CO2 Generator With Sentinel CHHC-1 and 4x4 Tent

[Bob Smith]

Was all set to try it out, then realized I'm gonna need an extension cord to do that...........have already been to Home Depot twice today, so it's gonna have to wait until tomorrow.

Haven't lit the pilot yet, which I'll also do tomorrow.

Did run the fan, and it's a nice and controlled airflow, nothing too hurricane-ish.

The being said, here's what it looks like:



EDIT: you can't see in the pic, but the ducting in the tent is aimed directly at the oscillating fan, which should disperse the CO2 (and any heat) evenly throughout the tent, to prevent plants from getting roasted.

 

[Bob Smith]

Don't wanna jinx myself, and there's certainly significant left tail risk involved (like burning down the house), but so far this works better then I could've hoped.

Took me forever to get the pilot lit, and I was just about to quit before I finally got it, but I'm loving this right now.

Stats:

Firstly, turned my Sentinel from Fuzzy Logic (for compressed CO2) to Generator, and also raised the deadband from 25 to 200 (the max deadband). Setepoint is still at 1500.

So, let the temp get down to 72 and the CO2 get down to 400, then I fired the system up -

Took 1.5 minutes - temp went up to 77, CO2 went to ~1800, and humidity went a few % points.

Stayed in to watch it in "maintain" mode, and it runs for about 30-45 seconds every five minutes, raising the temp about 1-1.5 degrees each time, and lowering the humidity a coupla points, while hitting ~1825 in PPMs.

Again, not trying to put the "mush" on myself, but so far this is working beautifully.

Need to figure out a failsafe in case the ducting should come down while I'm not there, which would lead the burner to stay on continuously, and need to brainstorm about some other things that could go wrong, but I'm feeling pretty good about it right now.

Thanks to all for their help.

 

[rollmydoodie]

I like your setup. I'm going to be doing something similar so thanks for the idea to vent the generator into the room to help with heat. I dont know what +rep is but i'll try and find it for ya. Are you planning to do a grow journal?

 

[Bob Smith]

I like your setup. I'm going to be doing something similar so thanks for the idea to vent the generator into the room to help with heat. I dont know what +rep is but i'll try and find it for ya. Are you planning to do a grow journal?

Have one - click the link in my signature.

 

[mindphuk]

Can you explain what your settings are on the CHHC-1 that empties a 20lb tank every week in a 4x4 tent? Mine last at least half of the flowering time of 4-5 weeks unless I set my flow meter too high or exhaust too frequently. I have a 5x5 tent.

 

[Bob Smith]

Can you explain what your settings are on the CHHC-1 that empties a 20lb tank every week in a 4x4 tent? Mine last at least half of the flowering time of 4-5 weeks unless I set my flow meter too high or exhaust too frequently. I have a 5x5 tent.

1500PPMs when lights on (12/12 schedule).

My exhaust virtually never runs (thirty seconds a day, as soon as the lights turn off).

It's about as sealed as a tent can be, IMHO.

Is your CO2 atmosphere controlled or are you using a timer?

 

[regrets]

It looks like you have pulled this off as successfully as one could hope, congrats. I wouldn't worry too much about the ducting falling, seems like that is unlikely and worst case scenario is that your garage increases a few degrees and you waste a tank of propane, plus the fan would still be running most likely and at some point the co2 in the garage might get high enough to increase the ppms in the tent, stopping your system on it's own. Also if the venting falls it will be pulling in co2 from closer to the floor of the garage which is where it will be at its highest point. Well done again on this, I always wondered how well this wold work. Might be good reasons to run certain larger perpetual grows this way as well keeping the generator in the veg room while pumping the co2 into the adjacent flowering room, could help with evening out some of the heating issues during certain times of the year. I don't really know, but it's worth a thought, now that we know that this type of set up works. Thanks for sharing all of this info.

 

[johndoe12345678]

Hmmmmmm................based on the chart at the bottom of this link, it seems that the propane/CO2/BTU ratios are identical across generators, so the larger the better, methinks:

https://www.greenair.com/page/co2-generator-size-and-timing-chart.html

Also according to that chart, I'll be filling up my propane (at most) once every six weeks (based on some rough numbers), which ain't a big deal at all.

