cannot get my cool tube any cooler then 80 degrees

[tony8404]

I finally bought a nice grow tent and i discovered so far that I am going to use a diy 6" rounddaimeter with a 4" core both 1.5' height with active carbon filter wrapped around both 6"and 4" cores. J have attached a 6" duct booster fan that is at 160 cfms with pulling air through the filters with a 6"to4" reducer.
I have that attached to my diy cool tube which is 5" diameter by 1.5' long capped with a 5" reducer to 4" for duct to connect easily. I have a reflector on it as well that I used mylar on.
For the fan I am using a stanley blower with the 3 settings on it with 2 three prong outlets with a fuse built in. I have removed the black grill to help with air flow as well as the yellow grill on the intake. Then i attached the oval yellow exhaust part to the 6" exhaust hole in the tent. Then the intake side i went ahead and connected a 6" to 4" reducer with a 4inch metal flex tubing to the other end of the light.
So far i have attached my staney using some chain with some springs to help with vibration and noise. I had made a wall in my tent using pvc for a frame and then using cardboard with mylar attached to it to make the room 2.5x2.5 growing space. I plan to test next before going further.

I am wondering if anyone may have some suggestions or advice if I am not doing something correctly, if you do not mind. Thanks

Today I did test my diy carbon filter attached to my diy cool tube to the stanley blower and my temps were at 78-79 degrees. That is with the tent open the blower on setting 3 and my wall was not installed at the time. While testing i was finishing it up and it turned out great.
I am thinking that i need to add a my second 6? duct fan as an intake along with either one or two 4" duct booster fans with each having 80cfms. Any ideas?

 

[tony8404]

I do not understand guys. I have my scrubber attached to a 6" duct booster fan that is 180cfm going to my 400 watt hps cool tube. i use the duct fan to help pull the air through the scrubber just to help it out and it does.
From the 6" fan it reduces to 4" to the 5" cool tube. then goes out the other end of cool tube which is connected to a 4" flex duct that goes directly to the stanley blower i have which is on the highest setting 3. The blower works great but when i put my hand by the exhaust hole on the outside of the tent which is 6" i feel the air coming out but it is not warm or hot air at all. It seems like the air just goes over the light bulb without pulling heat off..... why is that? when i put my hand by the cool tube by the bulb i can feel the heat and my temp is at about 80 degrees or 2 degrees less. but that is with the tent door open, it gets worse when closed. What am i doing wrong?

If i take off the scrubber and let the 4" flex duct just be there pulling air directly into the flex tube no difference.. I know the stanley blower setting 3 is at least from what i read over 100 cfm easily. help please...
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[LEFTHAND]

I do not understand guys. I have my scrubber attached to a 6" duct booster fan that is 180cfm going to my 400 watt hps cool tube. i use the duct fan to help pull the air through the scrubber just to help it out and it does.
From the 6" fan it reduces to 4" to the 5" cool tube. then goes out the other end of cool tube which is connected to a 4" flex duct that goes directly to the stanley blower i have which is on the highest setting 3. The blower works great but when i put my hand by the exhaust hole on the outside of the tent which is 6" i feel the air coming out but it is not warm or hot air at all. It seems like the air just goes over the light bulb without pulling heat off..... why is that? when i put my hand by the cool tube by the bulb i can feel the heat and my temp is at about 80 degrees or 2 degrees less. but that is with the tent door open, it gets worse when closed. What am i doing wrong?

If i take off the scrubber and let the 4" flex duct just be there pulling air directly into the flex tube no difference.. I know the stanley blower setting 3 is at least from what i read over 100 cfm easily. help please...
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pictures.... lol if its a duct fan.. they wont cut it.. you need a inline fan....
LH

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

You are asking your fan to do far more than it was ever intended to do. I do not believe that duct booster fans are meant to be stand alone fans--they are meant to add a boost to other fans on long ducting runs. Check into a 6" or 8" Eclipse, Can, or Vortex fan.

 

[MikeOrganix]

You may need a bigger fan, dayton or inline, at least 265cfm more is better. Inline are quieter.

remember that without the cool tube it would be 95+ degrees. I also have a cool tube, and 80 right under the tube sounds right. Due to the intensity of the light you will not be able to have anything within 4" or so of the cooltube anyways or else they will get light burn. Heat burn turns the leaves brown. Light burn just bleaches them but they will die too.

 

[LEFTHAND]

You may need a bigger fan, dayton or inline, at least 265cfm more is better. Inline are quieter.

remember that without the cool tube it would be 95+ degrees. I also have a cool tube, and 80 right under the tube sounds right. Due to the intensity of the light you will not be able to have anything within 4" or so of the cooltube anyways or else they will get light burn. Heat burn turns the leaves brown. Light burn just bleaches them but they will die too.

i have the temps 22-25C under my cool tube.. with a 400w.. 200cfm..thats about 8"away.. tent temp is 19-25C give or take here or there.. 180cfm will cool a 400w in a tube.. (inline fans that is)

you also have to remember these lights put of IR heat..
its not hard to do when using the proper equipment.
LH

 

[tony8404]

guys the stanley blower that i am using has been used before by others. Thats how i found out about it. There are stanley blower mods if you google it and you will see.

