12k - Water and Air cooled (marine water cooled A/C units), Sealed room, C02, Lumatek

Time to give back, after lurking for some time and adding a new name recently, here it is...

P.S. Room is not finished and I will update as it progresses.

Ask away:

how many plants you aiming for?

Sick looking setup, my friend.

BTW, what's the reason for mounting the ballasts on an angle like that?

how are you going to grow? hydro or soil??

P.S. Already subscribed :]

puffntuff said:

how many plants you aiming for?

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24, but with the Supreme Court ruling giving us "no limit" I may do a SCROG. Most likely 24 on the first run.

Bob Smith said:

Sick looking setup, my friend.

BTW, what's the reason for mounting the ballasts on an angle like that?

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TY. A theory of mine says the airflow in the room will ride better this way. There should be a slight up draft in that part of the room as my carbon filters (mounted on the roof) pick up the air and push them through the IB's (IceBoxes). At the end of the run the air should be lower.

My assumption is the air will flow better over the bllast, but other then that somewhat flimsy theory... they look better and allow me to tie the power and lamp cords neater.

SeanIzen said:

how are you going to grow? hydro or soil??

P.S. Already subscribed :]

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First run will be soil... might add a 1 or two plan Aero. Second run in this room will most likely be at least 1/2 in custom Aero using 8 or 10" PVC tubes.

My understanding is that the exhuast from the heat exchangers operate as an AC unit right?

Sick so far.

Yeah this "no limit" rule is a little vague.

Subscribed.

DubsFan said:

My understanding is that the exhuast from the heat exchangers operate as an AC unit right?

Sick so far.

Yeah this "no limit" rule is a little vague.

Subscribed.

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Yes, it can act as an A/C; however, the limitation is how cold you can keep your water. The water will get hot as it "picks up" the heat from the bulbs. If the setup has a big enough chiller the hotter water returning a little warmer will get cooled off and the cycle repeats. If you can't keep the water cold then they can actually act as heaters!!!


There is also the issue of condensation to keep in mind as very cold water will condensate even in relatively low humidity.

I have two 16,000 BTU Marine A/C units which are also watercooled. Those will help with cooling while I hope my lights remain heat neutral with the IB's.

Got it.

Yeah I hear about these monster chiller res's and you have to wonder how practical that is. Never thought about the condesation factor.

Beautiful set up with attention to detail. Keep us posted. Scribed.

Nice room, you did a really good job. Thanks for sharing. What do you like about the water-cooled lights? Why do you need hood blankets?

cannatari said:

Nice room, you did a really good job. Thanks for sharing. What do you like about the water-cooled lights? Why do you need hood blankets?

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Thank you... Honestly, I hope to LOVE them and never go back, but something tells me I'm going to regret not going with a 5 ton water cooled AC and lights on a socket... Keep an eye on my posts and this thread as I will keep somewhat of a journal since there is no "real world" documentation on a setup like this.

The hood blankets are marketed as IR shields. While they do block IR remember that IR is not X-ray and they cannot see through walls. I'll post a picture of a covered window in this room. It was first covered with insulation, then IR blocker then a second panel of insulation...

The blankets are "heat blockers" for me. They keep the heat INSIDE the reflector where I can attempt to cool it.

If I do not cool the air INSIDE the reflector, and I do not have the shields, the metal on the reflectors will act as large heaters... large efficient heaters.

Cliff Notes: I need the blankets to keep heat the metal reflectors from heating up my room.

Oh... off topic pic of the IR blocked window...

nice!! very nice!! got yur strains pickd yet?

UNICRONLIVES said:

nice!! very nice!! got yur strains pickd yet?

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I will run at least 1 Frisian Dew, 2 critical mass hoping for a lady, 1 Big Budha Cheese and one G13 Raw Diesel. Everything else will be a local unknown strain that yields great and is mid to top shelf...

I am undecided but may have one "The Church" and a Super Lemon Haze but not sure if those beans need to come out of the fridge just yet. to many new strains means too many new moms until I confirm they are ladies and decide if they are worth keeping.

Now that's ingenuity at its finest.. sick room

+rep subed

i have a similar setup with much less wattage and room to work with. i have 3k on a light mover, which is actually the only thing keeping me from changing my indirect cooling to direct cooling. im still heating my home with these at night haha. i also have a manifold like yours, just not affixed to the ceiling as well. haha
i am using a huge deep freezer for my chiller res and i love it. works like a champ, i had a 94 gal tote like sog had, which didnt keep the heat in. so it was tossing electricity out.

are those 6"ers or 8"ers?
have you thought of tossing light movers into the mix?

G33kDro said:

...
are those 6"ers or 8"ers?
have you thought of tossing light movers into the mix?

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Got pics of your setup?

They are 8" ers.

Thought long and hard about light movers... decided against them because of the weight. The 8" magnums are HEAVY, with the added weight of the water in the IB's. Because my lights are in sets of 4, the motor would have to move 4 at a time.

There is a small chance I will add a light mover to a single run of 4 lights. It will be interesting to see if it outgrows the rest of the room. I'm simply not convinced it can take the weight and survive.

lookin good. Love the water cooled system, but why cool the lights instead of just exhausting that hot air? Too much IR signature? Subbed for sure.

Room is coming along nicely, did allot of planning/thinking before you started, pays off in the end and the rooms just going to be top notch!!

Always wondered about the IR sig. i hear three to four choppers a day flying by morning noon and night. always put a chill in me, hahaha but we are legal no reason to trip.

watercooled@ said:

I'm simply not convinced it can take the weight and survive.

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This is something i am concerned about to, going to buy a new reflector but debating on witch one because of weight. Wonder if there is a way to put MORE POWER into the mover to handle the extra weight.

Setup is looking killer man, doing a great job keep it up!!

smokingrubber said:

lookin good. Love the water cooled system, but why cool the lights instead of just exhausting that hot air? Too much IR signature? Subbed for sure.

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With the lights being water cooled by the "radiators" (Ice Boxes) at each reflector, it keeps the heat signature of the light lower. This allows me to keep the light much closer to the plant... in other words...

in a "normal" air cooled vent to atmosphere room... When air goes through the first reflector it warms up, then it gets to the next reflector and gets hotter and so on. Assume the run is 3-4 reflectors deep, the air is not doing a great job of removing the heat after the first reflector. You'll be able to put your hand 12" from the glass of the reflector and feel the heat.

With the IB's, I can put my hand right up to the glass and feel warm, but not hot all the way down the run, from the first to the 4th reflector.

That is the reason... I can keep the lights MUCH closer to the plan then air cooling, unless I am using a single fan for a single light, then it may be comparable.

Hulk Nugs said:

Room is coming along nicely, did allot of planning/thinking before you started, pays off in the end and the rooms just going to be top notch!!

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TY.

Hulk Nugs said:

Always wondered about the IR sig. i hear three to four choppers a day flying by morning noon and night. always put a chill in me, hahaha but we are legal no reason to trip.

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They can't "see" your lights. FLIR (forward looking infra red) is not x-ray vision. If you have no windows and have your temps under control, you are good. If you are venting to your attic and/or outside, I would consider looking into and studing infrared detection... but your legal, so it's all good

Hulk Nugs said:

This is something i am concerned about to, going to buy a new reflector but debating on witch one because of weight. Wonder if there is a way to put MORE POWER into the mover to handle the extra weight.

Setup is looking killer man, doing a great job keep it up!!

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Don't know enough about the movers. Maybe someone will chime in.