h8popo
Well-Known Member
i have thought about it... might try panty hose before the bulb. but, as long as you keep up on it. it shouldnt be a problem. it takes 2mins to clean it. its really the least of my worries.
Do You Have A Cool Tube/Air Scrubber Combo?
- Thread starter 7th1der
- Start date
BCtrippin
Well-Known Member
Anyone who is worried about Carbon Dust dulling their reflectors and Bulbs isnt installing their filters properly. The first thing you do when you get a carbon filter is shake the shit out of it to loosen up the settled carbon, hook up a fan, and blow out all the dust. Once its hung in final position you should give it a good shake again.
You can also use Prefilters....That IS what they are for.
You can also use Prefilters....That IS what they are for.
7th1der
Well-Known Member
Where can I get the fan?
Willy Nilly
Active Member
that would be more efficient if you had 90 degree elbows put on the cool tube... everytime you turn on the fan the flex hose bunches up and slows down the air. That will work fin with small powered lights and a little room... but the best way is to get your air from outside to cool the bulb and not pull air from the room.... but if thats what you have to work with is much better than a bare bulb.
grass master 09
Active Member
I would somewhat agree. However, you better be careful and filter incoming air from any chance of heavy moisture making it from the inlet to the lightbulb. It should also be screened off to avoid rodent entry. The contraction of the hose should be temporary and is an indication of Kick @$$ cfm. Any bends or deviation from a straight line is a reduction in CFMs. If the hose remains collapsed then you need a larger filter or a lower CFM fan because to much vacuum on a fan will drastically shorten its life and possible cause a fire. As far as carbon dust on the bulb and reflector. Any dust will hold heat so get rid of it. Someone said the prefilter will stop it but that is slightly backwards. The prefilter as many of us know is to block larger micron particles from the intake side of the carbon filter. IE. PRE-Filter. a stocking will reduce CFMs again and could cause hose collapse again. Blow the filter out with an airgun as best you can and that will help. The set up is very nice. However,if you ever want to go to CO2 you will have to rethink the light venting to balance co levels and not just suck it out through the light. Again nice set up.
BCtrippin
Well-Known Member
Vacuum on a fan wont cause a fire. Shitty unsafe wiring, and hazardous setups cause fires.
My statement about pre filters, "You can also use Prefilters....That IS what they are for", I said for carbon dust pre filters can be used, that is what they are for. I was referring to the fact that you can buy and use pre filters for other things other that your carbon scrubbers. You can use pre filters on your intake, and your one of those people who are worried about dust you could install a prefilter between your carbon filter and your lights.
grass master 09
Active Member
Vacuum on a fan wont cause a fire. Shitty unsafe wiring, and hazardous setups cause fires. My statement about pre filters, "You can also use Prefilters....That IS what they are for", I said for carbon dust pre filters can be used, that is what they are for. I was referring to the fact that you can buy and use pre filters for other things other that your carbon scrubbers. You can use pre filters on your intake, and your one of those people who are worried about dust you could install a prefilter between your carbon filter and your lights.Sorry trippin. Wasn't starting shit. Just misunderstood your statement. The post didn't state use the prefilter inside the line. I would have just called it filter because the prefix caused the confusion. I obviously caused confusion when I talked about a fan causing a fire. If you have vacuum created from a fan and not a vacuum pump than the the fan is under a load that it is not made do designed to support. If you overload a device it will fail at some point. When it does, one possible effect is an electrical fire caused by the excessive load on the motor. As for the dust, that was a question from another member asking a question about possible effects. Unless we grow in a down draft paint booth we will all have it and I personally am not concerned. Comments like "you are one of those people" don't belong in a public forum where people are here to share ideas and opinions in an open forum. Just science and my own opinion. Sorry again
7th1der
Well-Known Member
In your opinion would it be advised to use PVC instead of flexible foil ducting outside of the box?I would somewhat agree. However, you better be careful and filter incoming air from any chance of heavy moisture making it from the inlet to the lightbulb. It should also be screened off to avoid rodent entry. The contraction of the hose should be temporary and is an indication of Kick @$$ cfm. Any bends or deviation from a straight line is a reduction in CFMs. If the hose remains collapsed then you need a larger filter or a lower CFM fan because to much vacuum on a fan will drastically shorten its life and possible cause a fire. As far as carbon dust on the bulb and reflector. Any dust will hold heat so get rid of it. Someone said the prefilter will stop it but that is slightly backwards. The prefilter as many of us know is to block larger micron particles from the intake side of the carbon filter. IE. PRE-Filter. a stocking will reduce CFMs again and could cause hose collapse again. Blow the filter out with an airgun as best you can and that will help. The set up is very nice. However,if you ever want to go to CO2 you will have to rethink the light venting to balance co levels and not just suck it out through the light. Again nice set up.
