Bearijuana

Well-Known Member
Well after an odd set up, trying to make a 2x2 tent work in a 8x10 room I decided to just buy a 4x4 tent and vent them both out the house.

I went with a 6" Hurricane Inline fan, 435CFM. I used as much ridged pipe as possible. I vented it out the basement wall to the atmosphere. Reduced to 4" from the T to the 2x2 tent. I went with the YaeTek Variac Variable Transformer.

Side note. I rented a 6" concrete hole saw and it took 3 hrs to cut that core. Fuck me.

I have nothing to compare this too, but just wow. I wont say its silent, but this bitch is silent! And I love this controller. It dials down like a boss. The fan absolutely purrs below 75% and is basically totally silent below 50%. It moves air extremely well. Even at 25% power the tent shows good negative pressure with 2 6" intakes open at the bottom.

I hope this all translates to some sweet grows but time will tell. I'm happy as fuck!
 

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hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Well after an odd set up, trying to make a 2x2 tent work in a 8x10 room I decided to just buy a 4x4 tent and vent them both out the house.

I went with a 6" Hurricane Inline fan, 435CFM. I used as much ridged pipe as possible. I vented it out the basement wall to the atmosphere. Reduced to 4" from the T to the 2x2 tent. I went with the YaeTek Variac Variable Transformer.

Side note. I rented a 6" concrete hole saw and it took 3 hrs to cut that core. Fuck me.

I have nothing to compare this too, but just wow. I wont say its silent, but this bitch is silent! And I love this controller. It dials down like a boss. The fan absolutely purrs below 75% and is basically totally silent below 50%. It moves air extremely well. Even at 25% power the tent shows good negative pressure with 2 6" intakes open at the bottom.

I hope this all translates to some sweet grows but time will tell. I'm happy as fuck!
For any future reference with flows and volumes. Good on ya for pushing it through the concrete. Seal it well.

https://www.htgsupply.com/informationcenter/resources/understanding-ventilatio
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
Nice to see a job done properly.
One thing to note, although it has the name duct tape it does have the tendency to peel itself off when it gets warm.
Just keep an eye on it and if it starts peeling simple Sellotape over the top wont peel off.
 

CrudeDude

Well-Known Member
I love my variac! Smart decision getting one!
Variacs are cool but if your fan has a built in speed controller there’s no need for one. If it doesn’t have a built in speed controller then it’s not designed to be ramped up and down and will shorten the life span of your fan. Really nice setup though. Should ditch the tents and frame you up some rooms the same size.
 

CrudeDude

Well-Known Member

Bearijuana

Well-Known Member
Variacs are cool but if your fan has a built in speed controller there’s no need for one. If it doesn’t have a built in speed controller then it’s not designed to be ramped up and down and will shorten the life span of your fan. Really nice setup though. Should ditch the tents and frame you up some rooms the same size.
It does not have a built in speed controller but I am fine with reduced life if that's the case. It just runs so well I cant imagine it is doing any significant hard. I thought it was the cheaper controllers that reduced life...slowly huming its way to death.
Ya, I wanted to just frame everything in but I didn't know how my wife was going to react when I sprung the news "Im running a sweet grow op in the basement". Now that shes fine with things I may rework the room in the future.
 

CrudeDude

Well-Known Member
It does not have a built in speed controller but I am fine with reduced life if that's the case. It just runs so well I cant imagine it is doing any significant hard. I thought it was the cheaper controllers that reduced life...slowly huming its way to death.
Ya, I wanted to just frame everything in but I didn't know how my wife was going to react when I sprung the news "Im running a sweet grow op in the basement". Now that shes fine with things I may rework the room in the future.
That variacs a nice one but it’s the motor windings that will Short out. The coils in the motor are designed for a certain voltage unless it’s a variable speed motor. You may not notice it now but it can cause short circuits in your windings over time which can cause fires. To each his own I was just throwing that out there. It’s best to just get a fan with a speed controller or just run it full blast with some dampers and silencers if noise is too much. I reckon that fan can’t be too loud to begin with though.
 

Xcoregamerskillz

Well-Known Member
That variacs a nice one but it’s the motor windings that will Short out. The coils in the motor are designed for a certain voltage unless it’s a variable speed motor. You may not notice it now but it can cause short circuits in your windings over time which can cause fires. To each his own I was just throwing that out there. It’s best to just get a fan with a speed controller or just run it full blast with some dampers and silencers if noise is too much. I reckon that fan can’t be too loud to begin with though.
He's got a point. Reducing the voltage will increase the amperage on the motor. E=I*R.

Get a VFD, it uses frequency to regulate speed, not voltage.
 

CrudeDude

Well-Known Member
He's got a point. Reducing the voltage will increase the amperage on the motor. E=I*R.

Get a VFD, it uses frequency to regulate speed, not voltage.
Correct a vfd would work but would be a tad overkill lol. Be cheaper just to buy a fan with a vsc on it and call it good. Unless you got a spare vfd lying around.

Wonder if a vfd would work on a dimmable hps ballast to simulate a sort of sunrise and set
 

Xcoregamerskillz

Well-Known Member
Correct a vfd would work but would be a tad overkill lol. Be cheaper just to buy a fan with a vsc on it and call it good. Unless you got a spare vfd lying around.

Wonder if a vfd would work on a dimmable hps ballast to simulate a sort of sunrise and set
Ehhhh, I'm not too familiar with those power supplies, but fucking around with frequency to converters/inverters is a good way to smoke them IME. But if you got spare equipment give it a whirl.
 

CrudeDude

Well-Known Member
No spares yet lol
Most likely it’s smoke pretty quick. They’ve probably got minimum operating requirements so it’s probably gonna lock out on an overload of some kind before it shorts if it’s a decent ballast honestly. Would be cool to try. They have lights that supposedly simulate the sunrise and set but forget the names.
 

Xcoregamerskillz

Well-Known Member
No spares yet lol
Most likely it’s smoke pretty quick. They’ve probably got minimum operating requirements so it’s probably gonna lock out on an overload of some kind before it shorts if it’s a decent ballast honestly. Would be cool to try. They have lights that supposedly simulate the sunrise and set but forget the names.
Run cobs and set up an arduino.
 

CrudeDude

Well-Known Member
Run cobs and set up an arduino.
Been hearing about cobs. I’ve got a PLC for my room now I could use. Basically 1000x better than and arduino or pi. Check my grow in the journals 1000wt blue cheese and chemdawg. Got all the deets there on it and what it does.
 

Bearijuana

Well-Known Member
That variacs a nice one but it’s the motor windings that will Short out. The coils in the motor are designed for a certain voltage unless it’s a variable speed motor. You may not notice it now but it can cause short circuits in your windings over time which can cause fires. To each his own I was just throwing that out there. It’s best to just get a fan with a speed controller or just run it full blast with some dampers and silencers if noise is too much. I reckon that fan can’t be too loud to begin with though.
True its not all that loud. Back to the fire comment. "which can cause fires". Like, sticks can cause fires as well but its a fat chance. How serious is the risk of fire?:fire::fire::fire::fire::fire::fire::fire::fire:
 

Xcoregamerskillz

Well-Known Member
True its not all that loud. Back to the fire comment. "which can cause fires". Like, sticks can cause fires as well but its a fat chance. How serious is the risk of fire?:fire::fire::fire::fire::fire::fire::fire::fire:
Depends on the motor. I've seen them arc out and just smoke mostly. You'll see a burn out on the windings if you check it. But my experience is mostly with industrial WEG, SEW, and Baldor continuous duty motors.
 
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