Vent system for hydro build

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AZreefer

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Please help me make a choice. 5x5xIs beligger better with the primary exhaust fan? In my mind ill be dealing with more humidity in my tebt due to the bubblets in my grow pots, yeah? An 6in fan is in my design but ive yet to purchase. Should i spring for the 8in? I plan on a 4in set speed intake on the floor and the 6-8in exhaust and 2 clip on fans for the
 
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AZreefer

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Man. Fat fingered that. Sorry. 5×5×7 tent with 4 ten gallon grow pots. 2 circulation fans 1 4in intake and yet to be determined size exhaust fan. Is bigger better when sizing this fan or can it too quickly out perform the intake and causr too much negitive pressure?
 
Newty

Newty

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For reference"
In my 8x4 tent I run 8" exhaust with a 6" Intake

In my 55"x28" tent I run a 6" exhaust with a 4" intake.

All ACI T series fans.

I wouldn't go more then 1 fan size difference between the 2.

I was running a 8" exhaust and 4" intake in my 8x4 when I first set it up, the 4" was running at a higher speed then I liked and switching to the 6" made it perfect for me.

What size duct ports do you have on your tent? If your tent has 8" exhaust ports then I would run an 8" exhaust with a 6" intake.

I control them with my Controller 69, if my exhaust fan goes up a speed they my intake automatically goes up a speed as well, so they adjust automatically and don't need to worry about 1 over powering the other to much.
 
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AZreefer

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I have a gorilla tent. Ports are giant. Havent measured but an 8 should fit easy and a 6 for intake could work because i believe i have enough ports down low to pass plumbing and intake duct seperatly. Thank you for the input.
 
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AZreefer

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Clincher. Aci it will be. The pro+ controller will be the brains. 6in intake 8in exhaust and 2 circ fans
 
Newty

Newty

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Clincher. Aci it will be. The pro+ controller will be the brains. 6in intake 8in exhaust and 2 circ fans
I Love ACI (AC Infinity)!!! You won't be disappointed and customer service is the best in the industry IMHO.

Make sure to get the Pro Model Controller 69, you can monitor and adjust settings from anywhere you have cell phone service with the Pro WIFI.

You can use the controller 69 to control your lights as well. If they are not ACI lights, you will need the proper adapter to work with the controller. I use Vivosun VS4000 lights and Spider Farmer SE4500 lights and control them right from the Controller 69.
 
Newty

Newty

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Here is pics of my intake and exhaust setup in my tents.
I have the intake fan inside the tent in the 8x4, I did this because I had the space. I put the fan outside of the tent in the smaller tent to save space.
As you see, I put register duct boots on my intakes to help funnel air in and have cut to size MERV8 filters taped to the boots to filter incoming air.

The cut to size MERV8 filters work great, I was using cut to fit Frost King air conditioner filters but I noticed dust build up in the duct and fan so I switched and since have not seen any dust build up anymore. My buds would be full of dog hair if not for the filters lol

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DontStopBelievn

DontStopBelievn

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RE: your initial post - 1x-2x your space in cubic feet, per minute, is a good range of exhaust for most growers and you have to be massively cranking the exhaust to truly create harmful conditions, so you have a fairly wide range for an acceptable exchange rate. Some can get by using even a lower exchange rate of 0.25 and 0.5 your space per minute. Dialing in your preferred exhaust rate is even less of an issue if you have an adjustable exhaust that can cover 0.25x - 2x your space per minute. If issues with your exhaust rate occur, adjust it to higher or lower rates, as needed.

You state your tent is 5x5x7, so that's 175 cubic feet. 100cfm would be on the low end and might not be enough. 400cfm would be better, giving you two exchanges per minute. Getting something in the 700cfm range would allow you greater control and make adjusting to 2x exchange rate easier on the fan's motor. If you are using a carbon scrubber, that will impede the exhaust rate from 10%-30%, so take that into account if you are using a carbon scrubber.

I use the AC Infinity S4 (4" exhaust) at 25%-50% in my 2' x 2.5' x 7.5' flowering cabinet and have two passive 4" intakes. Works great and is very quiet. It can go up to 205cfm, which is nearly 5.5x the space of my cabinet per minute! For your needs, the AC Infinity S6/T6 would likely be best, with a max cfm of 402, which would be 2.3 exchanges per minute or the a6 series with max cfm of 352cfm, which is exactly 2x your space. The S8/T8 has 807 max cfm, giving you up to 4.6 exchanges per minute. This also means you could run the S/T8 at 50% and exchange your tent twice every minute and it would likely operate more quietly than the S/T6 at max, worth considering if noise is an issue for you.

I don't find any of the features for the T series (smart controller) models' features to be very useful. You don't really want your exhaust only triggering when humidity or temp gets too high; you want it running all the time. They could be useful as a secondary exhaust to help control conditions, but there is no need for it as a primary exhaust. The A-series are the T-series with a lower cfm.

I have never found the need for active intake for the smaller grows that I and most hobbyists run and balancing the intake/outtake seems unnecessary for most hobbyist systems. It's another point of failure to contend with and the less points of failure you can deal with, the easier everything will be. I find circulatory air to be much more important, especially down by the medium. For soil and coco, dampness invites fungal growth and fungal gnats. For hydro, it's really easy for mold to build around the base and especially so if you use foam pucks.

For my flowering chamber, I have 2x 6" fans blowing down onto the canopy and 1x 6" fan constantly blowing at the the base stem where it comes out of my DWC tote. For my mother/clone chamber, which is only 4' tall, I have 2x 6" fans blowing across the pots of soil to discourage fungus and gnats and nothing blowing on top of the canopy.
 
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Newty

Newty

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I don't find any of the features for the T series (smart controller) models' features to be very useful. You don't really want your exhaust only triggering when humidity or temp gets too high; you want it running all the time. They could be useful as a secondary exhaust to help control conditions, but there is no need for it as a primary exhaust. The A-series are the T-series with a lower cfm..
Mine never shut off, the trick is to never set your minimum fan speed to 0, it will run 24/7 and the triggers will increase or decrease fan speed. So my minimum fan speed is 3 so it will run at 3 24/7, if it hits my set trigger then it will increase to 4, if it hits the next trigger it will increase to 5 and when it drops below triggers it will decrease and run at 3 again until a trigger is tripped again.

I like to go bigger with exhaust and intakes, they tend to be quieter because you don't have to run them as fast. Same cfm going through a smaller hole is going to increase noise compared to same cfm through a bigger hole. I also think running a bigger fan at 25% power compared to a smaller fan at 40% power is going to increase the life of the fan because you're running it further from its max capacity which will cause less stress on parts.

I like running intakes because it gives me greater control. I can also put intake ducts closer to humidifiers, heaters, and air conditioners which makes faster changes to the tent environment.

T and S series are the same, T comes with Controller. S series does not. The A series is a value fan, lower cfm and components little cheaper.
 
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