Help - Need tips on adding supports to 5x5 upper frame

Hey friends,

I have this tent and for the money it's been great ... Except for the fact the top cross bars are not very confidence inspiring... any tips on how to beef it up so I don't worry about them collapsing under weight of lights and filter/fans, etc?


Thanks!

I've never had any issue with the structure of any of my tents, and the one you depicted looks pretty standard.

Now I wouldn't do pull-ups in them, but holding my fan/filter combos and lights has never been an issue at all. The actual tent shell itself adds significant extra stability to the frame structure, so don't hang anything unless the tent is completely set up.

spek9 said:

I've never had any issue with the structure of any of my tents, and the one you depicted looks pretty standard.

Now I wouldn't do pull-ups in them, but holding my fan/filter combos and lights has never been an issue at all. The actual tent shell itself adds significant extra stability to the frame structure, so don't hang anything unless the tent is completely set up.

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Nonetheless, I'm hoping someone has a tip or two. thanks

How heavy is your stuff? It should be fine, but if you need something a little extra maybe one of these would help https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07YCF1WWX/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1
But I would make sure it can't "kick out" and fall on stuff. A simple 2x4 or something would work also.

DarkWeb said:

But I would make sure it can't "kick out" and fall on stuff. A simple 2x4 or something would work also.

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None of my tents have the space between the tent material and the frame to stick a 2x4. Way too tight.

You could go to Lowes, etc., and buy a length of 1/2" hard copper, or heavy aluminum piping...then you could make extra supports easily almost identical to what you have...but I agree, it's not necessary. They are designed for holding lights, etc.

DarkWeb said:

How heavy is your stuff? It should be fine, but if you need something a little extra maybe one of these would help https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07YCF1WWX/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1
But I would make sure it can't "kick out" and fall on stuff. A simple 2x4 or something would work also.

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(2) 6" fans, (1 has a 6" x 18" charcoal filter attached and scrubs inside the tent, (1) is vented out and has just a small filter but I want to add a charcoal filter to it. A blurple led light, a couple 240w chinese HLG copies... hmmm what else...

manfredo said:

You could go to Lowes, etc., and buy a length of 1/2" hard copper, or heavy aluminum piping...then you could make extra supports easily almost identical to what you have...but I agree, it's not necessary. They are designed for holding lights, etc.

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I was thinking of something along those lines. Does it all come apart? Could you buy some pvc plumping pipe...schedule 40 so it's plenty strong...and slip that on top of existing beams? Appropriate size...as small as possible. Not a tent guy.
JD

JohnDee said:

I was thinking of something along those lines. Does it all come apart? Could you buy some pvc plumping pipe...schedule 40 so it's plenty strong...and slip that on top of existing beams? Appropriate size...as small as possible. Not a tent guy.
JD

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Yes, something along those lines sounds like it should pretty much do it... I would like just the added confidence once I add the second big charcoal filter.. those bitches are somewhat heavy.

Thanks for suggestions,,, stay lifted.

I have a lot of weight in my tent. (90lbs of reflectors alone). I just bought some extra bars and doubled up where needed. Should have all sizes available...


Sorry. Just saw it was a 5x5. Have you tried contacting the maker to see if you can order more bars? Or try Apollo. They make a 5x5 also.

spek9 said:

None of my tents have the space between the tent material and the frame to stick a 2x4. Way too tight.

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Vert not hoiz for the 2x4 was what I meant like that adjustable post I mentioned. Under the cross in the center.

What you are probably going to find, is you'll want every inch of ceiling height you can get, once you have a few plants that double/triple in height during their stretch, and you will wind up moving your vent fans and charcoal filter to the outside of the tent...I can't tell you how many time I have changed my setup, and I no longer use tents for the height reason, but tents do have several advantages. Moral is, keep it simple because you may change it anyways...

manfredo said:

What you are probably going to find, is you'll want every inch of ceiling height you can get, once you have a few plants that double/triple in height during their stretch, and you will wind up moving your vent fans and charcoal filter to the outside of the tent...I can't tell you how many time I have changed my setup, and I no longer use tents for the height reason, but tents do have several advantages. Moral is, keep it simple because you may change it anyways...

