Advice on best fan to hook up to cool tube

[Lollygag]

Hi again stoners,

 

It's going to get very hot here soon...

 

I'm buying a cool tube from hydromasta.com, for $110 (ouch - a little too pricey, but they're discreet & friendly gougers, which is worth the xtra cash i guess). My set up is vertical, using 400 hps, room size is 3' x 3' x 6'.

 

I was wondering if anyone has any practical experience & suggestions for the best fan size & type to hook up to it. Preferred brands? Suppliers?

 

I'm thinking that I will hook the ducting & fan to the top of the cooltube & use this as room exhaust too, with another fan directly below the light to blow air up.

Is this a feasible plan? I really have no idea at all - I'm an outdoor grower gone indoors, it's all very new to me (not to mention expensive).

 

I'd like it to be as quiet as possible, so acoustic advice would be great too.

 

Any info that might help would be most welcome.

 

Happy growing to you all.

Edited November 13, 2006 by Lollygag

[Lollygag]

Here's the room (plants are in the bathroom after being sprayed with confidor for mites).

 

As you can see I've already got 2 axial fans blowing hot air up off the hps, currently I don't have a real exhaust set up yet, the box has no ceiling, the hot air rises out passively.

This arrangement is working for the moment, temps stay below 30C, but summer is nigh, ambient temps are steadily rising, it won't work when it gets hotter. I want to put a lid on to deal with light leaks and smell, so I'll need a good exhaust system.

 

Apart from exhausting the the cool tube set up, I'm also looking at installing a carbon filter for later in flowering when the gals get smelly, so I've got to take that into account in selecting an exhaust fan too.

 

I'd like to keep the axial fans below the light where they are, they keep the heat down nicely, but I desparately need ideas & advice for proper exhaust & venting. Being a girl & thus totally crap at building (first time I ever wielded a drill or even heard of ducting was in putting this box together) any advice on how to go about setting it all up with ducting, & mounting fan etc.would be most greatly appreciated too.

Edited November 13, 2006 by Lollygag

[NEOBUD]

Hey lollygag. If you want adequate light coverage, your cool tube should really be horizontal me tinks. Hanging a vertical light with cooltube in your setup would be very height restrictive also.

 

If you hung it horizontally, cut 150mm holes through back of wardrobe, 90 deg bends in ducting from cooltube, attach 2 150mm inline fans to vent outside air straight through and out cooltube you'd be rollin.

 

You then could use another fan for extraction of the grow room. And you would nearly be at outside temps

[SukonmiSkunk]

you shouldnt need to use a cool tube in that room... id just be using a parabolic shade...

 

with your exhaust.. just a 250mm bathroom fan will be plenty.. you need the exhaust at the highest point to expell the hot air.. also you need your intake at the lowest level to bring in the cooler air... you shouldnt need a fan for your intake as the fan exhuasting will draw air into the box... just have the intake points below the pots so it draws the air up and through the canopy...

 

what sort of system are you thinking of using in there?

id suggest a simple 4 pot recirc system... its simple cheap and very user friendly for beginers...

[loylty gets u nothing]

i got a bake around

that a 90mm inline fan fit nice

not perfect but with a spacer in there

itll work nice

wat the inside and outside diameter of ya cool tube man??

bil

[Lollygag]

you shouldnt need to use a cool tube in that room... id just be using a parabolic shade...

 

with your exhaust.. just a 250mm bathroom fan will be plenty.. you need the exhaust at the highest point to expell the hot air.. also you need your intake at the lowest level to bring in the cooler air... you shouldnt need a fan for your intake as the fan exhuasting will draw air into the box... just have the intake points below the pots so it draws the air up and through the canopy...

 

what sort of system are you thinking of using in there?

id suggest a simple 4 pot recirc system... its simple cheap and very user friendly for beginers...

 

I'm thinking you may be right about not needing the cool tube - saving $110 would be awesome. I will set up exhaust without it, if need be, scope remains to add it later.

 

I really like the idea of the 250 mm bathroom fan :tup:

They seem to be fairly standard so ducting & mounting accessories should be easy to source.

Much cheaper than anything from a hydro shop. Thanks

 

I'm currently in soil, I want to get my box construction/light/ventilation issues sorted out properly before I go hydro, soil is the most forgiving medium, if i'd fucked up as much as I have here in hydro, my plants would have been toast a long time ago. I'm actually thinking of moving on tho coco rather than hydro for the next run, I believe the coco is as fast as hydro, but more forgiving for a newb. Baby steps.

I'll move onto hydro when I get all the wrinkles ironed out.

 

It's lights out atm, but I'll post a pic of it with the plants tommorow when the lights go on.

