C02 boosters Cheap Candling methods

Yaaboiii

Member
Hello, ill keep it short and simple. i received a C02 meter i bought on Amazon for $60. Its "birdlink" ndir meter. I measured my tent over a 24hr period. Its about "700(Day) - 450ppm(at night)" . I bought a picnic burner at the dollar store for a $1. I rigged a shelf in my tent to set the burner over top my plants. With ample space in between everything so nothing catches fire!! The burner is also strapped to a tray sittin in water, tray strapped to the tent so it can be bumped and wont go anywhere! I know this is still quite dangerous but im home thru the day just not in my tent alllllll day. Ok. My C02 reading is now at "900ppm" (tent closed) ... so its safe to say something is happening in there. When i go in there after 30min im not gonna lie theres a bit of an odor almost immediately. Im running this experiment for a couple more days to see what happens . I might end up putting 2 burners in there after 2days if nothing negative comes about! Does anyone have any 2cents about my project? This is my first time doing this im open to suggestions! Pls dont be-little me im tryn to be type stingy with this product im thinkin itll coat about $10 a week to keep supplyin the burners . They last for 2hours straight .. thank y'all for tunning in!
 

Yaaboiii

Member
Hello, ill keep it short and simple. i received a C02 meter i bought on Amazon for $60. Its "birdlink" ndir meter. I measured my tent over a 24hr period. Its about "700(Day) - 450ppm(at night)" . I bought a picnic burner at the dollar store for a $1. I rigged a shelf in my tent to set the burner over top my plants. With ample space in between everything so nothing catches fire!! The burner is also strapped to a tray sittin in water, tray strapped to the tent so it can be bumped and wont go anywhere! I know this is still quite dangerous but im home thru the day just not in my tent alllllll day. Ok. My C02 reading is now at "900ppm" (tent closed) ... so its safe to say something is happening in there. When i go in there after 30min im not gonna lie theres a bit of an odor almost immediately. Im running this experiment for a couple more days to see what happens . I might end up putting 2 burners in there after 2days if nothing negative comes about! Does anyone have any 2cents about my project? This is my first time doing this im open to suggestions! Pls dont be-little me im tryn to be type stingy with this product im thinkin itll coat about $10 a week to keep supplyin the burners . They last for 2hours straight .. thank y'all for tunning in!
Quick note im in a 4×6 tent have 3plants.
I also just spoke to a gamer buddy of mine and he said using the "Fly trap bags" give off C02... shit ill update yall once ive tried it !
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
A single candle supplies enough CO2 in a tent that isn't constantly ventilated. Just sitting in there tending your plants does the same.

I paid a lot more than $60 for a CO2 controller and ran it to see how much CO2 different methods produced so it's never been used to control a tank. I made some alcohol burners with mason jars. First one had two tiki torch wicks in 3/8" copper tubing and was way overkill in my 7x9x6.5'h grow room. I then made a lid with just one wick and it was too much as well so made a smaller version using a cotton shoelace and 3/16" copper tubing. Can run a full 12 hours only burning just over 100ml of methyl hydrate from the hardware store. $10 for a 4L jug and it's more than enough for a full flowering period tho I only use it during the stretch. Wehn I flip to flower I set my temp control to 90F so the exhaust fan won't come on as it's cool down there and it would take 1000W HPS to heat it up to 90 in winter. Generally I'm not using more than a 600W so the exhaust fan may not come on even once all day.

1st one. With the wicks almost flush to the top of the tubing you can't even see the flame in the light and just a blue glow in the dark. Not a great soldering job but it sealed so good to go.

AlcoholLamp.jpg

The last one with the smaller wick. Takes a little longer to hit 1500ppm but only 20 min or so then it's way over that but my controller only reads 1500+ when it's over so can't tell how much.

You can just see the blue glow at the wick. It just sits on the floor in front of my 12" oscillating fan that sits on a 3gal pail. CO2 does not have to be released above the plants as long as you have some air circulating in your grow space. That little red wire nut at the bottom of the pic goes on when not in use. Puts the flame out and slows down evaporation tho if it's not going to be used for a while I pour the methanol back into the jug.

AlcoholLampv3.JPG

Now I want to sell the CO2 controller. :)

CO2Controller03.jpg

:peace:
 

Yaaboiii

Member
A single candle supplies enough CO2 in a tent that isn't constantly ventilated. Just sitting in there tending your plants does the same.