Finally, and the most important question - as the generator is mounted and hanging from a cross beam, where would the majority of the CO2 come out? Would it come out of the top because it's heated (along with the heat and the water vapor), or would it drop through the empty bottom of the generator? If dropping through the bottom because it's heavier then air, that'd be fugging perfect - the heat and water vapor goes out the top, and the (somewhat cooler) CO2 drops from the bottom.

Anyone know how that chemical reaction works, and if the CO2 would drop straight down or, being (possibly) heated, would rise initially? I guess I can have the hose attached to different parts and see what that does to the temp and PPMs in there and how quickly it does it.

i have chhc with a sentinel natural gas burner with electric pilot which is a must so u dont have to dick with the pilot and as far as where the co2 goes, it goes straight down and the heat goes up and out side exhaust, u should of got a ten burner, there nice u can change how many burners u wanna use 2/5/7/0r 10.

 

[mindphuk]

1500PPMs when lights on (12/12 schedule).

My exhaust virtually never runs (thirty seconds a day, as soon as the lights turn off).

It's about as sealed as a tent can be, IMHO.

Is your CO2 atmosphere controlled or are you using a timer?

I run a CAP controller and keep mine at 1500. I thought your fuzzy logic was supposed to make the loss even less than my current unit which is why I was looking at the CHHC-1 as well. I have 18 14" plants in there running stinkbud's aero setup. I really like the digital control but I wonder how well it is helping preserve your co2.

 

[Bob Smith]

I run a CAP controller and keep mine at 1500. I thought your fuzzy logic was supposed to make the loss even less than my current unit which is why I was looking at the CHHC-1 as well. I have 18 14" plants in there running stinkbud's aero setup. I really like the digital control but I wonder how well it is helping preserve your co2.

I really think it "just is what it is" - I don't blame the Sentinel for my CO2 use, it's got more to do with the plants.

About 7-12 days is correct for a tank and my size of grow - how sure are you that you're at 1500PPMs? Because I'd be willing to bet that you're quite short of that number, in all honesty.

 

[Bob Smith]

It looks like you have pulled this off as successfully as one could hope, congrats. I wouldn't worry too much about the ducting falling, seems like that is unlikely and worst case scenario is that your garage increases a few degrees and you waste a tank of propane, plus the fan would still be running most likely and at some point the co2 in the garage might get high enough to increase the ppms in the tent, stopping your system on it's own. Also if the venting falls it will be pulling in co2 from closer to the floor of the garage which is where it will be at its highest point. Well done again on this, I always wondered how well this wold work. Might be good reasons to run certain larger perpetual grows this way as well keeping the generator in the veg room while pumping the co2 into the adjacent flowering room, could help with evening out some of the heating issues during certain times of the year. I don't really know, but it's worth a thought, now that we know that this type of set up works. Thanks for sharing all of this info.

My pleasure man, and you make good points regarding what would happen should the ducting come down - in addition, there's "supposedly" a safety feature built into the generator in that it'll shut off if it hits 255F, I believe - so worse comes to worse, hopefully that would do the trick.

Can't wait to use this setup on my future 8x8 flowering tent.

 

[Bob Smith]

Firstly, since the Sentinel's max deadband is 200 (meaning with a setpoint of 1500 and a deadband of 200, it will raise the CO2 to 1700 before it shuts off, then kick on again at 1500), I'd make the ducting longer, which would lead to more lag in the sensor, which would (effectively) increase the deadband - right now, the "system" shuts off at 1700, but it takes time for the airflow to stop, so the effective deadband is ~325 (the CO2 gets up to about 1825 before starting to drop).

In order for the generator to have to start and stop as little as possible, I'd like an effective deadband closer to ~500, if not a little more - longer ducting into my next tent will solve that problem.

Also, that heat exchanger will be a necessity come summertime - the air getting pumped in is pretty warm (makes the ducting very warm to the touch), so that little heat exchanger would be required for the summertime - seems like a great little invention/innovation to remove the heat using virtually no power (like 30 watts for a pump, that's it).

