damnnn my tent is getting hot! its reaching highest temps yet 91-93...I just misted girls and soil really good and turned on my intake fan..I just don't have it hooked up to the filter..maybe the fan will get some of the hot air out>? i can't imagine growing indoors in summer.
New Grower 1st Grow..Here We Go!
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What is the ambient temp outside your tent? I keep my room at 65-71f and my tent stays at 77-80f with only a desk fan and the doors cracked slightly. I do aim the fan at the light but blowing towards the opening in the tent. I can show you pictures of my setup if you want. I am actually setting up my fan and filter this weekend to deal with the smell but its not too bad yet.
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This the ambient temperature outside the tent, correct? That's REALLY warm. Here's the thing heady, you can't take enclosed space like that, stick it in a temperature of 87 degrees average, and expect it to be the same temperature or cooler inside, especially when you've got an HID blasting heat out with no good escape. If there's no place for the heat generated to go, it will just stay in there and cook it like an oven.
The good news is you're already fairly set to do it! Check this out:
See those duct openings on both sides of your hood? The purpose of these is for air cooling, where you hook up flex duct combined with an in-line fan to pull the heat generated from the very hot bulb from the hood and exhaust it somewhere OUTSIDE the tent, preferably AWAY from the tent.
There are a few different way to set this up. You can have a closed lined system, where you have an intake duct (duct pulling air in from outside the tent) that connects to the one side of the hood, then duct leading from the other side of the hood to an exit duct opening. So you're pulling air from OUTSIDE the tent which leads directly to the light which leads to an exit where it exhausts. So all of that air flow never even reaches in the inside of your grow space and all that head is piped directly out. This is really nice to do if you have access to cooler air (like a window or outside port.)
Another method, probably one of the most popular, is to have your extraction fan connected to your carbon scrubber, then from the fan connect it up to the vented hood and exhaust that to the outside. This leads me to my next observation:
We need to fix this; this is an improper way to setup the carbon scrubber. You want the carbon scrubber inside the grow space. Unless your fan air flow direction is different than mine, you also want to reverse the way you have it setup in-line (you want the fan SUCKING AIR THROUGH the scrubber, not blowing into it.) I would also eliminate ALL of that duct in that picture to the right of the fan; you should be able to actually retrofit the fan directly to the scrubber (eliminating the need for duct between the two pieces of equipment altogether.) If they don't quite fit up, take a knife or scissors and cut yourself a very, very short piece of duct to connect the two together (I like using hose/pipe clamps for mine.)
Here's why:
You want the carbon scrubber inside the grow space so you can pull the air through the scrubber. Not only does having the scrubber in the immediate vicinity of the stinking offenders give you more direct contact with the odor causing molecules, it allows us to set up the extraction fan so it's pulling air through the filter.
Do you see the white fabric filter that's on the outside of your carbon scrubber? That's called a pre-filter. The purpose of the pre-filter is to catch larger micron particles, like dust and dirt and other large particulates so that they don't reach the interior of the scrubber, where the activated carbon is. The reason for this is because those larger micron particles will coat the activated carbon, which prevents the odor causing molecules to be properly adsorbed into the micro valleys of the carbon. So effectively, without that pre-filter (or using it to catch those particulates,) you're reducing the efficiency of your scrubber and reducing it's life span.
Pulling air is also more efficient than pushing air in this setup and also reduces the amount of air turbulence created, which in turn reduces the amount of noise generated.
If you look at the second picture with the fan/scrubber, the reason for removing the duct between the fan and scrubber is that every length of duct you add is reducing the effective air flow rate (Cubic Feet per Minute, or CFM) of your fan. Every twist, every bend, every turn, even the scrubber itself adds resistance to the air flow. We want to let that fan run in the most efficient and effective way possible. It's a very rough estimate, by most counts I've seen say nearly 15-20% CFM reduction from the carbon scrubber, and up to 4% CFM reduction per 90 degree bend.
What that means is, if you have an extract fan rated for 240 CFM, and your scrubber is rated for 240 CFM, say you factored in a 15% reduction. 15% of 240 is 36, so 240 - 36 is about 204 CFM. Start adding in some 90 degree bends or a length of duct (the longer the distance of duct air has to travel, the more reduction,) and it starts diminishing further. This important to factor in if you're considering your air exchanges in your tent.
If it were me, I would set it up like this.
Carbon scrubber (inside the grow space, either standing up or mounted up at the ceiling of the grow space if possible) -> Extraction Fan (mounted directly to scrubber if possible) -> flex duct leading to one side of vented hood -> flex duct exiting vented hood leading to duct opening on side of tent, leading away from the tent.
With this setup, you're drawing air from within the tent, right next to your ladies; you're pulling air through the scrubber, letting the pre-filter do it's job; while taking the heat generated by the HPS light and piping it out of the grow space.
I think that alone is going to make a nice difference in temperature right there. I would still look into cooling the space around the grow tent somehow if you could; or even better; if you can or are able, find a way to draw in fresh air from the outside.
