Fresh Air Intake Vs Co2 Generator On Time

[macdiesel]

My room has a fresh air intake that cuts out when the co2 generator comes on. Currently I have the fresh air intake on for 20 minutes (off for 40 minutes) and then co2 generator on for 40 minutes. Intake cuts out co2 gen, and gen cuts out intake. This is the schedule during the 12 hour lights on period. (trickle intake lights out due to neg pressure lung room, no co2 lights out)

My question is, what is the optimal cycle of both? I would just seal the room, but I've tried that in the past and my plants choke from no fresh air. I don't know if this is due to lack of o2 or offgassing of something, but it's why I need fresh air. (plants come back always when fresh air is introduced.)

Obviously, I'd like to alternate the fresh air intake as little as possible simply to keep co2 levels around 1200ppm and to use less NG.

Thoughts on a proper schedule? Would one large intake per day be enough? Needed every hour? Every few minutes? discuss. Thanks in advance.

 

[Mr.Xagain]

My room has a fresh air intake that cuts out when the co2 generator comes on. Currently I have the fresh air intake on for 20 minutes (off for 40 minutes) and then co2 generator on for 40 minutes. Intake cuts out co2 gen, and gen cuts out intake. This is the schedule during the 12 hour lights on period. (trickle intake lights out due to neg pressure lung room, no co2 lights out)

My question is, what is the optimal cycle of both? I would just seal the room, but I've tried that in the past and my plants choke from no fresh air. I don't know if this is due to lack of o2 or offgassing of something, but it's why I need fresh air. (plants come back always when fresh air is introduced.)

Obviously, I'd like to alternate the fresh air intake as little as possible simply to keep co2 levels around 1200ppm and to use less NG.

Thoughts on a proper schedule? Would one large intake per day be enough? Needed every hour? Every few minutes? discuss. Thanks in advance.

I think you should get a regulator with a co2 regulator as long as its intake it doesnt displace co2. You should time it with your exhaust. Wich you didn't mention. Perhaps that's the problem. No exhaust = stale, hot, co2 depleted air. Look n2 that and your temps aswell. Best of luck to you.

 

[DemonTrich]

I run a totally sealed room, no intake or exhaust, co2 with fuzzy logic bdac2 controller. Plants consume co2, give off o2 as a by product. Where do you think the earth gets its o2 from, plants/trees.

 

[ken dog]

Plants always consume oxygen... during respiration, both day and night.
The better your environment, the more oxygen they will use.

 

[fishwhistle]

Burners can fubar a sealed room fast,if you used bottled you could probably seal that room up with no issues.Its most likely the ethylene gas your burner is putting out that is choking your plants.If you use a burner you must vent IMO,I got rid of my burner and i got rid of my bad air problems,they have their place in large rooms but not in small ones,at least not for me.

 

[Midwestjay]

Man I love all this info y'all throw out. Soaking this shit up like a sponge...

 

[macdiesel]

you're both right, plants consume and give off o2 and co2 at different times of a 24 hour period. Of course none of this has to do with my question of the best combination. Another person explaining ethylene is cited, however i have issues in the sealed room wether the gen is running or not, it boils down to the fresh air and like i said, poss due to offgassing but doesn't matter fresh air cures it.

 

[Irie Farmer]

you're both right, plants consume and give off o2 and co2 at different times of a 24 hour period. Of course none of this has to do with my question of the best combination. Another person explaining ethylene is cited, however i have issues in the sealed room wether the gen is running or not, it boils down to the fresh air and like i said, poss due to offgassing but doesn't matter fresh air cures it.

The most important equation is, are you exhausting? How big is the room, secondly? If you exhausted and pulled in air and use a cO2 burner your main objective is to exhaust on a schedule and regulate the burner so it's off when exhausting. As soon as your burner shuts off cO2 plummets in seconds. If you were to run the burner on a schedule that achieved your desired ppm of cO2, and that can't be answered without knowing the specs of your room at output of burner, and exhausted the stale air once or twice a day after the cO2 went off you would have true air exchange and not waste cO2. The intake of O2 is not the issue, because it's really cO2 you are trying to pull in. I think more info about your room is needed to effectively answer your question. I wouldn't use a burner unless I was in a greenhouse or warehouse. Sealed room with bottled and regulated cO2, or a lot of air exchange with no cO2 will both work fine so I again think it's an exhaust issue with the info you have given. I know you want to know a schedule for your burner but it's impossible to answer without specific details such as square footage and cO2 output. Best, Irie.

