24oz. Paintball Co2 delivery?

[Stoned Cold]

Has anyone here ever used a paintball co2 chamber? I was standing in the aisle of wallyworld thinkin about for an hour the other day, until the THIRD sales rep. asked if I needed help! Guess I looked lost
Anyway, more specifically I was thinking I could find a proper valve and run the 24 oz. bottle in a sealed room measuring about 5x5x5 under a KW. Any feedback or feelings as to the plausibility of this idea would be very much appreciated. FYI my conditions are mint, so I do believe despite my noobness, that extra c02 would be happily consumed!

 

[spadedNfaded]

i wondered this as well. i have a 40oz tank i had purchased a while ago for target practice.
I have a "remote" tube that allows you to use a leg strap to hole the tank on your leg. It's got a female screw in end that screws into the gun, a slip lock on the air tube and the other end screws onto the tank and has a screw in pin to open the tank.

i was thinking about screwing the part that goes to the gun into the bottom of the cabinet and using the tank opener, screw it 1/2 a turn down to "enrich" the air with Co2.

Let me see if i can find a pic of the remote air tube!

EDIT: I found it!!!
any one of these remote coils will work!!
Remote Coil

- SubN

 

[Stoned Cold]

Nice

Yo, I dont see any reason this couldnt become a widely used growth enhancer, with a bit more research. I think we should try and master a simple DIY EFFECTIVE co2 system. This could end up being even more valuable to micro growers as well, considering most of them dedicate their lives to efficiency. I may setup a VERY small box and do a pepsi challenge with the paintball co2 can, so I can also see for myself, if the overall investment is logical.

Funk the world; consider it a CHALLENGE to anyone interested. Help me bulid an inexpensive DIY co2 and keep this thread for future reference

 

[raygun]

One thing to remember is that the threading on the paintball co2 bottles is different than beverage or growing co2 tanks. I tried to get my kegerator tank filled at a paintball store and it leaked out the threading connector and could not be filled.

Just somthing to remember as you will not beable to connect existing regulators to the paintball co2 bottle with out some sort of modification.

 

[Sad247summer]

You could easily rig a solenoid valve to a timer to crack the bottle open whenever you wanted. Then just rig a hose emiter system to the plants remembering co2 sinks.

 

[Guest]

For CO2 to work efficiently the level of saturation in the grow room is Maintained around 1500ppm during lights on. Bottled CO2 will break the bank unless you are doing a modest grow. You also need a controller system, gauge/regulator/solenoid controls, emitters, tank(s), one tank on line with a back up to use when the other is empty. Folks being what they are procrastinate, I am not immune to this human phenomenon , and if you are going to use CO2 you need to keep at it, not just when you remember to fill the tank.

Study up, use the search feature at the top right of this page. What Works has already been answered, and some of the funniest suggestions can be found there too! Mickey Mousing CO2 is a waste of hard earned money.

In closing, if you want to throw your money away you can throw it in my direction----------

Ty-Stick

Doing it right---------expensive

Getting it right-------priceless

 

[spadedNfaded]

There are kinks to be worked out, for sure.
that remote coil i posted kind of acts like a regulator itself.
If one was to be able to get it on a timer to come on about an hour into lights on and a way to measure Co2 ppm i don't see why it wouldn't be beneficial. We're talking about using these tanks for micro grows. Those remote coil regulators can be spun an fraction of a turn to only release a small amount.
I think it's a good idea, though, research still needs to be done.

- SubN

 

[Ganja Guerilla]

I admire your determination for find a DIY approach but you should really take Ty-Stik's advice on this, you will be wasting money and CO2 trying to make something that will work.

Not only that if you run the numbers you will probably find that a 24oz tank will only last a few days or so under perfect conditions...

I'm not trying to bust your balls but DIY CO2 is sort of like the holy grail of growers and has been flogged to death in so many threads... and I have yet to see someone say that they have confirmed yield increases with a DIY system.

 

[Elephunk]

I'm going to be using this method on my girls very soon when I flower them. I have access to free co2 anytime. So I figure what the heck, I'll give it a try and see if it does anything for me. For a method to release the co2 you can just use some more paintball equipment. Look at the part circled in red below. You can just screw the bottle into that, twist the top of the on/off, and rig up your air hose just like that and run it all around your grow. Just poke small holes along the hose and you're set. It would be good to have one of those things to check the amount of co2 that's in the air. When you start to get it dialed in to the proper co2 levels you can time the co2 release so you know when to turn it off.

I have a stadium grow set up with 3 shelves on each side. At the end of each shelf I'm making a holder for the co2 tanks. The hose is going to be run along the shelves and release the co2 upwards. I have to The on/offs will just sit there attached to the hose so you can just screw the tanks in or out for refills. I figure with 6 bottles releasing co2 at once it shouldn't take too long to fill the room with the levels I need. That would also cut down on the amount of trips to refill the bottles too.

 

[Z0Z0Z0]

There isn't a switch on the part that screws onto the tank. Unless you are just going to screw it into the connector, and the hoses, everyday then it might work.

 

[Elephunk]

There isn't a switch on the part that screws onto the tank. Unless you are just going to screw it into the connector, and the hoses, everyday then it might work.

I hope I never get to a point of laziness that I can't take 2 minutes to screw in a few tanks. And the "switch" is that pointed piece at the front and you twist that down. It drives a pin downwards onto the tank and lets the gas flow. I have 6 30oz tanks to use. I figure with 6 of these things putting out the co2 it shouldn't take too long for the room to reach the level I need. So that means I don't have to let the tanks vent for that long and won't have to refill that often. Two refills per week would be just fine.

