Newbie Cool Tube Question. +rep for help

[DannyGreenEyes]

I'm an advanced newbie on my first grow. I'm about to start flowering so I have to take my 400w MH out and make a veg room and I have to buy a cool tube because I can't afford to deal with the heat problems from the cheap hood that came with the light.

I'm in CO so it's pretty cold out even though it just warmed up some. It's currently 28 with highs forcasted in the 40s & 50s for the next 10 days at least.

I also can't find thrip/mite screens so I have to use stockings for a screen which I can only do if I'm pulling air from the outside. If I vent then the air will be too hot for stockings, they'll melt.

So here's my question (I only have the abilbility to make one exhaust or intake). Is it better to make an intake for the cool tube with with a stocking screen, or is it better to vent it to the outside with no screen?

+ rep for help.

 

[guitarzan420]

why not vent outside into a louvred dryer vent. they stay closed when the fan is off and allow good flow when it's on.

 

[TreesAsMedicine]

Circulation, not vent. I grow in a closet, and I use LEDs for flowering, and I keep my MH lights on in the winter so I can keep the closet about 75 degrees, and 50% humidity. Unless you got a huge setup, why vent?

 

[streetlegal]

if ur venting the air in then the heat from ur cooltube stays in the room, u might as well not have one it defeats the purpose.. u gotta suck it out.. or have it sucked from outside through the tube then back out the room

 

[DannyGreenEyes]

why not vent outside into a louvred dryer vent. they stay closed when the fan is off and allow good flow when it's on.

I don't have access to one.

The veg room will be in a bed room with a sliding glass door. The flower room in in a big walk in closet and I have it set up so no light can bleed in.

The closed has two 400w HPSs so there's heat problems but I have them solved with a portable A/C that pulls air from the outside to help it cool better. I have a flexible vent feeding it that runs through the bedroom and hooks into this thing that came with the A/C. It fits into the door and the door closes most of the way locking it in. And I can lock the sliding glass door in place so it's safe.

I have the A/C venting into the living room and it helps to heat the rest of my house.

The door piece has 2 places to hook something up to, one for intake and one for exhaust. Since I'm only using 1 for the A/C, when I set up the veg in the bedroom I'll still have 1 I can use for the veg room.

That's why I have this question. And the fan will always be on, I'll be buying an inline fan.

 

[DannyGreenEyes]

Circulation, not vent. I grow in a closet, and I use LEDs for flowering, and I keep my MH lights on in the winter so I can keep the closet about 75 degrees, and 50% humidity. Unless you got a huge setup, why vent?

Thanks for the help. +rep

The light kicks off a lot of heat with the open hood I'm using. It makes the 7' x 4 1/2' closet about 15 degrees hotter when I hang it at 30" above the planters. That's why I'm concerned

Maybe I can draw air from the outside and on the other end hook up more flexible duct and carry the exhaust into the living room. Think that would keep it cool?

 

[DannyGreenEyes]

if ur venting the air in then the heat from ur cooltube stays in the room, u might as well not have one it defeats the purpose.. u gotta suck it out.. or have it sucked from outside through the tube then back out the room

Thanks for the help. +rep

I thought maybe pulling 20 degree air in would cool the bulb and not be too hot when it comes out.

What do you think about the idea of running the exhaust into the living room? Maybe I can even splice it together with the exhaust from the closet. What do you think?

 

[TreesAsMedicine]

Im not going to bullshit you, I honestly do not know. How many plant do you have. Remember, you got that sweet skunk smell as well

 

[streetlegal]

Thanks for the help. +rep

I thought maybe pulling 20 degree air in would cool the bulb and not be too hot when it comes out.

What do you think about the idea of running the exhaust into the living room? Maybe I can even splice it together with the exhaust from the closet. What do you think?

first off i have NO idea what its like to be in those kind of temps, i live in 80-85 most of the year.. ive seen snow twice on trips lol..
Secondly i think thats a terriffic idea..
Whether u need to suck that freezing air in from outside to cool the tube i dont know, it could be overkill.. u could just suck it thru from the room itself, big possibility that thats cooling enough

 

[woodsmaneh!]

First it is best to blow/push air, if you have any small holes air will be pushed out vs sucked out by sucking/pulling air, no smells leaving the room when you blow.

You can add a filter in front of the fan made from a high quality furnace filter. Get the RED or higher 3-m filter. Lots of plans around.

If smell is not a problem vent outside, your one light will cool OK with just you house air being sucked through the fan and BLOWN into the cooltube. Remember blow air. You don't need insulated flex if using the air from inside of the house.

I would vent outside. I do with all my cool tubes. It's a closed system, filter box outside for cold air intake, fan, insulated flex all the way out, stops condensation dripping all over the place. At the end is a all aluminum single flapper that seals. I also put a back draft preventer on the system as an extra measure to stop any air flow back from the vent. The vent is the weak spot. I have never seen them fail but have heard stories bla bla.

Hope this helps.

