Setup help with airflow and cooling please?! :)

[brifunforme]

Hi all and happy 420! I have a few questions and would love some help and tips from anyone and especially people that have grown in tents!
I have a secret jardin dr80 that I just received. I have a 400 watt hps with cool tube. I am thinking about going down to 250 watts what are your thoughts on that? My tent is 31x31x62 so 250 should be more then enought correct? Or should I just stick with a 400?

Also, I plan on hooking up the exhaust fan on one side of the light with ducting and the carbon scrubber on the other side of light with ducting and having an intake on the bottom.

I will be starting with white rhino, grape punch, and hopefully BMR as a second go. But mainly looking for opinions on if I should get a 250 watt instead of my 400 watt. My 400 is a standard magnetic and I would like a digital. Also thinking that since this is such a small space that I should use the 250 instead of a 400. Would my plants benefit from keeping a 400 on it? Thanks for any help and sorry I rambled on!
Smokin on some pretty good sat from a friend!

 

[brifunforme]

Did I post in the wrong spot or something? If so can a mod move for me?

 

[FreezerBoy]

50 wsf asks for 334 watts. A 250 is slightly small, a 400 slightly large. I'd shrink the footprint to 24x31 for the 250.

For ventilation, see Ventilation 101 and Understanding airflow

 

[brifunforme]

So I should stick with the 400 watt then. I guess I will just get a 400 watt digital and either shrink it down a bit in the tent or put a veg chamber on one side and fruit on the other. I think I can keep the heat down because I have grown in smaller areas and was able to keep the heat down. Thanks for the advice and links!

 

[brifunforme]

So my fan should be blowing through the scrubber not sucking through it? Crap, that ruins my plan on that one. Gotta re-think it I guess!

 

[FreezerBoy]

Sucking is better than blowing but, either will work.

 

[BLUNToPOTomuss]

Im rocking a 600 with a cooltube in my DR80. approx 89watt sqft.

400 is perfect IMO. pull through the scrubber and blow through your tube and out the top of the tent.

Just be sure you have enough intake and cooling power with whatever fan you are using.

2.7x2.7x5.1= approx 37 cuft.

cool your bulb through your tube, (100cfm) + air circulation/exchange @ 3-5x a minute minimum, (150+ cfm)

IMO Id stay with the 400, and use a minimum of 250CFM fan if you were interested in going with a one fan system.

Good luck!

Its doable- I using an active air 6'' dialed down to 50% power. My cab runs at 74* I can contro my temps by single degrees by merely turning my fan up or down.

Good Luck!

 

[brifunforme]

Think I could use an inline fan like this?
http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=46447
That should be enough to pull through the scrubber and push through the cool tube right?

 

[FreezerBoy]

For a cool tube, maybe. This is a booster fan, it aids your real fan. While axials move the most air unrestricted, with restrictions they move the least. In a straight run, no filter, minimal ducting... maybe.

 

[brifunforme]

So even though its rated at 250cfm it wont work for a scrubber? The scrubber bogs it down too much I assume?

 

[BLUNToPOTomuss]

yeah those boosters SUCK!!!!

The cheapest fan I found that I thought was good enough to work was an Active Air 265CFM blower, you can get them for like $85. I had a 1 fan setup with my last cab and still do with my new setup, My old setup used to pull through my open ended cooltube and push into a scrubber, and this fan was able to do it all including exchanging air within the cab.

Check it out! If you dont have many bends in your ducting or major runs tis fan should do just fine for you.

 

[brifunforme]

The active air 265 says it can exchange the air in a 1200 cu. ft. room in 5 minutes. Do I really need something THAT strong for such a small area and small carbon scrubber?!

 

[brifunforme]

Wouldnt something like this be sufficient for my space?
http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=52531

 

[BLUNToPOTomuss]

the 265 would be perfect for your cab.

I ran that same blower in my 2x2x4 cab. Back pressure will reduce the power a bit, but it will work for you.

The combo in the link would work GREAT for you IMO, but with only 170 CFM pulling through your scrubber and cooling your bulb you are going to need another fan to exchange the air in your tent at a rate of 3x a minute minimum.

The 265 WILL NOT clear a 1200 cuft room they way WE NEED IT TO. Your talking about 1 exchange per 5 minutes at that rate. Nowhere near enough for our applications.

265/3= 88cuft per min. air exchange, that is PERFECT for your cab, it will also aid in keeping temps in check.

To be honset I usually shoot for an exchange of 8-10x a min. I do this because With this type of exchange I never have to worry about heat issues.

Good luck!

 

[brifunforme]

So I can use the package deal and just add another intake fan or something? Im kind of on a budget when it comes to the fan and scrubber. But I do want to make sure that I dont buy something that is not going to work.
My main concern right now is that it filters the stink out. If it doesnt completely cool the cab I am not too worried as it will be in a basement that I can control the ambient temp in pretty well and I could also just add another fan inside the tent.
So that package deal should do it for the smell then? Im still eyeballing that 265 too.

 

[FreezerBoy]

add another intake fan

Intake fans are Venting For Experts! They are the only way to achieve positive pressure which you want to avoid at all costs. Unless you really, really, really know your stuff (and, no offense, you don't) you want to avoid intake fans.

Negative Pressure for Dummies

 

[NorthernKronic]

Scrubber>Fan>Cooltube>Out of the tent.. You will be fine.. Dont get a booster fan get a real fan.. 4" vortex would work, or that 265 you were looking at.

Like FB said above^ dont mess with intakes, you wont need them. Get a good exhaust fan that will give you the negative pressure you want to keep smell in..

 

[brifunforme]

Intake fans are Venting For Experts! They are the only way to achieve positive pressure which you want to avoid at all costs. Unless you really, really, really know your stuff (and, no offense, you don't) you want to avoid intake fans.

Negative Pressure for Dummies

No offense taken! You are correct, and thats why I am here! Thanks for your guys' help!