Newbie building a system around a ViparSpectra XS1500 light

Something else to consider...slightly upsizing affords more space for accessories such as heater, humidifier, etc as well as additional future light and another plant or two.

I hung that exact light in a Coolgrows 32"x32"x63" tent and grew two Black Jack autos which are normally short but I had to use LST to keep them from stretching into the light in that tent (light is removed in photo). I ran a 6" fan into a Vivosun filter on the exhaust the first few weeks of flower no issue but that particular strain has a very pungent odor so I had to switch to a window exhaust to keep the nagging down during the rest of the grow. Still pretty smelly though, probably should have grown a less smelly strain and used the filter on the inside of the tent (on duct intake) routed to the vent. I followed the height instructions included with the light from veg to chop and everything worked out great.

Links
Tent ($65 with coupon) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07413MWST
Filter (Primeday deal $56) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01731MLFK
Window Vent ($27) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08TZY271J

Thanks again guys.

I’m bit by bit getting around to what may be my best choices for what I have in mind.

Now gets to growin ….

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Hot as hell here right now, so I’m looking on getting stuff together for growing when Fall rolls around.

Hi all. i am new member. Glad to be here.

I’m leaning heavily towards a Gorilla 2x2.5 that has an optional 1’vertical extension so height won’t be an issue at all. I like that the footprint is just a wee bit over 2x2 as I have to stick to a small footprint.

Tent’s a bit pricer than low end but that’s ok as I don’t plan on upgrading or upsizing after this purchase. There’s only so much that my wife & I can schmoke.

Anybody know where to get the best deal on Gorilla’s stuff? I may get carbon filter & fan at the same time.

Ref post by Fishmon above, "Something else to consider...slightly upsizing affords more space for accessories..." I had a few days between grows to fix my vent system. The second photo shows the filter I used, VIVOSUN 6" x 18" Carbon Filter for Inline Duct Fan (Currently $70).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01731MLFK

On my 32x32x63 tent I decided to use a AC Infinity RAXIAL S6, Inline Booster Duct Fan 6” with Speed Controller (Currently $35)


both because it is relatively cheap, but also light and the speed control is infinite not just fixed speeds. One thing to consider is that you probably want the ViparSpectra hung on centerline, and able to move slightly to accomodate plants. The Vipar is 11" wide which is a consideration on tent depth. My tent like many others has 6" openings on the centerline of the tent sides to accomodate fans etc. If I hung the filter on centerline like the tent designer likely intended would severely restrict the height I could raise the light, since it would have to clear the filter & duct. The only way I could get the filter inside the tent is to tie it down (metal hangers) to the left back corner of the tent and use a 6-in x 6-in Galvanized Steel Round Duct Elbow to lessen the bend of the flexible vent line to the input side of the duct fan. I still had to move the light a few inches to the front, and move the one plant (formerly stunted due to seed helmet but now healthy Black Jack Auto) to the front a bit, and LST it to put it in the tent since it's day 2 from move from outside in sun where it grew.
Considerations:
1. Filter seems huge but on previous grow of two it only stopped the wicked smell about 45 days, I had to buy more activated carbon and rebuild it prior to implementing the new setup. It is moderately heavy to hang from the thin poles of the tent because it has 8 pounds 12 oz of carbon in it (filter likely had 4KG new).
2. Filter didn't work so well because it was used standing up on the ground outside the tent, with flex duct from inline fan output side. Had to take the filter off to run the inline fan output to window.
3. If you use the hangers that came with the fan, or similar ones, between the hangers and the hanging mounts of the light you will lose about 10" of height. The 14" distance recommended for this light on full power is additive - thus almost 2 feet of height is lost on this particular hanging setup (which is great due to adjustability).
4. The 6" tent vent on centerline is 10" from the top of this particular tent, which would interfere if I didn't kick the filter to the back of the bus.

Current setup filter on intake, air ducted outside is pretty smellproof with the newly rebuilt filter. I had to make a lot of compromises to stuff both the filter and the light inside the tent and grow plants that got up to 42 inches previously. 32x32x63 seems pretty tiny to me in hindsight. The duct fan I used is specifically labeled as a "booster" fan, 3 months into using it as the only fan I can see why since it has started to make noise similar to bearing noise I have heard on other devices, so I suggest getting a better quality fan.

Greengrouch said:

If it’s your first grow start here www.growweedeasy.com

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Great site

I have an AC Infinity 3x3. It's going on 3 years old and is holding up well. I also have an AC Infinity 4" exhaust fan.
Here's something to know. I have put 2 of those XS1500 lights in and they generate a lot of heat and the drivers are not detachable. The 4" fan needs to run at 100% to keep the temp below 90 and that's in a room where the ambient temp is 74. All the research I did says a 4" fan should be enough I would say it's marginal at best. 300 watts of light in a 3x3 tent was recommended, that's a lot of heat. I would go up to a 6" fan if I had it to do over but then you need a 6" filter. I am finding the 3x3 is kind of an awkward size, a 2x4 is more accessible.
If I was to do it over again I would go with a 2x4 with 2 XS1500 lights and a 6" fan and filter. The 3x3 I would go with the KS2500[250 watts] or the KS3000 [300 watts] both have detachable drivers so you might not need a 6" fan and filter, might be able to go with a 4".

Filter didn't work so well because it was used standing up on the ground outside the tent, with flex duct from inline fan output side. Had to take the filter off to run the inline fan output to window.

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I’m interested in keeping both carbon filter and outtake fan outside the tent to have more headroom in there. Problematic?

BTW thanks y’all for all this great info and links etc.

