Another T5 fluorescent thread :( please help!

[jawbrodt]

I'd go for it. Like you said, the ballast, reflector and socket will be worth the 150, even if the bulb is half-worn out. All that bulb has to do is make it through one grow, and it'll pay for itself, many times over. Then, sell 1/2 oz and buy a new one.


Also,...1000 watts isn't overkill for 3 plants, not at all. It'd allow you to space them out a little, and get nice light penetration. I'd use a 1000 for one plant, if i had the option, actually.

 

[elasher]

Than im going to call them up and go check it out! I guess the power bill isn't my worry, is it enough for the cable company or the locals to get suspicious? haha

 

[elasher]

I would say i got a good deal. The ballast is really quiet, and i didn't see the dimples in the mogal socket. He said the bulb was used for a month but i agree with jawbrodt's comment. The reflecter has tape residue all over then that but can easily be cleaned up. Although after having it on for 2 hours with a fan directly on it, i was sweating my ass off. I tried taking a picture of it but there was MUCHO interference. This is how i have the fan set up now lol, its jimmy rigged at the moment because we couldnt get to the store and get blowers. Will this be ok for now? or not enough.

 

[Medi 1]

ya that fan isnt going to cool anything, need a proper fan and hosing set up to get the air out of the room. all that is doing is moving it around...a bit
the dimples not in thew socket but at end of bulb. if he admited to using it has to have the dimples.

 

[elasher]

I'll have to look again, but i am going to buy a spare today. Also looking into these in-line duct fans, and some ducting. Let me know your guy's thoughts.


1 before and 1 after the light. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xit/R-100067594/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

That should be a enough to do the job right? 160 cfm. I just don't know how people go about wiring it, have been sitting here reading threads all morning but not getting really any where. If its in-line, that means that you have to wire it into something right? What do most people wire their inline fans to?

 

[laserbrn]

You need to step back for a minute and get a little help.

What size space are you dealing with?

Where are you planning to get fresh cool air from?

Whare are you planning to exhaust your hot "spent" air?

What size fan you need is going to depend on the size of the space and the temperature of the air you are bringing in.

 

[bird mcbride]

I'll have to look again, but i am going to buy a spare today. Also looking into these in-line duct fans, and some ducting. Let me know your guy's thoughts.


1 before and 1 after the light. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xit/R-100067594/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

That should be a enough to do the job right? 160 cfm. I just don't know how people go about wiring it, have been sitting here reading threads all morning but not getting really any where. If its in-line, that means that you have to wire it into something right? What do most people wire their inline fans to?

Most people would use an electrical cord with a male plug in. Me?? I directly wire my hood fan into my lighting relays, that way it comes on and off with the light. It's not safe to operate a 1000w lightbulb from an ordinary wall timer. This is why I use relays to run my heavier loads.

 

[elasher]

Well its in about a 6x5 area with 9 foot ceilings. Its wierd how i have it set up but its this thick poly, reflective white on one side and black on the other. I made a corner of my room into a "tent" you could say. It gets really hot in there, but outside my room its cool. So if i could get the cool air from outside the tent, i could exhaust it out the laundry exhaust. Bird Mcbride, do you got any pics? What type of relay do you use. Because thats kind of how i want mine to work.

 

[jawbrodt]

^I use fans like that for air-cooling, and they do the trick pretty well. I used one when I just had my 600 going, and now that I have a 600 and a 400, I have two of those hooked up, in the same line. One I had to wire myself. I bought a cheap 'grounded' extension cord, cut the end off, and used that as the fan's cord. The green wire is the ground wire,and will go to the other green wire. The white wire is the 'hot wire', and will go to the wire coming from the small blade, of the extension cord. The black wire is the 'return wire', which will go to the wire coming from the wide blade, of the extension cord. The extension cord should have the same color wires as the fan, so should go smoothly. I've found that power strips almost all have white/black/green wiring, so you might want to consider using those plugs, just to be sure. Sone extension cords have odd-colored wires.

