Cap gen-1 co2 generator

I'm having a problem with the CAP GEN-1 CO2 Generator.. it uses a pilot light that obviously gives off light during the off period in the flower room..

Has anyone else had this issue, and how did you fix it?

I don't want to place the generator in a separate room if I can avoid it.. I want to keep it in the flower room. I just can't figure out a way to cover up the light without causing more issues...

any help would be appreciated!

ps - probly would recommend a co2 tank over the co2 generator just because the generator puts out sooo much heat and moisture!! Will probably convert myself in the near future, but until then... that third pic shows part of the flower room and the generator hanging off the ground in the corner.

Have you tried to see if you can position it better so the light doesn't bother the plants?

in my opinion the ONLY good thing about burners is that you can hook it to your gas line, and it'll burn all day on the natural gas provided by the gas company. but honestly, you cant beat the tanks.

GrowTech said:

Have you tried to see if you can position it better so the light doesn't bother the plants?

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I've tried... hanging the generator allows more light out of the bottom, but that can be covered up pretty easy. I just don't have a lot of floor room. It's the top sides that let out the most light... to be honest I'm not sure that the pilot light is bothering the flowering plants or not..

I was thinking of covering the top sides with some sort of metal screen to block out some light yet allow the hot air to escape...

GrowTech: was looking for your tank in your journal, but couldn't see it. What size tank do you have? What does it cost to refill?

Thanks.

repvip said:

I'm having a problem with the CAP GEN-1 CO2 Generator.. it uses a pilot light that obviously gives off light during the off period in the flower room..

Has anyone else had this issue, and how did you fix it?

I don't want to place the generator in a separate room if I can avoid it.. I want to keep it in the flower room. I just can't figure out a way to cover up the light without causing more issues...

any help would be appreciated!

ps - probly would recommend a co2 tank over the co2 generator just because the generator puts out sooo much heat and moisture!! Will probably convert myself in the near future, but until then... that third pic shows part of the flower room and the generator hanging off the ground in the corner.

Click to expand...

are you sure that the pilot light gives off the right light spectrum to mess up flowering,i was under the impression that it did not.on a side note how much does it raise your humidity.

trapper said:

are you sure that the pilot light gives off the right light spectrum to mess up flowering,i was under the impression that it did not.on a side note how much does it raise your humidity.

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I'm pretty sure the light it gives off would interfere with the photoperiod of the plants... The humidty reaches 100% fairly fast with the generator going.. It only needs to burn 5-6mins to reach 1500ppm in the flower room, which I usually leave for 3 hours, vent and repeat.

Guess I will just leave it and see if any hermies develop...

my pilot light from my furnace never made my plants Hermie,but maybe a weaker strain may of.so the humidity would rise to 100%that would be ok for veg but flowering would be a problem,it would also decrease the efficiency of the carbon scrubber,i was looking to hook up a generator when i get the money,but i was going to hook it at my passive intake point,but that is to much humidity.

Agreed! Way too much humidity (flower room is only.. 6' x 5' x 8') I have to use a dehumidifier if I want to generate any more CO2 then once every 3 hours, but the dehumidifier puts out lots of heat too!

Overall.. I'm thinking the CO2 tank is the way to go. Aluminum tanks are light and relatively cheap. Not sure on the cost to refill yet, but less problems would be nice.

repvip said:

Agreed! Way too much humidity (flower room is only.. 6' x 5' x 8') I have to use a dehumidifier if I want to generate any more CO2 then once every 3 hours, but the dehumidifier puts out lots of heat too!

Overall.. I'm thinking the CO2 tank is the way to go. Aluminum tanks are light and relatively cheap. Not sure on the cost to refill yet, but less problems would be nice.

Click to expand...

i would like to get the tanks,but with my back forget about it,when i worked construction i would put an oxy and acetylene on each shoulder and haul them into the pit,i coudnt tip a tanl now let alone carry one,and the smaller ones are heavy as well and need constant changing,i just need it for veg because the co2 provided by my furnace and hot water tank gets my co2 to 1700 were i flower.but im not vegging to much,to expencive to heat in winter my hydro bill woul be through the roof.

Here is a nifty CO2 calculator for your growroom.. don't forget to bookmark! I lose it all the time.

