4x4 tent trouble

nsb823

Well-Known Member
Sorry I've been extremely busy I'll try to respond to everyone one at a time on my phone right now
 

nsb823

Well-Known Member
Is your ballast dimmable?
Can you use a lower power bulb on that ballast?

I have a 600w hps but growing indoors it makes way to much heat, so I always ran it dimmed at 75% power. Then my temps were a lot more manageable and I didn't have to run the A/C 24/7.
Thank for your input so last year at the grow expo I spoke to a hortilux rep about dimmable ballasts and they advised me not dim a bulb lower then it's rating cause you will lose lumens and not get the full spectrum. But to answer your question yes my ballast is dimmable.
 

nsb823

Well-Known Member
With fans, blowing or sucking doesn't effect or change the efficiency. A lot would argue blowing is actually better but who knows. You'll have to break out that other fan unless you can vent cold air in to the tent like skyrocket said, that would be your best option
So I solved my problem by having the window cracked at all times and having it covered with eclipse black out blinds to block light and sound to the outside!
 

nsb823

Well-Known Member
Not sure what your current situation is but tents are a bit tricky to use. Haven't used one in years myself. Your options to control environment are limited.

Typically what I did in the past was to leave the doors open on the tent during lights on. This will dramatically lower your temps. Keep your can fan going to cool your lights at the same time. You need to crack that bedroom window to regulate the entire room temperature or hook up an intake from another cold air source. Close your tent door during lights off but still keep that can fan going to regulate humidity in the tent. You could also throw a dehumidifier in that room for night time use if needed. Just monitor your room temp and RH and act accordingly. Chances are the cold air from outside coming thru the window will keep you in a tolerable range without need for a dehumidifier. Your might even need a humidifier if RH gets to low.

Good luck
Thanks for your input I did solve my problem by keeping the windows cracked!
 

nsb823

Well-Known Member
This. Your room will cool when your fan is at the end of your run after everything. You also are pulling air through your carbon filter too fast with your current set up
So I went back to a one fan setup you think that'll still be too much for my carbon?
 

nsb823

Well-Known Member
I noticed that when my probe was in direct light. it reported much higher readings. I think the light warms up the probe. Taking temps from the top of the hood will throw off the temps as well.

With what you have, a single 6-inch fan should work. Taking the fan out of the tent will remove some of the heat too.

You can buy a fan muffler and use insulated ducting to reduce the noise. Also, insulate any post-light ducting. Feel how much heat comes off that part of the duct. Gets pretty warm.

Use a small fan pointed right under the hood. Heat will accumulate there.

I didn't recall seeing any oscillating fans running. Maybe I missed them. But they are essential to circulation, which will dissipate standing heat.

The other option is to run a dedicated fan and ducting for your hood. The way I did it was to have ducting draw cool air from under the house, then exhaust it with the shortest duct possible. Both the intake and exhaust are external air and will help remove much of the heat caused by the light. Then you could probably just use a 4" inline fan to draw in ambient room air and exhaust it outside or even right back into the same room if its air conditioned.

I'm rambling now after a big vape, but I hope you find some help in what I wrote. I've fought high temps in some rough situations. Much worse than what you have available. With that cool of a room, there's no reason you can't keep a 600w cool.
I moved my thermometers and added a oscillating fab now where is the best spot for my thermometers? I took out the 2nd inline fan and will upload a new video I have a window cracked at all times and it keeps temps regulated
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
I moved my thermometers and added a oscillating fab now where is the best spot for my thermometers? I took out the 2nd inline fan and will upload a new video I have a window cracked at all times and it keeps temps regulated
You should be able to place them at various spots. The external probe should be attached (or taped) to the hood so it hangs at the distance where you can no longer feel the direct heat from the light on the back of your hand. Usually about 18" to 24" for 600w and 36" > for 1k

Where the probe hangs should tell you the distance your light should be to the top of your canopy.


If you have a small fan blowing blowing in the space right under your hood it'll remove any standing heat. Heat will build up there if not constantly circulated.
 

nsb823

Well-Known Member
You should be able to place them at various spots. The external probe should be attached (or taped) to the hood so it hangs at the distance where you can no longer feel the direct heat from the light on the back of your hand. Usually about 18" to 24" for 600w and 36" > for 1k

Where the probe hangs should tell you the distance your light should be to the top of your canopy.