Disclaimer: Don't hold me responsible if you get electrocuted, or burn your house down.lol

 

[elasher]

^I use fans like that for air-cooling, and they do the trick pretty well. I used one when I just had my 600 going, and now that I have a 600 and a 400, I have two of those hooked up, in the same line. One I had to wire myself. I bought a cheap 'grounded' extension cord, cut the end off, and used that as the fan's cord. The green wire is the ground wire,and will go to the other green wire. The white wire is the 'hot wire', and will go to the wire coming from the small blade, of the extension cord. The black wire is the 'return wire', which will go to the wire coming from the wide blade, of the extension cord. The extension cord should have the same color wires as the fan, so should go smoothly. I've found that power strips almost all have white/black/green wiring, so you might want to consider using those plugs, just to be sure. Sone extension cords have odd-colored wires.

Disclaimer: Don't hold me responsible if you get electrocuted, or burn your house down.lol

K cool, sounds simple. I am using a 1000w HPS btw. So did you tie both fans into 1 cord or separately? And there should be no reason for any fires or electrocution haha. I am going to solder/shrink tube/ electrical tape it as i do with all my wiring, better safe then sorry.

 

[jawbrodt]

K cool, sounds simple. I am using a 1000w HPS btw. So did you tie both fans into 1 cord or separately? And there should be no reason for any fires or electrocution haha. I am going to solder/shrink tube/ electrical tape it as i do with all my wiring, better safe then sorry.

One cord per fan, for sure. Since you're going with 1000 watts, you might want to install two of those fans inline, because they aren't very powerful. One will work, but two, will drop the temps a few more degrees. Also, don't try to use those fans with carbon filters, when it comes time. They aren't nowhere near strong enough. You'll need a good centrifugal fan, for that. Yes, you will need filtering, once they get midway through flowering, because the odor will be really strong.

 

[MEGAyielder420]

Most def that 1000 is gonna rock those bitches. Give it to them thats what theyve been waiting for. Ive put 1 plant per 1000 b4 its not to much light. those girls are gonna love that light. Now you gotta do something about the temps with that 1000 running in there and no inline cooling that light your gonna be in trouble, easily go up to the 90's and beyond that even. I didnt notice but does your hood have a glass on it?

I speak from experience. I currently have 2 1000's HPS running in a 10 x 5 with a can filter 100 and an 8 inch inline fan cleaning my air and cooling my lights and thats still not enough for flowering. I had to put a 10,000 BTU portable ac to get my temps down to where i want em. With the inline cooling my lights and the portable ac running in there for 13 hours at 61 degreez F im going down to the low to mid 70's. Check out my grow thread and let me know if you have anymore questions.

 

[laserbrn]

6x5x9=270 cubic feet.

To give you an idea I use a 4x4 tent with a 600w HPS and I draw in air from outside at night and my tent stays about 30 degrees warmer than the air I'm pulling in. So on nights when it's in the 40's my tent is in the 70's with the light on. That is directly under the center of that light at the height of the tops of my plants.

I use a 400cfm fan for exhaust and a 170cfm for intake and it works beautifully. 4x4x7.5 = 120 cubic feet. 120/400= .3 so I'm changing the air in my tents about 3x/minute and with that I achieve a 30 degree split on center @ 18 inches.

My setup is a little different in that I get cold air from outside and exhaust into the room the tent is in because when it's 40 degrees outside I don't mind the extra warmth in the house. If you pull in air from inside your room to cool your lights and exhaust outside I found it very, very difficult to run without A/C. I much prefer cold night air from outside.

 

[elasher]

Ya the hood does have the glass. So what i could do than (might as well) get a really powerful fan then grab this 160 cfm fan and do exactly what you did, and intake/exhaust it strictly from outside. Its just that my local hydroponic stores sell fans that are so damn expensive. So what type of fan can i look for on the internet that would be the cheaper route yet 300cfm+.

 

[elasher]

Can any of you guys access the classifieds section and see if there are any can-fans for sale there? I don't know if thats against regulation but craigslist is not on my side with the fans lol.

 

[laserbrn]

Yeah, fans are expensive, but you don't want to cheap out. With the setup your talking about you'll be looking at getting somewhere between 8-13 oz's if you do it right. You can get more, but the average falls in that range. Some grows yield zero, some 20oz', but on average it'll fall somewhere between 8-13oz's for a 600w light.