BCtrippin
Well-Known Member
No need for appoligies, I understand what your saying.Sorry trippin. Wasn't starting shit. Just misunderstood your statement. The post didn't state use the prefilter inside the line. I would have just called it filter because the prefix caused the confusion. I obviously caused confusion when I talked about a fan causing a fire. If you have vacuum created from a fan and not a vacuum pump than the the fan is under a load that it is not made do designed to support. If you overload a device it will fail at some point. When it does, one possible effect is an electrical fire caused by the excessive load on the motor. As for the dust, that was a question from another member asking a question about possible effects. Unless we grow in a down draft paint booth we will all have it and I personally am not concerned. Comments like "you are one of those people" don't belong in a public forum where people are here to share ideas and opinions in an open forum. Just science and my own opinion. Sorry again
When I say prefilter, Im referring to the HoneyWell Prefilters that people use for DIY carbon filters.
And when I say "if you are one of those people" It means just that and nothing more. Im not saying people who worry about dust are wrong, IMO its just something you dont have to stress about, every grow room has dust, its just a matter of how much you clean it.
grass master 09
Active Member
I wouldn't use pvc for a few reasons. 1st is the fact that it is too limiting to run rigid anything. You will find that as your plant needs change so will the preferred placement of the light. IE light movers or rail movers will become a challenge to exhaust. Ideally you would want the smoothest and straightest possible line to maximise CFM usage for the scrubber. I have not seen many rooms including my own that are 100% efficient. It is just a challenge to make improvements when ever you can afford or rethink your operation. I ask myself every time I step into my room " How can I make this better? " That is why I spend so much time here. I look at every member here as a fellow lab tech. We all try to hasten our learning curve to save money and maximize yields. I will never know enough about this hobby but I learn so much more every day.
7th1der
Well-Known Member
I can relate to the "how can I make my room better". lol Right now, I'm trying to get my odor under control. As far as fans I have 2 PC Fans but only utilizing one at the moment for out take at the top.
Will I need something stronger than a PC fan if I wanted to add a scrubber?
Will I need something stronger than a PC fan if I wanted to add a scrubber?
grass master 09
Active Member
Yes, if you are running the setup in the beginning of this post. Scrubber through cooltube through fan. Every filter has a cfm rating on them. It also seems that every filter manufacturer has their own formula to figure everything out. Math that would effect CFM flow would be length of hose, Diameter of hose, bends and or any other restriction like a cool tube sockets. Bottom line is everything is not an exact science in growing. Everyone of us has different needs and it becomes an educated guess as to the best solutions. For the setup shown in the beginning I would need the size of the room to figure out sq. cu. ft then the desired room exchange. If you are not in bloom your odor should be minimal. IE.. scrubber off. I personally I don't cool my tube with the air from my room. It is warmer than I would like. I have a dedicated fan "160 CFM" just for my 1K cooltube. Works very well in my 512 sq.cu.ft. room.
K1Ng5p4d3
Junior Creatologist
check out my latest grow, the link is in my sig. Theres two grows in the journal though - my 1st ever grow, done with a cardboard box and CFLs, and then my 2nd and current grow, done with a 600w MH/HPS Cooltube system in a 2x4x5 tent. Everything works really well, and the Cooltube and fan works so well that i actually ended up upgrading to a 1000w ballast and bulb, not having to upgrade my 480cfm blower that i was running through the tube. other than the seeds i bought, the cooltube was the best investment of the entire grow. i recommend getting one to anybody who is interested.