I paid a lot more than $60 for a CO2 controller and ran it to see how much CO2 different methods produced so it's never been used to control a tank. I made some alcohol burners with mason jars. First one had two tiki torch wicks in 3/8" copper tubing and was way overkill in my 7x9x6.5'h grow room. I then made a lid with just one wick and it was too much as well so made a smaller version using a cotton shoelace and 3/16" copper tubing. Can run a full 12 hours only burning just over 100ml of methyl hydrate from the hardware store. $10 for a 4L jug and it's more than enough for a full flowering period tho I only use it during the stretch. Wehn I flip to flower I set my temp control to 90F so the exhaust fan won't come on as it's cool down there and it would take 1000W HPS to heat it up to 90 in winter. Generally I'm not using more than a 600W so the exhaust fan may not come on even once all day.

1st one. With the wicks almost flush to the top of the tubing you can't even see the flame in the light and just a blue glow in the dark. Not a great soldering job but it sealed so good to go.

View attachment 5234098

The last one with the smaller wick. Takes a little longer to hit 1500ppm but only 20 min or so then it's way over that but my controller only reads 1500+ when it's over so can't tell how much.

You can just see the blue glow at the wick. It just sits on the floor in front of my 12" oscillating fan that sits on a 3gal pail. CO2 does not have to be released above the plants as long as you have some air circulating in your grow space. That little red wire nut at the bottom of the pic goes on when not in use. Puts the flame out and slows down evaporation tho if it's not going to be used for a while I pour the methanol back into the jug.

View attachment 5234099

Now I want to sell the CO2 controller. :)

View attachment 5234100

:peace:
Thank you for your input!! I quite using the above method i wrote becuz the dollar store burners had dangerous chemicals in it im glad i only ran it fpr 1day. Which brings me to your method.. im thinking fire in the tent is no good like the guy below this thread did mentioned it does leave and stain in the air along with the c02 produced. I do have good air flow but.. idk.. but i am kinda desperate for extra c02 since my girls are going into flower in a day dec.7....
 

Yaaboiii

Member
You should use a scented candle to make the buds tastier.
I'd put a piece of glass over the homemade burner and if it's leaving soot like this it's no good. The cleanest co2 burners are Propane or Natural Gas.
View attachment 5234122
You do make a really good point bro...smh but i need C02 for flowering and im home for 5hrs of their daylight. I do have a propane tank i never use sitting outside. So if i buy a heater for the top of it . Do you think it'll work ??
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Thank you for your input!! I quite using the above method i wrote becuz the dollar store burners had dangerous chemicals in it im glad i only ran it fpr 1day. Which brings me to your method.. im thinking fire in the tent is no good like the guy below this thread did mentioned it does leave and stain in the air along with the c02 produced. I do have good air flow but.. idk.. but i am kinda desperate for extra c02 since my girls are going into flower in a day dec.7....
That's why I use 99% methyl hydrate for fuel. With a pale blue flame it gives off no soot at all. Just CO2 and water vapour so it will add very slightly to the humidity level. Paraffin wax as used in candles does throw off a lot of soot if the flame is too high and very yellow. A well trimmed wick burns much cleaner but would need to be trimmed every hour or so.

I keep mine in a metal coffee can inside a stone crock and position it that even if the mason jar should break, and none ever have in about 10 years of use, the whole thing could burn away without catching anything on fire. I'm thinking I might set it in a pan with enough water that if the jar ever broke the alcohol would be so diluted it couldn't burn. I know with ethanol if it's below 51.5% alcohol, (proof), it won't ignite so methanol should be about the same.

I did work as a chemist in a hazardous waste disposal facility for a couple years and have advanced fire training along with working for a couple chemical supply companies for another 4 years combined so am a lot more comfortable with and aware of the dangers involved in a lot of things that most people would just stay the hell away from.

:peace:
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
You do make a really good point bro...smh but i need C02 for flowering and im home for 5hrs of their daylight. I do have a propane tank i never use sitting outside. So if i buy a heater for the top of it . Do you think it'll work ??
Huge overkill unless you buy a proper propane CO2 generator. Even then if there were to be a leak and the burner turns on with a lot of propane gas in the room then it'll be a lot worse than my alcohol burner malfunctioning. My grow room is down in the basement so any leaked gas like propane or CO2 from a tank could be the death of me and it's not the way I want to go.

