plywood; that I can keep outside of the tent. The board can be anything, as long as there is an air gap between the driver and the mounting board. It does not need a separate heatsink. As they are originally mounted with only an air gap..
Now for the big moment. The test