I just installed a hydro x controller and c02 tank the other day. The fuzzy logic makes it so the regulator only kicks on for a second at a time. I am unsure what flow setting to set the regulator at. Room is 12x24x10. It seems when I'm in the room I'm hearing constant clicking from the regulator going on and off. I'm not sure if I have the setting too low or if its supposed to kick on and off that much.
Regulator settings with fuzzy logic control
- Thread starter Apalchen
- Start date
Renfro
Well-Known Member
Start at 5 SCFH
Make sure the CO2 PPM sensor is not located close to the CO2 line (where your CO2 comes out).
With fuzzy logic it will learn how much it overshoots and try to prevent that by shutting off a little before the sensor reads your set point. So leave the flow rate at one setting so the controller can learn, within a few cycles it should not over run the set point anymore.
Make sure the CO2 PPM sensor is not located close to the CO2 line (where your CO2 comes out).
With fuzzy logic it will learn how much it overshoots and try to prevent that by shutting off a little before the sensor reads your set point. So leave the flow rate at one setting so the controller can learn, within a few cycles it should not over run the set point anymore.
That's good to hear as I settled at 5 on the regulator. Thanks for the explanation, still waiting to see how long this tank last as I've heard people claim anything from a week to a month.
I am easing the plants into the brighter lights and c02 as well as warmer temps. Right now I'm running at about 80 degrees, with the light set to 800 and c02 at 800 ppm 60% RH. I'm going to raise the light strength and c02 over the next week. It also looks like I might need to up my feed ppm as well.
This is my first time with a trellis so big I tried to take pretty much everything under the trellis off let them recover and weave them into the trellis for a week. I'm hoping that I don't outstretch my second layer of trellis by too much. But this plant usually has sturdy branches anyways.
The black sensors are the trol master ones the c02 outlet hose is hooked to the back of one my oscillating fans. A good 15 ft or so away.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
How many cubic feet is your space?
Some quick #'s, bear with me because it's been a long time since I did tank math but away we go:
L x W x H x PPM = How many cubic feet of CO2 you need to hit the PPM target. So lets say we have a 10x10x8 foot room and we want 1000 PPM: 10 x 10 x 8 x .001 = 0.8 cubic feet of CO2 to hit 1000 PPM. Now lets assume we have leakage that ends up at one air exchange every 4 hours so we would need about 2.4 cuft of CO2 per 12 hour day. I think a 20 pound cylinder has about 175 cuft of CO2 gas, so 175/2.4 = about 73 days.
Of course this is not an exactitude, just a guesstimate with math involved lol.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
A few tricks to help the tank last longer.
Put the CO2 controller on a timer and cut it off like 30 minutes before lights out. This way you don't have it bumping up the CO2 right before lights out when it will mostly not get used. That can save a lot of CO2. The exact time you wanna shut it down would depend on how fast your CO2 levels drop, but we don't want to end a day with just having added a bunch of CO2.
Your plants will put out CO2 in the dark so it's common to have a high PPM when the lights come on, if you do a daily air exchange I would do it after lights out so the plants can build up the CO2 levels overnight for the next day. Also the RH% spikes at lights out also since the stomata are still open and transpiration hasn't slowed yet, running the daily vent cycle during the first 30 - 45 minutes or so is good IMO. If your vent cycle needs to be short due to ambient temperatures you might want to wait and do it at 30 minutes after lights out so you can blow out the RH% spike that occurred.
Every grow is different and you just have to tune and optimize it. Some growers run completely sealed and don't even do a daily vent cycle, I used to do this when stealth was critical. Crops were finishing a good 10 days earlier than when not so sealed up. I firmly believe in the ethylene gas situation. If you have a crop that refuses to ripen, stop the daily vent cycle lol. If your crops are ripening early and limiting yields you would want to have the daily vent cycle.
I also like a larger CO2 deadband. I think the plants use it more effectively when the levels get low and then rise. So letting the CO2 levels go up to say 1000 and then drop to say 600 before bumping again would IMO be better than only letting it drop 100 PPM. Sad thing is that most CO2 controllers don't have a large dead band range, my current autopilot ones max out at 200 PPM.
