Mara Hydro 90x60x140cm tent. Looking for ventilation ideas.

[Safe Gardener]

Hi guys, I just recently picked up the above mentioned tent. I’m going to be running a DIY 150 watt LED in the flower side and will try a couple different DIY LED lights on the veg/propagation side.

What would you guys recommend for a ventilation setup? I would like to run ducting from each compartment to a single carbon scrubber. I have plenty of activated carbon and am thinking of building a 5 gallon as the housing for the filter.

I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions. Here are a couple pics of the tent.

 

[gizmo666]

i've got an 80x80x2m tent with a 5" fan extracting through a filter works great for me

 

[flylowgethigh]

Be sure that the air is exited to the outside. You want that humidity gone. GL

 

[Safe Gardener]

i've got an 80x80x2m tent with a 5" fan extracting through a filter works great for me

Thanks for the input. I have a 4” fan on hand that I added a speed controller to, I’ll probably try first but really like the look of the Mars 6” with the integrated controller. The reviews I’ve seen say it’s super quiet. So if the temps/ humidity won’t stay in check that’s what I’ll go with.

SG

 

[f-e]

Only one vent sock on each compartment?
I guess you could vent the veg very lightly, and lead it to a flower flap, with some gaffer. Or get a couple of top hat spigot flanges to add an extra hole. You put one inside, bolted to one outside, then cut out the material. I have pics if that's not making sense.
The general idea is vent the flower, and let it draw some from the veg. The veg wants a bit more RH, and down the line, you may find a humidifier in the veg can help the bloom, with the air between them being something you can regulate.

Fans are quite a topic. I wouldn't want anything other than a 4" RVK. A1 or L1 (low or high power). Or if you want to splash the cash, get an EC motored one. Such as the Vents VK 100 EC. That is actually a quiet fan. No mains frequency vibration. Can slow to almost nothing. Speed control is basically onboard. Controlling fan speed, accurately, not power.

With any of these, you could put your duct in a bucket, about 75mm from the bottom, and then fill the bucket with carbon. Such that the air has at the very least 50mm of carbon to pass through. 100mm is the new high standard.

 

[Safe Gardener]

Only one vent sock on each compartment?

f-e,
Great response! I’ll respond to
more of it tomorrow, but wanted to clear this part up. The tent has a 6” (I think) vent sock on each compartment and then there are two 8” vent socks one for each side. Also the center is removable. It is held in place with Velcro. I intent to draw air out of the tent from each of the top vent socks. My concern (intent with this thread) is the air intake to the tent. With the 6” vent socks so close to the top where the larger 8” vent socks are is that the air down by the plants/soil won’t get a good refreshing/replacement.

I guess in the first post I should have mentioned that I have been gardening indoors and out for several years now. This thread is specific to the airflow issues I see with this tent.

There are vents at the bottom of both sides that I think I can utilize, I just need to be careful with light leaks on the flower side.

Thanks for the response.

SG

 

[gizmo666]

Pity your not close to me as I have a brand new Mars 6" fan kit for sale lol
Won it on a comp here

 

[f-e]

Two socks at the top might work. Many find with LED that RH needs increasing beyond their lung rooms usual level. With two up top, you have the option to actually separate the plants from the heat source, using a sheet of clear polythene. Actual airflow through the plants can then be regulated by closing the spare sock, to make air enter the flaps.
I have a 1.2 x 2.4 that relies on a single 4" sock (at the bottom) and a flaps most of the way round. I know it will be fine, as RH is going to matter much more than getting a breeze through there.
As a wild card, you could drop a tube from a top vent to the floor. Making it a bottom vent. It really won't want it though.
LED grows tend to run the extract low to get some heat and humidity up. This effects the filter. They don't want using at low volumes. They want turbulent air within them. So if you are pulling some air straight in and out, it's likely to be helpful.
I think it will be a combination that's nice for balancing. Closing up the spare hole, to regulate what comes in the bottom, by means other than fan speed.

Low fan speed with standard motors and controllers is limited. What tends to happen, is the power consumed stays about the same. The motor slows though, and so doesn't loose it's heat(in the airflow). There is a safe limit to how slow you can go, which has led to people complaining there integrated fan/controller won't go slow enough. For this reason, I would stick with 100 or even 80mm fan sets.

Edit: I really like cooker hoods as cheap diy fans. The use a 100mm RVK usually. Only, it's got 3 different motor winding that you switch through for speed control. In essence, it's changing the motor size. If you want low flow, you use the small motor setting. This is much better than a bigger motor on a dimmer. The big one has large torque peaks still, which equate to more vibration. If you then add something like a variac for actual voltage based dimming, it can get quite quiet indeed. Though it's still not an EC fan.

 

[Safe Gardener]

I have only grown with LED when indoors. Nothing large scale. I bought a mars hydro 96 x 3 reflector series in back around 2015, have used it for full runs several times now and have always been happy with the results. I’ve also run several cycles with a coupe screw in led panels I put together. Humidity has never been a problem and so far I’ve been happy with my results. I don’t bother weigh the final
product and I can’t tell you exactly how many watts I’m using, but my electric bill only goes up 20-30 dollars a month when I have something going. What I’m say I’m here is I don’t think I get into the details as much as it appears you do fe. I really appreciate the suggestions, but what I’ve been using is pretty simple stuff and I’ve been more than happy with the results.

Here are a couple pics of the fan I used in the past to extract the air from a 18”x23”x78” cab that I ran two shelves with 12 screw in leds (about 130 watt each panel). I had the fan turned down about half way for the whole run and everything seemed to work fine. Do you see a problem with this setup?

 

[Mars Hydro Led]

4 inches fan and filter can take care of this tent. Check it here: https://www.mars-hydro.com/4-inch-i...rbon-filter-combo-with-thermostat-controller/

 

[Safe Gardener]

4 inches fan and filter can take care of this tent. Check it here: https://www.mars-hydro.com/4-inch-i...rbon-filter-combo-with-thermostat-controller/

Hello Mars,

Thanks for the response! I’m liking forward to utilizing this tent for a perpetual run in all three chambers. Continually running clones from moms in veg and flowering all the while.

I still have a 96x3 reflector series light from 2015ish that has served me well, and just this morning a friend ordered a sp3000 on my recommendation from all the excellent results I’ve seen here on IC.

For the 2 in 1 tent would you recommend drawing the air out of each side and merging them together then the 4” fan and filter? Also of the back or top a preferred place to take the air from?

Thanks again for the suggestions.

SG

 

[Mars Hydro Led]

Hello Mars,

Thanks for the response! I’m liking forward to utilizing this tent for a perpetual run in all three chambers. Continually running clones from moms in veg and flowering all the while.

I still have a 96x3 reflector series light from 2015ish that has served me well, and just this morning a friend ordered a sp3000 on my recommendation from all the excellent results I’ve seen here on IC.

For the 2 in 1 tent would you recommend drawing the air out of each side and merging them together then the 4” fan and filter? Also of the back or top a preferred place to take the air from?

Thanks again for the suggestions.

SG

Drawing the air out of each side and merging together is an available way.

Here are some installation ways for fan and filter.