 

[fishwhistle]

Ill stick by what i said,your problem is your burner.You seem to have a hard time grasping that.Its possible its offgasing but highly unlikely.Try throwing a tomato plant in there and that will tell the story,there highly sensitive to ethylene,kind of like a canary in a coal mine.Either use bottled and seal up or just vent and forget the co2 but like irie said unless your in a greenhouse or wherehouse your gonna keep having issues if you use a burner.
Imagine if you were in a garage filling with car exhaust for an hour then you opened the door for 5 minutes then closed it again for another hour,do you think it would still affect you?Thats exactly what your doing to your plants right now,there is no optimal cycle of that.

 

[ken dog]

Burners can fubar a sealed room fast,if you used bottled you could probably seal that room up with no issues.Its most likely the ethylene gas your burner is putting out that is choking your plants.If you use a burner you must vent IMO,I got rid of my burner and i got rid of my bad air problems,they have their place in large rooms but not in small ones,at least not for me.

My buddy uses a burner, and this last grow he vented quite a bit (albeit, the reason he vented was for better oxygen exchange)... And he never had better results. I'm thinking my judgment may be misplaced here... Definitely sounds like a burner off-gassing issue.

You'd think that they would have these issues sorted out when they produce these CO2 burners.

 

[fishwhistle]

Yeah burners are frustrating,i know from experience.If they werent almost no one would use bottled,much easier,cheaper and more incognito to hook up to natural gas or a propane bottle.BTW ive personally never heard of someone having issues off natural gas either,seems to be propane all the time that ive seen anyways.

 

[macdiesel]

Ill stick by what i said,your problem is your burner.You seem to have a hard time grasping that.

I think you've been smoking too much Eagle20. I've clearly stated I have the same problem WITHOUT the generator being on......comprehend more, react less.

 

[macdiesel]

The most important equation is, are you exhausting? How big is the room, secondly? If you exhausted and pulled in air and use a cO2 burner your main objective is to exhaust on a schedule and regulate the burner so it's off when exhausting. As soon as your burner shuts off cO2 plummets in seconds. If you were to run the burner on a schedule that achieved your desired ppm of cO2, and that can't be answered without knowing the specs of your room at output of burner, and exhausted the stale air once or twice a day after the cO2 went off you would have true air exchange and not waste cO2. The intake of O2 is not the issue, because it's really cO2 you are trying to pull in. I think more info about your room is needed to effectively answer your question. I wouldn't use a burner unless I was in a greenhouse or warehouse. Sealed room with bottled and regulated cO2, or a lot of air exchange with no cO2 will both work fine so I again think it's an exhaust issue with the info you have given. I know you want to know a schedule for your burner but it's impossible to answer without specific details such as square footage and cO2 output. Best, Irie.

Thanks man. 15x22 room 8 foot ceilings. (330 sq ft/ 2640 cf) Sentinel VCG double burner 5500 btu. I failed to mention that this room has a lung room attached to it. 800 cfm fan pulls through the lung room out of the main room.

At this point, I think o2 levels are low at start of lights out, so i've set it up to run co2 during lights on, then intake is on when lights go out for a few hours. we'll see how it works!

 

[Irie Farmer]

Thanks man. 15x22 room 8 foot ceilings. (330 sq ft/ 2640 cf) Sentinel VCG double burner 5500 btu. I failed to mention that this room has a lung room attached to it. 800 cfm fan pulls through the lung room out of the main room.

At this point, I think o2 levels are low at start of lights out, so i've set it up to run co2 during lights on, then intake is on when lights go out for a few hours. we'll see how it works!

No worries farm fam. I think you're good but you should invest in a meter, or even two as they are pretty cheap and it will take the guess work out the equation. Yes, definitely at lights on and then periodically throughout. Say every time it gets below 650 ppm run the burner up to 1250ppm if it's not exhausting and your temps aren't too high with the burner running that much. The problem with cO2 is it drops really fast as soon as the burner goes off so if you can give it periodic doses throughout the lights on period, even if temps get in the low 90's with cO2 in the 800 to 1200 ppm you're rocking and will reap the benefits of the added cO2. Best, Irie.