New Guy Needs Advice

TrichromeFan · Jun 28, 2010

Forgot the air intake.

Disco Duck · Jun 29, 2010

So I really only need 1 fan on the light, and none on the tent? So I would just put cheap filters in the unused fan ports and a charcol filter for smell in the exhaust?

That would make the tent a lot cheaper than I was thinking. I thought it needed more circulation than that.

TrichromeFan · Jun 30, 2010

Duck,
I would start with the one fan. Regular filters in the intake, and a carbon cannister type for the air that exits the tent. Make sure that it is a good centrifugal unit like a can fan. That is for ventilation, not for circulation. You still need fans inside for circulation.

Disco Duck · Jul 1, 2010

Oh, cool. I already have 2 cheap $20 clip on fans I had got that should work great inside the tent. That makes perfect sense now. So I only need one expensive fan. That makes getting the tent a lot cheaper, I was thinking I might need 3 can fans.

Thanks, this is definately the way to go for me.

TrichromeFan · Jul 1, 2010

Duck,
Just make sure that you have a min/max thermometer in there to make sure that your temps are in check.

Disco Duck · Jul 2, 2010

TrichromeFan said:
Duck,
Just make sure that you have a min/max thermometer in there to make sure that your temps are in check.

What is a min/max thermometer?

And now that I think I know all the rest of the things I need to start and have a chance of doing this right, I am wondering what strain I should grow. Are there any specific strains I should try to find, for example I was thinking an indica (or indica dominant) might be best because they are generally shorter plants. I have access to legal dispensaries so if I have a few choices in mind I can probably find one of them.

I have a digital camera so I'll post some pictures in this thread when I get it set up. That way I can get advice as I go, and we'll create a thread for other newbies considering using a tent. I couldn't find one:-)

TrichromeFan · Jul 2, 2010

A min/max thermometer is just a basic digital thermometer that will remember the minimum and maximum temps that it records. Usually you can find them for under $30. Mine records the humidity as well.

As far as a strain, I would agree with an indica dominant strain. If you have access to a clone dispensary, I would see what they have that would fit that description, and be a variety that is hearty and an easy first timer variety.

Best of luck out there, Duck.

-TF

sgt. schultz · Jul 2, 2010

"I used wallpaper glue and wallpapered mylar to 2x4 foot styrofoam panels I got at Home Depot. Reflectors, they are ultra liht and hang on the walls by a single tack each:-)"

Styrofoam reflects 100% of light. Why did you go through the trouble and expense of gluing Mylar to it?

Disco Duck · Jul 4, 2010

Sgt. Schultz: The reflectors are part of the $150 or so in unnecessary money I've spent setting this up. That, despite spending literally months reading and learning before buying anything trying to avoid wasting any money. Most of that was actually on the reflectors, thinking the closet I was originally trying to use would work. So I guess I double wasted that reflector money, although they may come in useful someday. My Uncle Duck could do a great General Burkhalter impression, btw:-)

Disco Duck · Jul 5, 2010

Ok, I got the tent and it is set up in my bedroom. I have the light hanging from it, but no ducting up yet. I stopped trying to set it up yesterday over the fan and filter. I have a couple questions about the fan and filter...

1) I have no instructions anywhere for how to connect a flange to a filter and it isn't obvious too me how to do it. How do I connect the flange and filter?

2) Do I have to hang them from the tent? I have a 6' Can Fan and a Can 33 filter. The tent could, barely, support those and the light, but does it need to be at the high in the room or does it matter if I just put it on the floor? I could just set the Fan/Filter on the floor and run ducting through the light and out the tent and spare the tent the stress of holding all that weight. Does it matter where the fan and filter are?

I will take some pictures of what I am working on once I have the area cleaned up a little.

sky high · Jul 6, 2010

Go to Home Depot/etc. and buy a roll of aluminum duct tape. It should be located by the heating/ducting/hot water heaters. This can be used for MILLIONS of things in yer grow....the first being to secure that flange onto the filter and the fan to the filter or to the ducting (depending on how you set it up).

Can Filters are incredibly heavy...as you now know. I would build a stand or just sit it on the floor. IMO You have enough cfms in that fan to take care of business no matter where the combo is located inside the tent.

good luck

s h

TrichromeFan · Jul 6, 2010

Duck,
typically you can use the duct tape (aluminum is the correct one), and there are jumbo zip ties for this type of thing that I use as well as the tape. Home depot as well. I would hang the fan and filter if it were up to me. Pulls the hot air out at the top of the tent better, and keeps your floor space open for plants. You can also use straps or the jumbo (4 foot) zip ties for that as well. You could always do the filter in the tent, and the fan right outside the tent as well. Pics please.
Thanks,

-TF

Disco Duck · Jul 6, 2010

Ok, I have placed things in the locations I would put them, but not put the ducting in yet in case you guy's think I should make some changes. The room is very small, so I can't even get far back enough to get it all in one shot. I did top half, and bottom half pictures.

