SMELL ISSUE..Detailed layout of room... HELP ME!

Ok heres the layout...

12x12 room in the basement
2 1000W's with Cool Tube's
Not sure what it is called but it is reflective foam board around the room and ceiling (it is used for insulation in flooring I think....
It has standard insulation behind the reflective board....
1 8inch Can Fan with a DIY silencer to pull the "stinky" air out
connected to a 1ft and quater high PHATFARM carbon filter maybe 8 or 9inches around (6inch nozzle on it)
1 6inch can fan cooling my lights (only air it gets is from outside the room)
1 6inch can fan blowing intake for clean cool air

I have gone over and above to make sure that there are no open spaces between the foam boards. I used reflective tape and sealed the spaces tight. Only space I didnt take was the floor however the boards are super tight to the floor.

The basement does NOT smell and the room where the filter is doesn't seem to smell either. However the upstair in certain areas (most if it) stinks like weed bad!! I am in wk 8 of flower and going to pull soon but I need this fixed for next go.....

WHERE DID I GO WRONG????

Simply, if you are blowing more air OUT of your basement than you are taking air IN, your smell should not expand to the upstairs. You said you have a 6 inch nozzle from an 8 inch fan, so maybe get that to an 8 inch nozzle to ensure that you are blowing the max air OUT.

Also, where does your outtake lead to? Outside hopefully?

maybe because your are venting out side below your upstairs? you need to find a vent that goes up to the roof and vent above the house!
gl


I vent up a fireplace chimney and never smell anything.
gl

hazorazo said:

Simply, if you are blowing more air OUT of your basement than you are taking air IN, your smell should not expand to the upstairs. You said you have a 6 inch nozzle from an 8 inch fan, so maybe get that to an 8 inch nozzle to ensure that you are blowing the max air OUT.

Also, where does your outtake lead to? Outside hopefully?

Click to expand...

I am blowing through the carbon filter and out into the basement.... I figured the air is nice and clean at the point.. I can put my nose to the filter and don't smell shit...

kane420x said:

maybe because your are venting out side below your upstairs? you need to find a vent that goes up to the roof and vent above the house!
gl


I vent up a fireplace chimney and never smell anything.
gl

Click to expand...

Holy crap that gonna be a tough one.. No chimney at my pad. I could suck it through the filter and blow it out the dryer vent??? But I am paranoid of it smelling outside.....I know sounds silly when my house stinks... lol but I would rather be able to smell in my house and not have the neighbours tell me about it....bad bad bad lol

Agree with the amount of air flow in vs. air flow out, check that.

Also, if smell is ok around the room, that means walls are sealed well and carbon filter is working. BUT, if smell is above the room, then there is a leak there - the ceiling of the room, or even at/in the walls of the room ??

I have the same issues, sealed room and carbon filters, does not smell outside the room and barley in the flower room itself but the house upstairs does. I have wooden floor beams and joists as does your place I assume. I believe mines leaking up through the cracks of the floor in to the upper rooms, namely the one directly about the flower room

So....if you have a 12x12 room....and its about....8ft high?...Thats about 1200 cubic feet. You might want to check your filter to make sure its rated at at least that for your filtering needs (1200-1500cfm)

From the sound of it, you're using a small carbon filter for a huge room...Which can cause latent smell to build up and escape somewhere.

You'll also want to make sure your exhaust fan can handle that...around 1200-1500 CFM. You always want a negative air pressure (more air going out than in)


Actually i just checked out those "phat filters" ...the smaller ones like you are using are rated at around 300-500CFM...You'll definitely need a much bigger one, or make your room smaller.

LetricBud said:

So....if you have a 12x12 room....and its about....8ft high?...Thats about 1200 cubic feet. You might want to check your filter to make sure its rated at at least that for your filtering needs (1200-1500cfm)

From the sound of it, you're using a small carbon filter for a huge room...Which can cause latent smell to build up and escape somewhere.

You'll also want to make sure your exhaust fan can handle that...around 1200-1500 CFM. You always want a negative air pressure (more air going out than in)


Actually i just checked out those "phat filters" ...the smaller ones like you are using are rated at around 300-500CFM...You'll definitely need a much bigger one, or make your room smaller.

Click to expand...

PERFECT! That is what I was looking for... thanks alot! I am for sure not gonna make my room smaller...LMAO! So I am omw to the grow shop to get me a larger filter. Thanks for the advice! Much apprecaited! +rep

Yeah no problem man...Exhaust and air flow is all about numbers.

LetricBud said:

So....if you have a 12x12 room....and its about....8ft high?...Thats about 1200 cubic feet. You might want to check your filter to make sure its rated at at least that for your filtering needs (1200-1500cfm)

From the sound of it, you're using a small carbon filter for a huge room...Which can cause latent smell to build up and escape somewhere.