My only regret however was not picking up the 24" cooltube, as opposed to the 19" tube that i bought. I couldnt find the premium cooltube when i was looking for it at the time, and i think it would have worked much better for me. For my next grow i think ill be picking up one or two Dual Cooltubes so i can run two lights out of the same reflector, while only needing one blower per tube. Anyway, sorry if im jacking your thread with my babble. The Tube rocks man, i wouldnt trade it for the world
--one more thing though, about your most recent question, YES, you would definitely need to get something stronger than a pc fan if you wanted to run a Carbon filter and cool off your lighting system with the same fan. In my case i have the Carbon filter hooked up, and then ducting running to the other side of my tent, followed by the Blower, which is sucking air out of the filter, and then blowing the air through more ducting, through the cooltube, and then out the exhaust. The air exchange rate is pretty good, and if your going to be running the scrubber and the light with the same fan, your going to want to have a high air exchange rate to keep the stale air out of the room.
My only regret however was not picking up the 24" cooltube, as opposed to the 19" tube that i bought. I couldnt find the premium cooltube when i was looking for it at the time, and i think it would have worked much better for me. For my next grow i think ill be picking up one or two Dual Cooltubes so i can run two lights out of the same reflector, while only needing one blower per tube. Anyway, sorry if im jacking your thread with my babble. The Tube rocks man, i wouldnt trade it for the world
--one more thing though, about your most recent question, YES, you would definitely need to get something stronger than a pc fan if you wanted to run a Carbon filter and cool off your lighting system with the same fan. In my case i have the Carbon filter hooked up, and then ducting running to the other side of my tent, followed by the Blower, which is sucking air out of the filter, and then blowing the air through more ducting, through the cooltube, and then out the exhaust. The air exchange rate is pretty good, and if your going to be running the scrubber and the light with the same fan, your going to want to have a high air exchange rate to keep the stale air out of the room.
7th1der
Well-Known Member
I appreciate your knowledge and wisdom dude! and please don't think that the bigger font means that I am screaming, I do that so that when I am skimming through and theres a reply to a question, the quoted question stands out.
See what I am really worried about is noise, I'm in an apartment and would only be able to run one loud fan if I reduced the noise a little. I recently shifted toward buying 2 of those S&P fans folks are talkin about, if they are as quiet as they are hyped up to be. I may order one this week for a scrubber and see how that sounds. From what I hearing, I'm going to at least need about 300 cfm's to cool my 400w HPS.
Sound advise?
grass master 09
Active Member
To keep vibrations sounds down you should find latex rubber and mount it in between the fan and what ever you are mounting it to. Insulate the walls will also help with the noise a great deal. Motor noise can be muffled by wraping a peice of insulation batting around it. I am really happy I own my home because it makes everything so much easier.
You could get more CFM through your fan by connecting it to the shade with PVC, using flexible duct inside the box - yes. You'd definitely want some flexible duct to make moving the lamp easy.
Basically, you should have as little duct between your lamp and fan as possible if you want the absolute maximum CFM - all those tiny rigid sections as resistance to the flow of air. But ducting is pricey and sometimes it's useful to have some spare, so chopping it as short as possible is a sure way to end up buying more if you ever want to change your setup around a bit. I doubt having a few extra meters collapsed is going to make enough of a difference to be worth cutting it up into strange lengths.
Putting the filter on the lamp? Why would you do that?
The other setups you're thinking of, where the fan and filter are inside the tent I think are more suited to people with zero space. Fans and filters can get really big, so they'll use up a lot of space in the tent. Added to that, if you don't vent the exhaust out of the tent, you don't have any fresh air being sucked in to let the plants breath or cool the lamp, it's recycling it's own air. And the fan is in there giving out some extra heat.
Just put the fan outside the tent sucking air through the lamp and out through a filter on the blow side of the fan.
Basically, you should have as little duct between your lamp and fan as possible if you want the absolute maximum CFM - all those tiny rigid sections as resistance to the flow of air. But ducting is pricey and sometimes it's useful to have some spare, so chopping it as short as possible is a sure way to end up buying more if you ever want to change your setup around a bit. I doubt having a few extra meters collapsed is going to make enough of a difference to be worth cutting it up into strange lengths.
Putting the filter on the lamp? Why would you do that?
The other setups you're thinking of, where the fan and filter are inside the tent I think are more suited to people with zero space. Fans and filters can get really big, so they'll use up a lot of space in the tent. Added to that, if you don't vent the exhaust out of the tent, you don't have any fresh air being sucked in to let the plants breath or cool the lamp, it's recycling it's own air. And the fan is in there giving out some extra heat.
Just put the fan outside the tent sucking air through the lamp and out through a filter on the blow side of the fan.