co2 empty

[cxms]

hello, does anyone know how i blew through a 50lb tank in a week???

titan regulator plugged into trolmaster hydro x

co2 set to 1100 ppm

450 sqft room

i am sucking cold air in from outside to cool the room.. but would i have that much loss from 25ft of 6 inch ducting on the ceiling? its not sucking out, its sucking in, when its too hot.

 

[Renfro]

i am sucking cold air in from outside to cool the room

Thats why. To run CO2 you need a sealed room, at least when the lights are on no venting just an AC and dehumidifier in the room.

 

[Renfro]

its not sucking out, its sucking in

If air is coming in then air has to be going out or the room would blow up lol.

So ditch the CO2 until you can afford an AC and dehu capable of keeping the room right so you can stop venting to cool the room.

 

[firsttimeARE]

You are pressurizing your room and force the CO2 air inside out every tiny crack and crevice.

 

[Renfro]

You are pressurizing your room and force the CO2 air inside out every tiny crack and crevice.

Yeah an intake without at least a passive exhaust vent causes positive pressure and greatly reduces the intake CFM reducing the efficiency of the intake as a means of cooling.

 

[Renfro]

It sounds to me like he should install a passive exhaust vent for now so as to increase the efficiency of his cooling system and stop using the CO2.

Then when he can afford a good minisplit to cool the room then he can switch the intake off or just set it to a higher temperature so it's a backup cooling system if the AC fails. If using a good environmental controller then it will disable the CO2 enrichment when venting at least. A controller with a day / night temp setting can allow him to set a lower night temperature and the blower would kick on when the lights go off to drop the room say 5 - 8F providing a daily exchange of fresh air to prevent ethylene gas buildup.

Know that when running a sealed room humidity spikes at lights out are a common problem if you have a large biomass. Sometimes the intake can help with that depending on ambient RH% and temp. A good dehumidifier is generally required during lights out unless you happen to have adequate ambient conditions and can use the intake to reduce humidity during the dark period. The AC pulls a lot of water, when it doesn't have to fight the lighting you need some means of controlling the RH%. So the dehu is pretty much required since you can't keep blowing cold winter air into a room with the lights out to keep the RH% down.

 

[firsttimeARE]

Yeah an intake without at least a passive exhaust vent causes positive pressure and greatly reduces the intake CFM reducing the efficiency of the intake as a means of cooling.

Also increases condensation and in turn RH levels if ductwork not insulated.

I used black/white Poly and polyiso foam to seal up my window. But where the window AC sleeve is condenses in the winter from being cold.

Spring I wont have to fuss with that BS window unit and will be getting a heat pump system put in throughout my house.

 

[firsttimeARE]

It sounds to me like he should install a passive exhaust vent for now so as to increase the efficiency of his cooling system and stop using the CO2.

Then when he can afford a good minisplit to cool the room then he can switch the intake off or just set it to a higher temperature so it's a backup cooling system if the AC fails. If using a good environmental controller then it will disable the CO2 enrichment when venting at least. A controller with a day / night temp setting can allow him to set a lower night temperature and the blower would kick on when the lights go off to drop the room say 5 - 8F providing a daily exchange of fresh air to prevent ethylene gas buildup.

Know that when running a sealed room humidity spikes at lights out are a common problem if you have a large biomass. Sometimes the intake can help with that depending on ambient RH% and temp. A good dehumidifier is generally required during lights out unless you happen to have adequate ambient conditions and can use the intake to reduce humidity during the dark period. The AC pulls a lot of water, when it doesn't have to fight the lighting you need some means of controlling the RH%. So the dehu is pretty much required since you can't keep blowing cold winter air into a room with the lights out to keep the RH% down.

What is this ethylene gas build you mention?

 

[Renfro]

What is this ethylene gas build you mention?

I would wager a simple search would yield some information on the topic. There are differing opinions on the matter but I believe it causes early ripening and it is a bigger issue with a CO2 generator that burns gas but I believe that in a sealed room the plants could output enough ethylene gas to promote early ripening. A vent cycle once a day on a sealed room will prevent these issues and they likely only apply to rooms that are sealed up really well.

 

[firsttimeARE]

Is that a bad thing?

Ive heard the early ripening with CO2 only as a good thing. Didnt know the processes behind it. As a matter of fact this was mentioned by a bottle dude not a burner

 

[firsttimeARE]

This similar to what they use on bananas to ripen them in shipping containers. I think apples off gas it naturally

 

[Renfro]

Is that a bad thing?

That depends. It could hurt yield but it could also help some strains that have excessively long flowering times. Totally something that depends on the individual situation perhaps but on a commercial scale probably best avoided. Thats a nice feature of the Sage AirROS machine too, it neutralizes the ethylene gas.

 

[Blazin Budz]

What is this ethylene gas build you mention?

Some people claim mysterious deficiencies and never ending plant problems with closed rooms and CO2. Then once they start venting the room 1-3 times a day the problems disappear. Like Renfro said, its probably from really good sealed rooms and ethylene build up from CO2 burners.

I read about this before i built my sealed room so I built in an intake and exhaust to my room. Its good to have just in case of an emergency also. I use CO2 tanks and vent one time a day, right when lights go off. Everything seems fine with my system. I go through a 50lb tank about once a month, maybe a little less than a month in a 750 sq ft room at 1150ppm.

 

[F80M4]

Im going through 20lb tank in 3 days so basically 2 tanks a week

 

[Lordhooha]

Im going through 20lb tank in 3 days so basically 2 tanks a week

thats a bit excessive

 

[F80M4]

thats a bit excessive

How so?

 

[Lordhooha]

How so?

How big is your area? I have plenty of big rooms I run and a 50 lbs tank will last 3 weeks @ 1300 ppm. This particular room is close to 45x20 if remember correctly. Granted my others use much bigger tanks.

 

[F80M4]

25x13ish I have 77 plants in 7gal pots I run at 1300ppm and it kicks on once it drops to 1100ppm. I do it in veg to flower. My temps are 25-27c humidity currently at 70% (vegging)

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

Im running a sealed room 20x30 at anywhere between 1000-1400ppm, and have ran through approx 100 gallons in 6 months. Hard piped from a 500 gallon tank to an Ares 8 burner on propane. I think this is the most efficient way to use CO2 from what I have researched. But yeah.. you gotta be sealed up tighter than a frogs ass. (You see what I did there @Flatrate)

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

That depends. It could hurt yield but it could also help some strains that have excessively long flowering times. Totally something that depends on the individual situation perhaps but on a commercial scale probably best avoided. Thats a nice feature of the Sage AirROS machine too, it neutralizes the ethylene gas.

Speaking of which.. I just spoke with Michael from AirROS earlier today. I had pulled my SD to analyze the data. Some strange shit was going on. Like readings of low single digits to zero at 7 am.... my lights dont come on till noon. Long story short, my clock was off by 5 hours on the controller! LOL.. the low reading was from the AirROS eating up the ethylene at lights on. The burner will run for about 45 min on a fresh cycle. Levels will drop to around 450ppm right before lights on, so it takes it a while to burn back up to 1200ppm or so. ... currently in week 8, so I'm at 800ppm for now, and dropping every few days till the finish.