For my room:
Grow room area: 240 cubic feet
Amount of CO2 required: 0.288 cubic feet
On time: 5.76 minutes

At this flow rate:
If you are using a 20 pound CO2 bottle with a regulator, it will last 58.27 hours.
If you have a CO2 Generator a 5 gallon propane tank will last 180 hours.

Trying to remember from experience... I use a 20lb LP tank.. should last about 2 months. The math says it will last a lot longer--it must be the constant pilot light.

Also! The newere CAP CO2 generators have an electronic ignition instead of a pilot light!! Damn I wish they had that last year

So.. the 20lb aluminum tanks I were thinking of wouldn't last long at all! What a pain in the ass!

trapper: good idea about using the CO2 from the hot water heater/furnace! I read somewhere that CO is deadly to plants (and humans) even in small amounts, but if you haven't had any problems you must be fine! I was under the impression small amounts of CO were still produced by furnaces, which is why they have the venting requirements. Anyway.. my veg room is right next to both appliances

repvip said:

Here is a nifty CO2 calculator for your growroom.. don't forget to bookmark! I lose it all the time.

For my room:
Grow room area: 240 cubic feet
Amount of CO2 required: 0.288 cubic feet
On time: 5.76 minutes

At this flow rate:
If you are using a 20 pound CO2 bottle with a regulator, it will last 58.27 hours.
If you have a CO2 Generator a 5 gallon propane tank will last 180 hours.

Trying to remember from experience... I use a 20lb LP tank.. should last about 2 months. The math says it will last a lot longer--it must be the constant pilot light.

Also! The newere CAP CO2 generators have an electronic ignition instead of a pilot light!! Damn I wish they had that last year

So.. the 20lb aluminum tanks I were thinking of wouldn't last long at all! What a pain in the ass!

trapper: good idea about using the CO2 from the hot water heater/furnace! I read somewhere that CO is deadly to plants (and humans) even in small amounts, but if you haven't had any problems you must be fine! I was under the impression small amounts of CO were still produced by furnaces, which is why they have the venting requirements. Anyway.. my veg room is right next to both appliances

Click to expand...

it is vented,but the by product is still co2,i measured with a friends co2 meter,mine went to 1700-1900 from the furnace and hot water tank,i also have a detector to tell me when i have the poisonous gas in the house.i would never disconnect the flues,maybe my fan sucks it in before it leaves the house in the vents ive been meaning to ask a pipefitter,today i will.

Maybe you can get an upgrade kit to make it electric ignition?

BigBudBalls said:

Maybe you can get an upgrade kit to make it electric ignition?

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Excellent idea! I looked around for about an hour and couldn't find any conversion kits... I will have to call CAP for sure to see if such a thing exists! If I can find a number

Trapper: I wasn't trying to worry ya! I'm sure you have it figured out just fine! I like your idea too.. I'm trying to steal it!

Who wants to see a little math? Here we go! Answered some of my own questions that might be of interest for others:

The conversion to CFH (cubic feet per hour) from BTU/hr is [(BTU/hr)*[1.18]]/1000. This is for propane. Natural gas is slight different. See here for my source.

The CAP Gen-1 CO2 converter (LP gas) produces 2,794 BTU/hr. The conversion equation gives us a CFH of 3.3. Using the CO2 calculator that I posted above gives an on time of 6 minutes to increase CO2 to 1500ppm.

How much CO2 does a standing pilot light generate per hour?
If my source is accurate.. standing pilot lights burn about 600-800 BTU/hr. This gives an output of 0.7-0.9 CFH. The CO2 calculator only takes whole numbers for CFH, but gives this result:

CFH: 1
Grow room area: 240 cubic feet
Amount of CO2 required: 0.288 cubic feet
On time: 17.28 minutes

At this flow rate:
If you are using a 20 pound CO2 bottle with a regulator, it will last 174.8 hours.
If you have a CO2 Generator a 5 gallon propane tank will last 540 hours.

Doubling the on time to ~35 minutes gives an added CO2 of 2400ppm.

The only variable I don't know--how much CO2 do plants consume? Depends on a lot of factors I'm sure.

Conclusion:
Why not simply leave the pilot light on WITHOUT any burn cycles to continuously infuse low(but significantly higher than ambient) levels of CO2?


Any thoughts?

seems like it will work