COB LED DIY Build Journal

PDX Joe said:
Okay, I need some help with my climate control and ventilation. I've fired up the COB grow light in the closet and have been running the oscillating fan and the inline fan and taking temperature readings in the closet and outside the closet. The closet is running a bit too hot at around 85F degrees with the intake air at 71F degrees. So a temperature difference of around 14 degrees.

I also took temperature readings with the carbon filter removed and temps were around 79F degrees in the closet and a temperature difference of around 8 degrees between the closet and the room. So it seems I'm getting too much resistance from the carbon filter and not enough draw from the fan.

Here is a sketch of the setup. I'm wondering if I should go with a larger carbon filter, or go with a more powerful fan and larger carbon filter, or maybe even upgrade to a 6" fan and larger filter? Does anyone have any thoughts? I'm assuming a good grow temperature would be around 80F for LED growing.

View attachment 3765854
Click to expand...
bigger fan and filter. any decent 6 inch fan with 300cfm or better and a matching filter should pull your temps down to almost ambient with that setup,and the way you have it laid out.its a good layout imo,just got a small fan/filter combo in it.
 
sixstring2112 said:
bigger fan and filter. any decent 6 inch fan with 300cfm or better and a matching filter should pull your temps down to almost ambient with that setup,and the way you have it laid out.its a good layout imo,just got a small fan/filter combo in it.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the quick response. Damn, that's what I was afraid of. Okay, I guess I need to sell this filter and fan and size up. I guess this trial and error stuff is pretty normal.
 
yeah man i have a lil 2 x 2 x 5 tent for breeding and i thought being so small i could use a decent 4 in fan and one of those 300 cfm skinny filters,but it was always hotter than i liked.i finally put a 6 in vortex on a speed control and it can be dialed right down now.i didnt even have to change the filter but it was a 300.but i just recently ran a 400hps in there with 70f room temps and the tent stayed fine around 77 to 78f at 3/4 power on the fan
 
PDX Joe said:
Thanks for the quick response. Damn, that's what I was afraid of. Okay, I guess I need to sell this filter and fan and size up. I guess this trial and error stuff is pretty normal.
Click to expand...
Make sure to get a speed controller if you don't already have one.
 
sixstring2112 said:
yeah man i have a lil 2 x 2 x 5 tent for breeding and i thought being so small i could use a decent 4 in fan and one of those 300 cfm skinny filters,but it was always hotter than i liked.i finally put a 6 in vortex on a speed control and it can be dialed right down now.i didnt even have to change the filter but it was a 300.but i just recently ran a 400hps in there with 70f room temps and the tent stayed fine around 77 to 78f at 3/4 power on the fan
Click to expand...
Are the Vortex S-600 pretty quiet? Do you need to use a particular type of speed controller with it?
 
PDX Joe said:
Thanks for the quick response. Damn, that's what I was afraid of. Okay, I guess I need to sell this filter and fan and size up. I guess this trial and error stuff is pretty normal.
Click to expand...
Been doin this for a long time and I'm still "trialing and erroring" haha
Sixstring2112 is right on the money. Your room is the ideal setup -just need to step up the fan cfm. Do you know what cfm your filter is rated for? You may be able to keep the filter and just step up the fan cfm.
 
HydroRed said:
Been doin this for a long time and I'm still "trialing and erroring" haha
Sixstring2112 is right on the money. Your room is the ideal setup -just need to step up the fan cfm. Do you know what cfm your filter is rated for? You may be able to keep the filter and just step up the fan cfm.
Click to expand...
It's a 4", 125cfm. He's gotta upgrade his filter. Which I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU BUY THIS ONE. Because I just got mine and it kicks ASS. and it's CHEAPER than any Phresh which is all I've used in the past. But I wanted to try a new one and am very, very pleased.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Phat-Filter-4...%3Ac6dc5a401560a605a24564f4fffb8a29%7Ciid%3A1
 
I've got my environment dialed in now with this grow light. The closet temperature is running right around 78F, 44% humidity. The fix was easier than I thought. I upgraded the fan to a Can Fan 4" HO (165 cfm) and I upsized my filter to a Can Lite 4". The fan is definitely more powerful than the Soler Palau and the filter reduced the resistance just enough to get the temps down. I'm glad I could stick with the 4" equipment and ducting... especially with a small space like this.

I added a small door to the reservoir closet and sealed up the main doors with neoprene gaskets. I'm going to build the SCROG net, but this thing is ready to go.

I think I'm going to try some Heavyweight Strawberry Cake seeds from Southern Oregon Seedbank for the first grow. I was on the fence about 4 or 2 plants, but I think I will go with 2 for easy maintenance and maximize the SCROG technique.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3235.JPG
    IMG_3235.JPG
    626.6 KB · Views: 123
  • IMG_3236.JPG
    IMG_3236.JPG
    634.9 KB · Views: 116
  • IMG_3237.JPG
    IMG_3237.JPG
    500.8 KB · Views: 127
I built a reservoir stand and had a garbage can slider sitting around. So, I used it to hold the reservoir and slide the reservoir back into the reservoir closet. Nice and tidy.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    580.7 KB · Views: 80
  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    538.7 KB · Views: 80
  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    670.4 KB · Views: 86
Did you try wiring the S&P TD-100x to run at 135cfm before you gave up on it? I wonder if that would have given it enough of a boost from the 100cfm you had it set at.
 
Danielson999 said:
Did you try wiring the S&P TD-100x to run at 135cfm before you gave up on it? I wonder if that would have given it enough of a boost from the 100cfm you had it set at.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I tried the Soler Palau at both speeds. There was about a 17 degree difference between outside and inside temps at 100cfm. Temps came down to about a 13 degree difference between the basement and closet with the fan set at 135 cfm. The Can Fan and larger filter has my temps down to a 8 degree difference between the basement and closet. I could feel a considerable reduction in air flow with the Soler Palau when I hooked it up to the filter and duct. It was super quiet! I'd imagine it would work well if you didn't need a carbon filter.
 
Right, they are really tailored for bathroom type installs. I guess a person would need a TD-150 and just use a reducer to connect it to a 4" filter. Nice to know though. I suppose the smart thing is to just get a vortex or can fan and a speed controller so you can go as slow or fast as you will ever need but I understand you had space requirements.
 
Here's my first run so far under the DIY light. I ended up growing some Barney's Blue Cheese fem. Here they are at just over two weeks from germination. I went light with the Jacks 321 feedings and they were showing some deficiencies, so I've been giving them 1.7 EC - 850 PPM and they have started to darken up. They are already stinky! That's a good sign for cheese. IMG_3283.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top