aircooled help needed

[shuswap]

i am having a problem with condensation on my duct that is cooling 2 1k lights,pulling from the basement and getting tons of water on the duct and in one of the hoods,pushing air through with a 6 inch vortex,doesnt make a difference on low or high speed,how does one stop this?

 

[Calimed]

Do you have very high humidity?

 

[shuswap]

no humidity is set at 65 right now and its a sealed room

 

[Frozenguy]

that sounds kind of high, whats the temps of the air in the basement? What are the temps surrounding the ducting where the air is condensing?

So the air in the duct is condensing INSIDE the duct? And the air is being pushed from the basement to your growroom? The condensation is happening in the growroom side of the duct work?

 

[BonsaiBud]

I presume you are using the heat from those 1k hoods to warm your basement?

Sounds like "cold damp basement" syndrome. I know it all too well.

Can you post a sketch of the entire lamp hood duct air path?

 

[shuswap]

i am pulling the air from a room beside the grow room ,it goes in about 3 feet,then makes a long 90deg bend and into the first hood,then from one hood to the next is another 90 and then out total length is about 20 feet,the fan is in the first 3 feet and is pushing throw this entire length,the condensation is happeneing from were the duct comes in the room to the first hood,and the fan itself is condensating,the exhaust end of it is pushed into the basement,when i leave the window cracked were the fan draws from its even more wet,and the outside temp is aropund 0 deg c.

 

[BonsaiBud]

Darn, I wrote a long reply then got timed out.

I assume this is one chamber and not split 12/12.

Use insulated flex duct. Foil tape every air connection. Insulate the fan. Insulate the top of the hoods. Use white, teardrop, silicon, weather stripping if your glass is not air-tight. Flip the fan with the lamps.

Ideally you would have the fan on a thermostat relay switch and the probe would be inside the air stream right by a lamp.

You don't want a draft when the lamps are off. You might have to make a flap-damper on the exhaust port.

That should fix you up.

 

[LlamaSchool]

Condensation will occur most often where you are cooling air. When warm air (which can hold a lot of water) cools down, water can condense out of the air.

I'm having trouble understanding your description, but see if this principle applies anywhere. If you can reduce your temperature differential where air is being cooled, this could help with your problem.

 

[shuswap]

the air coming into the ducting is cooler then the room air,it starts to condensate on the first 3-4 feet of ducting when it enters the warm grow room.by trying to use cooler air in there it seems to help with the temp in the sealed room,but perhaps i need to vent with warmer air and insulate everything to keep the heat inside of the ducting and remove it from the room,im finding the room gets quite warm using the aircooled hoods and am wondering if it would be easier to cool room with ac,instead of fucking around with tons of expensive insulated ducting,ballasts are in attic away from room.

 

[BonsaiBud]

Yeah, the beauty of a good air conditioner is that the moisture condenses in one place and has a drain. The heat is removed to elsewhere. Check Ebay for industrial MRO type stuff. You can get some good stuff on the cheap. There are special compact AC units that bolt right onto a wall and pump the heat from one side to the other. They used 'em on server farms and clean rooms. It will just pump that heat from the grow room to the basement and get rid of your moisture at the same time. Look for a mclean or kooltronic. After all, they are made for sealed clean rooms. That is what you got, am I right?

 

[L8 Bloomer]

Pulling air is alot more efficient that pushing it. Pushing creates turbulence and higher pressures. Cooling and compressing air are two major requirements to creating condensation.
It sounds like you are pulling air thru 3 ft. of duct from another room then pushing thru two 1k lights and two 90 degree bends, right?
If so try putting the 6" vortex at the end of the ducting where the fan will be pulling thru the lights and 90deg. bends. it should help.