150w HPS heat problems!

Hello riu,

I just started my grow, and I have a 150w HPS mini sun built in ballast with an S&P TD100 fan attached to a 4x8 phresh filter. As for intake I have a simple case fan pushing maybe 40~cfm in. Also have an O2 5" fan coming in the mail. Measurements of my box is 36Hx19Wx21D, and my temps go up to 91F which are way too high for my liking. My set up right now is CF -> Fan -> Exhaust. I lined three of my walls with 1/2" styrofoam for sound reduction and just easier to apply my reflectix. (couldn't find mylar where i live). I feel the air coming out of my exhaust, and cold air coming in (its in the basement), but it still gets 91F. Could it be way too much insulation in the box? Any help would be great. Thanks in advance.

Oh and does anyone have any problems with carbon leaking out? (I see little carbon specks on my fan and on my lights every now and then). If so, is it normal/safe?

bump bump.....

If this heat situation can't be resolved, would anyone recommend switching to cfls for now? I have a couple of those reflector clamps from home depot. one which can hold max 100w and the other 75. I would assume that one 65w and one 85w cfl would be just as hot as one 150w hps?

I'm leaning more towards cfls eventually cause this heat thing is really bugging me. If I were to, does anyone have any insight on the clamps that I have vs a power strip cfl fixture?

bumpity bump.... bump... no one?

Last attempt for the night... I experimented a little over the night and so far, I'm using one 23w 6500k cfl clamp atm to warm up my seedling inside which is placed inside a jiffy pellet. Without exhaust and intake fan on, temps get to about 79F, which worries me b/c thats just one 23w cfl o.o. With just the exhaust fan on (S&P TD100) which is roughly 100~ cfm? (minus whatever loss by CF), temps drop to 75F~. Is that normal? Just a four degree drop in temp with my exhaust going?? With the intake (40 CFM~) case fan, it brought it down to 73.5. I can feel the exhaust and the cool air coming in, and I'm worried I won't be able to add in at least 130w of cfl or my 150w hps. I'm hoping I can get my hands on my fan/poly and play wit that.

My plan is if I can't get temps down wit just the added O2 5" fan, to try to take out some styrofoam and reflectix, and just use the poly and see if that works. And if not, maybe add a small passive intake? Anyone know what size the hole should be? And would that affect the odor in any way? And how would I go on light trapping that?

Thanks again in advance if anyone can answer any of my ridiculous sounding questions.

bump bump really no one??

Stop posting so fucking much and I would give some insight....have some damn patience.

hey tree, I think a passive intake is a must in any type of tent set up. I have a tent and have a 400watt hps with a 4'' in line fan that sucks a can filter, cools my refector and goes out a hole in the top of the tent. I have 6''X12'' screens at the bottom of the tent that serve as a passive intake. I works pretty good as long as the ambient temps to get too hot.

you need a fan, and inline fan to be exact. you need ventilation or an AC. good luck

Mattemil said:

Stop posting so fucking much and I would give some insight....have some damn patience.

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Mattemil, the only reason I'm being "impatient" is b/c I posted this almost 24 hrs ago, and there's been quite a few views, yet not a SINGLE response. I would imagine you could sense my starting frustration. I didn't mean to "post so fucking much", but I addressed this in my other post, and only got one response basically. And as for "I would give some insight, I'm either tripping or its not there yet".

aknight3 said:

you need a fan, and inline fan to be exact. you need ventilation or an AC. good luck

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aknight, I have an inline i believe. http://www.amazon.com/home-improvement/dp/B0027E3Q4Y the S&P TD100 fan connected to the 4x8 phresh filter. I don't really think AC will be an option, I've run out of dinero =(. My 6mil poly came in and I took out all my styrofoam and reflectix and lined it with the poly. Testing my temps right now with the case fan as intake and my inline running the hot air out. It's sitting at 82F right now. How exactly does the AC work? Is there an extra small unit type thing I can fit in here? b/c with the fans/light/CF, Im running low on space. Thanks in advance

bertaluchi said:

hey tree, I think a passive intake is a must in any type of tent set up. I have a tent and have a 400watt hps with a 4'' in line fan that sucks a can filter, cools my refector and goes out a hole in the top of the tent. I have 6''X12'' screens at the bottom of the tent that serve as a passive intake. I works pretty good as long as the ambient temps to get too hot.

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Bert, is your ole just a 6x12" thing with a screen covering it? I've thought of drilling a couple holes down there, but do you know if any smelly odor would leak through there? Or will the (hopefully) negative pressure take care of all that? And I guess I should light trap the hole(s)?

That's my set up for now, for a picture reference.

Don't know how many plants your are growing, but with my style of growing (up to 6 or so 'smaller' plants, usually 2-4 foot range in height), I have my carbon scrubber working and the closet/tent door open. My roommates (years ago) didn't even know I had any plants growing at all. When it was working at maximum efficiency my room smelled like a hospital (overly 'clean' smell... can't explain it other than 'clean'??).

I'm sure a few small holes will still work better than a ~6ft by 3ft open door

Azhden said:

Don't know how many plants your are growing, but with my style of growing (up to 6 or so 'smaller' plants, usually 2-4 foot range in height), I have my carbon scrubber working and the closet/tent door open. My roommates (years ago) didn't even know I had any plants growing at all. When it was working at maximum efficiency my room smelled like a hospital (overly 'clean' smell... can't explain it other than 'clean'??).

I'm sure a few small holes will still work better than a ~6ft by 3ft open door

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Hey Azhden, I plan to start just one (Nirvana NL auto) and if it goes well by the end of the first month, I'll throw in another auto in there to kind of keep a perpetual thing for now. But no more than two plants at a time I believe. I only have 3' of vertical space, minus the vertical space the HPS + fabric pot takes up which I believe comes out around 1.5'. So I'm left to a max of 1.5 for vertical growth? Lol yeah no space so I plan to get a scrog in there within the next week or so. My question for you is how much air were you pulling out of there that it didn't smell when you had the door wide open o.o. Thanks for the reply btw

Does anyone know if attaching another case fan at the end of my ducting to help out my inline fan would lower temps? o.o

as long as you run your inline fan negative pressure will not allow any air out. As long as you fan is strong enough you should be fine.

If your temps are at 82, that's fine. It is a little warm, but you will be alright. The fan you have may not be powerful enough or there isn't enough cool air entering. I just built a grow box similar to yours, 36" high, 28" wide, 20" deep. I have my 150 hps in there and I'm tweeking the temps right now around the 83-88 range. I just have passive intake with a small pc fan to cool the light a little and a 4" inline fan with a speed controller and its still loud as shit. The box is in my closet and I have the fan set to the low-med and its noticeable in the room, but not outside the room with the door closed. I'm going to build a muffler for the fan and increase my intake tomorrow to see if I can get my temps down to around 77-82. I would be happy with that. If that doesn't work I'm switching to cfl's and T-5's.

In my experience, the 150 hps worked best in my tent in a basement with either A/C or during wintertime when ambient air temp was cooler. Putting it in such a small space is asking for trouble even with an inline fan. I have 2 T-5 strip lights and some 45 watt cfl's. I may just use those and see if I can get my temps down and be able to use my smaller fan that is actually stealth.