Edited November 13, 2006 by Lollygag

[Lollygag]

Hey lollygag. If you want adequate light coverage, your cool tube should really be horizontal me tinks. Hanging a vertical light with cooltube in your setup would be very height restrictive also.

 

If you hung it horizontally, cut 150mm holes through back of wardrobe, 90 deg bends in ducting from cooltube, attach 2 150mm inline fans to vent outside air straight through and out cooltube you'd be rollin.

 

You then could use another fan for extraction of the grow room. And you would nearly be at outside temps

 

2x 150mm inlines looks good too.

I'll have to compare the litres per second exchange rates of a 250mm bathroom fan vs 2x 150mm inlines, and respective costs & ease of installation of each set up to decide between them. Both will work nicely whether or not I add a cool tube.

Inlines would probably be better if I add the cooltube - 1 to exhaust cool tube, 1 to exhaust room.

Bathroom fan would be easier to install if no cool tube - it could also work with addition of cool tube I think - as per Gazza2001au's I've thread linked in post below. I will have to think on this.

 

I decided to go with vert lighting initially because the reflector that came with the lamp kit I bought was really shite - it was a horizontal mounted aluminium box - it didn't have open ends, and it trapped a hell of a lot of heat. Temps were 35C+ when ambient temps were 20C :eek:

 

After removing the socket from the reflector, hanging the light vertically & setting up the fans below it, temps immediately dropped 7 - 10C. Ambient temps are now 25C, the box is only 30C. Heat wise, I'm loving the vert with fans underneath.

 

I was heavily influenced in the decision to mount vertically by this thread of Prawn Connery's:

www.planetganja.com/highsociety/showthread.php?t=4889

 

His space is much the same dimensions as mine. That is one sweet set up, I love it. It got me reading & thinking more about vert vs horizontal light efficiency.

 

With a horizontal lamp less than half the light hits the plants directly, the rest of the light is reflected onto the canopy. So most photons have twice the distance to cover before hitting the plants - taking the inverse square law into account, also losing light to the reflector (reflectivity is not 100%), this represents a massive waste of lumens.

 

A vert set up, with plants arranged around the light uses the full 360 degrees of lamp output, no loss of lumens to the reflector, nor reduction in light due to travelling twice the distance from the reflector.

 

Also, the full length of the plant gets light, not just the top buds.

 

I've pretty much got my heart set on vert now - it may be a sentimental decision coz I love that set up I linked earlier so much, but I think it's based in practicality too.

Edited November 13, 2006 by Lollygag

[Lollygag]

i got a bake around

that a 90mm inline fan fit nice

not perfect but with a spacer in there

itll work nice

wat the inside and outside diameter of ya cool tube man??

bil

 

I'm not sure about inside/outside diameter, but length & width are 150mm x 40mm.

 

I'm going to set up the exhaust with no cool tube to start, see how it goes. A cool tube is still a distinct possibility though - summer temps here are likely to hit 35C, a few days of 40C are possible (probable). I also like the way a cool tube enables you to get the lamp a lot closer to the plants, it's a more efficient use of the lamp.

Thinking about it, I'd rather do what you've done & source a bake around to build one from scratch. Much cheaper.

 

If I do it, I like Gazza2001au's set up here:

https://cannabis.community.forums.ozstoners...ODE=03&id=7

The difference being, where his exhaust is wall mounted, mine would be ceiling mounted, to avoid bends in the ducting, which really reduce fan efficiency. swapping the hood for a cool tube with this set up would proabably be feasible I think, that little computer fan hes got at the back of the light would push air through the coll tube, and the big exhaust would pull it. I reckon pretty much all the heat from the light would be vented that way.

 

As far as making a cool tube from a bakearound goes, I've found a few good tutorials that may help you:

 

Zandor's

http://boards.cannabis.com/showthread.php?t=59042

 

johnstone, NIMBY & Don'tTreadOnMe's An old OG faq I found in google cache (no pics sadly):

http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:g8BTyw...t=clnk&cd=9

The bakearound bit is down the bottom

 

The Happy Chemical's

http://www.planetganja.com/highsociety/sho...9039#post239039

 

Vernon Supreme's

www.gardenscure.com/420/lighting/80835-vernonsupremes-cool-tube-construction.html

Edited November 13, 2006 by Lollygag

[loylty gets u nothing]

thanks for them ;links man

all the best with ya grow

bil

[keepleft]

vertical lighting is an attractive option unless you are growing scrog where its a no go. scrog makes the most efficient use of horizontal mounted lamp.

 

otherwise it looks like a great set up mate.

 

one q's ive always pondered is if the plant happens to fall against the lamp, would that represent a fire risk?