tent environment

Ok I agree, dehumidifier is working, i'm definitely draining alot of water. Everything i've found says the output of a dehumidifier is usually 10-15 degrees warmer than the intake temp. So I guess that's that.
My AC is controlled by my sentinel controller which has a remote probe located in the tent.


I was thinking mabye if I duct the intake for the AC to draw in the air from the tent instead of the air from the outer room it may help in cooling or increase the dehumidify capability of the AC. The AC does have an evap line, but nothing comes out. I'm not sure if it dehumidifies as it cools or if its a separate function. On the AC you have to select dehumid or cool.
Or I was thinking I could duct the input of the dehumidifier from outside the tent, so it draws in cooler drier air?

phillipchristian said:

If you dropped your ballasts down to 600w then be careful. I always recommend that you put a 600w bulb in there because dropping a 1000w bulb to 600w actually changes the light spectrum of the bulb (not great for plants) and the frequency from the ballast to the bulb which will decrease the life of your bulg. If you can then I would get 600w bulbs to put in there and run it at 600w. I also would try out the 12,000btu a/c and see how that does. Depending on the model and efficiency they both might use the same amount of power and if not then the 12,000btu is not even going to use a noticeable amount more. That dehumidifier should be more than enough for that space. It must not be very efficient or you live in tropics. Not really sure. I have a home in Costa Rica where the humidity is 85-90% year round. I used a 30 pint dehumidifier in my workshop and it worked a lot less than yours.

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Can you show me some more info on this, thanks.

I would try that. The way you have it setup now is really inefficient. A/C units are meant to recirculate the same air constantly cooling it. Your a/c is never given a chance to catch up. It's always using the same warm air outside the tent which it then deposits in the tent. Try ducting the intake for the a/c from the tent. Just make sure the hot air exhaust is still being sent out the window.

209 Cali closet grower said:

Can you show me some more info on this, thanks.

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Look it up in the forum or online. No offense but I'm not going to do your homework for you. There are a couple threads here on RIU about it that have great info and some chart showing the difference in spectrum. Plus there are some articles online about it as well with tests that were done showing on a spectral graph the difference.

phillipchristian said:

Look it up in the forum or online. No offense but I'm not going to do your homework for you. There are a couple threads here on RIU about it that have great info and some chart showing the difference in spectrum. Plus there are some articles online about it as well with tests that were done showing on a spectral graph the difference.

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lol, I never asked you to do my home work?I just asked you if you can show me some more info???But what ever I'l look in to it with google.

209 Cali closet grower said:

lol, I never asked you to do my home work?I just asked you if you can show me some more info???But what ever I'l look in to it with google.

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I was just making a joke man. It's the signature of a well known member here call Scrogladyte. I don't have any info on it saved on my computer. There was a great thread about it a few weeks back with a ton of info nut it got erased with the hack. I don't dim my lights ever so I don't have to worry about it but I was reading the thread and did some research online because I thought it was interesting. Turned out that it was a fairly accepted theory. Probably more like a proven fact with some of the test that had been done.

I'm gonna try it tonight. Its gonna be tricky. The intake is on the back of the unit and is like 2 10" squares. Mabye I can rig something out of cardboard temporarily to see if its helping.

420forme said:

I'm gonna try it tonight. Its gonna be tricky. The intake is on the back of the unit and is like 2 10" squares. Mabye I can rig something out of cardboard temporarily to see if its helping.

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If you have the space just stick it in the tent and exhaust it out of the tent through one of the vent ports. You'll know in a few hours if it's working.

209 Cali closet grower said:

Can you show me some more info on this, thanks.

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A lot of people will repeat over and over that the spectrum changes in a negative way when bulbs are dimmed, but how many of them will supply evidence or studies reporting this? I've seen zero support for these claims so far.

I know that phantom dimmable ballasts will fire bulbs at full power on startup, then dim them down to the selected level. That's why I wouldnt run a 600w bulb even if I was running it on 60% mode. It still boots up at 100% before dimming...

But Lumateks are a different story, and they do recommend using a lower wattage bulb.

Experience has showed me that lumateks kill bulbs a lot faster than phantoms or quantums though.

Clown Baby said:

A lot of people will repeat over and over that the spectrum changes in a negative way when bulbs are dimmed, but how many of them will supply evidence or studies reporting this? I've seen zero support for these claims so far.

I know that phantom dimmable ballasts will fire bulbs at full power on startup, then dim them down to the selected level. That's why I wouldnt run a 600w bulb even if I was running it on 60% mode. It still boots up at 100% before dimming...

But Lumateks are a different story, and they do recommend using a lower wattage bulb.

Experience has showed me that lumateks kill bulbs a lot faster than phantoms or quantums though.

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I did do a google, and your right, from what I read on the net.

I have seen a couple chart on it here on the forum and on the net. I am no light spectrum expert but there is a change. I assume since todays grow lights are specifically made for certain spectrums that changing that spectrum would have a negative affect. I am pretty sure it was in a thread about CMH lighting but I think it got erased during the hack. I tried looking for it again but couldn't find it. Would be a cool thread to start. As for the online info I really can't remember where I found it but I will look again.

Ok, I moved the AC into the tent. I'll let you know how it goes.
I should change my co2 setting to turn off when AC is on right?
Since i'm now venting air from my sealed tent

Actually now that I think about it, I really don't like that i'm venting my sealed tent, losing my co2 and blowing unfiltered air outside. It doesn't seem to be helping either. My hum. drops instantly when AC turns on, probally because i'm sucking out air with the AC exhaust. It seems to take longer to cool off the tent this way too. Crap now I got to switch it back!

I am at a loss then buddy. Without actually being in your room there's nothing else I can think of that might be the problem. Have you put that newer a/c in there?

If you add an exhaust fan in the ceiling, it could lower the room by 10 degrees in 5 min.

I think that will be the plan. Install a 4" fan/filter to exhaust the tent. Mabye run it on a timer for like 10min./hr.

Dude your not thinking outside the box... Listen start with a 6in vortex, get insulated ducting run the ducting from the ceiling down outside the tent, and make a DIY air chiller box run it threw and back in the bottom of them tent, you could add a booster fan to connect ducting to the tent then you have active air intake! Hope you try this out it keeps your tent sealed and the amount it will cool your air depends on how you decide to do the chiller

How do I make a chiller box though???

Not sure I understand that one. You are just going to build a box to chill the air? Wouldn't a heat exhanger work better?

You could get a 1/4hp chiller ($350); 25 gallon reservoir, tubing and pump ($150), 6" Ice Box ($100), 6" inline fan ($150), and a fan thermostat controller ($50) and that would add about 5,000btu of cooling to his tent. Seems like an awful lot to deal with though. I'd just get a better a/c in there. If you try the exhaust fan just get the fan thermostat controller. It will turn your fan on when the tent needs to be exhausted.

I'm gonna set it up tomorrow with the bigger 12k AC, and the 4" fan/filter exhaust. I'm also gonna reduct my lights so there are less bends. Now is have a thermostat controller and a dehumidistat,, which one should run the exhaust. Really i'm using it to dump extra humidity more than temp.
Also I wanted to ask if you think my chhc4 is set properly. Day temp=86 (3' deadband), night temp=72, day humid=55%, night humid= 50% (5% deadband), co2= 1450 (50ppm deadband).