LED in Cool tube to cool

LEDnoob

New Member
Hi guys- LOVE this sub-form and just found it. I have an odd question for you. I have high temps in my tent (2x2x5) and I'm familiar with all ways to cool from my two days of obsessively Googling. . Exhaust, passive intake, fan etc. The tent is in a closet and is a stealth grow. Temps are ranging from 81F to 90F. My question is, can I put my 300w LED in a cool tube of some sort so that I can run my exhaust air over the light? I cant find any info on this at all and seems like it would work. Possibly if I took the clear glass off of the LED. Thanks so much
 

LEDnoob

New Member
Hmm not sure if its 80 mm. There's 3 of them. So if I'm understanding correctly if I vent out fans from light that would lower temp?

Or do you mean if I flip them and bring in cool air to cool them?

Thanks for the reply!!!!
 

FranJan

Well-Known Member
Chinese panels, I'm assuming you have one since you haven't posted a picture or link, from what I've found blow air down on the drivers/heatsink. You need to flip the fans around to exhaust them. This will allow you to remove the heat from the panel. Most of those fans just move air around and have very little to do with cooling the LEDs, it's more for the cheap drivers they use.

And with the fans just open the case and find out :).
 

pepperdust

Well-Known Member
I wonder a couple things..

-where you live

-do you have a inline fan

300 is a little overkill for a 2x2 tent. I would say 260-270 is already alot of light in there. The whole point of LED is to be as efficient or better then a HPS / MH or whatever your comparing to. 75 watts a square foot is a little high for LED well I have a feeling you don't have an inline? as even a 4 inch would replace the air in that tent many times over, or your living on the equator, which that would make sense as no ambient air is going to cool your tent if your already in tropic temps..

I advise against a cool tube situation, the light you lose will not be worth the setup / costs involved in putting LED into a cool tube. I do suggest thinking about finding a way to hook the inline to the LED panel or unit, not sure what your working with. modifying that as necessary to get the intake on the LED unit.

I just re-read your thread, honestly, I don't know the full setup, but if your growing in a closed closet??? then you need to run lower watts, there's no other formula interested to hear if you vent out or what the deal is, as heat trapped in a box is never a good thing when growing.
 

Eraserhead

Well-Known Member
Exhausting heat from an LED panel is a bad idea.

The reason is, with the fans blowing onto the heatsink, you are constantly bringing in what should be relatively cool air to the heatsink whenever the lamp is on, thus transferring that cool air to the LEDs, and allowing them to run more efficient.

If you reverse the fans and exhaust the heat, that means you need to let the LEDs and also the drivers to get hot in the first place, which kills the efficiency and lifespan of the panel.

If you don't let the LEDs get hot in the first place, they won't transfer that heat to the grow area, and adding a decent exhaust fan will stop the heat from constantly recycling through the panel.

Aim for an ambient temp of 72°F outside the tent + an exhaust fan, and you should be okay.
 

GreenSanta

Well-Known Member
Just for everyone to know, from my experience, it's mostly about keeping your humidity low and constant fresh air supply.

Of course you get better results with optimal temps but I have found that with LEDs, if you bring in fresh air 24/7 (this will pull fresh air in the grow room through negative pressure and no need for an intake fan, only intake ducting is a good idea to draw air from a different room / outside)

If you do this, you will be able to grow some fine marijuana even in high temps. My room are running at 27-28 degrees at lights on which is very high but everything is going well so I am not too worry. Most plant will turn purple too.

Check out my grow if you want to see some buds grown in high temps.
 

LEDnoob

New Member
Hi thanks so much for the reply's.

Sorry I don't have pics yet. FranJan- Yes its the Chinese 300W with the 9 band. I just ordered a larger tent (4x2x5) to accommodate. I live in MD (US). My setup is 4" exhaust with carbon scrubber in tent venting out of closet. Closet is about 12' long by 2' deep. 4 doors and the left two are always open to bring in cool air.

Ive read that I should stay with passive intake since forced air could cause smell leaks, so I didn't buy an inline for new air. I have all 3 passive flaps open. My temps are between 81 and 85 now with humidity around 40. The room temp is around 70f to 73f.
 

FranJan

Well-Known Member
How's the prefilter on your scrubber? Like Santa said, good airflow in the grow area really helps with growing in hot conditions and I find when my prefilter gets too dusty, temps shoot up in my grow tent. Regardless of what you do to your fans, take the glass off the panel. That will help with temps a bit and do you have wire, mesh or metal fan covers? If it's metal, cut those fan covers off, that will really help with panel temps.
 

LEDnoob

New Member
Pre filter is brand new. I'll check for dust. I have a pic of my room but can't figure out how to post. Is it safe to post pics/in forum on iphone?

I turned my browser tracker thing off.

I'll take glass off asap. Ty for that!!
 

LEDnoob

New Member
I'm sorry I don't know what you mean by fan covers? My occultating fan? I have a small 6" then a big tower fan
 

LEDnoob

New Member
Can anyone please help me post profile pic? I dot want to start a new thread and damn if this site isn't easy to use lol. Make a button that says profile pic!!!! :)



I think I attached a pic of room btw
 

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FranJan

Well-Known Member
Hey LEDnoob, see the intakes to the fans on your panel? Dremel those off and replace with wire ones. This will increase air intake big time and lower your panels temp a bit..
 

pepperdust

Well-Known Member
Hi thanks so much for the reply's.

