Hi everyone I'm penfold

[ecflouri]

Hi ecflouri,

As you know from my threads, I originally had the Ecotechnics kit and I was mucking around with levels and what not ( a trial if you like ) cos it was getting too hot, I was venting too much and wasting the precious gas. I changed controller and sorted ot the heat issues back in early Dec, and at the same time found a new and better supplier. I would say the first 2 cylinders were used pretty quickly with more trial and error dialling in the parameters until I got a situation with less venting. The 3rd lasted about 3 weeks, and I'm on my 4th now.

I have learned to switch off the CO2 when I'm working on them or at any other time that the doors are opened, so I think this 4th cylinder will last a bit longer. if there was a better door seal, I would also probably conserve CO2, but the weight if the 60L tank cases the shelf that it is on to bend slightly - which is enough to break the seal with the door.

Prices and sizes...

for a 6.35 CO2 cylinder ('bout a metre tall) theres a £48 refundable deposit for the cylinder, and each refill costs £24. And they deliver to your doorstep

I could probably make mine last a month or more if I get it right. I haven't any prevoius experience, but I am sure that over 3 months, the £75 worth of CO2 should give more than £75 worth of top bud extracompared to a non CO2 grow.

There's 2 new controllers around worth looking at, much cheaper than my Harvest Master for sure.

1st, we have the SUZAN controller, brought to us via one of our newest members... stbledgrowner
DO a search for it, I like the look of it, running alongside your PC.

The other new controller is the 'Superpro' range, which I saw on HG hydro's webpage.

They both run a grow with or without CO2, at 1/3 cost of the Harvest Master...... dammit!

Okay i'm hearing you... what was the issue with the first ecotechnics controller exactly? i thought they were meant to be good? but tbh I havent done much research into it- i just know it the limiting factor for ECFLOURI.

definately going to consider methods


EASY.

[teetee]

Sorry Penfold for 'jacking your thread...

Don't get me wrong, the Ecotechnics was OK, but in my case it just wouldn't stop venting, so it wasn't dosing CO2 for long enough, and if it did, it would vent it out pretty quickly. It was finding it hard to balance temps in my cab, hence all the venting.
Also it had a light sensor that meant it had to be placed in the grow room (I got around that by getting Godzilla to make a LED light to shine on the sensor) - if you go in to check the stats, you open the sealed environment and lose gas.
Another issue I had was that it did not reduce temps for night times, and it's nice to have a 5 degree or so fluctuation between night and day.
Another problem was that although it measured humidity, it didn't really control it... being able to attach a cheap humidifier to the harvest master, and keep it at good levels of 45-60% in early veg made a real difference.
Finally from an aesthetic point of view, the display on the Eco fan controller was illuminated, but the CO2 controller display was not.

The harvest master, suzan and superpro all allow you to attach lights, fans, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, heaters, coolers, alarms for temp/RH issues or intruders etc).

Ecotechnics have been around for ages, and were once for a long time, at the top of the tree, they keep promising an upgrade, but nothing yet. Also their technical help was rarely in the office to actually help, and rarely answered e-mails. The SUZAN and Superpro are around the same price but control much more, meaning BIGGER BUDS

[AlphaOmega]

Alpha, you got it wrong, seriously wrong...

???? who me? nahhhhhhhhh Im never wrong....