You'll also want to make sure your exhaust fan can handle that...around 1200-1500 CFM. You always want a negative air pressure (more air going out than in)


Actually i just checked out those "phat filters" ...the smaller ones like you are using are rated at around 300-500CFM...You'll definitely need a much bigger one, or make your room smaller.

Click to expand...

Quick question... I have an 8inch can-fan.. How do I find out if it enough to exhaust the right amount of air out? I can't seem to find it on can-fan website.. Maybe I am to buzzed but I don't think there is such a thing..

By can fan, you mean one of those inline duct booster fans?...Theyre a simple fan inside a metal tube used for ducting...let me check my catalog...

Ok, an 8" "duct booster" fan has about 350CFM. Im not sure if thats what you're talking about.

All the other High-Performance Inline fans in the 8" area have a CFM rating of about 600-750.

If you plan on exhausting that huge room, you're gonna need like a 12" inline fan, and a corresponding filter that can handle that much. All the 12" in-lines ive seen are about 1000-1100cfm...And theyre about 250-350$.

Big rooms cost a lot to run...

Hope that helped.


Oh, is this what you meant? http://www.amazon.com/Can-Fan-HO-Centrifugal-737/dp/B001I4BFWY

I didnt think there was an actual "Can Fan" brand. Its got like 750cfm...that might work...but you would really need something bigger for your large area.

Well the minimum cfm for a 12x12x8 room is 230cfm to exchange the air every 5 min. From what I have read the duct boosters will not work if they are pulling through a carbon filter (Not enough Ass). I would get a good inline fan rated for 300-400cfm and a carbon filter to match cfm for exhaust and use that duct booster fan for the intake. Sounds like your air is not being exchange fast enough and its leaking out somewhere. It doesnt smell coming from exhaust because its being filtered but just not fast enough.

I believe 750 cfm is a little overboard. Just do the Math 12x12x8= 1152sq ft. divide by 5 min =230 cfm. But you need to compensate for the carbon filter so thats why you add a little to it.

On the 8" can fan I would do a search for similiar ones and find the average cfm needed to filter air. It probably is a little more than 300-400 so be sure before you purchase inline fan.

Sounds like you have a positive air pressure problem. Although the exhaust fan is bigger it's loosing CFM due to the filter. The 6in. intake fan in this situation would overcome the 8 and cause positive pressure. That would definitely cause stink to leak. Smell going to the room above locates the air leak, although I suspect it's minimal. Correct to negative pressure and it shouldn't be a problem.
As Lectricbud stated, you need a giant fan to cool that room. At least 1200 CFM with a 4' filter, about $800-900 total cost. Making the room smaller doesn't mean new construction in most cases. Simply hanging Panda film to make the dimensions more conducive to 2x1000W lamps would do the trick. 6'x10' would be ideal. Leaves two feet or so around the edges to work and can easily be cooled with the equipment you already own.
Hope this helps,
Fred

LetricBud said:

By can fan, you mean one of those inline duct booster fans?...Theyre a simple fan inside a metal tube used for ducting...let me check my catalog...

Ok, an 8" "duct booster" fan has about 350CFM. Im not sure if thats what you're talking about.

All the other High-Performance Inline fans in the 8" area have a CFM rating of about 600-750.

If you plan on exhausting that huge room, you're gonna need like a 12" inline fan, and a corresponding filter that can handle that much. All the 12" in-lines ive seen are about 1000-1100cfm...And theyre about 250-350$.

Big rooms cost a lot to run...

Hope that helped.


Oh, is this what you meant? http://www.amazon.com/Can-Fan-HO-Centrifugal-737/dp/B001I4BFWY

I didnt think there was an actual "Can Fan" brand. Its got like 750cfm...that might work...but you would really need something bigger for your large area.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice... I am in my week 5 of flowering and she is starting to stink again... Looks like I gotta break out the credit card and get me a filter and if that don't work... well on to a larger fan.

Thanks a ton! Your advice was super helpful.

I agree that a bigger filter will help. Should Pass all the air in the room every minute or two.

But you also need to be aware of the air pressure. If there is more air coming into the room you have a positive pressure and you are pushing air out of the room into the rest of the house. Thc is a VOC so it will pass through allot of materials. I would suggest the following set up.

Make sure your hoods are a closed system. External inlet and outlet. You may want to foil tape your glass/hood seal to make sure your not pulling air up from the plants and into the house. Now install your cooling fan to work as an exhaust/ blowing air out! Not in. You can just use a passive inlet. Now you have a LOWER pressure in the room and air will be pulled into the grow room through all the nooks and crannies. So now that your room is pulling air into it, just disconnect your carbon filter vent hose and just scrub the air in the room. You'll get a higher cfm and better airflow within the room, both of which will result in less smell.

Just a thought