# Just a quicky ;)



## Newbud (Jun 24, 2009)

:ciao:  guys/girls just a quick question,,,

The temps are on the up and even with air con and dropping from two lights to one at a time switching between them my air con seems to be struggling.

Its a 9000 btu portable job and has been ok but now the temps are going up its just not cutting it.

Would it benefit from a fresh air supply piped from outside ( window ) directly to the inlet of the air con?

I'm gona have a rummage round for info but i figured if someone could give me a quick answer and maybe a little insight into whats the best way to set up air con that would be most helpful as i feel i'm missing something  

Cheers for taking time to read, heres one on me :bong1: :48:


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## King Bud (Jun 24, 2009)

> Would it benefit from a fresh air supply piped from outside ( window ) directly to the inlet of the air con?


If your unit is a _dual hose design_, that will help.

If your unit is a _single hose design_, then.. :confused2:.. *I think* that would worsen the problem.

Hopefully someone can give you a definitive answer


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## wmmeyer (Jun 24, 2009)

Usually, circulating air from outside would make the problem worse (assuming its hotter outside than inside).  The AC unit is designed to re-circulate the air from the room over the cooling coils constantly.  Each time the air is passed over the cooling coils, it _should _lower the temp a little.  A 9,000BTU is not a very big unit and would probably work best on a medium sized bed-room, for example.  If the room you're trying to cool is pretty large, it might be that ya just don't have enough horsepower in the unit.  

Check the filters inside the unit to make sure they're clean, dust-free, etc.  It might be that, if its an older unit, that some freon has leaked out.  Takes a special set of gauges to check it, so if ya have some friends in the A/C repair business, hit 'em up for a check and re-charge on the freon.  

If its a window-type A/C unit, there should be a flap inside to either allow outside air to circulate inside or shut off the outside air, and just recirculate inside air.  If there is a knob on the front that says something to the effect of outside/inside air circulation, make sure ya have inside selected.  

Hope ya can make some sense out of all that.  Hopefully this heat wave we got going on will break up pretty soon.


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## Newbud (Jun 24, 2009)

Its got an outlet pipe for, well the outlet lol and it just draws air through a filter on the back, its a free standing jobby on wheels.

What i carn't seem to determine is: If i supply cool air ( run a pipe from window and have it blowing fresh air onto the back/inlet/filter of the unit ) to the air con unit will that help it blow out cooler air _*or*_ will this make the unit think it is cooler and then not work right :confused2: 

It did seem to work better before so maybe it will help cos maybe the ambient temp is too high for it to function right? :48:


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## Newbud (Jun 24, 2009)

wmmeyer said:
			
		

> Usually, circulating air from outside would make the problem worse (assuming its hotter outside than inside). The AC unit is designed to re-circulate the air from the room over the cooling coils constantly. Each time the air is passed over the cooling coils, it _should _lower the temp a little. A 9,000BTU is not a very big unit and would probably work best on a medium sized bed-room, for example. If the room you're trying to cool is pretty large, it might be that ya just don't have enough horsepower in the unit.
> 
> Check the filters inside the unit to make sure they're clean, dust-free, etc. It might be that, if its an older unit, that some freon has leaked out. Takes a special set of gauges to check it, so if ya have some friends in the A/C repair business, hit 'em up for a check and re-charge on the freon.
> 
> ...


 
Cheers fot the reply 
Its a free stand portable job and i've put it in the grow room itself which is only 4 x 4.5 ft.

I used to have it outside of the room and the front/the cool outlet blowing into the room ( i cut a square in the sheeting and sealed the sheeting to it ) but then it seemed to strugle more, probably cos it was trying to cool the outer room.

Oh and it new so it *should* be fine.


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## King Bud (Jun 24, 2009)

Is the outside air cooler than your grow room temperature?
If so, I think your idea will help it a little.

When you write "strugle more".. do you mean the fan isn't spinning as fast, or is it the cool air not as cool?


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## hanfhead (Jun 24, 2009)

You still want to draw fresh air in.  But don't do it near the a/c exhaust or you will bring more hot air in. Set a intake fan to be on 15 on 15 off or something.


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## Newbud (Jun 24, 2009)

> When you write "strugle more".. do you mean the fan isn't spinning as fast, or is it the cool air not as cool?



Not getting as cool 

Oh and yeah the outside air cooler


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## wmmeyer (Jun 24, 2009)

> Oh and yeah the outside air cooler


 
Ah, in that case, the solution is simple: vent outside air into your grow room, either along with the A/C or instead of it (whichever works best).

