Smoke Alarm in the Tent

[Bandit420]

really, i think as a community we should do more to raise awareness around safety protocols in this hobby. commercial cats have extensive fire suppression systems simply because they're required by modern building codes.

we should follow their lead, though, because if one loses a domicile to a fire caused specifically because of a grow, it's likely renters or homeowners insurance won't pay out unless the individual can prove they took all necessary precautions (not overloading circuits, alerting and suppression systems being present, proper separation of water and electrical line routing, etc).

Somewhere that all got lost.
I learned a lot about indoor growing from how to grow books in the 90's/2000s and chapter one was always security and safety so when I moved from outside to indoors the first thing to do was run the sparky separate from household currents and not use outlets in the room for anything major like lighting.
Sure it can be expensive but dual 25amp GFCI circuits is worth it and safe and it's ez to build it to code even if you don't get a permit for it.
Next was fire suppression. Seen enough shit like fans, dehueys, air pumps, and power strips scorch and burn up. Luckily no actual fire but plenty of times I've seen a fried plug on an outlet. Power transformer in a dehuey cord melted down and had evidence of fire burn but extinguished itself and was a melted down blob after the fact. I'll never plug in one of those things again and was lucky it didn't set off the fire extinguisher.

One feature I always look for especially in fans is a fused plug. It's ez to see because the plug will be blue. Cheap Chinese made fans are known to burn out at the plug or motor. That simple fuse can save the day from fire just like does for Xmas lights.

Usually the first questions from a newbie is what light to buy and how much yield can I expect. I think we're well past that first question being how can I have an uber safe grow space before I pop my first seed. I don't think it's even considered much if at all really these days. And you can preach safety but more often than not it's ignored. Too much * that'll never happen to me * mentality in heads these days, now tell me how much yield I can expect

 

[Rootsruler]

Opinions?

Amazon.com

 

[Rootsruler]

Sounds quiet and peaceful lol.
Its what my wife and i have talked about doing when the kids grow up and move out. Ive got a minimum of 14 years before that happens

Cherish them. Those 14 years are going to go quick......

 

[Observer]

I sandwiched one between one of the rails on the top. Fire prevention is more critical than a lot of home growers want to admit. Properly rated fire extinguishers within safe range, and alarms are worthwhile investments.

There's these self contained extinguisher units that are super slick I want to get all some point. They're expensive as hell though.

The extinguisher ball things?

 

[Observer]

i stock up annually as well. after living through a house fire, one becomes acutely aware of just how tragically life can change due to fire. better to have and not need than need and not have.

House fire in 2012 lost everything - insurance was cool though, parents got fat checks left and right to buy shit.

Whole experience is surreal.

 

[tobh]

House fire in 2012 lost everything - insurance was cool though, parents got fat checks left and right to buy shit.

Whole experience is surreal.

mine was may of 2015. lost everything. bad day in memory. hella smarter, now though. or hardened. dunno which. trust i won't suffer that level of loss again, though.

 

[Rootsruler]

Somewhere that all got lost.
I learned a lot about indoor growing from how to grow books in the 90's/2000s and chapter one was always security and safety so when I moved from outside to indoors the first thing to do was run the sparky separate from household currents and not use outlets in the room for anything major like lighting.
Sure it can be expensive but dual 25amp GFCI circuits is worth it and safe and it's ez to build it to code even if you don't get a permit for it.
Next was fire suppression. Seen enough shit like fans, dehueys, air pumps, and power strips scorch and burn up. Luckily no actual fire but plenty of times I've seen a fried plug on an outlet. Power transformer in a dehuey cord melted down and had evidence of fire burn but extinguished itself and was a melted down blob after the fact. I'll never plug in one of those things again and was lucky it didn't set off the fire extinguisher.

One feature I always look for especially in fans is a fused plug. It's ez to see because the plug will be blue. Cheap Chinese made fans are known to burn out at the plug or motor. That simple fuse can save the day from fire just like does for Xmas lights.

Usually the first questions from a newbie is what light to buy and how much yield can I expect. I think we're well past that first question being how can I have an uber safe grow space before I pop my first seed. I don't think it's even considered much if at all really these days. And you can preach safety but more often than not it's ignored. Too much * that'll never happen to me * mentality in heads these days, now tell me how much yield I can expect

So you ran a separate power line outside of stock home wiring? What breaker amperage did you use in the main box? Double 30? Did you run liquitight conduit outside the house then into your GFCI or did you actually run wire through the wall?

