CO2 genny or tank?

[Finklsteinshtkd]

Hey guys...I have an interesting question...I wanted to add CO2 to my flowering tent which is only a homebox L 3x3x6, or 54 cu/ft. I have a 20 lb. tank already, but no regulator, ppm unit, or solenoid. I was looking into where to get my tank filled and read about alot of you guys not liking bottles and switching to generators for the most part... Is there a very small generator that would fit my application? The smallest I've found so far is the CAP-1 and its for a 15x15ft area, and would be huge to try to hang in my tent...i'm in an apartment, so this would probably be the best option because I can't really bring CO2 bottles in and out of my building all the time...especially if a 20 lb. tank doesn't seem like its even gonna last one flowering cycle... I'm under the impression that a bottle of propane would last much longer..Any help is greatly appreciated...how many cubic feet would my generator need to produce of CO2 for a 54 cu/ft space?

 

[C21H30O2]

a 20 lb tank is not that big why can't you stick it in a box or gym bag when you need to do refills. a generator is going to give off a lot of heat, not good if you have a small grow space.

 

[Finklsteinshtkd]

Thats cool, i appreciate the word of advice man, absolutely. I've heard that with generators in a space like mine its only on for like less than a minute and the heat at that point isn't a big deal, but I don't speak from experience and i'm not trying to knock your advice... Thats a great idea about the gym bag...i didn't even think about it..I was thinking of grocery bags and shit...how long to you think a CO2 tank would last in my space...its so small maybe it'll last longer than alot of these guys are getting..

 

[Bozo]

How do you cool your home box? If you use a fan to ventilate it you are pissing up a rope trying to get stable high levels of co2 .Key word is stable not 2000 ppm then back to 500 a stable 1450-1800 constant levels .I know people use timers to dose there grows but I am a beliver in co2 controllers so you can have accurate control of dosing of co2 .They can be had for 450$ or so and you will need a soleniod to allow the controller to release the co2 .Puts you back to the first problem how are you going to keep the co2 in the tent?

CO2 is great my first attempt @ co2 was a crude benzomatic torch set up I jerry rigged and had to light and turn off daily .I dont sujest you try this it was a fire hazard and I stopped doing it .It ran 12 hr straight with constant venting I had no controller but I am guessing 800 ppm while it was burning and it was in a bigger area than yours
Until you use A/C to control temps it is very hard to get co2 levels to stay where you want them.Small AC unit east to adapt to tent ,stay away from the portable units they exhaust all your co2 just like a fan go with a window unit and cram a 1000 watt light in that tent (600 watt will do) cause you need lotsa light to be able to use the extra co2 .Dont sweat bout cutting a gaping hole in wall of tent it will be the cheapest piece of a co2 set up i assure you .Now set up yer ppm controller (no not that flow meter you have )the 450$ you will have to buy and after the A/C and controller are in you can use any kinda co2 that is easy for you .I refuse to go fill bottles up I belive it screams I grow commercialy where I live and that bothers me cause I dont just 2 k of lights for me and my ole ladie and we give quite a bit away

So I burn propane
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=105617
That shows how I do it and where I got the idea .Sounds like they are making smaller gens for tents soon .I would contact them

GL

 

[yamaha_1fan]

http://www.gthydro.com/co2calculatorforgrowroomsandgreenhouses.html

 

[Bozo]

those calc's work great for a sealed enviroment .I didnt see any input for venting thou
But I will agree with that and a flow meter you could guess better

And I still think a 3x3x6 tent needs 600 watts to need co2 and youd need to use A/C or mass air exchance to cool it .Only the A/C method is gonna work for bottled or burner in a space that small .
odor control also comes to mind co2 build up in living area around tent lots to think about when you dive into co2 do alota reading

 

[Finklsteinshtkd]

