ph for water in humidifier tank?

2absolute2purity2

2absolute2purity2

Active Member
does the water need to have a certain ph for inside the humidifier tank? idk how it changes once it turns to a vapor in the air and how it would effect things just wanna be cautious about it. one thing i did notice tho, i have a humidifier i use in the same room as my plants and also a 5 gal bucket w an air pump which i use for my water to drop the ph to 6.5 from its normal 8.0 tap water ph. when i had the humidifier w distilled tap water ph of 8, i noticed that the ph in my feeding bucket about a couple feet away, kept raising the ph from 6.5 i dropped it to, to about 6.7 in 24 hrs after. if i didnt have the humidifier going, it would stay at 6.5. and im just using general hydroponics ph down.

ty in advance for ur help!
 
LeastExpectedGrower

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
2absolute2purity2 said:
does the water need to have a certain ph for inside the humidifier tank? idk how it changes once it turns to a vapor in the air and how it would effect things just wanna be cautious about it. one thing i did notice tho, i have a humidifier i use in the same room as my plants and also a 5 gal bucket w an air pump which i use for my water to drop the ph to 6.5 from its normal 8.0 tap water ph. when i had the humidifier w distilled tap water ph of 8, i noticed that the ph in my feeding bucket about a couple feet away, kept raising the ph from 6.5 i dropped it to, to about 6.7 in 24 hrs after. if i didnt have the humidifier going, it would stay at 6.5. and im just using general hydroponics ph down.

ty in advance for ur help!
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This is the definition of a bridge too far.
 
DoubleAtotheRON

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
I use a Portacool swamp cooler, and the well water was gunking up the honeycomb medium. I replaced it, and now only use condensate water from my mini split. It runs clean now. The mini split makes about 1.25 gallons per hour. PH doesn't matter, you just need clean water like RO or condensate.
 
LeastExpectedGrower

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
DoubleAtotheRON said:
I use a Portacool swamp cooler, and the well water was gunking up the honeycomb medium. I replaced it, and now only use condensate water from my mini split. It runs clean now. The mini split makes about 1.25 gallons per hour.
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The honeycomb in an evaporative cooler will indeed calcify with hard water. I use 3x 4 gallon evaporative units in our house and I've found that you can rinse out the 'scale' with warm water, and do that every few weeks. Eventually you do have to replace those wicking honeycombs though. I get about 3x the amount of life out of them by de-scaling though.

In the tent I use a 1.5 liter ultrasonic unit though...and use distilled water in it so there's no dust/powder.
 
DoubleAtotheRON

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
LeastExpectedGrower said:
The honeycomb in an evaporative cooler will indeed calcify with hard water. I use 3x 4 gallon evaporative units in our house and I've found that you can rinse out the 'scale' with warm water, and do that every few weeks. Eventually you do have to replace those wicking honeycombs though. I get about 3x the amount of life out of them by de-scaling though.

In the tent I use a 1.5 liter ultrasonic unit though...and use distilled water in it so there's no dust/powder.
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When I replaced my honeycomb filter, I had been using well water for a couple of years. I set the old one on the porch to dry out before I threw it away... It had dried out, and the wind blew it over, and it split in half... sooo much calcium built up in there.
 
calvin.m16

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
PH does not matter just use pure water. If you use tap water or drinking water it will get calcium buildup in the tank, that's why distilled/RO filtered is recommended.
 
LeastExpectedGrower

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
DoubleAtotheRON said:
When I replaced my honeycomb filter, I had been using well water for a couple of years. I set the old one on the porch to dry out before I threw it away... It had dried out, and the wind blew it over, and it split in half... sooo much calcium built up in there.
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The warm water rinse ends up being pretty effective to clear that every once in a while. I budget in 2 sets of filters per winter for mine, but our water is pretty hard...currently at 265ppm during the winter and sits around 220ppm the rest of the year.
 
LeastExpectedGrower

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
DoubleAtotheRON said:
You got any way of collecting condensate?
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No, the only time of the year I get condensate is summer when I'm running dehumidifiers (not in tent), then I get a couple gallons a day, but not worth a storage solution for the 3 or so months I'd need to keep it before using the humidifiers.

I'm in upstate NY, so summers are full on humidity and winters are dry and cold. The best/easiest months are Oct/Nov and April/May... We're not heating yet and ambient temp/humidity is perfect.
 
DoubleAtotheRON

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
LeastExpectedGrower said:
No, the only time of the year I get condensate is summer when I'm running dehumidifiers (not in tent), then I get a couple gallons a day, but not worth a storage solution for the 3 or so months I'd need to keep it before using the humidifiers.

I'm in upstate NY, so summers are full on humidity and winters are dry and cold. The best/easiest months are Oct/Nov and April/May... We're not heating yet and ambient temp/humidity is perfect.
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Are you running a mini split in your grow?.... or I guess you're growing in a tent. I had my HVAC guy run the condensate line inside the building/grow room, and I can switch it from sink drain, to a 6 gallon jug that I feed my Portocool with.
 
LeastExpectedGrower

LeastExpectedGrower

Well-Known Member
DoubleAtotheRON said:
Are you running a mini split in your grow?
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Nope. No AC happening there. My tent is basement level, in our utilities/boiler room so during the summer it's the coolest part of the house (though humid). I run dehumidifers on the same floor to knock that back a bit, then during the winter I have humidifiers running in the same space.

In the winter that room stays in the 70's and the tent remains 80-83 during lights on. At lights off I shut the utilities room door and the room temp raises a bit to keep the plants still in the 70's. I further modulate tent temperature and humidity with AC-Infinity fans with triggers & speed transitions. If humidity goes too low, which rarely happens, I have a small ultrasonic humidifier in the tent that has distilled water in it.
 
DoubleAtotheRON

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
LeastExpectedGrower said:
Nope. No AC happening there. My tent is basement level, in our utilities/boiler room so during the summer it's the coolest part of the house (though humid). I run dehumidifers on the same floor to knock that back a bit, then during the winter I have humidifiers running in the same space.

In the winter that room stays in the 70's and the tent remains 80-83 during lights on. At lights off I shut the utilities room door and the room temp raises a bit to keep the plants still in the 70's. I further modulate tent temperature and humidity with AC-Infinity fans with triggers & speed transitions. If humidity goes too low, which rarely happens, I have a small ultrasonic humidifier in the tent that has distilled water in it.
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I see. Wished I had that problem. LOL!.. I pull about 25 gallons of condensate a day. Through my mini split, and 3 dehuyeys... But!.. im towards the end of flower too. Early veg is no problem. That's when I use the portacool to create humidity until they get big enough to create thier own.
 
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