Bye DIY, need to up my vent-game!

benbud89

Well-Known Member
Hi guys! Im running a small grow room, 2x3x5/6 feet (60x90x150/180cm). So far Ive been using a diy carbon filter and pcfan for my exhaust system. It has worked well, but far from perfect. So now I want to upgrade it with some decent equipment, this is why: At the end of my last grow, I found some mold in one of my main colas, and I blame lack of airflow, despite using two clip-on-fans. Clearly, the air outtake has not been sufficient. I have a led light from area51, so I dont worry much about heat, only stale air and too much humidity.
I have searched, a lot, before you tell me to search the fora, but everything is for hps lights and mainly larger grows with several lights. Im currently looking on ebay (uk) for a combo, but fans differ greatly in price and shape, and my room isnt really all that big, Im looking at 36cfm or 62m3/h .
So my big question is: what kind of fan + carbon filter would you recommend me? I warmly appreciate every piece of advice you could hand me on this one!
Thanks! :)
 

R1b3n4

Well-Known Member
Go to ebay and type in TT100, even if not the exact type of fan you are after it will at least deposit you nicely in the section you need to be looking at

A friend of mine is running a LED grow currently and uses a TT100 for exhaust and a 4" bathroom fan for inlet and it works well, roughly the same size area as you have
 

benbud89

Well-Known Member
Pretty much the kind of stuff I was looking at. Just not able to tell the good models from the bad ones, the good filters from the less good ones, so on and so forth. Will it be cool enough to simply lead the duct out into my room? Im probably going to keep using a passive intake, as my grow isnt that big. But you guys know, so thats why I asked in the first place!
 

R1b3n4

Well-Known Member
That TT100 is a decent cheap fan,nothing special but they sell thousands of them weekly as they are cheap but decent they also do a model with a built in speed controller which will allow you to turn the fan speed up or down to help control airflow/temperature etc.

Filters-budget ones are shit, i went thru god knows how many cheap filters only to have them fail on me within 2months, finally spent the extra money on a Rhino Pro filter (about £50 for a 5") and its been going strong for well over a year without problems so well worth spending the extra £10 to have something like a rhino instead of a budget one

Best bet for you I reckon (only a personal opinion mind you not gospel lol) would be a TT100(4") with the speed controls as an exhaust fan(about £30), one of these 4" bathroom fans as an inlet
(bout £20)with a speed controller like this
(£10 roughly)in case you ever need to adjust inlet airflow

And finally top it off with a 4" Rhino Pro(about £40 for a 4") or other decent brand filter.

And yes you can quite happily vent into your room, the air coming out the exhaust duct will be barely lukewarm
 

OGEvilgenius

Well-Known Member
Take the advice above. Looks solid. You can get fans similar in style to computer fans but a little bigger. Axial fans. Kind of annoying to use though as they aren't really meant to be attached to a carbon filter.
 

benbud89

Well-Known Member
Hehe, I can see, that air intake is not something to be neglected. Parts of the article I dont get, though. Id wish that I could blame it on english being my second language, but some parts are just too technical. Also, Im pretty sure that only goes for larger grow operations, as other areas for ventilation are churches, stores, dance halls, etc. Id love to have a 4x4, too. But Area 51 no longer ships to South America, and I dont think, that Id be allowed make my room even bigger. 2x3 is already pushing it, lol. Thanks, though! Ill probably go with a 4" tt mixed fan vent and a 4" rhino filter, and hang both items as high as possible inside the room.
 

R1b3n4

Well-Known Member
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HYDROPONICS-VENTS-TT-2-SPEED-EXTRACTOR-FAN-RHINO-CARBON-FILTER-KIT-4-5-6-/231239430537?pt=UK_Baby_Baby_Feeding_Bottle_Warmers_Coolers_LE&var=&hash=item35d6f1b189 How do you like this combo? Wouldnt that serve me well, then? Thanks for your help, man! =) For intake, if any, Ill probably just use my pc fan and put a small filter on the outside to prevent bugs and dust.
Looks good, only thing i will say about it tho is that the filter shown is a Rhino "hobby" so has a thinner layer of carbon granules than the "pro" so will inevitably last less time before needing replacing, how much less i have no idea as ive only switched over to the rhino pro in the last year after a few years using budget ones

Because i have absolutely no idea what the ACTUAL life difference is between the hobby and the pro ive included an article on the subject below this paragraph for you to read n make your own mind up on the subject lol, excuse the laziness on my part lol

http://www.hg-hydroponics.co.uk/blog/2014/05/19/rhino-hobby-carbon-filter-vs-rhino-pro-carbon-filter/
 

benbud89

Well-Known Member
Thanks, I had not noted the hobby/pro difference before, I figured it was merely a naming-attention angle at from their marketing tricks. Definitely have to go for the pro version. Even though the hobby probably works fine, it seems to be worth the extra 10-20 pounds. Hope the size doesnt change too much, will have too look into it. The only thing that I have to remember when buying, is to not go for one of the 120v from the US. And the UK plug is so annoying and ugly, will have to change that too, but at least the tension is okay.
 
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