Cool, thanks guys....i'm very appreciative as always...lots of good information. I am running a 600W hps digi (lumantek i love this light) with its own 6" ventilation on a kool tube with a stanley DIY blower. I don't yet have my fan for the actual tent air, but i'm going to use probably a 60cfm bathroom exhaust fan from lowes or something..I have a hydrofarm temp/humidity controller that will activate this tent air fan when needed and turn off power to co2 blah blah..you get the idea...no a/c for the tent, just for the room the tent is in to control ambient temps..even without the tent air fan yet installed my temps usually only get to 82 at the highest..and thats at the roof of the tent (on the inside of course)..thats what made me open my eyes and say..you know, thats not that hot for not having proper exhaust yet...maybe I can just add CO2 and a little backup fan just in case it needs it...I know co2 helps when you have high temps right? If I have to, i'll make a piece of ducting that goes from the cold output of my a/c to the air intake of my tent..if I have to...maybe if I cool the light with cold air, and then just inject CO2, maybe I can get cooler temps and still maintain a sealed environment? Its a lot of work though just to see and find out...I don't know how much cold light air on the intake side would cool things because its in and out of that light very quickly obviously..my stanley DIY is only on its lowest setting and it cools the light with no probs...Thanks again guys...let me know what you think about this...especially you bozo...you seem to have lots of good info...I hope they make a tiny tent genny soon..but that would kill my thread..lol

 

[Finklsteinshtkd]

That seems like it would be a kick ass co2 calculator, if it worked...doesn't work for me...tells me error on page..tried refreshing and disabling/enabling different active x controls and add ons and pop up blocker...very frustrating..does any one know what the formula is and i'll just calculate it myself?

 

[yamaha_1fan]

My bad. well no not really, its not my calculator

But I knew of a different one that I used and couldnt find it. Then I looked in my favorites under hydro and there it was. DOH!!

http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/co2_calculator.asp

That should work, I used it a few weeks ago. I dont know the calculations/formulas.

You should be able to do a cost comparison of CO2 versus a generator

I think with 82 temps, you should be OK with the CO2. My room is running 85-86.

I dont know of any other controllers than the CHHC that will monitor temp and CO2. If the tent/room gets too hot, it will shut off CO2, then kick on the fans to get the temp down. Once temp is OK, it shuts fan off and turns the CO2 back on.

There may be other controllers that can do this, I just know of the CHHC

 

[Finklsteinshtkd]

Thank you yamaha...that one did the trick...so I could easily go with a single burner unit. The generator is much more cost effective...now i'm worried about the fact that i'm using a homebox L and it will probably leak quite a bit...the tent is sitting right next to my bed, do you know where to find a co2 alarm...if the tent leaks and the generator constantly tries to keep up then i probably won't wake up the next morning...scary.. besides that i'm probably looking at a grand for the whole setup...I think I only have a grand into it in the first place...still a work in progress..I may consider the DIY ppm meter in the link-o-rama..

 

[Finklsteinshtkd]

I just came from another thread where I was having a similar conversation as this one, and a guy recommended the co2boost buckets...I was under the impression that these were sort of inconsistent and the whole point was to maintain a constant high level of co2...the faq for the co2boost website says the buckets can range from about 3000ppm to 5000ppm or something....anyone have experience using these...if I don't get many responses here i'll start a thread about co2boost buckets...lol

 

[AndreNicky]

I don't think its worth it to setup co2 into one of these grow tents tbh, i have a homebox L and theres no way its gonna work unless u completly seal it with a ac unit.

 

[Finklsteinshtkd]

ac isn't a prolem...temps are fine and there's room for me to make it better, so ac unit isn't necessary, but I don't know how to seal the bitch...you're probably right...maybe i'll just spend the $100 every three months and get a co2 boost bucket...hopefully I can find one locally cause i'm not gonna order one every three months..too much of a steady risk..its like 400 bucks a year if I do it that way...which isn't bad... if they work..it has an air pump so theoretically you could connect it to a ppm controller as well as keeping it synced with 12/12...its worth it if it works cause you'll get 20%-50% more weight!! the carbon in co2 is the carbon plants use to make sugar ("carbo"hydrates). The hydrogen obviously comes from the water..and then of course they expell the oxygen and thats how you get the conversion of co2 to oxygen thats part of the symbiotic relationship we all have with our beautiful plants!

 

[Finklsteinshtkd]

that blows...my girl has to work on new years but nobody else seems to (i.e. grow shops are closed)