CAP CO2 regulator or Hydrofarm CO2 regulator?

[ItsGrowTime]

not sure if this is related to the thread now or not but i just made my purchase. I went with the Sentinel reg. If anyone has about this please i'd love to hear it. I am hoping that its a reliable regulator. its runs from .5 CFM to 15 CFM. I think it will be using it around 1
I got it because i got the Sentinel CHHC-1 and i thought it would be best to stay with the same manufactuer. I was dead set on the CAP Fuzzy model but it doesnt have the remote sensor. (thank to this thread! Big Ups.) Fingers crossed. I cant really have my tank freeze open while my GF and I are sleeping in here...

Peace all. Hopefully this addition will get me to the 1g/w. Hopefully.

It may be coincidence but the CAP regulator is also .5 to 15cfh. Did you compare product pictures? I hope it's not the same regulator with just different packaging and a mark-up. You may want to check into that just in case.
I don't know how big your room is but 1cfh probably isn't going to cut it, especially if it's not sealed. Mine is running 7 to 10cfh just to keep my 10x10x8 room filled without the regulator having to stay open all the time. I don't know how much CO2 is escaping or how much the plants are actually using so Im not sure if that is fairly normal or not.

 

[caljim]

I bet caljim's controller sticking was related to the digital ballast interference issue. So far so good. CAP said it shouldnt be an issue and if it is Ill notice immediately. Guess we'll see.

Not unless my geriatric neighbors were running digis

I've only run magnetic ballasts, you can fix em when they break.

Just giving you a heads up on that particular controller. I hope they have addressed the problem and you get years of trouble free service.

 

[xcrispi]

Cool link here / CO2 calculator .
Thought It'd be useful to some if you don't already have / use 1 .
Keep in mind these numbers are in a perfectly sealed enviroment , and there's not really any such thing .
Crispi

 

[sirripalot]

Cool link here / CO2 calculator .
Thought It'd be useful to some if you don't already have / use 1 .
Keep in mind these numbers are in a perfectly sealed enviroment , and there's not really any such thing .
Crispi

i don't see the link?

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Not unless my geriatric neighbors were running digis

I've only run magnetic ballasts, you can fix em when they break.

Just giving you a heads up on that particular controller. I hope they have addressed the problem and you get years of trouble free service.

Ah ok good to know. Seems they have done some work to the units in that time period, per my conversation with CAP, so hopefully the issues are fixed. Still running smoothly for me.

 

[sirripalot]

just curious..how long does a 20lb tank last for a 4x5 sealed room? anybody have comparable dimensions?

 

[xcrispi]

i don't see the link?

Me either man , sorry guys , Damn good buzz on yesterday .
http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/co2_calculator.asp
Crispi

 

[sirripalot]

this tells me 1cfh. but i'm confused, if i got my controller on fuzzy logic mode, why does it matter what output setting i have on my regular? wouldn't it make sense to just have it wide open so it will fill the room faster, then shut off when it's done? i don't have it wide open, but i have it at 5. any thoughts?

 

[ItsGrowTime]

So far Ive noticed that a higher flow rate makes the controller overshoot the target ppm. Not that it's a big deal or anything. I tried 5, 7, and 10cfh and decided on 7 for my room. It overshoots 1500 less than 10. 5 took longer to reach 1500 so the valve was stuck open longer. Just gotta play around with it in your space to see what works the best.

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

you're pumping co2 and your room is not sealed?

No, i'm sealed. i have the 4'x4' homebox and i went to town with the aluminium tape sealing up and possible leaks.

Natagonnaworrie - quote - I cant really have my tank freeze open while my GF and I are sleeping in here...

No fear man , a previous poster in this thread exclaimed - that his plants / life were at risk w/ ppm levels at 9999ppm .= He's wrong and hasn't done his homework .
1500 ppm = 1/15 of 1% of an enviroment . We get a nasty headache at 3.5 - 4% / 35,000 - 40,000 ppm . Humans blood turns to gas and induces cardiac arrest at 5% / 50,000 ppm . And you about right depending on room size with your reg being set at about 1 scfh .
Peace guys
Crispi

Oh man thats great to hear. Thanks so much! I have been wondering if i should run my 'daytime' at night to help get my temps down. The only time that the tent vents into the room is when the exhaust kicks on due to high temps. If i ran at night that might not even happen so thats a good option. Also i havent noticed any condensation on my regulator as of yet. I dont think that there will be a problem with freezing up, but you never know. If my whole tank did blast into the bedroom with the exhaust fan on that would still be a problem. the bedroom is not that big. there is a full size box fan in the window on low constantly bringing in fresh air.

