PC Grow Box - Heat Problems

[Willintheabyss]

Hi All

Finished building a PC grow box, it has 1 large outtake fan (120mm) and 2 x (80mm) intake fans. the box has a 200w dual spec CFL and the inside is lined with cardboard covered with reflective material - its the real deal and has taken us ages to research, source products, wire up etc. Im not a big smoker I would be happy with 1oz every 3/4 months from it

Anyway I have just run some temp and humidity tests before starting a grow and it seems the temperature tops out at about 31.5-32 Degrees!!!!

This is miles to high, I am trying to achieve 25-29 - It seems any more than 30 and you will kill the plants. Problem is the whole thing is wired up and fully built - so I don't want to completely rip it apart to add an extra fan that may not actually fix the situation.

How can I reduce the temperature in this thing through minor adjustments?

Cheers

[Sparrow]

You could try hooking it up in a cooler part of your house, loft maybe?

[Willintheabyss]

good idea, its not actually going to be kept at my house so we may experience cooler temps in a different location but still need to drop by at least 3 degrees - is this possible in just a different house round the corner?

[Sparrow]

Maybe look at how good the ventilation is in the overall room aswell to try and stop re circulating hot air. Cant really see that having much of an effect unless the rooms a good bit bigger and even at that I wouldnt think itd be a massive difference. Try the loft area or improving the ventilation in the room is what ide go for if I wasnt looking at ajustments to the box

[M_C]

Whilst no expert on PC fans, I would have thought that 2x 80mm fans for intake & 1x 120mm fan for extraction was unbalanced?

[Willintheabyss]

I have 2 basic intake 80mm fans and a top of the range Noctura out take fan that should do the job and it seems many other people use 2x80mm intake and one 120mm outake.

I have put some additional holes in the bottom but actually if I leave the unit on for like an hour the temp actually increases to 33-34 Degree!!!

One of the problems is my 120mm out take fan is half covered at the back so I dont think air is being taken out of the Grow Box to its full potential. I can however without making major adjustments cut additional wholes in the back to improve airflow - does anyone have any recommendations in how to drill/cut into steel (pc case steel)

Cheers

[marque08]

a small rotary tool would be your best bet mate( dremel) if your going to cut it, it will be easy enough to add another fan surly.

[Willintheabyss]

So I used my Dremel and cut off the metal that was blocking my out take fan - it reduced the temp to about 32 but I need to get it to 30 MAX! So today I am popping to pick up a 120mm silent but quick fan and have it blowing onto the 200w CFL bulb as that it causing all this heat I am hoping this should bring the temp down further. Will keep you posted, thanks for help!

[jpsmoker840]

we had same problem, we added another fan on the light. We also lined the sides of our PC with cardboard, we removed the cardboard as the metal conducts heat better whereas the cardboard insulated and that seemed to help a lot.

[dickiefickle]

where are you getting your readings from , the top ,middle lower ? Hard to give advice with so little info . Size of grow area ? Fresh air intake ? Exhaust to outside ? size , type lights ?