If you have a small fan blowing blowing in the space right under your hood it'll remove any standing heat. Heat will build up there if not constantly circulated.
So as far as feeling heat on back of my hand idea if I am just used to hot temps or what but I only feel it about 12 inches away. I have my hood 20 inches above my plants. Here is a video of current setup.

vid.me/XsX1


Shout to astronaut rob for the bungee cord comment works great!
 

intenseneal

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone,

I setup my new 4x4 grow tent earlier this week and powered it up to dial in my temp before I start my grow. Well turns out originally I was getting temperatures of 85 to 87. I spoke to a local grown shop and he told me it was cause of my in line fan being subpar so I replaced my active air 6 inch with a max fan pro series 6 inch which in turn only helped by 1 to 2 degrees at then most. So I decided maybe I should buy new ducting rather them the crap I had from lowes that was 6 years old but never used. Luckily it lowered my temp I had a steady 77 on top of my hood and 79.1 on the floor 3 hours later the tent climbed over 80 it's currently been on almost 5 hours I got 82.9 on top of hood 84.9 floor.

So here's a break down the room that the tent is in was 65 before the tent came on the setup is

4x4x72 lighthouse hydroponic tent
600w hps
6 inch max fan pro series

Ventilation setup
Carbon filter - (pull) fan (push) - duct - light - exhaust out door (door cracked just enough for vent to go into hall)
Currently the carbon filter is disconnected since it is a 4 inch carbon filter with a 6 to 4 flange I figured at first that may have have been the cause.


So I think I may know what my problem is but would like some insight to see if anyone comes up with something different.

I am thinking I may have to run a active intake instead of the passive vents on the bottom I believe the vents that are open on the tent are reflecting off my white walls and heating up the room the tent is in thus raising my Temps any ideas?
And if this is what I need can I get away with a 4 inch intake and how much come would I need?

Please help thanks in advance!
Thats odd. My 4x4 tent with 600w vented hood, 190cfm 4" fan and 12" carbon filter keeps temps around 77-80 with lights on. Room temp is 72-74 most of the time. Run your i take to an ac duct so the coolest air possible can get it.
 

kermit2692

Well-Known Member
You should be able to find an exact cfm you want to run your fan at for your particular filter however if it's between temperature and smell I'd more harshly regulate the temp any day..i like to use an ir heat gun fifteen bucks on amazon, will tell you the exact surface temp of your plants, walls, bulb, reflector, etc
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
So as far as feeling heat on back of my hand idea if I am just used to hot temps or what but I only feel it about 12 inches away. I have my hood 20 inches above my plants. Here is a video of current setup.

vid.me/XsX1


Shout to astronaut rob for the bungee cord comment works great!
12" is not all that surprising during the Winter. With good circulation, this is the result. Means you're removing a lot of heat from the hood. 20" should be perfect.

The back of your hand test is a common method of determining where your hood heat extends to.
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
Here is a video of current setup.

vid.me/XsX1
Hey, that's a great setup you got going. Very clean and everything looks perfect. With the plants that young you probably want to get your hood up to about 30" or so. Too much light isn't so good for the little ones.
 

nsb823

Well-Known Member
Hey, that's a great setup you got going. Very clean and everything looks perfect. With the plants that young you probably want to get your hood up to about 30" or so. Too much light isn't so good for the little ones.
Thank you! I try not to skimp out with cheep quality equipment an do quality work when I put things together. I'll take the box out from under the plants to give more distance they haven't showed any negative signs.
 

NVGrower

Well-Known Member
You need colder air going through your hood. I run my lights at night and pull 50-60* F air from outside the garage through an exhaust in the wall. Keeps the temp right under the light about 4 inch away at 79* F
 

nsb823

Well-Known Member
You need colder air going through your hood. I run my lights at night and pull 50-60* F air from outside the garage through an exhaust in the wall. Keeps the temp right under the light about 4 inch away at 79* F
Thank for your input but this has already been resolved
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
Thank you! I try not to skimp out with cheep quality equipment an do quality work when I put things together. I'll take the box out from under the plants to give more distance they haven't showed any negative signs.
I'm with you. I learned the hard way that if it ain't worth doing right, it ain't worth doing :-)
 

nsb823

Well-Known Member
Is it normal for a little charcoal to come through my can filter and get trapped in my hood ontop of the glass or is it cause my fans to powerful
 

blackforest

Well-Known Member
Is it normal for a little charcoal to come through my can filter and get trapped in my hood ontop of the glass or is it cause my fans to powerful
A 6" fan on a 4" filter is a bit much, sounds like it's extracting some carbon from the filter!
Glad to hear you got your heat issue worked out. I noticed that the more fans I have inside my tent (oscillating, regular fans) the closer I can keep the inside temps to the outside temps. I actually got the tent 1 degree cooler than the outside room and that is running 3x 600w lights in a 4x8 with one 440 cfm fan. Filter>Fan>Lights>Exhaust out of window. Inside I have a 8" honeywell fan, a tower fan, and a 16" king air. I also run my filter/fan 24/7. If you don't get a filter rated to your cfm, it basically won't work and could get smelly.
 
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