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GrowFAQ : Lighting

What is a suncircle? (circular light mover)

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Contributed by : Erliquin

Suncircle Light Balancer for the indoor grower.

What is a suncircle?

Made by American
Hydroponics, it is a 360 degree rotating light balancer.
It will rotate a single lamp or lamps and even of mixed
wattage and type over a crop profile in continuous
fashion without flex getting tangled. The advantage it
gives is a more even profile coupled with greater
efficiency of the lights used. They come in three colors
and three styles.

Yellow.
Purple.
Green.

As said, they come in three styles and they are
the 1LRS (One Light Rotating System), the 2LRS (Two
Light Rotating System) and finally the 3LRS (Three Light
Rotating System). For the sake of this document, the
discussion will be on a purple 3LRS.

Avoid the green model as it has a light weight
yet weak chassis and can break away from the ceiling
mount. I know this from experience. Chose the yellow or
purple models as they can truly take the weight of low
bays which means remote bays will be a cinch. I have
used the yellow 2LRS and yellow 3LRS as well as the
purple 3LRS with satisfaction. Although heavier to
handle, the solid construction makes all the difference.
It is vital that a suncircle has inherent structural
integrity as lamps and a suncircle crashing down onto a
crop below would be a disaster. The purple 3LRS is rated
at 9kg (20lb) per arm load bearing.

It is
equally important that it is mounted to a ceiling with
sufficient load bearing. Check the joist or frame with a
few chin-ups. If it can take that, then a suncircle will
be safe to mount. Always over engineer in the
construction of a grow room.

This document will
also outline how to wire a suncircle, what a suncircle
consists of as in components, their maintenance as well
as ceiling mounting.

If considering the purchase
of a suncircle, it will consist of the suncircle, a set
of bull arms with extention arms, including low bay
bracket mounts and cord with pulleys for the lamps. It
will be expected that you use flex from your HID systems
to set the suncircle up. That's easy as this document
will detail.

Note: The cord and pulleys that
come with a suncircle are ridiculous. Far safer and
easier to use chain with dog collar clips. You won't get
electrocuted as one should always wear rubber soled
shoes in a grow room. It is after all a plant workshop
and not a fun parlor.

Note: Suncircles do not
come with male and female plugs for your hats. You must
buy a pair of female and male plugs for each hat you
wish to use with your suncircle. I will discuss this
shortly.

Note: The extension arms that come with
the bull arms have not been employed as I like to keep
my light concentrated so the crop is full of solid bud.
The extension arms simply slot into the bull arms and
increase the over all arm stretch by double. Depending
on model, suncircle arms can come in box aluminum or box
galvanized steel. The ones shown in this document are
aluminum.

Photograph showing clearance of a 3LRS suncircle
on a ceiling grow room exhaust with bull arms pointing
down. If one has a low ceiling without ceiling exhaust
encumbrance, the bull arms can be positioned facing up,
giving extra height on the hats to garden below. In
either configuration of bull arm use, always make sure
you secure bull arms firmly with the screws provided in
the bull arm mounts.

Please note that all styles of suncircle will
have different mounting plates so the holes on the
plates will not correspond to the ceiling mount
alignment you might have from another model. If so, then
make a plate that will accommodate varied styles by
lining up the plate at the hydroponics shop. This will
give one the advantage of borrowing a suncircle from the
hydroponics shop of purchase, if and when you have a
problem with your suncircle for prompt garden
installation and bearing you have good will with the
hydroponics folks. You will note in this picture that
there's holes in this aluminum plate to accommodate
three styles of suncircle. So make the ceiling mount
with two plates. One set permanently to the ceiling that
holds the fasting bolts and the other you can take to
the shop for easy measurements.

In this picture, the suncircle is fully wired
and flex attached. Short of being ceiling mounted, bull
arms attached and connected off to hats/ballasts and
with the power on, it is fully operational as can be
seen in this photograph.

Please note, that the
suncircle is actually upside down, as the ceiling
mounting plate is sitting on a tiled floor -- so imagine
that the tiled floor is a ceiling. You can see the black
cord that brings power to the the suncircle motor. Note
the three flex cords on the junction box located near
the ceiling mounting plate for the HID ballasts and the
three flex female plugged lines from the other junction
house for the hats.

