Comments on: Chillaxing with Hydro Innovations – Part 2

By: mike

mike — Mon, 10 May 2010 06:29:52 +0000

hello. did u put ur chiller in a window or where did u put it. what was the lowest temp u could get ur water. i would like to cool 2 600 watt lights – what would u recommend. the reservoir would be inside my house at 75 degree room temp. is a smaller reservoir better. i was wondering how the 1/2 chiller would do with two 8 inch ice boxes.

By: Tim Hell

Tim Hell — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:13:12 +0000

Ken,

The most common reason for hydrogen failure to light is a weak pump. If you are not getting significant pressure at 15′ per the spec of your pump, then the hydrogen will not light. Please see this link: http://www.hydroinnovations.com/pdf/HydroGEN_Guide.pdf. Good luck.

By: Curtis

Curtis — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 00:38:12 +0000

Hi Ken,

The only thing that I can think of is if the power supply isn’t connected or isn’t triggered (i.e. a CO2 Controller turning on the unit).

I have no experience (yet ) with the HydroGEN Pro—only the MiniGEN.

I’ve not had any problems with the MiniGEN. It always fires—always always always—when instructed to by the CO2 Monitor.

I would give them a call. They’ve always provided me with awesome support.

By: Ken Barber

Ken Barber — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:31:28 +0000

Hey Curtis…I have the whole set up from Water Cooled Gardens. Everything is working except the HydroGen. I can’t get it to light. I’ve sent it back to HI once and there was a faulty valve which prevented gas from coming in. So they fixed it and it still doesn’t work. I think I have all the air out of the gas line. Anyway, did you have any problems with this?

By: Curtis

Curtis — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:18:05 +0000

As a followup to adding this second IceBox, I moved the 440 CFM 6″ vortex fan to the end of the chain. Instead of pushing air through the setup, the fan now pulls air.

The walls of my grow room were being sucked in occasionally to the mouth of the fan. Until I find a 7′ long x 40″ deep x 6′ tall (or thereabouts) grow tent, I moved the fan to the end of the chain.

A side benefit of this is, with the first IceBox in front of the reflector, the fins of the Icebox function as a minor air filter to keep out bugs in the reflector. I don’t have that much of a problem, but it’s a nice bonus.

By: Curtis

Curtis — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:56:57 +0000

The water from my 35 gal, before I used a chiller, did not heat up quickly. However, once it got hot, I had to work forever to chill it back down.

Don’t run cold water to waste. Pure evil. That goes against everything we try to do as indoor gardeners (conservation, production density, etc). If you’re able to actively rotate this water throughout your own cold-water house plumbing, then do it. Only use the cold water path or you’ll undo what you’re trying to accomplish and damage your gardening gear.

A 100-gal water res might work in your basement. However, your house heat, if it reaches the area housing your water res, will aid in increasing the heat in your water reservoir.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:18:58 +0000

Thanks for the quick reply Curtis. I was wondering what happened with your 35 gallons, did they heat up really quickly? It stays pretty cool in my basement so I thought I could maybe throw 100 gallon res down there and it might work if I pump it up to the grow room. Maybe not though.

I’ve thought about just running the cold water to waste but that sure is a lot of water, if you go at 300 gph for 12 hours a day that adds up very fast.

By: Curtis

Curtis — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:56:46 +0000

Hi Steve,

No, a huge res of ice water won’t work. Your suggestion there, was the first method that I tried. I filled up my 35 gal water res with ice, then water. I then continually added ice and freezable cool packets (usually for cooling food in gift packages). Huge waste of resources. Didn’t work.

I set my ChillKing at 62 F. I had set it for 55. At 55, I experienced my first issues of condensation with my CO2 generation.

That said, if you live in a cold climate and had a sealed water res sitting outside, I can see how rotating water through that reservoir might work—during the cold months.

Another solution, if you want to avoid a chiller and have access to cold municipal water, is Hydro Innovations’ HydroGEN water valve.

http://www.hydroinnovations.com/product4.htm

The water could come in through that activated valve, pushed by pipe pressure, to cool the IceBox. Where will the warm water exit to? The house water? Well, that will only work as water is drawn into the home and pulled out of the exit spout on the IceBox.

P.S. I don’t work for Hydro Innovations.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:19:50 +0000

Hey Curtis, thanks for doing some research. I was looking into the Ice Box system and I’m glad to see that you’ve had success. What temp do you set the ChillKing at? Do you think it would work to just have a huge res of ice water?

By: Curtis

Curtis — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:47:51 +0000

My next goal will be to swap out my 600W for a 1000W electronic, dimmable ballast setup to see how much cooling the 2 IceBoxes can really do.

The 1000W is a bit overkill for my 3×3x7ft tall grow room, but it will also really put cooling to the test. Stay tuned!