Building a DIY co2 set up from meijer!

Alright folks in workin on a co2 set up and I would love some feedback from the crafty people of Michigan. I can't post pics just yet but il do my best to describe it.

I got a Coleman classic cooler. The blue one. $20 bucks. Inside of the cooler in put 15 lbs or so of dry Ice and a nice strong air pump. I ran the hose and cord for the air pump trough the drain on the cooler and I plan on putting some glue in there to seal it. I then ran 1/4 inch hose out to my garden.

Now I got some questions. Can I put a speed controller on an air pump without damaging it?

Easiest ways to test co2 ppm? I wanna get a ppm monitor eventually maybe even tommorow. But for now are their easier ways to test?

What are some solid ppm numbers to run?

Only run it at night as I've heard some people talk about?

Any co2 advice would be welcome. I'm a newbie wen it comes to co2.

Answered alot of my own questions bombing around other threads.

Run it during the day.

1500 ppm

And I said fuck it and tried out a speed controller and it didn't work. Lame...

How long did the dry ice last?

Idk yet I just got it Rollin tonight. It was $38 bucks and some change in ice. I bought more hoping to help keep it all cool. Maybe slow the rate of decay but keep the co2 levels up. In hoping on 2 weeks outa it but that's shooting for the moon I suppose.

I wish you luck. Keep us filled in. In the winter I use a propane co2 generator but in the warm months it would make it much too hot without using ac as well.

Thanks. Someday I'd like a nice burner but that wil have to wait for the mini split and that's gonna have to wait for a better house.

Did you see a jump when you started using it?

Same here. My burner gets hot but I use a double hose ac in the summer. Hopefully I can shut it off soon.

The biggest jumps I have seen with co2 is when I had higher room temps/humidity and between 1100-1200 ppm.
You will know when you hit the sweet spot, it starts jumping.

I've built a set up like this before.

I suggest you start over and ditch the fan, its just going to make the dry ice evaporate way too fast. The key to making a set up like this cost efficient is to make the dry ice last as long as possible before it evaporates. The set up i made used a very small cooler, 10 lbs of dry ice, some air line and duct tape. I drilled two holes into the lid of the cooler the exact size as the air line so i was able to plug the air lines into the lid making a tight seal. With the dry ice in the cooler, use some duct tape to seal the lid so it is also air tight. I then ran one section of air line to the back of each (two) oscillating fans. As the dry ice evaporates (co2 turning from a solid to a gas) it will create pressure in the cooler which will push all the gases (co2) out of the air lines.

To test to see if the cooler is air tight i ran the air lines into a glass full of water, within a couple minutes the lines were bubbling just like they were connected to an air pump. Keeping the cooler outside of my grow room on the cool basement floor i was able to make 10 lbs of dry ice last 5 days.

You only want to add co2 while the lights are on. Light, water and co2 are the essentials for photosynthesis, while the lights are out the plants don't need co2. The problem with dry ice is that there really isn't a way to turn it off...

Ya I got an air pump on a timer so it's atleast not running while the lights are off. I got the cooler pretty well sealed too. Il probably end up puttin the pump on a cycle timer. No idea what intervals yet. But that will prolly help keep the ice from decaying to much. I could fit 5 big chunks in there and i might wrap the dry ice in towel/blankets to help insulate it.

Once I get my meter next week it will decide if I go forward with this design or just save my shillings for some tanks and a reg.

Depending on how long the ice lasts il probably move my pump to outside the cooler too. Never thought of doing it like that for some reason. Guess I kinda was on the train if thought that i wanted the heat to help get the ice rolling.

$65 can get you a decent sized tank. They are in the metro Detroit area so it's an easy drive for me and saves shipping g. Seems a lot easier to turn on and off. A lot easier to upgrade as you get a few extra bucks.
http://www.homebrewing.org/10-CO2-Tank-Reconditioned-Steel_p_498.html

That's not a bad deal. I've been looking at #20 tanks and I might even go for either 2 #20 or 1 #30-#40. My space isn't huge but it also isn't very sealed up. I expect to have to crank it out.

Also remember that co2 is a heavy gas and it will settle to the floor. You need to administer the co2 from above the plants for it to have best contact with the leaves.

I have a 1 inch PVC frame that cages in my plants and holds my lights and Scrog nets and all those goodies. I piped it up to a 4 way block (got at meijer) then went from there to the respective "zones" and dumped it out overhead about even with the light.

Now I got major air movement so I doubt it will actually fall onto te leaves without getting all blown to hell. When I get the monitor I plan To check all the different areas and try to tune it in evenly.

dude, 50 lb tanks cost like $25 to refill, and its a whole lot easier than messing with finding dry ice and keeping that around. I bought one of my tanks on CL, full, for $75. Its heavy as hell, but a dolly gets it around. there is so much used equipment for sale these days, you could get the solonoid, and computer controller for cheap. than you KNOW what your levels are, and it won't evaporate while your lights are out, unlike ice.

$38.99 in dry ice smoked out in 3 days..... Wayyyyyy too fast. Anyone got an extra tank they wanna get rid of?

alrighty then. got me a 20 pounder and a titan solenoid. i was running it on an ART DNE-1 caps knobby recycling timer. im now using a titan digital recycling timer.

the analog timer by cap had some issues. my solenoid was going all machine gun when it would kick on. like 100 on/offs in a second. thats no good. am i right to assume it was an issue with the timer?

HGK420 said:

alrighty then. got me a 20 pounder and a titan solenoid. i was running it on an ART DNE-1 caps knobby recycling timer. im now using a titan digital recycling timer.

the analog timer by cap had some issues. my solenoid was going all machine gun when it would kick on. like 100 on/offs in a second. thats no good. am i right to assume it was an issue with the timer?

Click to expand...

`yep had the same issue with the cap temp dne. it has to do with the photocell and the switch on the inside. i'll be damned if I cant remember what the hell the switch is called but I replaced it and had the same issue again. even bought a new controller and shortly after had the same problem.

good to know its not just my luck. ive found some cap product to be a little quirky.