A closer look at the suncircle and again without
the attached bull arms. It's actually the other side of
the suncircle not seen in the first photograph. For the
sake of ease to photograph, the suncircle is again
upside down with the ceiling mounting plate resting on a
kitchen sink. Note the two junction houses, electric
motor, brush points, ceiling mount plate, bull arm
mounts with securing screws and flex for lamps and
ballasts which lead off from the two junction houses. I
will discuss these shortly.

A close look at a junction house with junction
housing plate removed. This junction house is the one
that takes the flex from the ballasts. It is identical
in wiring to the junction house that takes the flex to
the hats.

It is a good idea to write in
indelible pen at each flex entry point what station it
is. In the case of this 3LRS, there's three stations per
junction house. Not only will this make it make it
easier in the wiring of the suncircle, it will ensure
that the two junction houses are identical in all
regards.

Ensure that the flex is held secure
with the suncircle junction house clamps as seen in the
photograph. You want no wires inside junction caps
coming lose from flex being pulled due to insecure hold
as that can cause short circuit. I will discuss wiring
shortly.

The suncircle with ceiling mounting plate
removed exposing the interior mechanics in relation to
the external electric motor.

Note: Because a
suncircle has to be taken down so you can inspect and
lubricate the inner workings, you must set the suncircle
up in your grow with intention that it will come down in
an ongoing basis. So think carefully on how you will
ceiling mount it. It may seem silly to say, but do not
for example, set it so the nuts to the mounting bolts
can only be accessed from the crawl space of a roof.
Always have the nuts on the bolts facing downwards to
the grow below.

A closer view of the internal mechanics.

It's simply a drive shaft from the motor to a
central cog which in turn rotates the central core. It
is advisable every twelve months to take the suncircle
down and remove the ceiling mounting plate and grease
the drive shaft and the central cog. This can be seen in
the photograph with an evident blue residue of fresh
grease. Ordinary automotive grease is sufficient.

Note: When in operation, do not force the
suncircle. Doing so can cause misalignment of the drive
shaft to the central cog which will result in the
suncircle not rotating.

In this suncircle shown,
one garden rotation happens every 4 minutes and 20
seconds, so a little patience is needed if a hat happens
to be in the way when inspecting a plant.

A view of the suncircle motor.

Note: It
needs an oiling every month and you can see the oil well
on the side of the motor. Sewing machine oil is
sufficient. Just a few drops is all that's needed.

A look at the brushes of the suncircle. Note:
Some people refer to brushes as bushes. Simple to remove
with a flat head screwdriver from the brush points.

A closer look at the brushes.

Being that
the rectangular prism is copper it will wear out before
the central core will and this is intentional in design
so the suncircle has a long working life. Brushes are
cheap but a worn core equals a dead suncircle. However,
it is advisable to inspect the brushes along with your
once every twelve months check. Give the brushes a light
sanding on contact end if dirty from carbon. This will
ensure that there's adequate contact so circuit is
effected.

If ballasts are in working order as
well as lamps and you note lamps failing to charge or
failing to fully charge and your suncircle wiring is
correct, it may be poor contact with a brush.

When needing to inspect a suncircle or taking
down a suncircle, you must switch off all HID's with
allowance to five minutes discharge time for the HID
capacitors. That will not only insure a sound working
life of the capacitors, it will prevent potential
electrocution. Then pull the HID plugs from the wall as
well as the suncircle motor plug. Now it is safe to
inspect the brushes. A suncircle with i.e. 3000w of HID
is not a toy and it can deliver a lethal electrocution.
Treat all use of a suncircle with care. If the brushes
appear in working order, then you will need to take down
the suncircle and inspect the junction houses for
possible lose wires. If all appears normal and you know
for a fact that your ballasts and lamps are in working
order, you will have to take the suncircle back to where
you bought it for service. Only a qualified electrician
should service a suncircle.

Wiring Guide -- picture showing an open and
wired junction house with earth junction cap removed.

Once having purchased a suncircle, you have two
choices. You allow the shop to wire your suncircle or
you do it yourself if you have no problems with some
basic DIY sparky work (electrical work). Doing it
yourself brings several advantages.

* It can
save you some money by not shelling to a hydroponics
store technician.

* You can get on with your
project immediately.

* You will become familiar
with how the suncircle operates.

* You will be
confident to attend to minor trouble shooting yourself.

