Question on mounting an inline fan/carbon filter

I just thought of a question. My grow tent only comes with 5" vents at the top, how would I run my ducting through the tent if I have chosen to go with a 6" carbon filter?

You won't be running the ducting through the tent per say. You'd get a 6-4 inch reducer (maybe they have 6-5 inch reducers) to be able to exhaust outside. What size reflector are you getting?

Oh, and this is merely my opinion (I do have first hand experience with the same tent) but a 6 inch fan is going to be overkill for that tent. Period. True, it will be nice to have if you plan on upgrading to a bigger tent but then you could use the old tent/fan combo for a mother or clone room.

a 4' fan and filter is enough in my 4X4X8 flower box.
I also use a speed controller and turn it down at night.

Did you order the light yet?

Cool controller, way more sophisyicated than my 25$ one.
I was wondering about the light because it doesn't appear to be a vented tube. A cool or other vented lights would be a great benefit!
I use a 1000W hps light and I can have the plants as close as 6"
Non vented you have to go a lot further from the plants and also need to evacuated the hot air it creates another way.

What are the ambient temps of the area you're going to put your tent in? My 3 x 3 was set in the top floor of my house so it gets a bit warmer than the rest of the house. The reflector I chose isn't air cooled itself but it does dissipate heat much quicker than the reflector you linked. When I first put my 400 watt in I had temps peaking at 89 F (~31.6 C). This was too hot to effectively grow w/out C02 in high ppms so I was forced to duct a wall AC unit's output into the tent.

I'm kind of worried that your tent when fully enclosed and lit up will run way to high (like mine but maybe higher) without some sort of AC to be able to blow into the tent. This would probably be helped by being able to keep your immediate surrounding area well ventilated with cool air I suppose. If you cannot do this or if it would create more problems then a larger fan/filter combo won't help since you'll just end up recirculating hot air into and out of the tent.

If you are able to keep the surroundings well ventilated with cool air then I suppose that a bigger fan/filter combo might work (might not either). You might want to consider any reflector that is air cooled to help with heat production like KS pointed out. Then of course going with the bigger fan/filter combo might be best but you're going to have a heck of a time figuring out how to place your filter, ducting into and out of the light and then into the exhaust fan in that size of a tent.

KS and Encomium, I looked at a few air cooled lights but I don't think I could work it out in that small of a tent. That's why I am just going with an open air light. But if you can suggest a better reflector, I am definitely open to suggestions.

My ambient temp is currently 70F and 39% RH. I was hoping that going with the 6" fan over the 4" fan would help me better vent my heat. I was planning on using 2- 6" oscillating fans inside the tent. One for the plants and the other pointed at the lamp, with a passive air intake. The room where my grow tent is going has AC next to it, so I guess I could always run ducting to one of the lower intakes that will be covered with a HEPA filter.

Yea that's kind of why I chose the Adjust a Wing since it had the highest light spread and output (at least according to Cervantes) of any reflector out there. I couldn't picture being able to duct it properly without losing an extra 8 inches of vertical height. While it's true that a 6 inch fan will help remove heat outside of the tent quicker but if your ambient temps keep raising then eventually you're just recirculating warm air in which case having the AC unit nearby will help tremendously.

Again, I had the exact same tent (well the growlab one) with the same dimensions and I'm still reducing the speed of my 170 cfm fan by 25%. I have just recently upgraded to a larger tent in and am using the smaller tent to house my mother plant along with future clones. The fan I was using will eventually be used in the mother tent but it currently is being used in the upgraded tent and it's still working just fine @ 80% power. Any new fan I get will be a 6 inch with a home made scrubber just due to the fact that the 4 x 4 tent now has 6 inch vents.

Yeah, I'm just going to have to see how this works out once I get everything in and set everything up. I just hope I am not making any costly mistakes.

I am going to alter my previous advise on the 6" fan. Downgrade to the 4" and get this light set-up instead.

http://www.urbansunshine.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=233_373_374&products_id=18514

If you factor in the free shipping above versus the $45 HTG shipping and the difference in the price between 4" and 6" fan/filter combo is should work out to about the same price. You'll end up with a better ballast and an air cooled hood which should make more of a difference when it comes to canopy heat than having an open hood and a bigger fan.