 

[DannyGreenEyes]

Im not going to bullshit you, I honestly do not know. How many plant do you have. Remember, you got that sweet skunk smell as well

I'll be vegging 8 plants while I flower 8.

I'm not growing any Sweet Skunk, and I have the smell taken care of with a DIY in line odor controller. Works great.

 

[DannyGreenEyes]

first off i have NO idea what its like to be in those kind of temps, i live in 80-85 most of the year.. ive seen snow twice on trips lol..
Secondly i think thats a terriffic idea..
Whether u need to suck that freezing air in from outside to cool the tube i dont know, it could be overkill.. u could just suck it thru from the room itself, big possibility that thats cooling enough

One other problem I have to keep in mind though are bugs. It's also very dry here and there are mites galore. They're the size of a pin head and they're a bitch to get rid of. If I pull air in I can use stockings for a screen but if I vent it out I can't because the hot air will melt the stocking. And it's about impossible to find metal mite/thrip screens.

But if you think just venting the air would be enough, I can vent it into the living room and I wont need a screen.

With just venting to an exhaust, how strong would the inline fan have to be and how many degrees would you think the temp would go up using a 400w MH?

 

[DannyGreenEyes]

First it is best to blow/push air, if you have any small holes air will be pushed out vs sucked out by sucking/pulling air, no smells leaving the room when you blow.

You can add a filter in front of the fan made from a high quality furnace filter. Get the RED or higher 3-m filter. Lots of plans around.

If smell is not a problem vent outside, your one light will cool OK with just you house air being sucked through the fan and BLOWN into the cooltube. Remember blow air. You don't need insulated flex if using the air from inside of the house.

I would vent outside. I do with all my cool tubes. It's a closed system, filter box outside for cold air intake, fan, insulated flex all the way out, stops condensation dripping all over the place. At the end is a all aluminum single flapper that seals. I also put a back draft preventer on the system as an extra measure to stop any air flow back from the vent. The vent is the weak spot. I have never seen them fail but have heard stories bla bla.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the help. +rep

I have no odor problems but I have to be carefull of mites. Will the 3-M furnace filter keep them out? In this cold they're likely to follow the source of the heat right into the room.

I'm not sure what you mean by push vs pull. The way I have it in my head, I'll have an inline fan pointing in at the light at one end and the uninusulated vent starting on the other end (it's 20% humidity here, I don't really have to worry too much about condensation).

Then the duct goes into a bucket wtih a water & ONA solution that removes the smell really good. I'd rather vent it outside because it smells like a public bathroom that's just been cleaned when it comes out. There will be another in line fan as it enters the bucket.

I can move the bucket into the living room to vent in there if necessary or I can run it through another foot of duct or so to go out the door.

As far as I can tell the fans are pulling & pushing at the same time.

Also, the A/C vent is hooked up to the bucket right now so I'm thinking it might be better to splice the 2 exhausts together before it enters the bucket, and if I need more power I can add another in line fan as it exits the bucket or right at the door if I vent outside. I'll also need to add another in line fan where the A/C hooks up to the duct to prevent anything from backing up into the flower room when the A/C shuts off.

 

[streetlegal]

One other problem I have to keep in mind though are bugs. It's also very dry here and there are mites galore. They're the size of a pin head and they're a bitch to get rid of. If I pull air in I can use stockings for a screen but if I vent it out I can't because the hot air will melt the stocking. And it's about impossible to find metal mite/thrip screens.

But if you think just venting the air would be enough, I can vent it into the living room and I wont need a screen.

With just venting to an exhaust, how strong would the inline fan have to be and how many degrees would you think the temp would go up using a 400w MH?

Its up to u bud, pick a spot eg. suck from the cieling and dump in ur basement etc, anywhere thats easier for u.. and yeh u can even heat ur house and save on heating.. 400cfm centri fan is good for 2x1000s, im not sure about a 400watt..
And i cant give u an answer on ur temps, i mean the cooler the air u got coming thru the tube the cooler itll be..

 

[DannyGreenEyes]

Its up to u bud, pick a spot eg. suck from the cieling and dump in ur basement etc, anywhere thats easier for u.. and yeh u can even heat ur house and save on heating.. 400cfm centri fan is good for 2x1000s, im not sure about a 400watt..
And i cant give u an answer on ur temps, i mean the cooler the air u got coming thru the tube the cooler itll be..

Sorry, I know nothing about fans. All I know for sure is the in line fan that Home Depot sells for $30 isn't strong enough to do much more than help a stronger fan. lol

The room temp stays in the 60s & 70s depending on the outside temp. And if I pull air from the outside the temp will range from single digits to low 50s until the spring.

I guess it's best to intake from the room so there's not such a wide temp range, and so it doesn't go up so high in the spring.

I also have a wall unit A/C in the bed room, but the compressor's on it's last leg. I'm not sure how long it will last or how effective it's going to be. All I know is it's not good as far as hooking a duct up to it. The compressor all but shuts down when it has to push air through a duct that gives it any resistance.

