600w HPS Overkill For Cabinet Grow???

WyoGrow

WyoGrow

Active Member
I'm not even to harvest with my first grow yet and I am already planning on expanding.... lol. In my current setup I am flowering with 432 watts of T5 light in the 6400k range. Pretty plants. But I'd like to up my potential yield per plant. My plans are to keep my current cabinet as is and use it for vegging/cloning and add another cabinet with a HPS system for flowering. The rough inside dimensions on the cab are 4' wide by 6' tall by 2' deep. I'll run the HPS in a cool tube on yo yo's for adjustable light. I was considering going with 400 watts but wonder as the plants stretch and I have to increase the height of the light if 400 watts has the the punch to light a 6" tall growing chamber. I have no experience with HPS..... so I am asking you old crimers for advice.
 
WyoGrow

WyoGrow

Active Member
6" inline active fan should cover it for cooling the light wouldn't you say? Then a 6" and 4" duct fans providing cabinet circulation from outside?
 
WyoGrow

WyoGrow

Active Member
I plan on running both cabs back to back and I am trying to hammer out a vent system that will allow me to control temps and ventilate each off the same circulation system. The cool tube will have it's own dedicated fan. Wondering if I put a beefy enough fan on it if I can also use it as an exhaust for the cabinets when it's on and still be a passive exhaust for when it's off and the other fans are still pushing air into the cabs.
 
cues

cues

Well-Known Member
I reckon you'll be ok with those fans. With a scrog it coul even be possible to divide it into 2, using your t5s on top for veg and the HPS underneath for flower. Tight but possible.
 
WyoGrow

WyoGrow

Active Member
Ordered 600w dim-able ballast, 6" cool tube, 6" inline active 400cfm fan, 6" 234cfm duct fan, yo yo hangers and 6" ducting...... wife is going to kick my ass. But hey..... it's my Xmass present to both of us (she's as big a pothead as I am).

**Thanks for lookin out 209. I picked up all of the above stuff for $300 including the shipping!!!!!
 
cues

cues

Well-Known Member
234 cfm is pretty poor for a 6" fan. Mine pulls 425.
In your case, extraction is the last thing you want to skimp on.
 
C

Cali Cali

Member
Originally GypsyBush... Posting as Cali Cali ... Long story... Im waiting to get my old handle back....


Anyways....

I have used 600s in tight spaces.... Very tight.... And if you exhaust and ventilate properly, you can maintain a small space around 5 degrees F warmer than the ambient temp outside the grow...

a 4" CENTRIFUGAL fan is plenty to cool a couple of 600s....

but I would not use one fan to exhaust and cool the lights... You loose some precious temperature control....

run one fan to cool your lights and that air will never mix with the grow's air... And I would put the fan on the cold side for 2 very important reasons....

#1- the fan will have a longer life if it runs cooler... Period...

#2- if your fan is SUCKING the hot air through, it might pull some of the stinky grow air with it... But if your fan is blowing, any leaks will be of fresh air into the grow....

both those factors are minimal, but if you are looking for optimal, there it is....
Right now I am running a 600 in a Growlab GL 80 2.6ft x 2.6ft x 5ft... Or close to that...

axial fans, like those duct fans are cheap... But by design they do not suit the purpose... Axial fans have a cfm rating... But that is unobstructed, add some minor back pressure and you loose cfm BIG TIME...

they may be ok for the kids running cfls in a cooler, nut they have no place in a compact 600w grow...

I would stick a 4" centrifugal fan on the lights... And a 6" centrifugal fan with a carbon filter for the exhaust...

I also use a TITAN Mercury 4 Fan Controller and I FUCKING LOVE THIS LITTLE BOX!!!! Click on the link... Take a peek.... They work really good!!!

it allows my exhaust fan to go full blast when needed, but instead of shuting the fan down completely, it brings it down to a user selectable low idle when your temps are in check...

it saves the life of the fan... Electric motors suffer with start up...

It quiets down the grow significantly, as my fan NEVER kicks on full (it will of needed)... About a 30% idle speed keeps my grow happy and stealthy...

remember a more powerful fan at 50% rpm consumes less power and makes much less noise than a smaller fan at 100% rpm...

also, separate grow areas may share a cool tube fan, but they should have completely independent fans and thermostats...

Slaving grows like that can be tricky if things are not dialed in 110% and with contingency plans ready.
each environment will have it's own quirky needs....

hope this helps...
i'm subbed now so feel free to ask away....

Cheers...! :joint::peace:
 
WyoGrow

WyoGrow

Active Member
The HPS will be blowing fresh air from outside the cab through the tube and back out of the cab. Reading up on HPS has me sold on that. I was considering pulling the cool tube air from the veg cabinet as it will keep the air in there turned over. With my current configuration the T5's kick out no heat as the T5 fixture takes up the entire inside footprint of the cab. So I have fans above the unit moving outside air through constantly (lights on 24/7). So the temps in that cab are ambient. I have to heat it to keep it warm for winter.... Since I am already paying for this atmosphere I was wanting to pipe air from the veg cab to the flower cab and then have the exhaust in the flower cab pushing the air outside. If that makes any sense. I have nothing against two independent systems though. It's way simpler to make them independent. Just trying to kill a couple birds with one stone..... or in this case one big fan.
 
C

Cali Cali

Member
I see... You could use the veg room exhaust to cool your light, but that may cause some issues, no?

will the cool tube fan then run 24/7 with the veg lights?

veg room doesn't stink, but depending on strain, it can smell... Will you put a carbon filter on that as well?

Being able to control ambient temp (by having to heat your house) may allow you to do what I told you not to do....

I run one fan through the hood and out the carbon filter, but like I said, that only works if you are not dependent on the exhaust to maintain grow temp....

I HIGHLY recommend that fan controller I posted...

I bet you could get away with just one 8" fan... Exhaust from high up in the veg cab, feed down low to the flower cab and exhaust though your hood then filter....

BUT I MUST SAY, FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS, THAT THIS WILL ONLY WORK WELL WHEN YOU CAN CONTROL THE AMBIENT TEMP OUTSIDE THE GROW... IE. AIR CONDITIONER IN HOT PLACES OR HEATERS IN COLD PLACES... AND THEN IT's only feasible when you are already controlling those parameters regardless of a grow....

And I say an 8" fan so you will not be disappointed, the controller will bring it down to a quiet whisper and it will have enough guts to do the job...
 
WyoGrow

WyoGrow

Active Member
The cabinets are in my garage. Cooler than the house in the summer. But can get down right cold in the winter. I exhaust my cabinets into the garage currently, no carbon, and that ups the ambient temp in there and keeps the low temp in the cab at night in the high 60's. The smell is only noticeable to me because I try to smell it. Just smells like a garage to everybody else. Even have had a couple serious stoners over for some home brew and they didn't notice (nobody outside of my wife knows about the grow). I'll vent the cool tube directly outside. I live 11 miles out in the boonies and my closest neighbor is a 1/4 mile away. I think I am just going to keep my veg cab vented into my garage and pipe the cool tube exhaust and the flower cab exhaust outside and be done with it.
 
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