Desperately need help cooling my growdrobe

sophanox

sophanox

Well-Known Member
Hey guys,

This has been posted on another site, so please dont take offense if you frequent both - I am only doing this so i can get as much input as poss.

Anyway here's the deal:

I have a 3x1.75x6 compartment (wxdxh (feet)) of a two compartment wardrobe that I have been trying very unsuccessfully to convert into a growdrobe, mill's pride style. (the other compartment is just used for storage). I have spent a lot of time and a lot of money trying to get this setup working, involving upgrading fans, switching from an air cooled hood to a cooltube, moving the whole wardrobe do a different part of the flat (thought lack of air circulation in a small room might have been why), but still my temps are up in the 90's - 100s+.

I have a 400w hps in a 6inch cooltube, which has air sucked over it by a 495 cfm inline fan. For passive intake i had 3 4inch holes at the bottom of the wardrobe. Thinking that these might not be large enough I also added 2 5inch holes a bit above them.

To add insult to injury, I also installed a 275cfm inline fan at the top, purely to help remove the hot air. This has had little to no effect =S.

I bought the fans off the same supplier from ebay, so naturally I presumed they might be cheap replicas. However, they do seem to move a lot of air, and the company seems legit - see here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RVK-ALTERNATIV...d=p3286.c0.m14

I'm in a cool country and ambient air temps are in the low 70s high 60s.

Below are pictures to help, please excuse the light leaks and messy state, i have just been trying to get this sorted before perfecting the setup any further.






These temp readings are taken on the top of the dwc rez, where the plants would be. Please also bear in mind the air pump is off so in reality the temp will be even higher.

If you need anymore info/pics please let me know - any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!
 
jwop

jwop

Well-Known Member
sophanox said:
Hey guys,

This has been posted on another site, so please dont take offense if you frequent both - I am only doing this so i can get as much input as poss.

Anyway here's the deal:

I have a 3x1.75x6 compartment (wxdxh (feet)) of a two compartment wardrobe that I have been trying very unsuccessfully to convert into a growdrobe, mill's pride style. (the other compartment is just used for storage). I have spent a lot of time and a lot of money trying to get this setup working, involving upgrading fans, switching from an air cooled hood to a cooltube, moving the whole wardrobe do a different part of the flat (thought lack of air circulation in a small room might have been why), but still my temps are up in the 90's - 100s+.

I have a 400w hps in a 6inch cooltube, which has air sucked over it by a 495 cfm inline fan. For passive intake i had 3 4inch holes at the bottom of the wardrobe. Thinking that these might not be large enough I also added 2 5inch holes a bit above them.

To add insult to injury, I also installed a 275cfm inline fan at the top, purely to help remove the hot air. This has had little to no effect =S.

I bought the fans off the same supplier from ebay, so naturally I presumed they might be cheap replicas. However, they do seem to move a lot of air, and the company seems legit - see here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RVK-ALTERNATIV...d=p3286.c0.m14

I'm in a cool country and ambient air temps are in the low 70s high 60s.

Below are pictures to help, please excuse the light leaks and messy state, i have just been trying to get this sorted before perfecting the setup any further.






These temp readings are taken on the top of the dwc rez, where the plants would be. Please also bear in mind the air pump is off so in reality the temp will be even higher.

If you need anymore info/pics please let me know - any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
ambient temps at 60-70 and your running 110 with a cooltube?

wow ... doesn't make any sense
 
4

420OldSchoolDJ420

New Member
yea thats really odd.. I was gonna suggest that high ambient temps may be the cause, but if the ambient temps are that low and you have that much airflow then I really dont know what to say. sry I couldnt help




EDIT - It looks as though your intakes are semi "blocked".. Is that a wall you see through the intake holes? If so you should prolly move it away from the wall so you get better airlflow..


 
tom__420

tom__420

Well-Known Member
Connect the open end of the cool tube to a duct leading to outside the box. That way the one fan will only be cooling the light and the other fan will be cooling the box.
I can guarantee that it will lower your temps
 
Dubby14

Dubby14

Member
Your passive vent intakes are too high.

All that air below them is stagnate and getting nice and hot. To test this theory, move your temp gauge up above the intake, and see what the temp is. If it is cooler, BAM there is your problem.

Also, your wardrobe doors need to be better sealed. They seem to have quite the gap.

Hope this helps.
 
4

420OldSchoolDJ420

New Member
Dubby14 said:
Your passive vent intakes are too high.

All that air below them is stagnate and getting nice and hot. To test this theory, move your temp gauge up above the intake, and see what the temp is. If it is cooler, BAM there is your problem.

Also, your wardrobe doors need to be better sealed. They seem to have quite the gap.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
I dont really think the height of the intakes are an issue at all.. And how would sealing the cab make it cooler? :confused:
 
oj1981

oj1981

Well-Known Member
you need to look at where all the vented air is going!
I had the very same problem as I am growing in a grow tent.
If your venting into the same room then your intake will be drawing
in air which is still warm.
1st you need to vent the hot air out of that room. also 2nd intake wants to draw from the bottom
as the air will be cooler or if you can run some duct to a window and draw cool air into the box.
these 2 thing alone would bring the temp down alot.
also your lamp ballast if this is also in the box it will keep the temps high
as they can kick out alot of heat once the lamp has been on for a while.

hope this helps and good luck with you set up mate.
you will get there. Im sure :)
 
4

420OldSchoolDJ420

New Member
oj1981 said:
If your venting into the same room then your intake will be drawing
in air which is still warm.
1st you need to vent the hot air out of that room.
Click to expand...
I respectfully disagree.

