Carbon Filter Systems & Scent Control

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by TK411, Sep 5, 2018.

  1. I'll start by saying that my grow space is in a building all to itself, and my nearest neighbor is approximately a half of a mile away... When I was pricing everything, smell management was towards the bottom of my list. I've now spent around $700, and I still need my air conditioning. I'm running up on my $900 initial budget extremely fast.

    My grow space is isolated, sealed and approximately 10'x8'x8'. While I am using a window unit, it will be installed sub-floor with rectangular ducting. I'm basically making a main trunk and installing 3 vents around my grow area, so cool air will rise from the floor around the plants.

    Instead of buying a fan and cylindrical carbon filter, I was basically going to cut out a slot in the flooring directly above my AC unit, make a casing, and put in a box fan to force the hot air out of my room to be recirculated through the sub-floor system. I figured I could create a wooden frame with some screen (maybe window screen) and fill it with activated carbon pellets to control the scent. I have a shop fan that kicks out around 5000 CFM that I'm not using. I figured, why not? It's a 1/2 hp monster... Should do the trick.

    So I ask, why or why not?
     
  2. #2 old shol4evr, Sep 5, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2021
    delete
     
  3. #3 old shol4evr, Sep 5, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2021
    delete
     
  4. Lol! Amen.

    I just figured the surface a area on a 20-inch fan with a homemade filter would probably be more than sufficient considering the room size. Most of these guys here on the forum are trying to grow in tents in confined spaces and cool their lights at the same time, so the basic HVAC ducting makes sense. For my space, 200 CFM without any obstructions should clear the room every 5 to 10 minutes. I think 5000 is overkill to say the least.

    I wanted to rig my filter box for about an inch of pellets and then install a standard AC filter in front of the charcoal screen.
     
  5. 8x10 is huge. And will require tons of light. From the wall, a minimum of 30w per sf for led (2400w)and 50 for hid (4000). Lighting alone would wipe out most of the budget. But, that wasnt your topic. Hot air rises so if the exhaust vent is in the floor, it would be pulling all that hot air back down into the plants negating some of your cooling. Also with cooler air being low, it will be sucked right out of the room if I'm not mistaken. I could be wrong but, just something to ponder. The homemade filter box sounds like a pretty cool idea.
     
  6. #6 TK411, Sep 6, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2018
    I'm not using the entire space for growing. Only three 30-gallon totes with Quantum Board 288's (2x per tote). I'm going to attempt a SOG grow my first round, and I want to be able to walk around my totes so I can adjust the plants as they grow into my netting.

    The roof height is 8 feet, so the intake fan will be raised to about the height of my lights, and two small fans across the room will blow the heat from the LEDs towards the 5000 CFM intake fan. The air will go through the filter and pass back down 3 feet to the air conditioner and recirculated through the trunk. I'm using rectangular aluminum ducting you'd find in an attic.

    I'll have to take some pics when I start installing here in a week or two. I'm still waiting on my QBoards and drivers to arrive. This is going to be an high pressure aero setup.

    I also failed coloring and art in kindergarten. :roflmao:

    I'll adjust the fan on the right side with the lights & plants based on height, and it'll only be blowing just fast enough to push the air and not wind burn my plants. I have a small oscillating fan for -that- job. But that's basically the gist of it. The filter will be installed behind the fan on the left side.

    [​IMG]
     
  7. Well, now that I see the diagram, I see where you are going with the hvac side of things. As far as the lighting, I still think a space that size needs more, but hey, we'll see how it goes. I like your design. I constructed a grow room and didn't go the tent route as well. I'm in an outside building as well. I'm growing in the attic of a barn. Do you have plenty of electricity? I've got 3, 20a 120v circuits and 1 240v . I left myself plenty of room for expansion. I should never trip a breaker or overload a circuit. Are you planning any fire suppression ?
     
    • Like Like x 1
  8. We'll thought out bro. Like it.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  9. #9 TK411, Sep 6, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2018
    I have a 220 that I split into 2 110v legs, and a 120v circuit. All are 20a breakers. The breaker box itself is located outside about 10 yards away from the building itself. All of my wiring runs underground into the building. I'm going to run steel conduit and install my outlets once I have everything in place. Right now my walls are bare.

    Fire suppression? That's funny you asked since I watched -this- video last night. I'm currently weighing my options. Insulation wasn't part of my grow budget, so as much as it costs is how much it'll cost. Rock wool is actually great insulation, and fire retardant. Cellulose or Rock wool seem to be the way to go. I was going to go with fiberglass and radiant barrier, but even with my limited knowledge, I know fiberglass is a fire hazard.



    I agree about the lighting, if I was utilizing the entire space to grow, but these are the totes that I'm using. I thought that 2x Quantum 288's per tote was being pretty generous. I made my decision based on other grow journals I dug through here on the forum. If I need more later, I can add them. I ordered 6 boards total in kits. I bought 2 spare barebone boards in case of failure. I can always buy drivers and add them to the mix. This being my first grow, I don't want to set up a system, have my crop fail, and waste more effort. I'm going to be juicing about 125 watts per board. I hope that's enough. Like I said, if not, I can always order two more drivers and set up the other 2 boards for 8 total.

    The aero system is running on an Aquatec 8800 pump with 5 micron inline filters at the reservoir intake, and after the pump. Originally I was going to have a tank, but since the 8800's are only $100, I'm just going to let the pump work a little bit harder. Even if I get a year out of it, without a tank, $100 isn't a huge investment either way. If the system works like I think it should, I'll add my pressurized tank down the line. Plus, if a valve fails on a tank, it can turn into a bomb... I have a well system already, so I'm aware of the pros and cons.

    The totes are going to maintain 6 plants a piece. So 18 total.
    [​IMG]
     
    • Like Like x 1
  10. Awesome. I'll looking forward to watching your progress. Take lots of pics. I love grow room design porn. Lol
     
  11. #11 TK411, Sep 7, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2018
    It should be fun. I went through your journal.
    (Nice, by the way. You made the aluminum frames for the QBs, which is what I was planning to do.)

    I was just curious why so many people go with the Quantum Board 120's or 132's? Simply for the heat reduction? That's why I was irked when you said I needed more lighting, as I am using the 288's and plan on running them somewhere around 2.5 amps, which should give me about 130 watts per board. The 120s only crank out around 70 watts at 2.8 amps.

    I was also curious why people don't pitch their boards when using two over a grow space, say 2 or 3 degrees / \ for maximum coverage? Without getting into micromoles and all of that good stuff, if these diodes are half of the energy cost and double the efficiency compared to their HID equivalents, then 130 watts should be 260 x 2 = 520 watts for the coverage, which for me is on tote approximately 2' x 2.5' ?

    (I'm not digging around for the coverage specs on HLGs website, and I forget how much square footage the 288s are actually supposed to provide.)

    I've gone through some of the QB threads as well as Samsung's data sheets on the LM561c diodes. Each LED cranks out about half of a watt per diode at optimum efficiency, but all of Samsung's tests were only for 1000 hours. The 561s lasted for 1000 hours at 185F. These boards could easily handle 3 amps with proper cooling, I think. I just don't know how much of the life it would cut off since Samsung didn't test the diodes for more than 1000 hours on any of their control groups.
     

Share This Page