P
Paully_B
I want to run a 600hps. Please suggest excellent hood, inline fan, scrubber etc.
I think maybe you should consider stepping up to 6" fan and filter, this is why: I think 6" is the most common duct size for our hobby. 8" and 10" seem to be more commercial oriented. 4" is much less common IMO. You already have a 6" hood, so you're already either going to be using duct reducers somewhere. Unless you use them right off the bat then you'll also need some 6" ducting anyway. Buying and working with 2 different sizes will increase your startup cost. Stonedar recommended dropping the hood to 4"; I like to run things as big as I can, but for now just using matching duct sizes on all your equipment is probably the priority. There's a saying that applies to a lot of things "your system is only as good as the worst/slowest part". You don't want the cooling or the air-scrubbing to be the weakest link. 6" is a good common size, and your tent has 6" ports too right (otherwise I would say consider 8"). In my limited experience, larger fans are generally quieter. You'll have more noise from increased air movement, but you will have a lot less motor noise.blockbuster 6inch air cooled hood
4inch vortex fan at 172CFM
phresh filter 4x12 200 cfm
nextgen 400/600watt digital ballast
You should be fine going filter to fan to hood and out with either the 4" or 6" in-line. I don't think you'll be wanting to turn down the speed on the 4" if you're doing that. You may be able to turn down the speed on the 6" a bit.my thought is to run the phresh filter inline with the air cooled hood. do you think i have enough juice or will i need a seperate fan for my filter?
My first thought is "unnecessary". Having never run soil I can't say for sure, but I don't think you need to aerate. If you do then all you really need is a cheap aquarium air pump and hose. If the glug-glug noise of the big bubbles doesn't bother you then you don't even need an air-stone. You will still have to stir your nutes before use, since sediments will still fall out and rest on the bottom or in corners.i will be using all soil but will have an airator for my water resvoir.
Digital pH meter is a must in my opinion. The paper is inaccurate and is more work, which usually means you will check the pH less frequently. I have 2 digital pH meters, a cheap Milwakee one, and an expensive temperature compensating waterproof one that looks way sexier. The price difference is $50 and they pretty much work the same. The cheaper one is actually a lot quicker to calibrate. I don't think you need the truncheon, and that's just my opinion there. When you're in hydro and you need to monitor the ever changing ppm of your rez, I see it's utility. Even then, I did my first 3 runs in DWC hydro without the use of any kind of ppm monitoring. With soil it seems like if you mix the nutes up correctly in the first place then there shouldn't be any problem. I've never run soil, so take that for what it is. I think those things are ~$100. You could probably spend that money more effectively on something else, or just set it aside because things will come up. You can't foresee everything, there will just be some things you're going to need that you never thought of until their absence creates a problem.digital ph wand and a truncheon tds
That shouldn't be a problem. Whether to push from fan to hood or pull from hood to fan is a matter of debate. I think it depends on the temperature of the air moving through the fan. I pull and I have a thermometer stuck into the duct between my hood and my fan. I haven't yet seen the temps exceed 90 degrees. We'll see how hot it gets in the peak outside temps of summer...so you think i can run the presh>duct>aircooled hood>duct>6inch vortex?
It is a useful tool.money is not an issue as far as saving money with the truncheon. i think i would rather be safe than sorry.
I don't think so. I think merely the act of watering will add enough agitation to sufficiently aerate it. It's not like hydro where your roots are going to be underwater all the time. I think you would have to really be drowning your plants, like a ridiculous amount, to run into an issue with oxygen content. I've never run soil but I'm running coco right now, and I don't aerate my nutes at all, unless you count stirring up the bucket before watering, which probably does actually aerate it to a good degree. An air pump and a small run of hose into the rez is not going to cost very much, if you feel it would help go ahead and do it, it won't hurt anything.as far as the airator, when i sit the water out for atleast 24hrs to de-chlorinate i will need to aerate before i water my ladies. correct?
I would go with 6" for everything.do i need a 6inch fan or a 4inch fan with a reducer coming from the hood?
That would work. Alternatively you could place the fan between the filter and the hood if you wanted to push instead of pull. I have run a 6" fan on full speed in my DR150 and had only passive intake. I had all of the mesh vent holes closed, but I put short runs of 6" duct in all of the unused ports, with a few bends in them to make sure there wasn't too much light leaking in through them. If your basement is dark enough during your dark time you might not have to do that and you can just leave stuff open.I dont want to bow the sides of the tent with too much negative pressure but i also dont want to have heat issues by going cheap and using a four inch fan
so far i am thinking:
6x16 phresh>6inch duct>aircooled 600watter>6inch duct>6inch vortex
Secret Jardin's brochure recommends 400 watts for the DR90. If you're going to get a dimmable digital ballast, you can try running 600 watts and if you experience heat or light bleaching issues then turn it down. If you wanted to future proof you could even get a 1000 watt ballast and just run it lower from the beginning. I think Galaxy makes a ballast that can run 400, 600, or 1000w lamps, or dim any of those to a lower level. If you're going to do that and mix bulbs and ballast levels make sure the hydro store employees explicitly tell you that they'll work together, that way if something goes wrong you can bring shit back. Basically you just can't push more watts through a bulb than it's rated for (excluding the Super Lumens feature on some 1000w digital ballasts).is that too much in a dr90II
If you have a mix of 4" and 6" stuff I would try to run 6" duct for as long as you can. Example: My DR150 can only accomodate 6" due to the size of the ports. I run all 6" inside, then expand to 10" as soon as the lines leave the tent. It may not make much difference, but I think the less resistance the better.or this is the other setup in mind:
4x12 phresh>4inch duct>6inch air cooled hood>4inch duct>4inch vortex
I reccommend 6" everything. The price difference shouldn't be that much. If you're going to try to push 600 watts inside the tent, I think that you'll want to be running insulated ducts inside there. Also maybe insulating your hood with something. The guy at my local hydro shop said that ironing board material can be bought from the local fabric+craft store and is pretty much the same as what they make hood insulation out of.what are your thoughts? i am going to going to a local store this weekend needs everyones thoughts. i want to only buy stuff once if i can manage. last thing i want to do is buy all 4inch stuff and then find out its not enough
Yep. Go with the 6". I think you should look into getting a variac for speed control though.Do you have the DR 90 set up? if so could you post some pics of it. I have a dr120 and use a 400 watt and a 4 inch vortex pulling through the filter and the hood and out the top. I have the fan one a speed controller and its set on low and temps have really never been a problem. I have always kicked my self in the ass for not getting a bigger fan.. so if i were you i would go with the 6 inch and a controller.. never know when you will upgrade.. go with the 6 inch and use the controller and dial it in.