Hope that helps out a bit heady! :karma Cloud:
AndyBotwin
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Great catch on the fan/filter setup - I'd rep you if it would let me! I never even noticed that pic with all the ducting. Heady, I grow in a basement with no climate control and I've battled heat many times. Hobbes has you on the right track here. Lots of things with growing are a bit of an art, but temperature and airflow control is all science. You'll need to dot every i and cross every t to make sure you don't fry your precious girls. :Sharing One:
Son that was lots of great information..I gotta get all of this situated and properly set up..Below is a pic of the inline fan I have..Is that the same as an extraction fan you talking about? As far as being able to mount the carbon filter at the top op my tent, I just don't see that as being an option. I have only got 5 plants going now, freebies never sprouted, so I do have room on the tent floor to place the filter up right..
So from there let me see if I am getting this correctly
Filter upright on floor, connected to inline fan.. Now I am for some reason confused which side of the fan I should have the filter connected to..then from there have ducting connecting to other side of fan to hood? then another piece of ducting on other side of hood connected then coming out of the tent?
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Is it possible to cut ducting?
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Is it possible to cut ducting?
So from there let me see if I am getting this correctly
Filter upright on floor, connected to inline fan.. Now I am for some reason confused which side of the fan I should have the filter connected to..then from there have ducting connecting to other side of fan to hood? then another piece of ducting on other side of hood connected then coming out of the tent?
- - - Updated - - -
Is it possible to cut ducting?
- - - Updated - - -
Is it possible to cut ducting?
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Hehe, Hey Heady!
Wow, there's some awesome posts in here!
I love grow room setups - they're like a chinese puzzle until they run sweet!
So if you wanna stick your carbon filter on the floor in the tent (which personally wouldn't work for me as i need floor space for pots)
Voila.
Orrrr
Supposing you wanna keep your floor space
This method isn't as efficient. You will need a more "beefy" out take fan to make this work and Possibly more of a carbon smell is left.
A better way if possible would be to suspend your cabron filter and fan from the ceiling bars of the tent, and use as little ducting as possible to hook them up
In this case, you would want the (for example) filter on the right, fan left of it sucking air though to the left - which goes into ducting and out of the tent.
There's lots of ways to skin a cat (setup a grow space) and there's always a Tweak to be done!
Wow, there's some awesome posts in here!
I love grow room setups - they're like a chinese puzzle until they run sweet!
So if you wanna stick your carbon filter on the floor in the tent (which personally wouldn't work for me as i need floor space for pots)
- Your Carbon filter has a 4inch hole - that should be facing up.
- you shouldbe able to put your fan directly into the hole (air blowing upwards)
- Attach the ducting to the blowing upside of the fan and pull it tight to the hole at the top of your tent.
Voila.
Orrrr
Supposing you wanna keep your floor space
- Ducting from your top vent out to the fan
- Fan blowing INTO the carbon filter (pushing the smelly air out)
This method isn't as efficient. You will need a more "beefy" out take fan to make this work and Possibly more of a carbon smell is left.
A better way if possible would be to suspend your cabron filter and fan from the ceiling bars of the tent, and use as little ducting as possible to hook them up
In this case, you would want the (for example) filter on the right, fan left of it sucking air though to the left - which goes into ducting and out of the tent.
There's lots of ways to skin a cat (setup a grow space) and there's always a Tweak to be done!
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Yes it is!
By "extraction," we're referring to a fan that's extracting air from point A to point B. In this case, point A is carbon scrubber and point B is where ever you can comfortably exhaust the duct to, away from the tent so the warm air is not being pulled back in via passive air intakes or your active air intake.
An in-line fan is a fan that by design is made to fit "in-line" with a duct (usually with cylindrical ports.) The fan you have there is a centrifugal (the type) in-line (because it can in-line with your flex duct) fan, that is acting as your exhaust for your tent. Make sense?
That's fine, I actually set mine upright myself (I have 6" scrubbers and they are gigantic behemoth's, pretty heavy to boot.)
To figure out which side of your fan is the blower (sometimes you're lucky and they put a big arrow on there,) just plug it in. One side is going to suck air and the other side is going to blow it. Don't worry if it's not attached to anything, it's not going to like spin wildly out of control on you or anything.
You would stand the scrubber upright, place the fan on top so the top hole is BLOWING out (air is pushing out in your face like a nice strong breeze on a hot summer day,) so that effectively the bottom hole is drawing air in, and since you've got it attached to the carbon scrubber, it has to draw air in through the scrubber (which is what we want it to do.) Attach flex duct from the blower side of the fan to one side of your vented hood (again, I like using clamps to secure them.) So now, just with this setup, we've got air being pulled through the scrubber and pushing up through the small bit of flex duct to the vented hood. To test it's working, just put your hand up to the one opening left on your hood. Should feel a nice rush of air. Attach another piece of duct to that end of the hood and stick the other end through one of the ported openings you should have in your tent (pretty sure I saw one at the bottom left side of your tent, and they usually have 1 or 2+ at the top of the tent. Attach enough duct that you can pipe the heat somewhere away from your tent.
