DIY Corona Discharge Ozone Generator

Hello all,

I'm relatively new to the forums... I've been browsing for a while, and this is my first post.

Basically, I have a wooden box with CFL's, and I'm trying to figure out a decent way to make a closed-circuit system. Additionally, I plan on designing an automation system for temperature control and air purification. I <3 DIY!!!

I'll do my best to illustrate the situation.
________________________________
| _|_t_|___|_P_|______|__H__|__ |
| | | |
oooo iiiiiiii

The "ooo" is the exaust fan from the box. the "iii" is the intake for the box. "t" is a temperature and humidity sensor (depending on levels, will activate "H"). "H" is the humidifier that will pump a cold mist into the system. "P" is the purification system. Thats where this gets tricky.

I'm starting with activated carbon for now, since my ladies are getting stinky. However...

For purification, I want to build a corona discharge ozone generator. The basic guide I was going to base off of is this: http://www.gardenscure.com/420/construction/108301-diy-ozone-generator.html

My biggest concern is if it is feasible in terms of practical application for an indoor box. Ozone is harmful to humans, but the idea is that it isn't let out of the pseudo vacuum which is the box. The other issue that I'm concerned with is the fact that a corona discharge is electricity out in the open. My plan is to encapsulate the discharge as safely as I can inside of a vented rubber cube.

Does anyone have experience with ozone generators, corona discharges, or diy-of-either?

Thanks in advance, everyone!!

-Forge

I own several different model/output corona discharge units as well as 2 different size/output uv discharge generators.

If your planning on doing a diy ozone generator it would stand to reason that you have a basic understanding of electricity & how to soilder but let me ask you this,when a high quality UV Ozone generator can be bought direct from a manufacturer for $100 why bother doing a diy ?

Being that corona discharge units make their ozone output from what boils down to static electricity they are not the best choice for damp applications like grow op's,even though the output of corona discharge units is extremely higher over uv units their output drops drastically as the humidity levels start going above 10% humidity,at a 50% humidity level corona units put off very little ozone for the electricity spent,i found this out the hard way after a rather large investment in several units.

You want a uv model generator,their output levels are not effected by damp or humidity & the home brew diy models offer much less chance of electrocution.

Whatever you decide on the last thing you want to do is to allow ozone to come in direct contact with the plants,ozone works by attaching itself to dirty oxygen atoms,once that happens the ozone oxidizes & breaks back down into oxygen,its this oxidation thats harmfull/deadly to plants because it destroys plant matter at the cell level,if ozone is allowed to be produced in the same area as the plants it will burn them,even if the amounts are low enough not to have visable damage to the cell structure of the plant its best not to have it anywhere near the plants,ozone is much heavier than air & collects on & around the plant,ozone damage to a plant cant be corrected .

The better & safer application of ozone is to exhaust smelly air from the grow area then treat with ozone,then vent out of the building, or as a double precaution send the ozone treated air through a carbon scrubber then vent outside,this is how i use my uv generators,i exhaust smelly air to a dump area where its heavily ozonated,then every 15 minutes the area is vented through a carbon filter & out of the building.

I own several models with some costing over $500 each,what a big mistake that was,anyhow this model is my favorite & will treat most grow op's,they are quality built & only require the bulb be wiped with a clean rag once every grow for maintainence,they only cost $100 brand new.

Thanks a ton for the advice!! I had not seen any information regarding correlation between the humidity and the ozone generator. I had been looking at UV generators, however I think I was misunderstanding how the systems worked. Are they essentially the same thing? I thought ozone to be beneficial to plants, but then again I've been doing all of my research on the internet. I also don't think I know all of the effects of the UV system regarding air purification.

You can build a carona discharge for under $40 though. I built one about a year ago and made a few minor mistakes along the way.
If you build, make sure the sreen you attach to the glass is tight and doesn't move. The vibrations / heat can crack your glass plate.
if you can find it, go with ceramic instead of glass.

Neon transformer: $10 on ebay
aluminum screen: $1 at hardware store
sheet of glass: $0.45 at hardware store
Hot glue and gun: $10 at hardware store.

Yasi said:

You can build a carona discharge for under $40 though. I built one about a year ago and made a few minor mistakes along the way.
If you build, make sure the sreen you attach to the glass is tight and doesn't move. The vibrations / heat can crack your glass plate.
if you can find it, go with ceramic instead of glass.

Neon transformer: $10 on ebay
aluminum screen: $1 at hardware store
sheet of glass: $0.45 at hardware store
Hot glue and gun: $10 at hardware store.

Click to expand...

Interesting... I'll definitely check that out. Any tips on assembly would be sweet. I was mainly basing off of this guide: http://www.gardenscure.com/420/construction/108301-diy-ozone-generator.html.

Hmm... Corona Discharge vs UV...