Think of an A/C unit in this way: a glass of water represents your grow room, and the water represents the air in the room.  The water is at a specfific temp.  If you drop a cube of ice into the glass, that represents the cooling coils in the A/C unit.  If you stir the water around, that represents the fan in the A/C unit circulating the air.  The water gets cooler cuz of the lower temp of the ice.  However, if you hold the glass under the faucet, and circulate outside water into the glass, the ice cube will never cool the water down fast enough to notice any differce before it is flushed out by the incoming water.  Clear as Mud?  On your A/C unti you should have an air intake and a vent blowing cool air.  Both of these should be isolated to the air in your grow room.  In other words, it should take it air from your grow room, cool it a little and blow it back out into the grow room.  As it takes the air back in a 2nd time, it will cool it a little more, and in a little while your grow room should be nice.  The exhaust is the heat that it has taken out of the air, and that should be vented to the outside somehow.  When you ran the A/C unit thru the sheetrock, did you possibly block the intake vents where the unit is trying to draw the air from your grow room in?  I'm guessing that might be the problem from what all you've said so far.  Sorry to tell you this after you've already done the sheetrock work, but it would work best if the whole unit was inside the grow room, with just the exhaust vented to the outside, and the door closed to the grow room.


EDIT: OK, just re-read your post and noticed your grow room is only 4x4.5.  Good news: with a 9kBTU ya should be able to make ice cubes in there.  Bad news: there isn't room for the A/C unit inside with the door closed, right?  Ya mentioned that ya had it like sitting in the doorway of the grow room and it was working OK?  That might be the way to go back to.  How large is the room right outside the grow room?  If its not too big, ya could set the A/C unit in the doorway and circulate the air in the grow room with the air in the outter room.  It would cut down on the efficiency, cuz you'd be cooling all the air in both rooms, but like you said "It used to work OK".


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## Newbud (Jun 24, 2009)

Hi fella cheers for the reply but as far as 





> but it would work best if the whole unit was inside the grow room, with just the exhaust vented to the outside, and the door closed to the grow room.





> Its a free stand portable job and i've put it in the grow room itself which is only 4 x 4.5 ft.



thats exactly how i have it at the moment and its just not doing the job.
Been there done that thats why i'm scratching round for answers lol.
Gona have to run cool hoods or sumink


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## drewski702 (Jun 24, 2009)

Would it benefit from a fresh air supply piped from outside ( window ) directly to the inlet of the air con?
 hell yeah it would!! my frickin bbq only puts out 10000 btu's!! you gotta get some cool air like a portable ac ($100) to cool those babies. dont blow right on em though,youll dry em out. temperature is everything bro.keep em at 72-76 at night and 80-85 during day! watch your humidiy seedlings and veg at 40-60%


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## wmmeyer (Jun 24, 2009)

> thats exactly how i have it at the moment and its just not doing the job.


 
Dude, ya got me scratching my head on that one.  Its gotta be one of two things: either your lights are putting out some king-kong heat, or there's something gone haywire with the A/C.  If ya hold your hand in front of the output vent on the A/C, does it feel as cool as it used to?  In other words, does the A/C act like its working OK?  

To clarify my cloudy mind: you have the whole unit inside the grow room, so that the air intake on the back of the A/C is drawing air in from the grow room, blowing air out into the grow room, and the hot exhaust is vented outside the growroom?


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## Super Silver Haze (Jun 24, 2009)

get a cooled hood and vent your lights out that same window you want to use for fresh air intake.


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## ray jay (Jun 24, 2009)

If you have an exhaust fan pulling air out, wont that affect your a/c cooling your room?


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## Newbud (Jun 24, 2009)

wmmeyer said:
			
		

> To clarify my cloudy mind: you have the whole unit inside the grow room, so that the air intake on the back of the A/C is drawing air in from the grow room, blowing air out into the grow room, and the hot exhaust is vented outside the growroom?


 
Yeah man thats it word for word, bit of a headscratcher init???

And no it dont seem as cold as it was but it only a few week old.
I bought it off amazon new like. 

I'm pretty handy with DIY, got plenty tools and do pretty much all my own stuff so do you think it would help to open it up and check if the cooling plate thingy me jig is working as it should :confused2: 
Dont really wanna be thinking about sending it back if its just something i'm doing wrong or can fix


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## Newbud (Jun 24, 2009)

Just thought...

The vent pipe that goes out the window for the extraction of warm air from the a/c wasn't long enough so i used some ducting to extend the pipe.
This ducting is only 4 inch where as the a/c ducting is about 6 inch so have had to use a reducer.

Could this reduction in outlet hose diameter be causing an excessive back pressure causing a build up of heat or sumink?


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## Six (Jun 25, 2009)

:yeahthat: I think your on to somethin there...or atleast thats where i would begin...get rid of that reducer and get ya some more 6" pipin.....


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## wmmeyer (Jun 25, 2009)

> I think your on to somethin there...or atleast thats where i would begin...get rid of that reducer and get ya some more 6" pipin.....


 
Yeah, what Six said.  Might just be the culprit.  If the A/C unit was working good, and all of a sudden it ain't no more, its gotta be in the A/C unit.


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## Shockeclipse (Jun 25, 2009)

drewski702 said:
			
		

> Would it benefit from a fresh air supply piped from outside ( window ) directly to the inlet of the air con?
> hell yeah it would!! my frickin bbq only puts out 10000 btu's!! you gotta get some cool air like a portable ac ($100) to cool those babies. dont blow right on em though,youll dry em out. temperature is everything bro.keep em at 72-76 at night and 80-85 during day! watch your humidiy seedlings and veg at 40-60%


He has a portable AC thats what this thread is about.... 80-85 duribg the day?  Not unless your running CO2


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