That's a pretty good deal Gas but the problem is he's got ~34 real inches to work with for carbon filter and ducting assuming he can throw the fan outside of the tent. The light itself is 21 inches long, the smallest filter combo is the 4 inch which is itself 12 inches long. leaving him very little wiggle room.

The light doesn't need to hook directly to the filter - there can be ducting in between which means the filter can be mounted above or to the side of the light. 21" means there is 13" for 2 L bends of ducting which is plenty. I can fit a Magnum XXXL reflector with filter in my 4x4 so I assume there would be no problems putting a 21" reflector into a 3x3.

/e I forgot about the 6" to 4" converter - you might need to put the converter on to a 90 degree solid angle before attaching to the flexible ducting.

I went with the Super Sun II air cooled hood as it had the smallest physical foot print of all the aircooled hoods I researched. Cooltubes are long when compared to alot of smaller air cooled hoods.

Thanks Gas, but as Encomium says, my tent is pretty small and running that kind of ducting really won't work for me. I am going to be struggling just to get my 6" carbon filter to fit.

Gastanker said:

The filter doesn't need to hook directly to the filter - there can be ducting in between which means the filter can be mounted above or to the side of the light. 21" means there is 13" for a L bend of ducting which is plenty. I can fit a Magnum XXXL reflector with filter in my 4x4 so I assume there would be no problems putting a 21" reflector into a 3x3.

Click to expand...

This actually sounds interesting. Any chance you have a pic of your set-up? I would be very interested to see how you have your tent set-up.

pazuzu420 said:

I went with the Super Sun II air cooled hood as it had the smallest physical foot print of all the aircooled hoods I researched. Cooltubes are long when compared to alot of smaller air cooled hoods.

Click to expand...

You'd be happy to know that the reflector you purchased was also one of the best performers in this test I found on another forum site. I've been thinking of getting one just so I don't have to have my AC on all the time (will help in the summer months).

This is a 3x3x6 room with a 23.5" light fixture (I couldn't find a 21" in the program). There are several types of 6 to 4 reducers. One type fits on the inside of the vent and extends ~3" from the light, the other fit onto the outside and generally stick out a bit further. If you use the ones that stick out further I would recommend using a 6" sold metal L shaped ducting pieces coming off the light and then mounting the reducer onto that so that it is taking up vertical space versus horizontal space.

Simple picture - carbon filter up top (if there is no room up top it can be placed on the ground standing vertically) and ducting leaving the top as well - if you want you could have intake at the bottom, cooler air but gets in the way more often if you ask me. It would be a tight fit but should work fine - 21" light + 6" for the reducers leaves you around 7" for the ducting which should be plenty. And remember it's a cloth tent so if you go a few inches over it'll just push the tent wall out slightly.

That is great Gas! I will take a look more into this set-up and see some of my options.....

I would rec a cool tube, vented hood or whatever for your light. If you are barebulbing then the exhaust is not only about CFM air exhange for your plants, but more about exhausting heat...in which case you would want all the overkill you can get.

I have a friend who says mounting the fan on top of the filter with the filter on the floor works fine for him......here is a pic this is a 4x4 tent with 6inch inline fan says the temps are fine and leaving another vent port open brings fresh air in.

http://tinypic.com/r/9h2lv4/7

http://tinypic.com/r/rii0hw/7

http://tinypic.com/r/10z8y9i/7

do1nth4ngs said:

I have a friend who says mounting the fan on top of the filter with the filter on the floor works fine for him......here is a pic this is a 4x4 tent with 6inch inline fan says the temps are fine and leaving another vent port open brings fresh air in.

http://tinypic.com/r/9h2lv4/7

http://tinypic.com/r/rii0hw/7

http://tinypic.com/r/10z8y9i/7

Click to expand...

I have had my filter and fan this way for some time now, Works fine for me.
some more experienced growers i know have been doing it this way for years now.
Some even say that having the filter in your grow area (sucking)can suck the
taste out of your weed.
also, Its a carbon filter, i dont believe it cares what way the air flows imo.