Finally, I made a little video documenting how it works - anyone know how to post youtube videos and embed them in my post?

Until I figure that out, here's a link........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRXXJyuok90

 

[laserbrn]

Good job. I doubted the effectiveness of this, but the ability to suspend it from the roof and innovatino there really made it work out. A+ +rep coming your way for sure.

Posting a video:


Couldn't be easier...

[youtube]kRXXJyuok90[/youtube]

for the code just hit reply and look at it...

 

[Bob Smith]

Good job. I doubted the effectiveness of this, but the ability to suspend it from the roof and innovatino there really made it work out. A+ +rep coming your way for sure.

Posting a video:


Couldn't be easier...

[youtube]kRXXJyuok90[/youtube]

for the code just hit reply and look at it...

Thank you kindly, my good sir

Even though I'm not that old, posting vids and things of that nature are still above my pay grade

 

[jnuggs]

dude I am very sorry. and I don't really mean to jump the gun(although I do..obviously..) but I just skipped from page 1 to the last page. If I could neg rep you, I probably would. I think that it is totally, COMPLETELY FUCKED UP.. that just because you have a CO2 generator and you're not worried about CO2 loss..you're willing to use your exhaust fans during your CO2 on-cycle. That is so fucked up to just dump your extra CO2 into our world. There are others here who use the air and everything else nature has provided. And that does NOT mean humans alone.

Way to not give a shit about mother nature while growing green.
Then again you're not going green, only growing.
Whatever.
p.s. I am truly not out to make enemies with you. I just immaturely ranted about my feelings for it. I hope you consider going about this a different way.

Anyhow, if there are any hard feelings, I apologize for not being so nice. Maybe we could all figure out something for you? to do it differently? and I do give you props for asking questions about what you should do..and I understand that nobody was really giving replies before you purchased your unit!

 

[Bob Smith]

dude I am very sorry. and I don't really mean to jump the gun(although I do..obviously..) but I just skipped from page 1 to the last page. If I could neg rep you, I probably would. I think that it is totally, COMPLETELY FUCKED UP.. that just because you have a CO2 generator and you're not worried about CO2 loss..you're willing to use your exhaust fans during your CO2 on-cycle. That is so fucked up to just dump your extra CO2 into our world. There are others here who use the air and everything else nature has provided. And that does NOT mean humans alone.

Way to not give a shit about mother nature while growing green.
Then again you're not going green, only growing.
Whatever.
p.s. I am truly not out to make enemies with you. I just immaturely ranted about my feelings for it. I hope you consider going about this a different way.

Anyhow, if there are any hard feelings, I apologize for not being so nice. Maybe we could all figure out something for you? to do it differently? and I do give you props for asking questions about what you should do..and I understand that nobody was really giving replies before you purchased your unit!

Ummmmmm.................my exhaust fans come on for about thirty seconds every 24 hours, and that's when the light goes out - they don't run at all when the light is on (and the CO2 is being generated).

I'd be lying if I said that it doesn't strike me as somewhat asinine to attack someone before reading the thread or knowing what one is talking about, but hey, to each their own.

Please read the thread in its entirety before attacking me anymore, if you wouldn't mind.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jnuggs]

Generator's getting delivered tomorrow, so I need to run it for a bit and see if my vision fits its reality, but my plan right now is this:

Gonna build a plywood box around the generator with 6" flange up top and many 1.5" holes drilled around the bottom for intake.

Going to have a 4" inline fan (170CFM) mounted on the ceiling, and have them both hooked up to my Sentinel, so when the generator's on, the fan will be as well, keeping the heat down in the box and somewhat mitigating the fire risk.

I'm also going to have my CO2 and "Cooling" functions on my Sentinel set so that my exhaust can run when my CO2 is running (because not too worried about waste with a generator) - figure the CO2 enriched air will be kinda warm, so wanna let the tent be able to cool while also being CO2 enriched.

Going to get a fire extinguisher and mount it above the box, one of the ones that automatically dispenses if it hits 155F.