 

[streetlegal]

Sorry, I know nothing about fans. All I know for sure is the in line fan that Home Depot sells for $30 isn't strong enough to do much more than help a stronger fan. lol

The room temp stays in the 60s & 70s depending on the outside temp. And if I pull air from the outside the temp will range from single digits to low 50s until the spring.

I guess it's best to intake from the room so there's not such a wide temp range, and so it doesn't go up so high in the spring.

I also have a wall unit A/C in the bed room, but the compressor's on it's last leg. I'm not sure how long it will last or how effective it's going to be. All I know is it's not good as far as hooking a duct up to it. The compressor all but shuts down when it has to push air through a duct that gives it any resistance.

centrifugal or inline.. centri is stronger but louder.. sometimes an inline can do the job..
My advice is get the BIGGEST u can afford, bigger the better.. ppl usually try to get the fan size according to the cooltube size so it all fits eg 150mm cooltube 150mm ducting 150mm fan, dont matter a whole lot cos u can buy size adaptors..
If ur sucking directly out thr room then u want some passive intake TWICE the size of the out take

 

[DannyGreenEyes]

centrifugal or inline.. centri is stronger but louder.. sometimes an inline can do the job..
My advice is get the BIGGEST u can afford, bigger the better.. ppl usually try to get the fan size according to the cooltube size so it all fits eg 150mm cooltube 150mm ducting 150mm fan, dont matter a whole lot cos u can buy size adaptors..
If ur sucking directly out thr room then u want some passive intake TWICE the size of the out take

OK, I looked up centrifugal fans so I know what they are, but I don't know if I'm gonna be able to afford one. They look expensive. I guess I'll have to look for deals. Is there any type of strength I should be looking for? (I'll have to push the air through 10 ft of duct if the furnace filter keeps out mites, and about 25ft of duct if I vent to the living room, and the duct is 6")

The intake goes to the closet/flower room right now and is attatched to the portable A/C. I made a door out of the pleather material that go on couches, and it's velcro'd over the doorway.

I guess it will have to take air from the rest of the house. I have a fire place and I can open it. I imagine that would help. But I think in that case it would be better to vent it outside so it doesn't make the air going into the bedroom any hotter.

 

[streetlegal]

25foot thats a long ass way man, prob too far id say..
Ill say again get the BIGGEST u can afford

 

[DannyGreenEyes]

25foot thats a long ass way man, prob too far id say..
Ill say again get the BIGGEST u can afford

The portable A/C compressor does OK with 1 cheap inline fan for help. The same in line fan that would help the centrifuge. And I can add another one at the buckets exit/exhaust if need be.

But if that furnace filter works to keep the mites out, then I can vent out the door and we're only looking at about 5ft, a bucket, and then another 1ft.

Does anyone know if there's a filter I can use that will keep mites out? (they're the size of a pin head)

 

[woodsmaneh!]

Thanks for the help. +rep

I have no odor problems but I have to be carefull of mites. Will the 3-M furnace filter keep them out? In this cold they're likely to follow the source of the heat right into the room.

I'm not sure what you mean by push vs pull.

blowing/pushing

Yes fan's do both, it depends on where they are placed in the system. So what you want to do is put your fan between the cool air source and have the fan blowing air into the cool tubes. That's blowing/pushing air.


Sucking/pulling air

If you put your fan at the end of the system, after the cool tubes you would be sucking/pulling air through the cool tube.
The problem with this is if you have any holes or cracks anywhere in the venting system you will pull smelly air into the cooling system out it goes. Not cool.


The way I have it in my head, I'll have an inline fan pointing in at the light at one end and the uninusulated vent starting on the other end (it's 20% humidity here, I don't really have to worry too much about condensation).

You got it covered. Its all good.

Then the duct goes into a bucket wtih a water & ONA solution that removes the smell really good. I'd rather vent it outside because it smells like a public bathroom that's just been cleaned when it comes out. There will be another in line fan as it enters the bucket.

I can move the bucket into the living room to vent in there if necessary or I can run it through another foot of duct or so to go out the door.

As far as I can tell the fans are pulling & pushing at the same time.

Also, the A/C vent is hooked up to the bucket right now so I'm thinking it might be better to splice the 2 exhausts together before it enters the bucket, and if I need more power I can add another in line fan as it exits the bucket or right at the door if I vent outside. I'll also need to add another in line fan where the A/C hooks up to the duct to prevent anything from backing up into the flower room when the A/C shuts off.

Yes they do stop mites. 3M has a Purple filter that is even better than the Red one they filter from .3 to 100 microns.
Will stop air borne viruses. You can also us a shop vac heppa filter.

go here for more info

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Filtrete/AirQualityProducts/ProductInformation/FiltreteProducts/




But if that furnace filter works to keep the mites out, then I can vent out the door and we're only looking at about 5ft, a bucket, and then another 1ft.

Does anyone know if there's a filter I can use that will keep mites out? (they're the size of a pin head)[/QUOTE]

Hope this helps.

Peace