LOL, Knew i loved this topic!! Thanks for the input, head has started to spin with all the modifications my brain is making to my design. Limited space near ground level so would have to have fan & CF outside the tent and push air through instead of suck. Also need a powerd shutoff damper in the roof to open when exhaust kicks in.... some thinking still to go me thinks lol
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The how to and why fors of CO2 supplementation for growers
- Thread starter Lazyman
- Start date
Most guys push air through their hoods anyway, so the fan doesn't have to deal with hot air (most are rated up to a certain temp) but yeah, you're looking for a normally closed damper for your roof, they sell motorized ones in most hydro stores and online.
Nice thread. Very handy since Im in the process of implementing CO2 into my room. It's not as easy as one would think. Im busy sealing this, monitoring that, etc.
Ive read that window ACs aren't good with CO2 because they will vent CO2 out the rear. Is this true and if so, does anyone have any guides or links about what exactly needs to be modified on a window AC to work with CO2?
Ive read that window ACs aren't good with CO2 because they will vent CO2 out the rear. Is this true and if so, does anyone have any guides or links about what exactly needs to be modified on a window AC to work with CO2?
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sparkjumper
Thats totally not true as I've always used a window AC without venting any co2 whatsoever,now a portable AC is a different matter.Even a dual hose portable will waste a lot of co2.
SKUNK420
Member
At first read I was like WTF? Carbon offset? Well the damn new-age treehuggers who love all these electronic devices that consume gobs of electricity ( ironic isn't it?) to spread their "save the world message" are messing up the supply of certain commercial gases with their Al Gore lobbying. If you do any commercial welding then you know. Also if you have been paying any attention to co2 and argon prices ( the ones I use the most) have been going up every year.
How many cell phones, computers, ipods, plug in electric cars etc... do treehuggers need anyways?
S
sparkjumper
I have to jerk off Algore twice a year for a cd-6 burner and 20 gal propane tank..
I just wanted to comment on the CAP fuzzy controllers being used with generators. On the cap website, it says that it would work, and also that there is an option to change the mode to eliminate rapid cycling. I don't use one now, but have been looking at getting one in the near future.
http://www.randmsupply.com/productdisp.php?pid=321&navid=30
http://www.randmsupply.com/productdisp.php?pid=321&navid=30
Plants breathe co2, then give us oxygen, so how would a rise in either be a bad thing. Those enviro-communists are crazy.
H
hukkahtokes
great thread lots of info. i don't really understand it all yet but still thanks for posting it
S
sparkjumper
Too much co2 in the air causes the greenhouse effect,effectively making Algore and his minions millions
Dr. Conjuror
Member
Ok the levels of O2 in regular atmosphere is much higher than the levels of CO2 (about 500x more)...
Composition of dry atmosphere, by volume
Gas .....................Volume
Nitrogen (N2) .................. 780,840 ppmv (78.084%)
Oxygen (O2) .................... 209,460 ppmv (20.946%)
Argon (Ar) ....................... 9,340 ppmv (0.9340%)
Carbon dioxide (CO2) ....... 383 ppmv (0.0383%)
Neon (Ne) ....................... 18.18 ppmv (0.001818%)
Helium (He) .................... 5.24 ppmv (0.000524%)
Methane (CH4) ................ 1.745 ppmv (0.0001745%)
Krypton (Kr) .................... 1.14 ppmv (0.000114%)
Hydrogen (H2) ................ 0.55 ppmv (0.000055%)
Nitrous oxide (N2O) ......... 0.3 ppmv (0.00003%)
Xenon (Xe) ..................... 0.09 ppmv (9x10−6%)
Ozone (O3) ..................... 0.0 to 0.07 ppmv (0% to 7x10−6%)
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) .... 0.02 ppmv (2x10−6%)
Iodine (I) ....................... 0.01 ppmv (1x10−6%)
Carbon monoxide (CO) .... 0.1 ppmv
Ammonia (NH3) .............trace
Not included in above dry atmosphere:
Water vapor (H2O) ..........~0.40% over full atmosphere, typically 1%-4% at surface
So you can see increasing CO2 to 1500ppm is still very little as compared to the levels of O2. But this is really moot because one of the byproducts of this increased metabolism is.....
Wait for it.....
More O2! So I would think if anything, there is more O2 in the sealed room, bubbling air with higher levels of O2 in your DWC buckets.
