Can I help answer anyone's cooling questions?

[ttystikk]

If you can believe....I can't send you a private message? It says, 'new users' can only send emails to administrators...so not sure how I don't clutter a thread if they don't let me email you personally. I've got some serious problems I need help with...

you need something like 25 posts to be able to PM. Don't take it personally, they do it so the site doesn't get spammed by trolls who don't want to contribute.

My humidity is 30%. Obviously I need a damn HUMIDIFIER. I have a DE humid.... I've been reading and you're right... need more humidity. Amazing I'm in cali, 30 miles from the ocean and this is the humidity. I dunno man. It never ends. Thoughts? humidifier I guess? Some of my roots look like they got rot. I dunno again. I'm running Zone, water temp is 62-65..... Should I add H202? What else could I add?

Yes, humidifier, or a swamp cooler; they're really the same thing. Both add moisture to the air, and temperature drops as a byproduct of that activity. Get something big, a little tabletop job will be too small to be of much help.

Another question...When you change out the water every two weeks....Do I just empty and refill or do I flush with something for an hour or 24 hours, then empty and re-fill? Such a waste of water it seems to empty 150 gallons, flush 150 gallons, and refill 150 gallons? Merry Merry to you. Thanks again. I feel the questions should be coming to end soon and I wish I could PM you...

Don't worry about the questions, brother- people helped me out, so I'm cool with paying it forward. I use cheap (but high quality!) nutes, so changing a lot of water doesn't cost me much. The nutes you get at a 'hydro store' are ridiculously expensive. You don't see greenhouses using them, ever wonder why? Because they know better, that's why!

 

[UCCONFUSION]

Thanks man! I'm a pay it forward type of guy, always have been, thanks...So I'm going to try to shut off the charcoal...it's bringing in cold filtered air..my grow room is getting to 64-65 to 74... If I shut that off I'll be closer to 70-80..that should help with humidity. I'm also going to throw a couple 55 gallon drums with airstones to add humidity to the air...I'm thinking that should help. If that doesn't work swamp cooler etc is in order.

Tell me about your water change out...When you change out the water every two weeks....Do I just empty and refill or do I flush with some concoction for an hour or 24 hours or..., then empty and re-fill? Such a waste of water it seems to empty 150 gallons, flush 150 gallons, and refill 150 gallons? Merry Merry to you. Thanks again. I feel the questions should be coming to end soon and I wish I could PM you...

What cheap nutes do you use?? I didn't get the greenhouse reference. Thanks bro!

 

[ttystikk]

Thanks man! I'm a pay it forward type of guy, always have been, thanks...So I'm going to try to shut off the charcoal...it's bringing in cold filtered air..my grow room is getting to 64-65 to 74... If I shut that off I'll be closer to 70-80..that should help with humidity. I'm also going to throw a couple 55 gallon drums with airstones to add humidity to the air...I'm thinking that should help. If that doesn't work swamp cooler etc is in order.

Use a hygrometer and thermometer, those will help. Without instruments, you're guessing.

Tell me about your water change out...When you change out the water every two weeks....Do I just empty and refill or do I flush with some concoction for an hour or 24 hours or..., then empty and re-fill? Such a waste of water it seems to empty 150 gallons, flush 150 gallons, and refill 150 gallons? Merry Merry to you. Thanks again. I feel the questions should be coming to end soon and I wish I could PM you...

I empty my system, fill with tapwater, run for a few minutes to dilute any nutes that might be left and rinse the roots, then empty that and fill with the water I'll use for the next few weeks. At that point, I dilute the nutes and add them to the water, wait an hour or two, and adjust pH.

What cheap nutes do you use?? I didn't get the greenhouse reference. Thanks bro!

The greenhouse reference was pretty straightforward; they don't use Advanced, or Canna or any of the other nutrient lines found in hydro stores because they know better. They- and you- can buy nutrients that will work every bit as well as those for pennies on the dollar compared to what you'd pay at the hydro store.

 

[UCCONFUSION]

I've got a more than a half dozen hydrometer and thermometers.. I just can't keep the temperatures right. One room... I've got a 1/4 horsepower chiller with 150 -170 gallon tank my system temp flux's from 63 - 71 while the chiller is set at 60> I don't know what's happening. Really pissing me off.

Got it on the cheap nutes....know that's true just didn't know what to buy. It would be great if someone with our type of system could throw down full on Nute schedule with PH and PPM levels throughout harvest....

I've got 150 gallons. So I've got to fill an empty 150 gallons. At least I don't have to rinse with R/O.