You can mount the fan and filter outside the tent.
I sort of did that, the filter is outside the tent. I cut a slot in a piece of plywood which sits on top of the tent. The only reason i didn't mount both outside the tent was noise. I could just as easily put both on top of my plywood. As it is the fan just takes up a little room in the corner. Right now I have the top half of the filter off, I'm going to add new charcoal soon.

From experience I can say fan and filter outside the tent will work....However, the filter will clog up sooner as the pre filter sock won't catch any airborne stuff prior to entering the filter. Especially if you wind up using a mist humidifier with tapwater. The minerals will stop up the filter faster than one might think. I ruined 2 before I figured it out. If possible hang the filter in the tent and duct out to the fan inlet. You can fashion a box with side air openings and cut a circle in the top for the fan flange to nest into. If you must push air into the filter, use distilled or clean rainwater in humidifier to avoid what I did. I now catch rainwater after it gets below 10 ppm with 8 drops per gallon of 7% bleach for storage.

Fishmon said:

From experience I can say fan and filter outside the tent will work....However, the filter will clog up sooner as the pre filter sock won't catch any airborne stuff prior to entering the filter. Especially if you wind up using a mist humidifier with tapwater. The minerals will stop up the filter faster than one might think. I ruined 2 before I figured it out. If possible hang the filter in the tent and duct out to the fan inlet. You can fashion a box with side air openings and cut a circle in the top for the fan flange to nest into. If you must push air into the filter, use distilled or clean rainwater in humidifier to avoid what I did. I now catch rainwater after it gets below 10 ppm with 8 drops per gallon of 7% bleach for storage.

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So that's why the filter outside on my first setup worked OK well into flower zero smell then quitting working altogether pretty quickly - must have gotten clogged up. I had thought of the sock that was one of the reasons that I moved it inside after carbon refill. Made lemonade with the 32x32 lemon, but in retrospect a 2x4 with two of these lights, as recommended by laddyd, would be a lot more flexible and easier to work with.

nahhee said:

So that's why the filter outside on my first setup worked OK well into flower zero smell then quitting working altogether pretty quickly - must have gotten clogged up. I had thought of the sock that was one of the reasons that I moved it inside after carbon refill. Made lemonade with the 32x32 lemon, but in retrospect a 2x4 with two of these lights, as recommended by laddyd, would be a lot more flexible and easier to work with.

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In both cases of mine it was high temps in the tent that led me to the problem

Fishmon said:

In both cases of mine it was high temps in the tent that led me to the problem

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Come to think about it, my second pic you can see the meter is sitting at 89 degF 46% RH. I turned the light off 5-10 min before taking the pic so it had cooled some from running temp. Plants on previous grow turned out good but filter didn't...

I’m gonna go with this 2x3x72 which has a small enough footprint for me. YAH!

Right there at the site are fans, inline duct fans, carbon filter, ducting, all of which quickly add up to a respectable sum. Ouch I hope the finance minister doesn’t put the kibosh on this spending spree

My 0.02 with the ventilation system would be to downgrade (slightly) to the ac infinity cloudline lite. It allows manual 10 speed setting. The bells and whistles of the primo model aren't necessary in my opinion. The main purpose of the vent fan is provide the correct air changes by volume of the grow space. Ex. Having the controller ramping the fan up and down to maintain temp and humidity can throw a wrench into air change requirements. Save the money to invest in a temp/humidity controller and small heater and humidifier if needed. I saw a 4" ac infinity lite fan and filter kit for about the same price on Amazon as the primo fan only. Also, when purchasing ac infinity stuff always attempt to put in coupon code of Mrgrowit15 for discounts.

Thanks Fishmon.

On ventilation requirements, what’s your take on a possible future second light for this 236 tent, good idea or not? If yes, more robust venting choices needed?

Obviously I don’t wanna get more hardware than what would be adequate

RaggedMike said:

Amazon.com

I’m gonna go with this 2x3x72 which has a small enough footprint for me. YAH!

Right there at the site are fans, inline duct fans, carbon filter, ducting, all of which quickly add up to a respectable sum. Ouch I hope the finance minister doesn’t put the kibosh on this spending spree

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Should work out fine, esp the 72" height, wish i had that. I went with separate components because Amazon varies the price and sometimes you can get a deal (I got the vivosun 6x18 filter for $45 on a deal, outer metal housing was dented but easy to fix). I have the AC Infinity 6" flex duct and it's great, the clamps especially, slightly bigger range than standard 6" HVAC clamps I have, and will accept philips head so they are easy to snug up powered. I bought their 1/8" rope hangers as well to have extras. I have the screened vents at the tent bottom of both sides and the back open with the filter at the top, to catch vapors (hopefully with the sock trapping most of the gummy stuff) that offgas from the heat of the light. If I had 36 instead of 32 I would have used two galvanized duct elbows (about 8$ a pop at HD/lowes, also pick up some UL181 compliant foil tape like Nashua 324A) to take as much of the bend out of the flexduct possible, 32 is too short to do that so using only 1 elbow was the compromise. My setup now is completely smell proof (first week of filter) despite my very smelly plant being in the last two weeks of flower. I recommend 6" vice 4", yeah I know 4 is cheaper, and we're not talking long runs for a typical HVAC system, but the flow rate of 6" metal (for the elbows, which is a potential choke point) is at least double that of 4", not precisely sure what 4" metal duct flow rate is since it's not on standard HVAC tables like this https://learnmetrics.com/cfm-duct-sizing-chart/ but 6" round metal duct (like the elbow) is 85 CFM, 5" (least size) is 50. The wire embedded plastic flex duct that is used for this is really crummy, 4" is only 20 CFM vice 6" is 80 CFM https://www.pickhvac.com/hvac-duct/sizing-chart/. Note that metal flex used in HVAC is a lot better, which is why I linked the second table. Just passing on stuff from HVAC work...