Yeah dude CO2 systems use cartridges like you put in a paintball/high powered BB gun. A controller is kind of expensive- you can do what I do and use the poor mans CO2 method with yeast. Stinkydanks poor mans CO2 system using yeast- http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/1177.htm This is my prefered method. Here's another cheap CO2 method using a bike pump- http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/1301.htm Uses a LOT of cartridges.
Yup me too. And nope...me neither...yikes. My solenoid & controller combo gets stuck once in a while, but it runs pretty smooth for the most part. I knock on serious wood when I say I have never had any pests, and going on the third crop. As long as the environment can be completely sealed, and run up to 10,000 PPM for a couple hours, no mite or other pest can survive that, they say. I hope I never have to do it. But if I have to, I am prepared...
I'm using a 20lb tank as well. How long does yours last you? I have a 9'x5'x8' sealed room. I am using a window mount a/c unit in the wall to cool the room. My bottle is only lasting me like a week. That seems rather fast. When I look at my controller, I see the PPM fluctuate by like 20-30 quite quickly. How frequently does your CO2 solenoid open up?
Do you turn off the A/C when you run the CO2? A window mount unit will move air outside (I'm not sure if I know what you mean by in the wall, is it venting outside?).
Well Son Of A B!tch....I thought the window a/c units just recirculated the air through the condenser. I didn't realize that they exchanged air. That'll teach me to follow the first google link i find. Well that solves my problem. Thanks for the quick response
WAIT!!! they do NOT exchange air with outside! if it is a window AC unit and not a swamp cooler it draws air in from the inside cools it and shoots it back out. it then has a seperate smaller fan which cools the outside portion that radiates the heat created by making the air cooler. it wouldn't make sense for the AC unit to shoot out the cold air it just created to the outside would it? C02 is heavier than air so make sure your tubing is place high in your grow room for best affect
Thanks, I was worried about this information as soon as I wrote it. It didn't quite make sense, even to my heavily medicated self. It's very possible that there are leaks created by this system (window ACs are known for being drafty - which means that outside air definitely can get in sometimes), or that some of the cool air is being used to cool the condenser, but you're right, it doesn't make sense to cool air and then throw it outside. I know that hot air is thrown outside, but I wasn't (and am not) 100% clear on whether all of the hot air comes from the room outside or if some of it is taken from the room being cooled. At the very least, I would look for leaks and do a smoke test (fill the space with smoke, turn on the AC and any other fans you run, and look outside for smoke). Is there any outside air being pulled in and cooled? Or is it all recirculating?
On my window AC, the big panel on the front with the pull-out filter is the air intake. Air is sucked past the cold coils and cooled, then blown right back out the front, above the intake. The rear section pulls outside air through the sides/top, which is blown past the hot coils and out the back. It's like selecting the setting on your car's AC to recirculate; it's much smarter to cool colder air, than to cool warm/hot air. Ideally, no outside air is brought in. It takes less energy to cool colder air than warmer air. If it were sucking in hot air, the AC would have to not only work harder, but the room would not get as cold.
The only air that should come from outside is through the hoods of the two 600w lamps I have. Otherwise I built the room to be sealed. I may try a smoke test soon and test for leaks. I will double check to make sure I taped where all the mylar meets to cover the walls.
Use the aluminum tape, and carefully seal all edges of your light lenses, if you want to get it a lot more sealed. Running vented lights, without sealed hoods, and CO2, is definitely not going to do you any good. You will pull it all out of the room, as far as I know. I sealed all of mine as tightly as I could.
3 pages? Really? And why this was posted in the advanced section is beyond me. ................................