Those heaters would crank out massive amounts of CO2 and are not supposed to be used where people are unless designed for that. Not to mention the extra heat would be a bitch to deal with.

Something that can drip vinegar or any acid into a bowl of baking soda would be safe and pretty cheap too.

:peace:
 

Yaaboiii

Member
Have you tried the simplest methods first, like cracking a window or getting a pack of dogs?
Its in my basement and its too cold outside to crack the basment windows, outside the tent , the temperature sitting at just below 64° and the cold snap hasnt even hit us yet. In the tent im maintaining 74-80° .
 

Yaaboiii

Member
Huge overkill unless you buy a proper propane CO2 generator. Even then if there were to be a leak and the burner turns on with a lot of propane gas in the room then it'll be a lot worse than my alcohol burner malfunctioning. My grow room is down in the basement so any leaked gas like propane or CO2 from a tank could be the death of me and it's not the way I want to go.

Those heaters would crank out massive amounts of CO2 and are not supposed to be used where people are unless designed for that. Not to mention the extra heat would be a bitch to deal with.

Something that can drip vinegar or any acid into a bowl of baking soda would be safe and pretty cheap too.

:peace:
Yes your right!! B4 i bought anything expensive and elaborate i actually just tried the sugar and yeast method. And by golly it really raised my tent C02 ppm ndir monitor up by 200pm. Now my tent without me in and out sitting at "880ppm" i have 3 plants. I would like for it to be at 1000ppm... but this C02 sensor i know has to be off by 50-100ppm . Im rigging up another sugar and yeast container up today so ill have 2, C02generators running 24/7. At night i know they dont need extra C02 but it gets cold enough where the yeast is inactive enough that it doesnt produce much. Levels still drop under 600ppm at night for me anyways . THANKS AGAIN!
 

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
Its in my basement and its too cold outside to crack the basment windows, outside the tent , the temperature sitting at just below 64° and the cold snap hasnt even hit us yet. In the tent im maintaining 74-80° .
Unless the grow is quite large, you should be able to get by with more air exchange with the main part of the house. Depends on how large of a canopy you are growing.
 

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
You do make a really good point bro...smh but i need C02 for flowering and im home for 5hrs of their daylight. I do have a propane tank i never use sitting outside. So if i buy a heater for the top of it . Do you think it'll work ??
I use a Titan Controls Atlas 4 burner with Liquid Propane and it is plugged into an Titan Controls Atlas 2 controller set to 1000 ppms. I maintain an entire 1500 sq/ft basement with no ventilation for about 8 weeks with a 30 pound propane tank. If you have a small space with less leaks it'd go farther. Without the co2 supplementation my basement drops to 300-400 co2 during lights on.. I noticed a huge improvement in growth & yield using co2 but as @Rurumo said its not entirely healthy at high levels so don't go crazy and do 1500+ ppm in your living space keep it modest around 1000 PPM and you'll get plenty of benefit.

The Liquid Propane & Natural Gas setups are entirely safe as long as common sense and the user manual are followed. You will have heat output from the burner but keep in mind the thing doesn't need to be IN your tent it can just be in the room the tent is in, remember its co2 we're talking about, its gas. :D
 

thumper60

Well-Known Member
You do make a really good point bro...smh but i need C02 for flowering and im home for 5hrs of their daylight. I do have a propane tank i never use sitting outside. So if i buy a heater for the top of it . Do you think it'll work ??
If your in the states go to any big box store buy a small heater that has a standing pilot light the pilot an there ya go!
 