Sorry I don't have pics yet. FranJan- Yes its the Chinese 300W with the 9 band. I just ordered a larger tent (4x2x5) to accommodate. I live in MD (US). My setup is 4" exhaust with carbon scrubber in tent venting out of closet. Closet is about 12' long by 2' deep. 4 doors and the left two are always open to bring in cool air.

Ive read that I should stay with passive intake since forced air could cause smell leaks, so I didn't buy an inline for new air. I have all 3 passive flaps open. My temps are between 81 and 85 now with humidity around 40. The room temp is around 70f to 73f.

ok, now knowing more, maybe I can help at all

as to the last question, you don't need nothing more then a 4 inch, it pulls enough air as it is.. if you added another, that's like trying to add a supercharger, when all you need to do is lighten the car, not add more power... bad analogy?? haha

first off, this is not a stealth grow, nothing stealth about growing in a closet with an inline. if someone can open a door and find it, it's making noise.. it's not stealth... stealth is having a room built behind a wall, which you cannot see unless you knew it was there, that's about as stealth as it gets when growing.

now with that said, your better off pulling it out of the closet, as do you think if someone knows about the grow, there not going to check the closet with that high humming noise? anyways, I know some people have there reasons for trying to hide things, but in reality you need to understand, if someone comes in there seeing it / hearing it. best you can do is close a room door, and shut off the fan if someone needs to do some maintenance in the place. whatever, your choice, but trust me, been there, done it all ( closets , tents, under sinks, town houses, apartments, other people's house, big, small, micro, PC case, LED, floro, MH, HPS, CMH, sealed room, open light, big tents, my house, outdoor, "stealth outdoor", fans in room, no fans, carbon filters, no carbons............ trust me man done it all, when I say been there, I know where you are )

so that said, a bigger tent is not going to help. It's not fully going to help as that's an inefficient setup your going down. ( can you do it, well yeah you are, but it's not ideal, you always want to size the tent to the lamp / plants you have in there maximizing space / light ) the principle your fighting here is ambient air / wattage used. so you have a couple options:

-attach tubing to the outtake of the ( I am guessing it's an inline, not an axial fan ? ) and vent to another room / to a window
-take the tent out into a room
-run a smaller LED, pack that up for when your not scared then pull it out.. this I find one big hurdle, as you could grow plenty with a 180 watt LED panel

it's like if I complained why I can't run a 600 in a 2x2 tent.. somethings are not meant to be done... yes you can run 300 in a tent, I've done it, done it in a 2x2, so I know it can be done, and with good air temps, but that was dependent on me setting up the environment to make sure it worked. you on the other hand are trying to fight a uphill battle putting 300 into a closet.. ( also run 300 in a "micro closet" , but I ran a fan to push heat out, and door was wide open all day... ) but this is good, as the first thing that needs to be in check is "environment" , which obviously you do not have a handle on, but you understood that, and are wanting to fix it, which I praise you for. some people grow in shit environments and wonder why they get pests / mold / airy bud ..... it's like, well you didn't have a good environment..


I would honestly buy a smaller LED, go back to your smaller tent ( bigger one is losing light bouncing it in a bigger room ), and put it in a room, a room is not going to be any different then a closet.. it's like the mentality of hiding something in the sock drawer... I find if you have 2 doors open anyways, it's not stealth at all if someone came into the room. so if you simply pulled the tent out you would get better temps already then trying to exchange the air in a closet, a room has much bigger area to work with, and as I said if simply went with a smaller led panel, boom, less heat created.. another thing you can do is run at night instead of day as usually it's a little cooler at night. not sure if you do that already


your worry is getting you to do things that are not productive ( bigger tent ) which is why I would like if you took a step back, relaxed and let the answers come.. no good answers ever came in panic / worry / fear / frustration / anxiety / thinking to much



once again I'm just trying to help, you need to call the shots at the end of the day.. were not all at the same places, if what I say is crazy, ignore it then.. your life, your choices, your destiny..


good luck man, I wish you success in finding a solution / good harvest


edit: also looking at that pic, I can't even see a plant, the pots are way to big for the plant size.. your going to end up "drowning them" with non-oxygenated water sitting in the pot for week / longer. you should usually do pot sizes dependent to plant size, always up-potting ( which is a bitch yes ). your call once again, I do see that though usually as new grower styles to grow in huge containers.. up to you, throwing that out there.
 

Yodazherb

Active Member
I agree you need to pull cool air into the closet.
I have a vent at the bottom of the closet door, a carbon filter at the top of the closet, and a duct going into the attic with a 4" inline way over by the attic vent.
You cant hear it in the room or the closet.
Works well as my temp are 72/75 LEDs on.
its a 2x3 closet and I have 2 180 watt Blackstars.
I wouldn't call it stealth as the LED fans make some noise.
But I'm in a paid off house with just me and the wife.:bigjoint:
 

LEDnoob

New Member
Peperdust- thank you for that post. I appreciate it. I am a little worried about the pots and tomorrow I'm getting 2 gal instead of these 3 gallons. They stay moist for a week, which I don't like.

The main reason it's in the tent is space. I may be using "stealth" loosely. I have since vented into the ceiling and brought temps down a few degrees. You have gave me some awesome info and took the time to write a long post, thank you for that! I'm going to re read it and soak it in.

Thank you for the other post.
 
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