These are just my observations, I am sure there are other opinions on the matter. I am very high from edibles right now so sorry for rambling on lol.
Put the CO2 controller on a timer and cut it off like 30 minutes before lights out. This way you don't have it bumping up the CO2 right before lights out when it will mostly not get used. That can save a lot of CO2. The exact time you wanna shut it down would depend on how fast your CO2 levels drop, but we don't want to end a day with just having added a bunch of CO2.
Your plants will put out CO2 in the dark so it's common to have a high PPM when the lights come on, if you do a daily air exchange I would do it after lights out so the plants can build up the CO2 levels overnight for the next day. Also the RH% spikes at lights out also since the stomata are still open and transpiration hasn't slowed yet, running the daily vent cycle during the first 30 - 45 minutes or so is good IMO. If your vent cycle needs to be short due to ambient temperatures you might want to wait and do it at 30 minutes after lights out so you can blow out the RH% spike that occurred.
Every grow is different and you just have to tune and optimize it. Some growers run completely sealed and don't even do a daily vent cycle, I used to do this when stealth was critical. Crops were finishing a good 10 days earlier than when not so sealed up. I firmly believe in the ethylene gas situation. If you have a crop that refuses to ripen, stop the daily vent cycle lol. If your crops are ripening early and limiting yields you would want to have the daily vent cycle.
I also like a larger CO2 deadband. I think the plants use it more effectively when the levels get low and then rise. So letting the CO2 levels go up to say 1000 and then drop to say 600 before bumping again would IMO be better than only letting it drop 100 PPM. Sad thing is that most CO2 controllers don't have a large dead band range, my current autopilot ones max out at 200 PPM.
These are just my observations, I am sure there are other opinions on the matter. I am very high from edibles right now so sorry for rambling on lol.
I found the place to mess with the dead band but haven't tried it yet it comes from factory at 50ppm.
I also need another plug in module or two for the trolmaster before I can hook my venting back up. I need to order those and the mini split controller. But for now I am just using the remote for the mini. And not venting hasn't been a issue so far but I would like to as it gets colder so I can utilize the outdoors for lights off RH control and I don't want to ripen early either.
Thanks for all the tips. I smoked a bit too much for the math tonight. Room is 12x24x10. Few leaks but pretty tightly sealed.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
What are you running the set point at? 1000? 1200?
This would give you some rough numbers:
So the room volume is 2880, the PPM set point is on the left from 1000 - 1500, the top is the number of air exchanges (room volume) per day (lights on). The results in days are calculated for a 175 cuft tank volume (20 #).
So if you have it set to 1200 PPM and the room volume exchanges (leaks) 4 times a day you would expect something like 12 - 13 days. Of course optimizing like with an early shut off could add a day or two depending...
This formula doesn't account at ALL for plants consuming the CO2. Just leakage, so I would expect that the numbers will change as the biomass increases, using up your tanks faster.
Man I hope I did that right. lol seems legit from experience
Always good to have two tanks, one running while you can refill the other.
This would give you some rough numbers:
So the room volume is 2880, the PPM set point is on the left from 1000 - 1500, the top is the number of air exchanges (room volume) per day (lights on). The results in days are calculated for a 175 cuft tank volume (20 #).
So if you have it set to 1200 PPM and the room volume exchanges (leaks) 4 times a day you would expect something like 12 - 13 days. Of course optimizing like with an early shut off could add a day or two depending...
This formula doesn't account at ALL for plants consuming the CO2. Just leakage, so I would expect that the numbers will change as the biomass increases, using up your tanks faster.
Man I hope I did that right. lol seems legit from experience
Always good to have two tanks, one running while you can refill the other.
T
Thanks a lot man I appreciate it. That chart is awesome, I can use it backwards to see how many leaks I got and if I need to try and seal the room better. It seems pretty tight I do need a couple dampers for my Intakes. But I taped the big one off for now until I get those modules for the trolmaster so I can exhaust.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
Well kinda awesome lol, but remember plants consuming CO2 as they grow will be a variable.
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