So far Ive noticed that a higher flow rate makes the controller overshoot the target ppm. Not that it's a big deal or anything. I tried 5, 7, and 10cfh and decided on 7 for my room. It overshoots 1500 less than 10. 5 took longer to reach 1500 so the valve was stuck open longer. Just gotta play around with it in your space to see what works the best.

i did some tinkering and i think that i found that 7 cfm (about) works best in my situation also. Too much definitly overshoots ppm by a few hundred. Less takes longer to get to 1500ppm. I am expecting the 20 # tank to last for a full flowering cycle with a hybrid.. 8 - 10 weeks approximatly. I might decrease the PPMs in the last 2 weeks to 1200 also.

here is a pic of my Sentinel regulator:



No consendation at any cfm setting (so far) so thats a good thing.

 

[sirripalot]

wow, you're expecting your 20lb tank to last 2 months? hell yeah, let's hope i have the same success. i guess i just have to sit back and wait and see..

 

[ItsGrowTime]

wow, you're expecting your 20lb tank to last 2 months? hell yeah, let's hope i have the same success. i guess i just have to sit back and wait and see..

My new 20# bottle only lasted 5 days before empty! I know my room isn't sealed but I didnt think it was *that* bad. I was hoping for at least a week before replacement. Maybe my expectations were too high though. I don't know what the usual useful life of a full bottle is under ideal conditions for a room the size of mine.

 

[zenoonez]

Sounds like you should seal your room up asap because your plants aren't going through all that co2.

 

[sirripalot]

yeah i wouldn't even use a tank for an unsealed room man, you should get a generator. that's going to be an extra pain in the ass, and costly.

my tanks been on for about 4 days now, and the pressure hasn't really dropped that much...and my room is probably only eh..98%. i'm not 100% positive there are no leaks yet, to elaborate. lol

 

[ItsGrowTime]

It went 3 days before psi dropped below 800. It had 2 more days left before empty once the gauge started falling. Im not real worried about the expense or the pain of the bottles but a small generator might be a decent option, especially when it's colder season. I may look into switching between the methods depending on the season. Always a work in progress...

 

[SKUNK420]

Why has not anybody just bought a damn heater yet? I like mine and it was well worth it. Using it with my new C.A.P. regulator. I didn't even bother doing a test with or without the heater. No time to mess around anymore. I have already lost more then $200 over the course of the year from the cheap design china made Sentinel unit which I was borrowing to save money. Sometimes being cheap will cost you more in the end.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

PPM-3 stuck last night. Not sure why but it froze right at the "on" set point of 1425. Unplugging everything reset it but I guess Ill have to keep an eye on it. Hopefully it's just the single instance like another poster mentioned. Room was up to 2600ppm by the time I caught it.

 

[caljim]

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Well its looking like the bad reviews on CAP CO2 products are turning out to be TRUE. After dealing with the PPM-3 locking up the other nite, tonite the REG-1 stuck open and drained my entire bottle. Room ppm was 3900 when I caught the malfunction. The bottle is tapped and Im not happy at all. Im going to contact CAP directly and see what they want to do for me. If not, Ill return the equipment where I bought it and try Green Air's products even if they are a little more expensive.

FINAL EDIT: The regulator did NOT stick open. The PPM-3 freaked out again. I rebooted the PPM-3 and the room now shows the unsupplemented usual 600ppm. It was showing 3700ppm not 30 seconds ago. I think Im going to return the PPM-3 and get the Green Air SPC controller. Hopefully that one works better. The bottle is still almost empty after only 5 days of use but it lost a lot of CO2 when the PPM-3 stuck open the other night. The PPM-3 isn't a quality piece in my experience.

 

[sirripalot]

i've heard nothing but bad about these controllers. i was shocked to hear your C.A.P. regulator stuck open, but relieved to see your edit . I've heard plenty of good things about the C.A.P. regs, so I think you're right about needed to pick up another controller.

::cough:: sentinel ::cough cough::