Air conditioner in a closed loop setup

cbdprospector

Active Member
I'm trying to keep my tent cooled, I installed a portable AC and did a DIY split AC setup in a closed loop (CEA) setup. I intake the air outside the tent and exhaust the are outside the tent to the attic. For some reason the AC will blow cold for a little, then turns the compressor off but still blows air.

Is this typical for an AC? I just want one that blows cold ass air and stays blowing cold until my system detects it and kills the power. Any suggestions are welcomed!
 

auswolf

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to keep my tent cooled, I installed a portable AC and did a DIY split AC setup in a closed loop (CEA) setup. I intake the air outside the tent and exhaust the are outside the tent to the attic. For some reason the AC will blow cold for a little, then turns the compressor off but still blows air.

Is this typical for an AC? I just want one that blows cold ass air and stays blowing cold until my system detects it and kills the power. Any suggestions are welcomed!
Yes sounds like the ac is hitting the set temp so the compressor turns off.
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to keep my tent cooled, I installed a portable AC and did a DIY split AC setup in a closed loop (CEA) setup. I intake the air outside the tent and exhaust the are outside the tent to the attic. For some reason the AC will blow cold for a little, then turns the compressor off but still blows air.

Is this typical for an AC? I just want one that blows cold ass air and stays blowing cold until my system detects it and kills the power. Any suggestions are welcomed!
I ran into this myself. I imagine you have the ac at the ground level and the air below gets cool but the air above remains warm. Portable ACs have their thermostat inside the unit (usually by an intake vent). I looked for ways to take my thermostat out and extend it to a higher place inside the grow. I think it's only connected by a single wire but may be hard to get to. That's what prevented me from being able to do it. So if you can take your thermostat out of your AC and extend it with a wire up to the top of your canopy it might work.

Another option may be to raise your AC up higher or do some creative ducting.
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
Do you have your AC outside of your tent? I think that's what you're saying here. If so, then the AC thermostat is using the air inside the room to determine when to turn off the compressor.
 

adower

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to keep my tent cooled, I installed a portable AC and did a DIY split AC setup in a closed loop (CEA) setup. I intake the air outside the tent and exhaust the are outside the tent to the attic. For some reason the AC will blow cold for a little, then turns the compressor off but still blows air.

Is this typical for an AC? I just want one that blows cold ass air and stays blowing cold until my system detects it and kills the power. Any suggestions are welcomed!
It is most likely turning off because it is hitting the set temperature.
 

cbdprospector

Active Member
I ran into this myself. I imagine you have the ac at the ground level and the air below gets cool but the air above remains warm. Portable ACs have their thermostat inside the unit (usually by an intake vent). I looked for ways to take my thermostat out and extend it to a higher place inside the grow. I think it's only connected by a single wire but may be hard to get to. That's what prevented me from being able to do it. So if you can take your thermostat out of your AC and extend it with a wire up to the top of your canopy it might work.

Another option may be to raise your AC up higher or do some creative ducting.

Damn...... I'll bet you're right. Actually everyone who replied is probably right. I can't work on it right now but I'll move it to the top of the tent tomorrow and see how it goes. It makes sense - I'll let you know!

Thanks to everyone who replied
 

panhead

Well-Known Member
Damn...... I'll bet you're right. Actually everyone who replied is probably right. I can't work on it right now but I'll move it to the top of the tent tomorrow and see how it goes. It makes sense - I'll let you know!

Thanks to everyone who replied
The sensor on my ac unit is easy to get at by taking 2 screws out that hold the face on , its right at the top of the coils & just pops right out .

I never extended the wiring harness to the sensor though i just know how easy it is to get at mine from taking apart the unit to clean it & kill any pollen that mighta been stuck up in there deep .
 

cbdprospector

Active Member
If you Google how to do it I bet you'll come up with some hits
I did, and followed the one that makes sense. It's pretty straightforward just vent in the intake to the compressor and and exhaust out the outflow all to the outside of the tent. I also supplied an exhaust boost with an inline fan.

What I want is a way to bypass the sensor that kicks on the compressor and have it stay on full-time since I can control the environment by turning off and on the power to the AC unit when it hits temperature.

If anyone has ideas on how I can do that I would much appreciate it!
 

AlecTheGardener

Well-Known Member
I did, and followed the one that makes sense. It's pretty straightforward just vent in the intake to the compressor and and exhaust out the outflow all to the outside of the tent. I also supplied an exhaust boost with an inline fan.

What I want is a way to bypass the sensor that kicks on the compressor and have it stay on full-time since I can control the environment by turning off and on the power to the AC unit when it hits temperature.

If anyone has ideas on how I can do that I would much appreciate it!
If it maintains its setting throughout power cuts to it you could always just dial it's temperature down as much as possible. Say, set it to 50f or something quite low, then lower the fan speed.

You could figure out a way to schedule that to work out pretty darn well if it keeps it schedules after an outage.
 

Noob2grwn

Well-Known Member
This device will solve your problem. Fully programmable and works with heating and ac. I know it works because I own one. Run a cord to this, place it in the space you want conditioned, then a cord to your ac. Turn your ac down as low as it goes, and this device will kill power to the ac when your space is at desired temp...not when temp is satisfied next to the unit.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E7NYY8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 

Cannasutraorganics

Well-Known Member
The AC made in last 20 years don't go below 60. Many not go below 65. And they made them with smaller compressors that when run for about an hour get too hot and shut the compressor off to cool down. Some even have this on a timer and in emergency. Go buy an old window unit that have low, med and high. Put on high and cool a room to icicles. Also the new refrigerants don't work in extreme heats or colds. A dual hose portable AC works great for grow rooms. I'm in Cali and have 9 lights in my garage and have no AC on till we hit 80 degrees outside. Then a mini dual split system takes over.
 

Noob2grwn

Well-Known Member
I'm still not understanding. There are really only two refrigerants used in typical residential air conditioning applications: R22 and 410a. Of course, there is a slew of new R22 replacements, but you will not find a single new ac unit sold with anything except 410a in it. I've worked on thousands of ac units and have never come across a unit with anything other than R22 or 410a in it. I've converted some units to MO99, but that was at the request of a large customer.

I live/work in an area that gets up to 100F with 90+ humidity. If I'm changing out a dead 5 ton R22 unit, I put in a 5 ton 410a unit. While doing a manual J heat load, there is no input for R22 or 410a. This is because a 5 ton 410a unit produces the same 60,000 BTUs of cooling that a 5 ton R22 unit does. In the hundreds of change outs that I've done switching from R22 to 410a, I've never once had a customer complain about lack of cooling or high humidity. And trust me, my customers have no problem speaking up if they spend thousands of dollars and my work/equipment isn't satisfactory.

If anything, I've actually decreased the size of a new 410a unit while doing a change out. This isn't because a 5 ton 410a unit cools better, but rather too many hvac guys don't do proper manual J load calculations and over size equipment. This is where high humidity and mold problems come from. Have you ever been somewhere and had to turn the ac down to 70 or less to be comfortable? That is because the ac is over sized and not cycling long enough to remove the proper amount of humidity.
 
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