Exhaust from the grow tent

[The_Core]

Running a Vortex 6" 452 CFM inline fan and a cool sun 6" reflector can I pull the warn air from the grow tent through the carbon filter, through the reflector, through the inline fan and out of the grow tent? Does anyone see any bad ideas with that?

 

[east_side]

I take it you have temp problems if you use cool shades, it would be better to run a seperate fan for the hoods. I was going to do the exact same thing but it wasent the best

 

[qupee]

Yes, if your fan is after your reflector and the filter before the reflector, you will pull in unfiltered air through the cracks in the reflector.

 

[The_Core]

I didn't want to run 2 different Inline fans in a 5x5 grow tent. Any ideas on how I can fix this without purchasing any additional equipment?

 

[Shafto]

Simple, run the fan after the filter, blow through the ducting and the hood.

 

[The_Core]

Oh ok I see what your saying. Hook the carbon filter to the vortex, suck the air through the filter into the vortex and blow that cleaned air through the reflector and out of the tent via the ducting hooked up on the other side of the reflector?

 

[Blue Socks]

I'm confused by your set up can you draw a diagram or something?

 

[The_Core]

carbon filter--->> vortex-->>>air cooled reflector---->>ducting and out of tent--->>>

I hope that helps. If I understand Shafto, instead of sucking the air through the reflector and possibly pulling in dirty air and kicking it out into the room, With his idea, I will push the air through the reflector and if there are any air gaps in the reflector, the clean air will just get pushed into the tent and no longer the room.

 

[NotaProfessor]

Oh ok I see what your saying. Hook the carbon filter to the vortex, suck the air through the filter into the vortex and blow that cleaned air through the reflector and out of the tent via the ducting hooked up on the other side of the reflector?

Yes, you can do it this way.

Centrifugal fans generally like to have the resistance in their flow on the exhaust side and the intake wide open. The way given above has the resistance (filter) on the intake and the exhaust wide open. I have my setup with the fan on top of the filter blowing in. So the airflow is: reflector>duct>[tent wall]>fan>carbon filter. In this manner the fan can run most efficiently as a blower.

In the configuration I quoted at the top the system will work fine at lower fan speeds but will likely lose efficiency nearing full speed (when the flow thru the filter cannot accommodate the fan, negative pressure builds up on the intake side and the fan spins faster, having less air to move.)

I hope this helps and explains a little.

 

[Shafto]

Oh ok I see what your saying. Hook the carbon filter to the vortex, suck the air through the filter into the vortex and blow that cleaned air through the reflector and out of the tent via the ducting hooked up on the other side of the reflector?

You bet, that's it. It also helps to "infalte" flex duct, which will widen it and decrease resistance compared to sucking through flex duct which will collapse it slightly and create more resistance.

Yes, you can do it this way.

Centrifugal fans generally like to have the resistance in their flow on the exhaust side and the intake wide open. The way given above has the resistance (filter) on the intake and the exhaust wide open. I have my setup with the fan on top of the filter blowing in. So the airflow is: reflector>duct>[tent wall]>fan>carbon filter. In this manner the fan can run most efficiently as a blower.

I would not follow this advice. You would have to build a separate pre-filter to keep dust out of the carbon filter on the intake. Also, blowing through a carbon filter makes less sense, as the larger surface area of carbon is around the outside of the filter where it's diameter is largest, further inward there is less carbon as the diameter gets smaller. Therefore it is more effective to suck through the filter as the most contaminated air will meet with the most carbon at once.

 

[The_Core]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I will go with your approach shafto and see how that works out.