Yes it is, most flex duct can be pierced with something sharp (like a knife or scissors, safety first!) and then the spiraling wire can be cut with a wire cutter, or if you don't mind mucking up your scissors, the back end (near the pivot) usually provides enough cutting power to get through it with a little finagling.
Alright awesome..thanks so much. I can definitely get this set up properly now..So its okay air blowing like that onto the light? Honestly I thought the hood was just more or less protecting the bulb its self.
Son that's funny you mentioned the fan blowing wildly out of control bc the first time I plugged it in , I totally thought that lol That thing is powerful!!!
Alright well I think I may need an extra clamp or 2, about to start the day and head to grow shop, see if I can pick a few extra up. Ill get this new setup going later today and post new pics to see what you all think.. Thanks again for the help!!! Much appreciated
Son that's funny you mentioned the fan blowing wildly out of control bc the first time I plugged it in , I totally thought that lol That thing is powerful!!!
Alright well I think I may need an extra clamp or 2, about to start the day and head to grow shop, see if I can pick a few extra up. Ill get this new setup going later today and post new pics to see what you all think.. Thanks again for the help!!! Much appreciated
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Should have refreshed this to see if someone had responded haha, good info Blue! 
This is still a viable option for sure; I just (in my opinion) don't think it's the most preferable or effective way based on the science (not that it's ineffective, there's a plethora of grows documented on here that use this same setup, and far be it from me to tell someone not to shove some ingenuity in the face of science haha!)
IF you do go this route, you would want to either purchase an internal pre-filter or make one yourself. Look inside your carbon scrubber, is the inside cylindrical and go pretty much down to the cap at the bottom? An internal pre-filter would also be cylindrical in shape, fitting as much to the inside diameter of the scrubber as possible. That way, when the air is pushing into the filter, it has to pass through the pre-filter first.
And make sure you check your cross bar clips to see if they are metal or plastic. Accidentally snapped some plastic clips while mounting some hardware before (and maybe I was trying to monkey-bar swing on the cross bar, who knows?!) I found it to be really reassuring to take some bungee cords (the stretchy kind with hooks on the end) and stretch them across the frame bars at the top of your tent. I do this on all my tents; it adds a lot of strength to the frame and I trust the tensile strength of several bungee cords a lot more than I do the seemingly thing metal rods that came with my tents. Just a tip if you want to try it out yourself!
It sounds complicated but once you start you'll see it's not at hard as it seems! :Sharing One:Looking forward to seeing your plan in action heady, let us know how it goes and let's see those pictures! We'll help you with any questions!
This is still a viable option for sure; I just (in my opinion) don't think it's the most preferable or effective way based on the science (not that it's ineffective, there's a plethora of grows documented on here that use this same setup, and far be it from me to tell someone not to shove some ingenuity in the face of science haha!)
IF you do go this route, you would want to either purchase an internal pre-filter or make one yourself. Look inside your carbon scrubber, is the inside cylindrical and go pretty much down to the cap at the bottom? An internal pre-filter would also be cylindrical in shape, fitting as much to the inside diameter of the scrubber as possible. That way, when the air is pushing into the filter, it has to pass through the pre-filter first.
And make sure you check your cross bar clips to see if they are metal or plastic. Accidentally snapped some plastic clips while mounting some hardware before (and maybe I was trying to monkey-bar swing on the cross bar, who knows?!) I found it to be really reassuring to take some bungee cords (the stretchy kind with hooks on the end) and stretch them across the frame bars at the top of your tent. I do this on all my tents; it adds a lot of strength to the frame and I trust the tensile strength of several bungee cords a lot more than I do the seemingly thing metal rods that came with my tents. Just a tip if you want to try it out yourself!
It sounds complicated but once you start you'll see it's not at hard as it seems! :Sharing One:Looking forward to seeing your plan in action heady, let us know how it goes and let's see those pictures! We'll help you with any questions!
Alright well I thought I had it all together but turns out diameter is larger on the sides of the hood than my ducting I have..the ducting fits perfect on the 4'' fan but the sides of the hood are def. bigger..humm any way to make this work..I am thinking i can just get bigger ducting to fit sides of hood then just make sure its super secure around the fan ?!?!
I am super broke, so I wont be able to afford even ducting til Friday..I just added a bit more fresh soil and watered them well.
If I am not really having any run off in the trays does that mean I should be watering more?
Hoping they will be alright for a few more days in these conditions..
Here's a pic of the leader of the pack..Not really much height happening with any of them but she has definitely grown the most as far as leaves are concerned..
IT is Day 13 from sprouts
I am super broke, so I wont be able to afford even ducting til Friday..I just added a bit more fresh soil and watered them well.
If I am not really having any run off in the trays does that mean I should be watering more?
Hoping they will be alright for a few more days in these conditions..
Here's a pic of the leader of the pack..Not really much height happening with any of them but she has definitely grown the most as far as leaves are concerned..
IT is Day 13 from sprouts
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