MissinThe90’sStrains

Well-Known Member
Would a bucket or 2 of brewers yeast and molasses solution provide any useful amount of co2 in a tent ? I know people do similar setups on a micro scale for supplementing heavily planted fish tanks, and it would be pretty cheap to scale up, if it produced anywhere near a decent amount.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Yes your right!! B4 i bought anything expensive and elaborate i actually just tried the sugar and yeast method. And by golly it really raised my tent C02 ppm ndir monitor up by 200pm. Now my tent without me in and out sitting at "880ppm" i have 3 plants. I would like for it to be at 1000ppm... but this C02 sensor i know has to be off by 50-100ppm . Im rigging up another sugar and yeast container up today so ill have 2, C02generators running 24/7. At night i know they dont need extra C02 but it gets cold enough where the yeast is inactive enough that it doesnt produce much. Levels still drop under 600ppm at night for me anyways . THANKS AGAIN!
I used to use fermentation to add some CO2 long before I got the CO2 controller using a 6USG glass carboy with just white sugar and distillers yeast. I kept it in the corner of the grow room with a double layer of garbage bags covering everything but the air lock at the top. If you just add a little yeast food once in a while it takes about 6 weeks before it stops bubbling. Then I'd distill it a few times to make my own everclear to make oils with if I didn't drink it all first. :)

A friend liked to make his own beer and wine so built an insulated box outside the grow room, (a large walk-in closet), and ran tubing from the DIY air locks and piped the gas into the room. Always had really nice plants too.

:peace:
 

Yaaboiii

Member
Unless the grow is quite large, you should be able to get by with more air exchange with the main part of the house. Depends on how large of a canopy you are growing.
My tent is 4x6 , your right i gave up on burning stuff in my tent and brewing the yeast, it all does work tho!!Very time consuming..so i decided to flip my exhaust inline fan and pull air from outside my house into the grow 4×6 tent directly hitting my 1000watt bulb doubling as a cooling system whilst bringing in fresh outside air which im assuming also has C02 ! thank you my friend for your 2cents!! This is all helping me i love all these methods , its fun knowing i can switch from one method to another also fun knowing there are ppl out here who i can talk to about this stuff!!❤❤
 

Yaaboiii

Member
This is a joke, right? Please try it and get back to us.
Nooo he really said it work i did not try the fly trap thing because the ones i have sittin outside smell of vomit,idk if its bcuz of all the dead flies or the actual compound they use to attract them to the trap itself, either way i gave up on tryn to supply C02 bcuz its become a bit of a hassle at this point and stressful. Sooooo what i did was flip my inline exhaust fan to pull air from outside my house into my 4×6 tent using the cool air to cool my 1000watt MH fixture whilst simultaneously bringing fresh air and C02 in with it... my C02 meter jumped up 100ppm so im looking at just under 700ppm with fresh outside air... but i know this meter is off 50-100 ppm ...also im running another inline exhaust fan Into my house yes exhausting into my house but im running the filter at the end of it so theres no smell i can tell its working.
 

Yaaboiii

Member
Nooo he really said it work i did not try the fly trap thing because the ones i have sittin outside smell of vomit,idk if its bcuz of all the dead flies or the actual compound they use to attract them to the trap itself, either way i gave up on tryn to supply C02 bcuz its become a bit of a hassle at this point and stressful. Sooooo what i did was flip my inline exhaust fan to pull air from outside my house into my 4×6 tent using the cool air to cool my 1000watt MH fixture whilst simultaneously bringing fresh air and C02 in with it... my C02 meter jumped up 100ppm so im looking at just under 700ppm with fresh outside air... but i know this meter is off 50-100 ppm ...also im running another inline exhaust fan Into my house yes exhausting into my house but im running the filter at the end of it so theres no smell i can tell its working.im thinking i have to lower my exhaust fan setting and let the actual C02 build. I have an infinity exhaust fan so im playing with the setting to find that sweet spot. Im 2days in
Nooo he really said it work i did not try the fly trap thing because the ones i have sittin outside smell of vomit,idk if its bcuz of all the dead flies or the actual compound they use to attract them to the trap itself, either way i gave up on tryn to supply C02 bcuz its become a bit of a hassle at this point and stressful. Sooooo what i did was flip my inline exhaust fan to pull air from outside my house into my 4×6 tent using the cool air to cool my 1000watt MH fixture whilst simultaneously bringing fresh air and C02 in with it... my C02 meter jumped up 100ppm so im looking at just under 700ppm with fresh outside air... but i know this meter is off 50-100 ppm ...also im running another inline exhaust fan Into my house yes exhausting into my house but im running the filter at the end of it so theres no smell i can tell its working. I feel like this new method of bringing air from out side is working well i just need to tweek my exhaust air setting down some to let the C02 build up at different times of the day. Higher during day lower at night . I will update y'all in 2days after more research! Thank yall for your concern!
 
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