As long as his ambient temps are 60f-70f and hes not venting directly into his intake then it shouldnt be an issue at all.
 
Dubby14

Dubby14

Member
420OldSchoolDJ420 said:
I dont really think the height of the intakes are an issue at all..
Click to expand...
With the intakes where they are, the air flow is going directly up towards the exhaust. No additional air flow is going down, toward the plants, where it is needed. If the intakes were lower, say below the plants, all that cool air would be traveling up through the plants and out the exhaust.

If you have trouble with that description, think about how your desktop computer is cooled. Generally, passive air is collected in the bottom front of the case, air passes over all the components, and is exhausted through the top back of the case.

420OldSchoolDJ420 said:
And how would sealing the cab make it cooler?
Click to expand...
Lets say that you've got an incomplete seal along the entire door, instead of the fans pulling air from the bottom, it's pulling air from the cracks in the door. Too much air, and not from where you want it.

You've got to strategically place your intake and exhaust where you can maximize air flow. As I explained, you want your air to flow across your components (plants) to get rid of all that hot air.
 
4

420OldSchoolDJ420

New Member
dude his intakes are not that high so I cannot see why you say that.. And the cracks in his door or w/e should be sealed yes, but I dont see it being an issue as far as his heat problem. If anything its allowing for more cool air to come in so I dont see how it would make it hotter.. No need to over engineer things.. All you need is good intake and good exhaust.. Air does not have to blow "across the plants" to cool the room down. But a fan in the cab is obviously a good idea.
 
Dubby14

Dubby14

Member
420OldSchoolDJ420 said:
dude his intakes are not that high so I cannot see why you say that.. And the cracks in his door or w/e should be sealed yes, but I dont see it being an issue as far as his heat problem. If anything its allowing for more cool air to come in so I dont see how it would make it hotter.. No need to over engineer things.. All you need is good intake and good exhaust.. Air does not have to blow "across the plants" to cool the room down. But a fan in the cab is obviously a good idea.
Click to expand...
It's not an over engineered Idea. If you have a long tube with air being sucked out one end, and your poke holes throughout the tube, air flow at the bottom of the tube will be restricted. Minimal air flow throughout the tube will cause a rise in heat.
 
tom__420

tom__420

Well-Known Member
420OldSchoolDJ420 said:
dude his intakes are not that high so I cannot see why you say that.. And the cracks in his door or w/e should be sealed yes, but I dont see it being an issue as far as his heat problem. If anything its allowing for more cool air to come in so I dont see how it would make it hotter.. No need to over engineer things.. All you need is good intake and good exhaust.. Air does not have to blow "across the plants" to cool the room down. But a fan in the cab is obviously a good idea.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry man but you are talking with no experience. You do need to strategically place your intake and exhaust holes. Its not as easy as it looks since this guy has two inline fans and it is not working correctly. I have one 306 cfm inline fan pulling through a carbon filter and my 400 watt HPS cool tube. You need to have the exhaust in the top corner and the intake on the opposite corner at the bottom. If you are exhausting into the same room (which I am doing) you need to have your intake low so that it can bring in cooler air. Hot air rises so the lower the intake the cooler the air. The door should be sealed so that the fan is pulling air in from the designated intake hole(s). When having the exhaust and intake on opposite it naturally brings the fresh cool air across the plants and up out the exhaust. To further maximize the movement of air you should put your circulation fan directly next to the intake hole(s) so that it can help blow the cooler air across the plants even more. My ventilation setup is exactly how I described above and it works flawlessly.
 
4

420OldSchoolDJ420

New Member
no experience? lol.. OK.. w/e u say bro... Dude has more than enough intakes and they are placed well enough.. But hey, w/e method you want to use is your choice..My shit works perfectly also.. If he fixes the cooltube so it sucks outside air through it and un block his intakes im sure his heat problem will be reduced

GL.

unsubscribed.
 
tom__420

tom__420

Well-Known Member
ROFL it works so good that you don't have any pics? No threads about your setup? Just you asking questions. Don't give out info if you just read it somewhere and have no experience to back it up.

Show us some pics!
 
4

420OldSchoolDJ420

New Member
tom__420 said:
ROFL it works so good that you don't have any pics? No threads about your setup? Just you asking questions. Don't give out info if you just read it somewhere and have no experience to back it up.

Show us some pics!
Click to expand...
ease up off of my berries Tom.. You dont know a damn thing about me.. I said what I said from experience.. Not from what ive read.. Post pics? LOL OH PLEASE..I dont feel the need to "show off"... PPL that ask for pics all the time are usually cops too btw.
 
tom__420

tom__420

Well-Known Member
Lol man you must be crazy paranoid to think I am a cop. I have been for for over two years, have multiple grow journals.
We both know who's advice is more credible :blsmoke:
I thought you unsubscribed?
 
M

mikeohle

Member
I'm not sure how you took your temperature measurements, but the problem could be as simple as the placement of your thermometer.

Heat is propagated by three methods - radiation, conduction, and convection. If your thermometer is exposed to direct light (radiation), your temps could easily reach 20 degrees above ambient. If on the floor, you could see an additional 2-4 degrees from heat conduction through the wood. You want to take the convection measurement only which is ideally at the top of your grow space, behind the reflector - just so long as it is not getting direct light.

If measured this way, you may not even have a temperature problem at all.
 
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