 

[Bandit420]

So you ran a separate power line outside of stock home wiring? What breaker amperage did you use in the main box? Double 30? Did you run liquitight conduit outside the house then into your GFCI or did you actually run wire through the wall?

It started with an upgraded breaker panel on the back of my home so I could install outdoor outlets and power up a sauna. My home is a mid century build with outdated utility drop so I had to upgrade that to year 2000 specs and hired and electrician to do that. Afterward he advised me on building the outdoor and grow room outlets but I did the work.

But yeah on the back breaker panel, two single pole 20amp GFCI breakers and I ran the wire inside gray PVC conduit.

The conduit is water sealed and buried about 8" deep along side the foundation and wraps around the back of my home to the side where the grow room is located. I think it was around 50' of wire to get from the breaker box to the grow room.
From there, yep drilled a hole thru the house, ran the conduit inside and on the wall mounted a 4 outlet GFCI outdoor grade box so it has GFCI protection both at the breaker and outlets.
These outlets power up my lights, environment control and fans, and air conditioner. One circuit handles lights and the other AC & inline fans.
The only things I have plugged into wall outlets in the room is a couple fans, air pump, UV water purifier & pump, and supplement lights which all together is about 250 watts total.
I don't tax my interior home breakers at all with all the heavy load stuff on it's own circuit separate from everything else.
I built this sparky in 2005 and back then for everything was around $350-$400. And most of that was just because I needed a lot of wire to make the long run but the closer a grow room is to the breaker panel on the back of a house the less it will cost. Breakers were around $75 each and the outdoor grade outlet box was around $25. PVC pipe, elbows, and glue was maybe $30 at the most

 

[2Bad]

Been wanting to install a smoke alarm in the tent and finally got to it.

View attachment 4833View attachment 4832

Great idea Roots...need to get an alarm in mine too.

 

[2Bad]

What about these fire balls.once it gets to a certain degrees BOOM. I opened the grow room door one morning and had smoke coming out of the back of a fan and was alight.the fan would sweep 90 deg then stop and flame would stop then the fan would start up again and small flame inside the unit would appear..that really worried me.I’ve been a slack ass since and had forgotten about it till now.those balls are about 40-60 dollars depending where you purchase them from..

oh shit ..forgot the picView attachment 4954

Wait.. what do you mean by "back of a fan and was a light" i've been paranoid about my oscillating fan lately

 

[tobh]

Wait.. what do you mean by "back of a fan and was a light" i've been paranoid about my oscillating fan lately

i forget who i was talking to, but they mentioned knowing of a grow that got busted because of a dirty fan igniting. definitely something to be aware of, and accept that fans are wear components in setups. there's no real good way to clean them and once those windings get caked with enough dust, they can become ticking time bombs.

 

[2Bad]

Yikes...guess it's time to replace it

 

[tobh]

not a bad idea. if you're concerned about it, just spend the $20 for a new one. cheap insurance man.

 

[GoodShit97]

i forget who i was talking to, but they mentioned knowing of a grow that got busted because of a dirty fan igniting. definitely something to be aware of, and accept that fans are wear components in setups. there's no real good way to clean them and once those windings get caked with enough dust, they can become ticking time bombs.

An air compressor with a blower nozzle gets them pretty clean, but sometimes that gunk is just as sticky as my weed and wont come off with anything.
Thats when i toss them and get new ones lol.

 

[2Bad]

do we think oscillating fans are a bigger threat than stationary ones?

 

[tobh]

An air compressor with a blower nozzle gets them pretty clean, but sometimes that gunk is just as sticky as my weed and wont come off with anything.
Thats when i toss them and get new ones lol.

yeah that shit can get to be like toothpaste once it gets thoroughly mixed with whatever lubricant they use in those things. not sure if it's also some of the insulator burning off the windings that ends up being so damn sticky. regardless, it's nasty shit.

i've recently just started dumping my 6" clip fans and 12" oscillating fans on a buddy that grows mushrooms for his tents. figure a few runs in my tent is a reasonable lifetime for a fan, then he can get a couple months of use out of em before they die from being in 90%+ humidity.