 

[ttystikk]

I've got a more than a half dozen hydrometer and thermometers.. I just can't keep the temperatures right. One room... I've got a 1/4 horsepower chiller with 150 -170 gallon tank my system temp flux's from 63 - 71 while the chiller is set at 60> I don't know what's happening. Really pissing me off.

I bet your chiller just isn't up to the job of keeping the water cool in the face of all your lights. I'm guessing your water temps go up throughout the 'daytime' and drop overnight. A bigger chiller will solve that, or you could experiment with insulating your buckets. Start by covering the tops with material and then sides if more is needed.

Got it on the cheap nutes....know that's true just didn't know what to buy. It would be great if someone with our type of system could throw down full on Nute schedule with PH and PPM levels throughout harvest....

Here's a thread where you can get nute info on the Jacks:

I've got 150 gallons. So I've got to fill an empty 150 gallons. At least I don't have to rinse with R/O.

Large water capacity systems can go longer between changes. My capacity is half yours. I regularly hear about people using UC systems going most of a bloom cycle on one water change, just topping off, adding nutes and balancing pH along the way.

 

[UCCONFUSION]

Can I get my money back?

 

[corso420]

Fresca Sol questions

Wutsup guys. Great info on this thread. I had to sign up so I could ask some questions. I have two Fresca Sol systems on the way for two 600W lights in a 5X5 flower room. My question is how big should the res be and should I get a water chiller and if so what size. Can I run both lights in one line with 1 pump and 1 res?

 

[Get HI]

Corso, yes you should be able to run one pump and one res, and you can run a cooling reservoir of about 35 gallons. Are you only wanting to cool your lights? If so, then a 1/2 ton chiller with 6000 BTU should do it. Or, if there isn't a huge price difference go with a 1 HP/ton unit. On this website the difference was like $250: . Best of luck.

 

[seebobsled]

I have fresca sols and found you still have radiant heat to manage. The only way I see to run them is in a large rez that can passively cool on lights out period to offset cost to run.

Now this is my experience yours may deffer. I found if you use a compressor to cool your lights then why block any light and go bare bulb. I have not done bare bulb but others are killing it bare!! Fans are cheaper to run than a compressor. Heck the compressor needs a fan also.

I would like to get a large 275 gal tote to run my fresca sols in the daytime on one tent and cool over night and run aircooled at night on other tent.

Fresca sols are cool but needs special applications to run on the cheap. I don't see a chiller being the cheapest running but heat exchangers to maximize heat release at night.

 

[Maine1]

Hey thanks for the thread. I'm a still a fairly new grower, just finished my 3rd in a 1br apt.thinking about moving from 6 t'5 to a 400watt in my closet. How much of an issue is the heat gonna be and am I being silly thinking I can just vent it back into my room or out a window?

 

[ttystikk]

I have fresca sols and found you still have radiant heat to manage. The only way I see to run them is in a large rez that can passively cool on lights out period to offset cost to run.

Now this is my experience yours may deffer. I found if you use a compressor to cool your lights then why block any light and go bare bulb. I have not done bare bulb but others are killing it bare!! Fans are cheaper to run than a compressor. Heck the compressor needs a fan also.

I would like to get a large 275 gal tote to run my fresca sols in the daytime on one tent and cool over night and run aircooled at night on other tent.

Fresca sols are cool but needs special applications to run on the cheap. I don't see a chiller being the cheapest running but heat exchangers to maximize heat release at night.

Hmmm, lots of interesting thoughts here... Yes, there is always radiant heat to manage, unless the hood is dark, lol. That's what the room cooling is for, so basically no difference between fresca sols and other hoods, right?

Running a compressor (chiller?) to cool fresca sol lighting is about the same as running Ice Boxes (basically little cold water radiators that fit inline with the hoods) to cool air flowing through vented hoods, that is to say, VERY inefficient and expensive. I'd avoid it as it will cost you. Dearly.

If you run a simple heat exchanger it's a different story altogether, and you can be a lot more flexible about temperatures. Since you're not trying to maintain a set temperature so much as just taking the excess heat off the bulbs, even if the water temp runs up to 120 it's okay because it isn't touching anything. Just blow air through an Ice Box, or old car radiator or some such and that will cool the water sufficiently and will save you on power. I've even had people suggest that you put this exchanger in your house in the wintertime to take advantage of the heat you'd otherwise be wasting... and that's suddenly SAVING serious money.

On the other hand, why mess with fresca sol and water when you can accomplish the very same thing with cooltubes and air? These also run cool enough to get very close to plants, and exhausting the hot air out of the room does the same job with far less complexity.

 

[seebobsled]

That is basically
what
I was talking about.