Grow room smell leaking

I have a 13x5 grow room with 6 plants. I am using a 6" exhaust fan with carbon filter but still having issues with a strong smell lofting through the house. The room is sealed in plastic on all 4 walls and ceiling. There is a ton of suction from the fan that will shut my door to the room. Are they any top notch carbon filters out there? Mine are Vivosun. Or should I bump up to a 8" fan and filter? Didnt know if too much vacuum in my grow room would cause an issue.

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Hi @NotoriouslyAnonymous! I’m not sure that you can ever get the smell to go away, especially depending on what you are growing, just lessen it. I’m sure someone with more knowledge will wander through, but I didn’t want you to think no one noticed your question. I hope you have a great day! :v:t2: :slightly_smiling_face:

Oh no problem. Thank you though. They are Gelatos and are extremely stinky. Just hoping to find a better way to conceal the smell.

@Rye, @MDBuds, @Jared, @Mrb53004, any input here? I don’t know of any methods for helping tone down the smell once your filters and such are in place.

I have used filter on top of filter. You can stack them in tandem so you get more filtration. My filters are OUTSIDE the tent. I used tubing, exiting the top of thew tent (I wanted the top space of the tent for my lights, not my exhaust system, alongside to the exhaust fan mounted on 2 filters stacked. After that, you have to start using deodorizers like Ono, etc.
My wife bought this from Amazon, works pretty good

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What about buckets of charcoal or something? Too much?

You have a fantastic sense of thought. I used to buy activated charcoal and place it about in tin pans. The problem was you need the air to flow though it, It does not absorb enough, even with more exposure.
I even tried placing small fans on the tin trays so the air would flow over the charcoal…still not much help.
I hung bags of it in my grow room, inside burlap. The air circulation worked better than the pan concept

Today, is a good day. A good day for me too…Thanks. Hope all is well with you. UE issue resolved?

This is an excellent idea. I’d probably knock myself out at some point, but it’s worth it, I would think. Only problem is, after an hour, you wouldn’t smell anything anyway.

UE is resolved yes. Thankfully, the hours on the phone got me somewhere. At the end of it, I realized the raging headache disappeared. So, winning!

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Hi, make sure you have enough make up air for your exhaust, if its pulling your door shut? You may be creating a vacuum?

I have created a vacuum in the room. Is that bad?

you just need to find a way to get fresh ,clean make up air to enter your grow space as it is exhausted to properly exhaust some of that odor outside. you cant properly exhaust any air unless theres more fresh air to take its place. I hope this makes sense.

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No kidding. You have to clear out all the yuck and there’s only one way to do that.

Fantastic. I will do this. Makes sense to me. Hopefully this will eliminate my stinky issue. Thanks a ton bud!

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Welcome @NotoriouslyAnonymous. When do you smell it the most, when your exhaust fan is running, or after it stops and is off for a few minutes?

If when the fan is off.
The vacum will actually keep the smell down more than even or positive pressure. If you getting a good negative pressure then check for where it comes in, the intake area, and put a hvac dampner in there, it only allows air in. Make sure all other areas are sealed so you get no other leaks.

If it’s when the fan is on and If all the above is in good order. Add another carbon filter to the end of the out put, so you have 2. The first is in the tent, air pulled through it, 2nd is outside and same air is pushed through it.

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It smells regardless. Fan on or off. Room is sealed with excellent negative pressure. I think I will go the 2 filter set up as you mentioned. I also have a portable ac unit that I had to put a carbon filter on the exhaust of it as well. It has a 6" exhaust vent that carbon filter is connected to. Also thinking of maybe bumping that ac filter up to 8" possibly. The ac unit pumps out a lot of warm exhaust air. The ac I think is definitely contributing to the smell. Again thank you for all of the helpful tips. You guys rock!

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You need to vent the a/c exhaust outside the tent. There are exhaust kits that do not restrict air flow (exhaust side) and can lead to an 8", 10", 12" tube

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Yes the ac is vented to outside the room which is in my basement. It has a 6" exhaust tube coming out of it then exiting the room. I have the carbon filter installed on the end of that tube which is outside the room. Which you have to do because that thing can put off some heat. I also used insulated vent tubing to eliminate all exhaust heat radiating from the vent tube. Dropped the room temp at least 5 degrees by doing so. The exhaust is forceful coming out of the ac. Dont know if my 6" carbon filter is keeping up…

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Sounds like it is time to double up or at least try the charcoal. Activated is WAY WAY more capable of filtering odor and barbecue pit stuff.
You know, if you are in the room, the smell will adhere to you and follow you. Make sure it is not you carrying the smell outside the grow area. When I grew in a LARGE area, I bought a cheap hazmat suit I would chage into/out of. That odor stayed with me and permeated everything. I would leave my grow, get in my car and pray I wasn’t pulled over. Next day, just getting in to the car smelled like my grow room.

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LOL. Man I thought it was just me. I can be at work all day and still get a whiff every now and then. Thought it was embedded up in my nose or soaked into my skin. I try to keep everything separate as far as clothing and such. Folks at work have been talking about pot a lot here lately. I think they’ve been smelling me. I know my phone carrys a stinch from all the pics and whatnot.

That is SOOOOOO FUNNY. I thought the same thing…It was in MY NOSE!