Humidity and lights

[greentree85]

I have 4x4 growlab tent. Iam using a 600w air cooled hood which is pulling air from inside my tent through a carbon filter, through the hood and then vented into another room. Im vegging and have my humidity from 60-70%. My question is will sucking that much humidity through the hood and across the bulb cause it to fail faster? My biggest concern though is are these air cooled lights build to be in that humid of an environment? Im freaked that it will cause some sort of short or blow uo or something.Also will that humidity have a negative effect on my carbon filter? Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[JediSmoker]

I don't think humid air is going to hurt your bulb, at least while it is on. most light bulbs generate enough heat so water cannot condense on it, however, if you are pulling cool/humid air through your system you may want to watch for condensation on ducting and reflectors.


If the bulb is off then it's as cold as the air hitting it, and thus would not cause condensation. You should be fine there.

 

[greentree85]

Thanks. I guess Im concerned most if the humidity will affect the actual socket. Moisture and electricity arent good. I forgot to mention that Im using a cool mist humidifier to achieve this humidity being that Iam in high altitude and the fresh air I draw in from outside is so dry.

 

[greentree85]

anybody, anything?

 

[troller]

Bro:

I've been told, and myself do it as follows: use a inline blower dedicated for just your lamps, take air from outside the tent and blow it across the lamps (ie - don't suck it across them lol). Use a separate fan on your scrubber/carbon filter or my guess is that you're thinking is correct you're gonna age some shit rather quickly. Just my .02 but the main point here is to take fresh air from outside the grow area and BLOW it across your lamps. Hope this helps.

 

[smokingrubber]

What fresh air are you drawing in? You said you were exhausting into another room? Unless you're pulling 300cfm of direct night time air across the bulb I wouldnt worry. If air is leaking into the garage or wherever then it has a minute to circulate before it enters the tent, circulates some more, goes through the filter, and across the bulb.

Humidity in the filter will degrade the life by a little, but plan on getting a new filter every year just cuz that's how you roll!

I keep my humidity around 55 btw.

 

[smokingrubber]

Bro:

I've been told, and myself do it as follows: use a inline blower dedicated for just your lamps, take air from outside the tent and blow it across the lamps (ie - don't suck it across them lol). Use a separate fan on your scrubber/carbon filter or my guess is that you're thinking is correct you're gonna age some shit rather quickly. Just my .02 but the main point here is to take fresh air from outside the grow area and BLOW it across your lamps. Hope this helps.

Is there any logic behind this "blow vs suck" argument? Or is this just what you've heard? This IS, infact, how I do it too . . . but I was going to add a "suck" fan on the other end too.

 

[WolfScott]

I have my grow room in my only bathroom and shower in it every day. LOL I try to make it as quick as possible and run my vent fan and keep my door open , but the humidity still goes up to about 80% or so. So far I havent had any problems with my 400 watt MH/HPS light, but it has only been a few months. I was worried about the same thing. Good luck!

 

[JediSmoker]

Sorry for leaving you hanging the last time....

Again, humidity should not going to be a problem whatsoever while your lights are on. The bulb and any part of the metal socket are just too hot for any water to condense on it - it will evaporate immediately.

If you are truly concerned what I would do is wait until just before your light cycle comes ON - and then take the bulb out, check everything and see if there is moisture there. If not, then you know that there is nothing condensing during your dark cycle, and it cannot during the light cycle, so you know you should be good.

If there IS moisture IN the socket before your light comes on I would definitely take measures to make sure it is dry before the light comes on.

 

[DubsFan]

Sorry for leaving you hanging the last time....

Again, humidity should not going to be a problem whatsoever while your lights are on. The bulb and any part of the metal socket are just too hot for any water to condense on it - it will evaporate immediately.

If you are truly concerned what I would do is wait until just before your light cycle comes ON - and then take the bulb out, check everything and see if there is moisture there. If not, then you know that there is nothing condensing during your dark cycle, and it cannot during the light cycle, so you know you should be good.

If there IS moisture IN the socket before your light comes on I would definitely take measures to make sure it is dry before the light comes on.

For short runs like your talking a large inline fan can push or pull just fine. The larger setups like mine or anything with a long run should always suck. You can't blow a lot of water through a hose but you can suck tons of it out. Try it...ok make your buddy try it

Humidity doesn't hurt bulbs. During veg running higher humidity is preffered.

I use a Dehumidifer in my room to keep my RH down under 55. My room is sealed. No air in or out except from my AC unit. Most use their larger inline fans to suck out humid air. I don't. My fan sucks in air from outside. I would be at 90% humidity and have moldy nugs if I had no DH unit.

In SoCal you can have moldy nugs late in the season with outdoor. RH hits the 80% range for many days. I lost a few Lb's last season.