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Normally yes, but I run this as my only grow space... 11/13 from seed. I have tons of height with using LST, growing in small fabric pots, etc. My plants stay pretty small compared to many indoor farmers...

What is your concern, exactly? Too much weight causing the tent to collapse?

As others have said, tents are usually built with plenty of strength to support what you plan on hanging from the top.

BUT... if your deadset on giving more support, you could use a 1/4in (could use 1/2 in, but thats adding even more weight, and likely isnt necessary for what im suggesting) sheet of plywood on the underside (the side of the bars facing your plants) of your top cross bars to more evenly distribute the weight of your equipment.

You could use some of pipe brackets (Like THESE) to attach the plywood to the cross bars at various locations. Then you would just need to figure out how you want to mount your equipment to the plywood. But plywood, with plenty of mounting brackets spread evenly, should redistribute the weight in your tent, affording you a lot more stability, cheaply.

The only way to do this though, will be to remove the cover from the tent.. you'll need to have access from the top and bottom of the bars, in order to install the plywood. And id use nuts/bolts with large washers to attach the plywood to the mounting brackets, as opposed to screws... the washers will also help with weight distribution at the mounting points, and while screws COULD do the job, you wont have to worry about a nut/bolt combo pulling loose like you would a screw.

You could also get PVC pipe (probably only need 1/2in-1n pipe), and cut it so your upright corner bars run inside of the PVC. This will give support to the uprights themselves, and because of the wider diameter, when they press against the plywood, theyll provide more stability and redistribute the weight better. Not sure if this would be possible though, as the PVC itself is likely 1/8 thick from exterior to interior of the walls of the pipe. So your adding roughly 1/4in front to back, and left to right on the exterior dimension of the uprights, which MAY be too much, considering how tight the cover of the tent usually is when trying to fit it over the frame



Drew this up on MS Paint just to kind of show what i mean, in case its hard to visualize what i mean as far as mounting the plywood, and the uprights being inside of PVC cut to length

BluntMoniker- Main concern is they're drooping from the weight and that doesn't inspire confidence. Thanks for your ideas. I think with other's, and your. ideas I should be able to get it to where it's not in the back of my mind. Thanks!

toad37 said:

BluntMoniker- Main concern is they're drooping from the weight and that doesn't inspire confidence. Thanks for your ideas. I think with other's, and your. ideas I should be able to get it to where it's not in the back of my mind. Thanks!

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Yea... the drooping would be from too much weight concentrated as specific points on the cross bars. My plywood idea should definitely take care of that. Because all the weight on the plywood, would be distributed across all the surface area of the plywood, and then be evenly distributed to the mounting points. The more mounts you have, the more evenly the weight will be distributed across the frame.

Good luck brother!

toad37 said:

BluntMoniker- Main concern is they're drooping from the weight and that doesn't inspire confidence. Thanks for your ideas. I think with other's, and your. ideas I should be able to get it to where it's not in the back of my mind. Thanks!

Click to expand...

Move the weight outward towards the sides if possible. I would make a bar or two similar to what @.Smoke posted. Get some 3/4" or 1" EMT conduit from a home store and if needed, flatten the ends with a vise or hammer etc. Then tie it in place with a bunch of zip ties, string, wire, tape, shoe strings or dental floss.

1212ham said:

Move the weight outward towards the sides if possible. I would make a bar or two similar to what @.Smoke posted. Get some 3/4" or 1" EMT conduit from a home store and if needed, flatten the ends with a vise or hammer etc. Then tie it in place with a bunch of zip ties, string, wire, tape, shoe strings or dental floss.
Or buy these.

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Sweet, I'm on it today or tomorrow. You're the man, thanks kindly brother and all who replied with suggestions.

I just found these.

Spread some of the weight and hangers out to the outside frame if possible. All about evenly distributing the weight across the whole frame. I am fairly confident I would be able to lay across the top of my tent if I took the lights down.
I have 2 fairly heavy T5s hanging in my 5x5 but theyre secured to the outside square