The questions I have are...

1) Do I need to use clamps, or will the aluminum duct tape work by itself? I just used the tape on the one connection I have done because I couldn't get the ducting to slide over the light.

2) Are the fan and filter in good locations? I am going to run ducting up from the filter the fan and from the fan to the light. In the pictures I have the light hanging at it's lowest level I will ever need it to hang to get the ducting length right. I have some straps to hold ducting up if I need to when the light is raised.

3) Since the fan will always be on, there is no actual temp control other than the central AC of my apartment. I assume keeping my apartment a constant temp will become important, and is needed to keep the temp in the tent constant. This is the coldest room of the aprtment, it's always cold in here compared to the rest of the place.

Things you don't see in this picture are that I have 2 clip on fans to hang from the roof. I am planning on putting them in the opposite corners from the intake and filter (intake is in opposite corner from filter). I also have a large oscilating fan I am going to have outside the tent to circulate the air a little in the room the tent is in. The window in this room is almost always open, even in the winter, so except for the few weeks a year it is really cold there is always fresh air in the room.

So as Ed Koch used to say... How'm I doin'?

TrichromeFan · Jul 7, 2010

Duck,
OK, go to home depot or similar and get some of the giant zip ties. They will be in the same place you will find duct. Connect the fan directly on the filter with a good amount of the tape. Use the zip ties to get that filter and fan up on the back bar on the ceiling of the tent. The filter should be on the upper left rear, facing the tent. Then use the tape and zips to run the duct from the fan to the right side of the hood. Take the clip fans and move those much closer to the plant level on the vertical bars. The more circulation the better. Rig an air filter to one of the square openings on the bottom, but make sure that you get no light leakage into the tent. Very important. You will have to run the lighting and fan system, to see what kind of temperatures it runs. This is where your min/max thermometer comes into play.

Disco Duck · Jul 7, 2010

The tent cannot support the weight of the light, fan, and filter. The tent can only hold 69lbs, I'm pretty sure the light, fan, and filter are close to 80 lbs. The tent will just collapse if I try to hang 80lbs from it. Also, the fan and filter clearly are not designed to be put directly together. The place where the metal meets would rattle and buzz and it would be extremely loud. Neither of those things really seem possible.

I would really like to have it set up like you are saying, but the tent can't handle the weight and I really think having the fan actually touching the filter would be a really bad idea.

TrichromeFan · Jul 7, 2010

Well, there is more than one way to skin a cat. You could always put the filter only on that bar in the tent, and put the fan outside the tent. There is definitely a way to couple the filter directly to the fan, but I understand if you don't think that the tent can support the weight.

Disco Duck · Jul 7, 2010

I'm sure you can connect the filter and fan, but if I just pressed them together and then taped them I'm pretty sure that would buzz and even resonate like a musical instrument... and the tent can't take that much weight.

The tent is the only place I have for this stuff. I don't have anywhere outside the tent to hang the fan from. It's an apartment, I can't drill some mounts into the wall or anything like that. Sky hi seemed to think puttting the filter on a stand would work, but you seem to think it's important that the filter is up where the hottest air is. Both make sense too me, Sky makes sense if the fan is a lot more CFM than the room needs, I could see it easily getting all that high air anyway in that case.

Do you think this is really critical? Or should I attach the ducting and run it for a few hours and see what the temps are? I did get the min/max thermometer you guys told me to get.

TrichromeFan · Jul 7, 2010

You definitely want the filter at the top. That will make sure that you are not short cycling your air. Have you considered the heat output of the tent going back into the room in which the tent is to draw cool air? It will help to keep temps in control if it can be kept separate. You should get it all hooked up and run it for a couple of days. Hopefully hot ones. That will give you a good indicator on temps.

Disco Duck · Jul 8, 2010

Hmm... I definately want to do this right. This is my problem.

I've seen two numbers for what the tent can hang from the support bars, 69lbs and 65lbs.

The fan/filter combo weighs 43 lbs.

The light reflector weighs 28.5 lbs.

That's 71.5 lbs. I'm assuming cords and things used to hang those add another 1 lb, so it's 72.5 lbs when the tent can hold either 65 or 69 depending on the source.

I don't have anywhere else to hang or mount anything. This really is kind of annoying that the tent just barely can't hold what it needs too, I even got the lightest filter of the ones I saw.

I wonder what other people with tents do, I've looked for pictures but haven't found many that show what I am looking for. Anyone reading that uses tents know the solution to this?

TrichromeFan · Jul 8, 2010

Are you sure that you can't screw into anything in that room? Spackle is a wonderful thing you know. Also, you never said anything about the fan exhaust. I assume that you are just going to let it out in the room. Is someone going to be living in the room with the tent?

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