 

[RewTheJew]

i figure some CO2 is better then no CO2.. Why not just give them a good dousing when you water? Though, remembering to have them filled would suck... but, im cheap so this would work..

 

[KindDreamz]

I hope I never get to a point of laziness that I can't take 2 minutes to screw in a few tanks. And the "switch" is that pointed piece at the front and you twist that down. It drives a pin downwards onto the tank and lets the gas flow. I have 6 30oz tanks to use. I figure with 6 of these things putting out the co2 it shouldn't take too long for the room to reach the level I need. So that means I don't have to let the tanks vent for that long and won't have to refill that often. Two refills per week would be just fine.

No offense but have you researched CO2?

If you read about it...you'll find out it's only beneficial if all other conditions are perfect, meaning... temperature 80 degrees or 85, nutrient levels perfect, light levels perfect, etc... if even 1 limiting factor is not perfect, the co2 will be wasted.

Not only that but how do you expect to keep the CO2 in your room? You'll need a 100% sealed room to do that. You think it won't take long to fill it with CO2 because you're using 6 tanks...well how do you plan on keeping the CO2 in the room once the tanks are shutoff?

And that guy is right, you'll get sick of screwing all those tanks in everyday, might be fun for a few weeks, then you'll get sick of it.

And 2 refills a week? Damn dude... that's a big pain in the ass if ya ask me

 

[Elephunk]

No offense but have you researched CO2?

If you read about it...you'll find out it's only beneficial if all other conditions are perfect, meaning... temperature 80 degrees or 85, nutrient levels perfect, light levels perfect, etc... if even 1 limiting factor is not perfect, the co2 will be wasted.

Not only that but how do you expect to keep the CO2 in your room? You'll need a 100% sealed room to do that. You think it won't take long to fill it with CO2 because you're using 6 tanks...well how do you plan on keeping the CO2 in the room once the tanks are shutoff?

And that guy is right, you'll get sick of screwing all those tanks in everyday, might be fun for a few weeks, then you'll get sick of it.

And 2 refills a week? Damn dude... that's a big pain in the ass if ya ask me

Honestly, NO. I have not researched co2 very much at all. It was never a consideration for me before with my grow room. I just happened to have all the stuff I need to do this so I figured I would set it up for the hell of it. If it increases my yields at all, cool. If not, oh well. It's really not a big deal to me.

Temperatures in my grow room are maintained at around 75 degrees +/- 5. It fluctuates a little bit, but it usually doesn't dip below 70 or go above 80. It's also winter time right now so it's a lot easier to keep the temperatures sweet spotted. At night though when the lights go out in the flower room I have to plug in a small heater so it doesn't get too cold in there. In the summer I have to run the AC to combat the temps.

I'm sure if I used a hydro system I could dial in those nutrients perfectly, but I grow in soil. Regardless my plants usually don't have too many problems with nutrients. I give them organic nutes and teas and they seem to always be green and happy until I start to flush them in the final weeks of flower.

Keeping the co2 in the room... Well let's see here... When I built my two grow rooms smell was one of my top concerns so I caulked most if not all the cracks shut. I'm pretty sure it should be just about air tight. And I already have a draft dodger under the door to stop light leaks. That will also work to keep the co2 in. I already set up a ventilation system that brings fresh air into my mother room and my flower room. I also have my exhaust fan that draws all the air through an 8lb carbon scrubber. All I have to do is turn off the exhaust fan and that air isn't going anywhere until it's turned back on.

As much as I love tending to my plants and growing and all, there will ALWAYS be those days when doing so is just an absolute pain in my balls and I'm "sick of it." I get sick of watering, having to repot, preparing clones, preparing new soil mixes, etc. But I do it because it has to be done. I get really sick of having to haul heavy ass soil bags all the way out to my guerrilla spots in the Spring/ Summer. But I do that too. If I can do all the things I already have to do to take care of my crops, I'm pretty damn sure I can take the time to screw 6 tanks into 6 attachments twice a week.

The refills being a pain in my ass... Not particularly because all that free co2 is in the same place where I work everyday 9-6. Pretty damn convenient if you ask me. And I play paintball so I already have all the stuff I need to do this along with a legit excuse if anyone asks about the tanks. That's actually how I had originally thought up this system.This may not be as easy for everyone else, but it sure looks like it could work for me. I'll have to just run my grow and see how it turns out.

 

[Guest]

If you have ducted hoods then you will need to make sure that the entire duct system, the hoods joints/seams and the glass are sealed or the CO2 will get sucked out. On a CO2 system your hoods will draw fresh air from and discharge to the outside, where in non CO2 systems folks usually draw air from the room through and out with a passive intake nearby to ensure air flow/exchange

Its also fun cleaning the sealant off the glass to access the hoods internals for cleaning purposes or bulb changes unless you have a hood where you can reach in through the duct end taps. Oh CO2, so many small things to attend 2

Ty-Stik.

 

[Elephunk]

Actually I don't use hoods at all. I'm using a smaller version of Norther Farmer's awesome stadium set up. I have 3 shelves on each side and 3 600w hps bulbs spaced out down the center of the room. All the plants just grow towards the lights.

edit: I wonder if having exposed bulbs in a co2 enriched environment is safe... I should probably check that out first. If it's a fire hazard or w/e I'll have to put the bulbs back int he cool tubes and seal them up like you said.