If you figure it at 10oz's and zip is worth about $250.00 (I have no idea where you are or what you're prices are like) that's a solid $2500/grow. I good quality fan will last 15-20 grows before I really wouldn't trust it anymore.

If the fan fails and the lights are on for 12 hours while you're gone it'll ruin everything and you'll have to A) buy a new fan and B) start all over again.

It's important not to cheap out on the fans. Although many think it's an area where you can save money, the reality is that without a RELIABLE fan you leave yourself vulnerable to a failure.

If all else fails Dayton Squirrel Cage fans are usually pretty cheap and can be found on Craigslist. It's a bit more difficult to rig up, but they are reliable and cheap, just bulky and more difficult.

 

[elasher]

Alright i found this fan on craigslist for $150 new in box. http://www.brewngrow.com/detail_1300__28.html . for exhaust, then http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xit/R-100080191/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 for intake, and ill be set i would hope! I would just need to find an adaptor to go from 4" to 8" because the hood has 4" spouts on it.

 

[Medi 1]

ill say now that fan even 2 wotn cut it. get a real fan. 1k is hot and those suk once hoods and venting are added to the line. i took mine back. those are meant for small ereas and small lights. i took mine back i had. i put my hand on the intake end and it almost stops dead...thats not good. i even move it in the air to and it effects the flow of it. thsoe are meant to help mnove air along long hose lengths not as a main fan. or a smaller intake to help gthe exhaust end. youll just be buying more after...i was told an old sayin by an old hippie dood i learnt some from and his comment is....spend cheep spend twice. and yes i tried to prove him wrong and i was made the fool back then

there is a cheepo copy of the vortex online....

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-Inch-Duct-Inline-PowerFan-Exhaust-350-CFM-Vortex-FAN-/110606750409?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c0ad12c9

http://cgi.ebay.com/4-Inch-Duct-Inline-PowerFan-Exhaust-210-CFM-Vortex-FAN-/130451048903?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e5f7d09c7

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-INCH-HYDROPONIC-INLINE-EXHAUST-VENT-FAN-DUCT-BLOWER-/290495326237?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a2dee81d


this is just a few but is the size as a 6 inch youll need. i know the room is less cfm but with the heat from the 1k and other factors this is what id run. nothing less than the 4 inch. myself id run the 8 and add a speedster to it to control the speed the right way

and someone alse commented that you cant safely plug a 1k to a wall timer...i do and haved a few done this way and not once ever popped a breaker. in fact i run 2 x 600 right now from 1 timer for 30 bucks from canadian tire and have so for 3 years...and again...never done anything bad. its rated for enough of a load. thats all you need to do is look at the breaker in the fuse box and add anything the house runs from that line in amps...like house lights or other then subtract that from the main breaker load. then you have what is available to use. and you need to keep under 75% roughly from total breaker limit to [revent a popped breaker. they ballast does run a higher load at strike up. the 1k will be at 9.5 i beleive amps....at norml running load.

 

[elasher]

Yeah, fans are expensive, but you don't want to cheap out. With the setup your talking about you'll be looking at getting somewhere between 8-13 oz's if you do it right. You can get more, but the average falls in that range. Some grows yield zero, some 20oz', but on average it'll fall somewhere between 8-13oz's for a 600w light.

If you figure it at 10oz's and zip is worth about $250.00 (I have no idea where you are or what you're prices are like) that's a solid $2500/grow. I good quality fan will last 15-20 grows before I really wouldn't trust it anymore.

If the fan fails and the lights are on for 12 hours while you're gone it'll ruin everything and you'll have to A) buy a new fan and B) start all over again.


It's important not to cheap out on the fans. Although many think it's an area where you can save money, the reality is that without a RELIABLE fan you leave yourself vulnerable to a failure.

If all else fails Dayton Squirrel Cage fans are usually pretty cheap and can be found on Craigslist. It's a bit more difficult to rig up, but they are reliable and cheap, just bulky and more difficult.

8-13 oz with 3 plants or per plant?

 

[elasher]

Well i ended up finding the 6" 435 cfm Valuline fan at a local store for $120 down the road. Didn't know they sold them that cheap. Is it cool if i reduce the fan to 4" and run 4" lines in and out of the hood?