* You will be able to cut the flex to exact
lengths based on what lengths are needed in your grow
room -- a task not easy to do when in a hydroponics
shop. The less length in flex from suncircle to ballasts
and suncircle to hats the better, as there's loss to
resistance in circuit in excessive flex.

If you
do decide to wire it yourself, you must do so correctly.
One must ensure that all wiring to the two junction
houses is exact to both junction houses. Failure to do
so will cause a short circuit which could not only
damage the suncircle, it could damage the HID ballast
and lamp. A very costly mistake to make. Fortunately
correct wiring is a simple task of following exactly a
chosen color combination of the wires inside the
junction houses.

Now it would be pointless
showing each and every wiring step of colored wires in
sequence, as it would simply be a series of photographs
of confusing "electrical entrails". So a text worded
description is best.

The following example is
how I wired this suncircle. In this example, it is a
3LRS and in lesser armed suncircles, there's simply less
wiring to do. The only important issue, other than
ensuring all wiring to both junction houses is
identical, is that the earth (green wires) is all set to
the one junction cap. Green is always earth.

Note: All wiring is to be held by junction caps
of approved safety standard. The junction caps that came
with this suncircle were inferior and I replaced them
immediately with what you see, which meet ASA in
Australia. This is most important as wires coming lose
from junction caps when suncircle is in operation could
cause a disastrous short circuit.

When wiring,
strip back 7.5 cm (3 inches) of outer flex insulation
and 1.5cm (2/3 of an inch) of inner core insulation. It
should come with your HID kits.

Note: If in the
case of a 3LRS as this one is, you will need 14 junction
caps.

Lamp 1.
Blue wire to Black wire of
suncircle.
Brown wire to Red wire of suncircle.

Lamp 2.
Blue wire to White and Blue stripe
wire of suncircle.
Brown wire to White and Red
stripe wire of suncircle.

Lamp 3.
Blue wire
to Blue wire of suncircle.
Brown wire to White and
Blue stripe wire of suncircle.

All green wires
joined to one junction cap.

The above is
repeated again exactly in the second junction house.

You could chose any other combination of colored
wire to colored wire, as long as both junction houses
are identical in wiring and again at risk of repeating,
that all green wires are always to one junction cap.
It's also probable that the colors that I've spoken of
will vary, as they did in my experience on 2LRS and 3LRS
yellow models. No problem, just make sure both junction
houses are identical to the color code you chose.

Looking at the photograph provided, you can see
the green earth is four wires in total with the junction
cap taken off to demonstrate. The fourth green wire is
the suncircle earth as the three green wires are from
the three HID flex.

Aside how the suncircle is ceiling mounted, it
should also be center of your grow footprint. The old
3,4,5 math will do that. That is, 3 squared plus 4
squared equals 5 squared, which will give you a right
angle so you can footprint section a square from a
rectangular room. Then suspend a plumb bob at central
point and you will know the central floor point if
needed i.e. to square out where the reflectors of your
grow will go.

Equally important is making sure
that the suncircle is level in mount. Simple tighten or
loosen the bolt nuts on the ceiling mount plate till
level. You can if unsure, inspect with a spirit level by
laying it across the bull arms. This will ensure that
there's no strain placed on the suncircle motor when
system is in rotation.

Another view of the suncircle ceiling mounted
and now awaiting the hats to be attached. Use cup hooks
to tie off the ballast flex to ceiling and position the
hat flex on the bull arms.

As seen in the
photograph, it is a wise idea when attaching and wiring
your flex to the suncircle to use female plugs from the
suncircle and male plugs from the hats. This allows fast
removal and setup of your hats. Often times suncircles
on display in hydroponics shops will not have female and
male plugs set on suncircle to hats. That's perfectly
fine for a shop display, not very practical for growing
operation.

I will repeat stating this important
point. Always use female plugs from the suncircle and
male plugs from the hats or risk electrocution by errant
contact to active male points. Use common sense.

Equally important.
If using a mixed lamp
configuration of Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium
and/or different wattages such as 400w and 1000w, always
mark clearly with an indelible pen on the female plugs
from the suncircle which are which. That way you will
avoid plugging in a hat to the wrong ballast.

Final picture of a marijuana crop with suncircle
and lamps in action.

Last modified: 01:24 - Jul 12,
2002

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