What i want to know is this would i have better results with using 6" flex ducting instead of the 4" i am using now?

I doubt my glass tube is to small of a diameter because it is a 5 inch glass vase that i cut the bottom off of i fourgot how long it is though.

i was not using just the duct booster fan that is 160 cfm. i have that in use along with the stanley blower. I will find a link to it hold on., hXXp://www2.northerntool.com/fans/blowers/item-250751.htm there check that one out. The highest setting which is setting 3 is rated for 310 cfm.

Why wouldnt i feel heat coming out the exhaust ? I put a piece of paper tape in front of the hole with just a small piece of tape to see how strong the wind comes out between using the 6" duct fan and with out it on the scrubber and off the scrubber and the piece of paper does not change between any of way i do it. The wind comes out strong.

 

[tony8404]

Ops i did not read the post that said he has the same as me with the temps being 80 nunder the bulb. Your right then maybe it is working i was just under the impression that i was suppose to have temps around 75 and with the door closed on the tent it would go up to 80 maybe 85 the most but i am afraid of it getting out of control one day and a fire starts.

 

[legalize_freedom]

Just because the fanhas a certain rated cfm does not mean that it has the strength to pull through a filter, and ducting etc. Blowers, and booster fans are not meant to be used like you are using them. they both have the cfm,s that they are rated for, but that is the cfm without any resistence. You need to listen to Hemp Godess, when she said to get the centrifigal type fan, these are designed for the aplication you want, they can work with the resistence. The fans you are using now, the motors can not take that type of resistence.

With the way that you are running things now it sounds like either your flexi-duct may be holding back the blower, or your booster fan may be dragging down the blower makeing more resisitence, if these are hooked up in the same line of duct.

Seriously...I know can fans, and votex, etc are expensive...but no one said this was a cheap hobby...get the right fan and you will see that it was using the wrong tool that was giving you problems...you can drive a nail with a screwdriver...but it is easier with a hammer.

 

[tony8404]

gotcha, that is what i needed to know thanks. I will look for a centrifial type fan. woo hoo

 

[docfishwrinkle]

tony here look at these...hvacquick.com/products/residential/Bathroom-Ventilation/Remote-Fans-for-Bath/SP-TD-Series-Inline-Fans[/url] they are easy to maintain, quiet, & less turbulent than centrifical blowers.

 

[legalize_freedom]

I use a bathroom exhaust fan on my veg cabinet...it works good. To pull through my filter and exchange the air out of the grow every 3 minutes I need a fan that is made for that job. If you put that much resistance on a fan motor that is not designed for that application, you'll be replaceing fans...alot more often. So when your looking at prices for something that isn't designed for the job just remember to times the price x3 cause you'll be buying them more often than If you'd just have used the right tool to begin with.

 

[leafminer]

Having read through this entire thread, it seems to me that a couple of items have been lost track of. These are:
1. He holds his hand under the cool tube (and its reflector presumably) and thinks it feels hot.
2. He holds his hand to the exhaust from the cool tube and thinks it is too cool.

The problem is that these two things are not related. Under the tube is hot because that's the concentrated blast of light energy from the 400 W HPS!
And here is another clue: Home made Mylar reflector. If it is perfectly concave, wow, it sure would have a dangerous focal area.

Secondly, if the exhaust has a good flow of air yet feels cool, fine, it just shows the cool tube is doing its job.

I think the key to high light levels is high ventilation levels as well as your cool tube. The problem that comes with it if course is temperature control. Ah well.

 

[legalize_freedom]

I thought he was battelling high temps in the grow space...if that is the case, and he has a cool tube, he is not moving the air as strongly as he could/should be. I have an a/c hood, on my 600w, my 400w has the ports but is not being used atm because if I vent them both my grow stays cooler than I want it. With just the 600w vented through my carbon filter, and reflector, my grow stays a pretty constant 77* lights on...thats with the heat of the 400w staying in the grow except it is being sucked out through the carbon filter with the rest of the stale air. Come summer time here, if I decide to continue to grow indoors, I will need to hook up both lights to the ducting.

Basicaly I was just trying to tell you to get the right fan for the job, don't scimp on this, ventilation is just as important as light and water. Get a fan that is rated for your space and the size of your filter.

 

[LEFTHAND]

6" 449 cfm vortex -
i've had no heat issues ever since i spent the $$.$$

peace

thats big time over kill for a 400w..big time..
if your using that for a 400w no wonder you dont have a heat issue.. could have got a 180cfm... and it would have kept er cool..

Just like LF said he need the "proper" fan to do the job..
LH