 

[tobh]

do we think oscillating fans are a bigger threat than stationary ones?

any electrical component that has exposed windings like fans do should be considered a hazard with a limited serviceable life. especially given the harsh conditions we run them in. with good maintenance you can extend that lifespan but they shouldn't be viewed as permanent fixtures.

centrifugal fans and blowers are a bit different given how they're constructed and what they're designed for, but any bladed fans like oscillating or clip fans should all be considered disposable.

 

[2Bad]

any electrical component that has exposed windings like fans do should be considered a hazard with a limited serviceable life. especially given the harsh conditions we run them in. with good maintenance you can extend that lifespan but they shouldn't be viewed as permanent fixtures.

centrifugal fans and blowers are a bit different given how they're constructed and what they're designed for, but any bladed fans like oscillating or clip fans should all be considered disposable.

Ya making me too worried now I may just quit after this harvest lol

 

[tobh]

Ya making me too worried now I may just quit after this harvest lol

i mean, let's be realistic -- you could be struck down at any random time by some act of nature. just as in all of life, taking proper safety precautions significantly reduces risk, but you can't reduce risk if you don't know what your threat model is.

 

[2Bad]

i mean, let's be realistic -- you could be struck down at any random time by some act of nature. just as in all of life, taking proper safety precautions significantly reduces risk, but you can't reduce risk if you don't know what your threat model is.

yea but if we count up all the electrical products you need to run a large room or tent it's probably not worth the risk to a person doing it on a budget or that can't afford a safety protocol. I mean i'm def gonna get a fire alarm. I'm a paranoid person.

 

[2Bad]

oooo this one has a spot you can hook it https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Po...MI0bnG_-yi_wIVIfTICh00jQ38EAYYCCABEgIdq_D_BwE


guys how many would I need of these for a 4x8 tent

 

[tobh]

yea but if we count up all the electrical products you need to run a large room or tent it's probably not worth the risk to a person doing it on a budget or that can't afford a safety protocol. I mean i'm def gonna get a fire alarm. I'm a paranoid person.

that's a fair assessment. really, everyone should have fire extinguishers and alarms in their residence anyways. they're kinda like first aid kits -- better to have and not need than to need and not have.

it's not just grow related stuff either, so i wouldn't say you need to be overly paranoid specifically about the grow equipment. shit, a mouse can chew through wires in your walls and your place go up in smoke anyways (that's what the root cause of my house fire was). having healthy paranoia is good, but don't let it consume you. just be attentive to your gear and you'll be fine

 

[tobh]

oooo this one has a spot you can hook it https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Po...MI0bnG_-yi_wIVIfTICh00jQ38EAYYCCABEgIdq_D_BwE


guys how many would I need of these for a 4x8 tent

how tall is the tent

 

[2Bad]

how tall is the tent

I believe 6.5ft tall

 

[tobh]

you'd need two of the 2.8kg balls to effectively protect that tent

 

[2Bad]

you'd need two of the 2.8kg balls to effectively protect that tent

Perfect ty! i'm def gonna get them

 

[2Bad]

Damn I just realized those are only the 1lbs lmao. So if I got 12lbs its gonna cost 140$ is this the best deal you think I can get?

 

[Bandit420]

Here's a video of the Flame Defender I have in my room in case Y'all have ever wondered what it looks like when one goes off..

 

[2Bad]

Here's a video of the Flame Defender I have in my room in case Y'all have ever wondered what it looks like when one goes off..

Yea I like that for sure I just googled for them and saw it only listed on random hydro stores or ebay. I prefer to get on amazon or straight from the company themself . On top of that not sure if it would work for a 4x8x6.5 area what do you think @Bandit420 ?

 

[Bandit420]

Yea I like that for sure I just googled for them and saw it only listed on random hydro stores or ebay. I prefer to get on amazon or straight from the company themself . On top of that not sure if it would work for a 4x8x6.5 area what do you think @Bandit420 ?

Probably be better off with two or just one 12KG.
I bought mine local and last time I was there I remember seeing a few more in the warehouse. Kinda surprised there's not more online. Widely available in the Middle East and Asia though?
I wonder if this is something that got caught up in buyouts of the indoor garden industry and production was cancelled? I know when Scotts/Miracle Grow, AKA Hawthorne, bought out major brands like General Hydroponics, Gavita, Sunlight Supply, Hydrofarm, and others we lost a lot of good products and those that are gone are getting harder to find, usually sitting on a back shelf of a shop somewhere collecting dust.