I just recently ordered the new Hydrogen water cooled CO2 generator from Hydro Innovations... after seeing the footage on YouTube I could not resist. Now that it is here, the installation is a bit challenging - there are numerous installation options available but they all present pros and cons.

Anybody with first hand experience in the real world?

Before I go the chiller route, I would love to hear of success people have had with 55 gallon resi's or smaller - with passive cooling.

I can't be the first one to have one of these things, can I? haha

Not sure if this helps but I race snowmobiles on an asphalt track in the summer, So I built a small cooler that consists of an ATV radiator and a high performance electric fan(for drag cars) and a reservoir (20 gallon Igloo cooler) The fan is mounted to the radiator and blows through to cool off the coolant being pumped through inside. A small pump circulates the coolant and fills the snowmobile via quick connect fittings installed in the snowmobiles cooling lines. This is done after every run down the track as Snowmobiles dont have radiators they have Heat exchangers that are usually sprayed with snow under the track of the machine. After a run my coolant can be near 190f . Most of the time when I change out the coolant it is near or lower than the air temp that its in.

I also use a product called WATTER WETTER which acts as a wetting agent allowing the fluid to cool much faster than if it were plain old water. You can get this at any automotive store by the additives. Just add a few oz per gallon of coolant. It works miracles

Sorry for the banter but thats what I know about cooling outside of buying a water chiller which can cost a pretty penny.

I just bought one yesterday and I'm not sure what style water pump is needed. The you tube video says must have 15' of lift. Is this accurate? If so I'll need a sump pump not just standard water pump. Any help would be great.

There are several style pumps that will create 15' of lift. Some pumps that will work are the Little Giant wizard, Mag 7, and you can even use a 1/6 th hp flotec submersible pump from the Home Depot (best deal for $75, can get online).

The radiator and fan is a great way to inexpensively remove heat. Hydro Innovations is going to offer a radiator and fan combo in the next month or so that will sell for about $150, its 10" x 6" x 2.5" with two high power energy efficient fans.

The trick with any heat exchanger used for the HydroGEN is that you want to install it inline on the exiting hot water line. With the super heated water running through the radiator the fans are able to remove loads of heat using very little electricity. The alternative way of installing the heat exchanger would be to have it on a closed loop cooling the reservoir instead. Using this second method is only about half as effective at removing the heat unless you are able to blow very cold air over it.

As far as just using a 55 gallon res, go for it. The worst thing that will happen is that the water will get hot. It won't hurt the unit at all and the water should have time to cool back down before your lights turn back on.

If your grow room is small and semi-sealed you probably won't have any trouble using just a barrel. You can always add a chiller or a heat exchanger later.

Your not the only lucky one!!!----the 55 res will heat up but cool down at lights off---you can also build a box fan into the top of your res for cooling---this has been done with great success with the water-cooled-lights.

water wetter is a product made from simple ingrediants----liquid soap/ and glycol or sugar water. Again many simple ways to use the hydrogen--I use a very small energy effeciant 1/15 prime chiller that runs on 126watts/1.26amp and handles 120 to 140 liter or 40 gallons---I purchased the chiller from petmountain on sale for 269.95.

Go online and search----"best price mag drive 7"---I picked mine up for 69.95 delivered you might find one cheaper---maby ebay.

thanks for the info.
or just a box fan on top of the res for 20.00.

If anyone need help on the install---let me know....

Was curious how this unit turned out for you? Anybody use this and have good or negative results, input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all for your replies!!! I posted this thread and was unable to find it!!! The search would not pull it up!!! Dr - thanks for your replies on another post regarding the Hydrogen.

It does work well! But I have moved it to a smaller, tighter room and I need to get creative on the cooling - again!

Chillers in our future fo sho!! Let me know if you start a thread about chillers or know of a good one.

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