Rain?

[roscoe]

foaf has a fc that tends to rain. What is the down side to this and if there is a down side what can he do to limit this other than cycling the air pump on a timer. 30 gal tub, 4 inches of geolite, 3 inches of water, two 8 inch air stones the round ones, 400 watt heater. temps range from 73-80 degrees f. RH ranges from 90%-95%.

[Dr.Hallucination.]

Well the down side to it raining in your FC is living tissue,ie mycelium does not like water directly on it at all,in fact it can kill it.Besides killing it,it is also a great pathway for bacteria.Lots of fresh air,mabee take one of the stones out and the heater as well.I have never used a heater for fruiting cubensis.If none of this works,you could try rubbing some vasaline on the lid of your FC.Hope something there helps you...

[roscoe]

the heater is necassary due to the low ambient air temps (high 40's to mid 60's). using two stones so that i have plenty of fae.

foaf was shooting for some level of automation for this system (lights on timer fae done by air pump & polyfil). if he switched to perilite instead of geolite could he expect rain as well.

[TVCasualty]

It doesn't matter what form of humidification you use, it'll still drip. The rain is just excessive condensation due to the warm interior and cooler exterior of the FC, and will only stop when that situation changes.

[roc]

Prop a rain shield in there... old school pf aquarium had a piece of plexiglass from bottom corner to opposite top corner.

[roscoe]

It doesn't matter what form of humidification you use, it'll still drip. The rain is just excessive condensation due to the warm interior and cooler exterior of the FC, and will only stop when that situation changes.

light goes on in head duh. how close do you suppose the two temps would have to be to keep rain at bay?

Prop a rain shield in there... old school pf aquarium had a piece of plexiglass from bottom corner to opposite top corner.

i would (and may still have to), but im running out of head room and still need a light in there.

[TVCasualty]

Originally Posted by roscoe

light goes on in head duh. how close do you suppose the two temps would have to be to keep rain at bay?

Unfortunately that doesn't work in this case. Making it hotter outside the FC than in will make all the condensation disappear off the sides (eventually). That will also make your substrate's internal temp go way too high since it generates it's own heat, which will always be added to whatever heat is already present. A piece of insulation on the lid might reduce it some, but be careful of letting the temp get too high inside.

[roscoe]

temp outside fc is in high 40's and inside it is 75-80 = rain

if temp outside fc was brought up to say 65 - 70 then substarte temp would not change but would this stop the rain?

[TVCasualty]

Originally Posted by roscoe

temp outside fc is in high 40's and inside it is 75-80 = rain

if temp outside fc was brought up to say 65 - 70 then substarte temp would not change but would this stop the rain?

Wow, surprised you aren't having thunderstorms in there!

The less the differential, the less it'll rain but it also sounded like you could cut back some on your humidification (less water, less geolite).

[roscoe]

well on windy days the doors in his house move as do the curtains. real old and real cold.

Wow, surprised you aren't having thunderstorms in there

stealth is really not an issue, what if he used a small two man dome tent and blankets with tubs inside?

there must be others in this situation what do you guys do?

how do the mono tub guys keep their RH up?

[roscoe]

The less the differential, the less it'll rain but it also sounded like you could cut back some on your humidification (less water, less geolite).

if he did this there would not be enough water to cover the fish tank heater.

[D3M0NX]

sounds to me like hes working to hard on the FC, and needs to relax a little, if you cant use all go with what you need.... heres what i would do......go buy 2 same tubs, put heater in bottum tub and fill with water like a TiT in top tub put perlite and put a few holes near the bottum and cover with tyvek/polyfil..... it does not need to be professional, just has to do the job

[Gloid]

Try putting a plastic sheet over the top of the tub and pulling it up in the middle using a dowel or other rod. Make the incline of the plastic sheet steep enough that the condensate runs down to the sides of the tub and not drip into the goodies.
Clear plastic sheeting is available at hardware stores. There's a type that is used for protecting floors and/or furniture while painting that's very thin, & cheap, but works fine. Or you could go heavy duty and use a clear plastic shower curtain.

[mestophilies]

might try buying a cheap cooler and tearing it apart. Then *stick* it to the side of the chamber for insulation? Other than that bro go with a rainshield. For light cut the top middle portion of the lid off and replace with plexiglass, saran wrap, something clear. Good luck!

[TVCasualty]

Originally Posted by roscoe

stealth is really not an issue, what if he used a small two man dome tent and blankets with tubs inside?

there must be others in this situation what do you guys do?

how do the mono tub guys keep their RH up?

The tent idea is good, and I'm sure would help some.

I use monotubs that I pipe the output of an ultrasonic humidifier into. I've cut out the middle of the lids and covered the hole with window screen then a thick layer of polyfil, which lets excess heat escape and provides more air than the humidifier itself (and no rain!). When I need max rH (like for initiating pinning) I just cover the polyfil with a piece of clear acylic or even some plastic wrap, but I always leave some of it open. And I use an oil-filled radiant heater to heat the whole room up to about 75F max.

Your tubs are up off the ground I hope, and either way they might need less heat if you set them on a piece of styrofoam insulation.