Dr. Conjuror
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sparkjumper
I'm not sure I understand the argument here I'm kinda dense sometimes but one thing I can tell you.If you're concerned about adequete levels of O2 in a sealed room with co2 enricment,don't.The plants are getting O2 by producing it as a byproduct of growth.You want to hear something crazy?Sometimes after 12 hours of dark my co2 monitor/controller reaches 2500PPM and better.Thats how much co2 the plants are putting out during the dark hours.I use my little ceiling exhaust to bring the level down to about 1500PPM.Its that fluctuation thing again,I dont want to start at 2500PPM and let it slowly drop to 1450 before it kicks in the generator.It takes time to fall to 1450 and that time is wasted.You only have 12 hours.My point is the make as much oxygen during the daylight hours as they do with the co2 during nightime hours.Oxygen should be of no concern having a co2 reading of between 1450PPM to around 1650PPM for 12 straight hours starting with lights on its whats important.I hope this made some kind of sense because I've been messing with co2 enrichment literally for about 3 years now and I have it correct finally
Dr. Conjuror
Member
Jammie just seemed to be concerned there was not enough O2.
Now are you worried that 2500ppm in the morn is not good. I was under the impression that they would just use what was needed and would not be bothered at that ppm level.
Now are you worried that 2500ppm in the morn is not good. I was under the impression that they would just use what was needed and would not be bothered at that ppm level.
SKUNK420
Member
You know I thought the same thing. I got an almost perfectly sealed room and my air pump is inside the room about 4 feet off the ground on a self. So if my ppm co2 controller senor that is about 4 feet off the ground at my canopy level is reading 1500ppm. Logic would suggest that my air pump is sucking in some or a lot of that co2 and sending it to the water in my dwc tubs.
Alright how do we measure o2. Time to do a search brb, give me time.
SKUNK420
Member
I had a problem with high co2 levels during the night cycle which for me is during the daylight hours. My lights are on at night. I found out I was sucking co2 from the Water Heater, causing me to have co2 levels to max out the meter readings. The hot air and co2 and possibly other bad gases were being pulled down and out from the W/H. You know W/H have natural gas burners just like in a natural or propane gas fired co2 generator. Well on a W/H these gases are supposed to raise and go out the top vent of the W/H and go up and out the roof vent. So I did a test and turned on the bath tub hot water so the W/H would fire up and I notice that the co2 ppm level started going up. Then it struck me like a ton of bricks. My 10" vortex, A/C, and 6" vortex humidity vent fan were creating such a vacuum that the hot air and co2 from the W/H were not being allowed to raise and exit out the roof vent but instead being sucked into the house and making its way into my room through the humidity vent in ceiling of my room. My room is sealed but I cut a small square hole in the wall I made and installed a 3M hepa filter to allow air movement when the 6"vortex humidity vent fan turns on. It also has a can-33 carbon filter on the output of the fan so no smell escapes when the fan vents the humidity. In the end I had to enclose the W/H and build proper air intake for it. It was a lot of work to do right. Better safe then sorry and have the possibility of dangerous gases from the W/H enter the house especially when you are sleeping !! Haven't you ever noticed that when you are in your grow room that sometimes you can smell everything going on in the house like when food is being cooked the smell gets sucked in to the room?
CrunchNasty
Member
Hey LazyMan...
you mentioned using an air conditioner to make sure the room is at least at 85 degrees, I have an A/C, but its a window type unit; the front half that cools is in the room, and the back half that has an exhaust in the room behind it. What kind of A/C do I get that can cool the room with the co2 going at the same time, and not suck it out of the room?
you mentioned using an air conditioner to make sure the room is at least at 85 degrees, I have an A/C, but its a window type unit; the front half that cools is in the room, and the back half that has an exhaust in the room behind it. What kind of A/C do I get that can cool the room with the co2 going at the same time, and not suck it out of the room?
somebody asked me a similar question recently... i told them that there is no way i am releasing any of my precious CO2 into our atmosphere, that shit is expensive man!
in a sealed room, the plants "breathe" all of the co2 and it is replaced by the tank constantly.... thus there is no harmful effect on the environment. sum ppl don' understand what a sealed room means
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sparkjumper
Dr Conjuror at 2500PPM when the lights come on,it will take a bit of time until it falls to 1450,where my burner will kick in.I have 12 hours and this is all wasted time.The plant will not do well with all that fluctuation so I immediately dump about 1000PPM when the lights come on.This way for 12 straight hours the co2 level is always between 1450PPM and about 1650PPM.!2 hours of very little fluctuation is the only way I've gotten real results and I've been messing with co2 for years
I'm confused, can your room not drop below 1450 or is your burner circuit always live? Plants give off O2 at night and do not uptake almost anything, including CO2 so it's almost entirely wasted on them in the dark. I can post you some research papers on this if you'd like.