Anyone have any thoughts/issues regarding this?

BTW, the tubing is going to be about 20 feet from the generator to the tent - purposefully making it as long as possible to:

1) minimize the strength of the fan and therefore the positive pressure, letting as little smells as possible escape

2) hopefully let some of the heat dissipate whilst still retaining all of the CO2.

Questions, comments, criticisms, and ideas always appreciated.

sorry I took that highlighted part as in you were going to run your exhaust while the generator was running, if needed, to help with temps. Maybe I misunderstood. And I did go back through and read the thread in it's entirety. I am with this laser guy a bit... there is no way your tent is 100% sealed..so wouldn't keeping the whole garage at 1500 ppm do the trick?

And to whoever said "not everyone can have plants and lights all over the house.." and you said "hit the head of the nail" or whatever.. How in the hell do you hide your current 4x4 tent, plus a CO2 generator..and then you're expanding to an 8x4..or 8x8, I saw you posted both sizes.

The only reason I bashed is because it sounded to me like you were willingly and knowingly going to exhaust CO2 enriched air, without a care.

Once again, I'm not trying to attack at all. And I do apologize for skipping 5 pages. I'm also glad that you didn't build the whole wooden box!

 

[Bob Smith]

sorry I took that highlighted part as in you were going to run your exhaust while the generator was running, if needed, to help with temps. Maybe I misunderstood. And I did go back through and read the thread in it's entirety. I am with this laser guy a bit... there is no way your tent is 100% sealed..so wouldn't keeping the whole garage at 1500 ppm do the trick?

And to whoever said "not everyone can have plants and lights all over the house.." and you said "hit the head of the nail" or whatever.. How in the hell do you hide your current 4x4 tent, plus a CO2 generator..and then you're expanding to an 8x4..or 8x8, I saw you posted both sizes.

The only reason I bashed is because it sounded to me like you were willingly and knowingly going to exhaust CO2 enriched air, without a care.

Once again, I'm not trying to attack at all. And I do apologize for skipping 5 pages. I'm also glad that you didn't build the whole wooden box!

Dude, I'm buzzed from Jack Daniels, it's Christmas Eve Eve, and I really don't wanna argue with you.

Set your posts per page at 40 (as opposed to the ten it's on), and read the thread before attacking me anymore**.

**Spoiler alert - I'm not wasting any CO2, and have not set my exhaust fans to run, because the temps are not that much of an issue in the wintertime.

Please, please just read the thread in its entirety, or just don't worry about it and let us all be.

Merry Christmas.

 

[jnuggs]

lol man I wasn't trying to argue with you. I didn't realize you could see more than 10 posts per page, so thanks for the info. And that's no spoiler alert anyhow. Was only trying to see what dimensions you work with, etc. My bad for gettin ya all pissy.

**Happy alert for you - unsubscribed.

 

[dakin3d]

Dude, I'm buzzed from Jack Daniels, it's Christmas Eve Eve, and I really don't wanna argue with you.

Set your posts per page at 40 (as opposed to the ten it's on), and read the thread before attacking me anymore**.

**Spoiler alert - I'm not wasting any CO2, and have not set my exhaust fans to run, because the temps are not that much of an issue in the wintertime.

Please, please just read the thread in its entirety, or just don't worry about it and let us all be.

Merry Christmas.

Damn Bob, gotta give you props for this setup... When I initially started reading, I have to admit, I was another doubter, but you really came through w/ some innovative solutions.

I just wanted to ask you how much propane are you actually using? I wouldn't want to fill it too often, so I'm thinking natural gas and just tap into my house line. THanks for the ebay link, as well, I've been looking for a reasonably priced unit.

Also wanted to ask, where did you purchase your Sentinel unit from? Did you get a good price on that, as well. I'm currently debating between CAP, Sentinel, and Harvest Master if you have any input, I would appreciate it.

Last, just wanted to ask if the inline that your using is a 'Valueline' brand, and at what rating? 400 cfm? I'm looking to invest into a few of these and don't really want to spend the $$$ on 'Vortex' as they are pricey as hell.

Happy Holidays, dak