dust!

[robbiegy2k]

ello all, i've just set my grow tent up in an attic that is in the middle of a conversion . The work is on hold for a year but what im left with is bare floorboards and lots of dry plaster n bare brickwork everywhere, i've swept away what i can but its still quite dirty up there. I'll be taking air in to the (airtight) tent from the room which i'll open a window to every 3-4 days or when i can, do u think this will cause many problems? oh and other than me going up there, there wont be anyone else 'kicking up dust'. Thanks for any help.

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Hi,

IME dusty grow rooms produce dusty buds... Is there a vent on the roof or somewhere that you can pull fresh air from outside into your room rather than from inside the attic? Your intake fan duct needs to have some type of filter on it to help keep dust, bugs, etc from getting sucked into your grow room. If it's really dusty up there you can end up with some dirty buds... All that dust getting constantly sucked into the tent will stick nicely to the trichs on your buds... Maybe a shop vac would help... Drywall gypsum dust is so fine I'm sure it will get pulled into your tent. You might consider making some kind of ie 12" piece of wood 'filler panel' that is cut to fit into your window with a 6" hole in it to pull air in through. That's what I do in the winter... I have a window a/c unit in my bedroom from May til Oct but then I'll remove the a/c and put my wood panel with my intake hole into the window for the other 6 months of the year...

Also... I suggest that you get some Dr Doom bug bombs and really fumigate the attic to help prevent bug and pest issues before you get your attic grow going too... A dilute spray of water with bleach or a fungicide on all the surfaces in the attic will also help prevent pathogens and pests.

Peace!

 

[robbiegy2k]

thanks DOS, just as i thought! thanks for the ideas. There is a vent outlet in one of the rooms but not ideal to have the tent there as floorboards are too weak (which i may try and get sorted) I would run the ductiing to the vent but its about 5 metres away from the tent and i've only got a 4" to suck the air in. Someone told me that with a 4" if you use to much ducting it isnt much use, something to do with it losing pressure the further the air has to flow? guess this applies for both intake or exhaust? I may have to look at getting the tent closer to the vent which means taking it apart to get it thru the door in to the other room! Thanks again DOS your advice has been invalueable again as always.

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Hi Robbie...

Que nada bro... I'm glad to help... You could put a couple of sheets of 1/2" plywood down to make your floor safe for you and the girls. Did you buy your fans yet? You may be able to get away with a 5m run... it's not ideal but with a high output fan like an 6" or Eclipse 630cfm etc it may be enough. You might try a test run to see how it performs with the lights on but it may be easier in the long run to move the tent closer to where you have to source fresh air and exhaust your ventilation.

If you have to do a long intake run... I'm not a HVAC expert but I wonder if it would be much or any more efficient to run some 6" rigid duct to your tent and then use a 6" to 4" reduction adaptor to go into your tent's 4" intake? Just a thought...

Peace!

 

[frankcos]

if you can't get the vent to the outside maybe you could use pantyhose on the end of the duct so that dust can't get into the grow area.May require frequent cleaning if the attic is real dusty.

 

[cmd420]

I have a situation like the one Dirty described: a long (about 25' ro so) run of 6" ductwork with an adapter to fit to my 4" hole...works great!

 

[2Dog]

can you vacume most of the dust out? or you could put a tarp/plastic over the floor to keep the dust down....maybe wear a mask in there to protect your lungs...I would. good luck!

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

If you do not have one, rent a good quality shop vac and get all that dust out of there. Gypsum dust is very fine and really hard on your lungs (a filter made from panythose will not stop it). You will be inhaling it every time you go to the attic and there is no way to keep that fine dust out of your room. In time it will gunk up your fans, etc. Wear a dust respirator when you do this.

 

[robbiegy2k]

'ello everyone 'n thanks for all the replies! My g'f thought the pantyhose idea was hilarious, she's obviously not taking this problem seriously!

Well just a quick update im going to be moving the tent closer to the vent outlet, i'll get the floorboards sorted somehow cheers DOS i'll prob do what you said with the sheets of plywood for now. As for the bug stuff i'll have a word with someone for the UK equivalent because no idea what brands we have over here (i'll make sure its the 'safe' sort for MJ) . Im also gonna take up as decent a vacuum I can get my hands on and give it a once over.

Thanks for the advice about the dust HG/2Dog, I should be okay because it's not too bad up there but yeah I'll grab a mask for when im hoovering up and guess i'll have to take this dust problem pretty seriously.. No one likes gritty 'erb!

CMD420 - yeah the shop showed me those adapters so once I get all the sizes i'll go pick some up. I think the outlets on the tent are 8" with draw strings so gonna use a bit of imagination with the convertors and some duct tape to keep it all nice and snug.

DOS about the fans, yep i've already got a cheapy 4" 100cfm (one of those that u get for your bathroom sort) and then a 5" inline that moves 250cfm.. Was planning to use the 4" to pull air in and the 5" to shove it out the tent into the room. Bearing in mind it's gonna be getting cold soon, im slightly worried about the temps when the lights are off as our day air can get chilly. I could either put the intake fan on the lights timer/contact so it goes off when the lights do or I could fork out £70 for a fan speed controller thingy... I do want to get a more powerful fan for the exhaust but the noise is the issue and don't have the money for a silent system plus im sure the 250 should do the job Well hopefully now thats sorted once i've done my work i'll put up some pics. I didn't want to take any last time as it was just an empty tent with the refelector setup.. Nothing exciting - Glad I left it empty cos I gotta take it down to move it! :hairpull:

Thanks again everyone, i'll let you know how the clean up goes!

Laters

 

[dirtyolsouth]

ONE more thought...

It sounds like your plan is coming together nicely Robbie... When it comes to ventilation there isn't much noise at all from my 630cfm 6" fan... 90% of the noise is the W-H-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-S-H sound that it makes when it moves the air through my ductwork. My next grow room is going to have insulated duct and you may want to consider that option if you're concerned about the sound... I only have about a 10-12' (3-4m) of duct run between my filter and cool tube and then up to my fan in the attic and the air moving through makes a pretty good roar. I run my lights at night so it's not much of an issue but during the day I drop it back to 30% to maintain a negative airflow toward my closet and odors moving up and out of my closet through my carbon filter...

Peace!