new cabinet I built, getting back at it again.

Well I made a post the other day in the grow room design section. I somehow missed this section, sorry for the cross posting, I just figure its more relevant here plus I got some new pics. Anyway, just wanted to share this cabinet I built. I ran a similar setup a few years ago, it wasn't mobile, and I just didn't like the overall design of it. So I improved on what I had, and this is what I came up with. I lurked through my last build, trying to become a little more active.

-Its about 6-1/2 feet tall, 3'wx2'd. I put it on casters so I can move it around if needed. I built 2 separate shelfs/doors. The lower section is for the reservoir and the ducting for the intake. The middle section is for growing (its about 4' tall total). The top section is where the light can fully extended up into, and houses the exhaust ducting. I still haven't finished the trim/stain/paint. But ideally it wont look too out of place, it will likely remain in the garage until the temps start warming up, then I can roll it in the guest bedroom. I also installed some basic cabinet locks.

-The intake comes from the very bottom of the cab, running through a series of dividers in the side of the lower section, coming into the grow space from the bottom. The 1”x18” gap below the power supply. It looks kinda a small, but thats a bit bigger than a 4”x4” square. Anyone have any concerns with its size?

-The exhaust is a 6” 235 cfm fan, it too runs through a series of back and forth dividers before exiting straight out of the top. I need to purchase a fan controller to slow this thing down a tick and hopefully make it a little quieter. I built a housing box for the fan, which is insulated to cut down on the sound. i need to come up with a air filtering solution still.

-I decided to just use one large container to flood. i also added a large 1" drain to the side at the very top, which serves as an over flow. ( ive had the drain line clog, and pump go nuts a time or two.) the regular inlet/outlet are on the bottom, and drop straight into the reservoir below.

-ill probably be looking into a different light setup down the road, my current plan is to just get a 150w HPS bulb, and give it a go. I think I was using a 250w or maybe even 400w before. And, although I have much better circulation this time around, it still got pretty hot in the summer.


I have the nuts of everything in place and ready to go, just a few odd items here and there. I guess thats the basics of the system. I could go on and on, but take a look at my pics, and feel free to give any feedback. Im still relatively new to all this. I just want to get through a trial grow with some bag seed, and then venture into the world of autoflowers, led lights and what not.


-Z

Looks pretty dang good to me !
Similar to what I am doing in my fridge.
Keep it coming !

couple of thoughts/issues after some initial testing;

I was hoping to just flood the whole container filled with hydroton from the get-go. but it all floats up about 1-1/2" (ive soaked them pretty good, and still have an issue.) Ive got some half gallon bags that i think i will grow in untill roots start popping out, then fill the rest of the container around the bags.

and then theres heat. right now its in my garage. during tests the temps outside were in the 50s and temps in the cabinet have reached as high as 82, but should stay in the mid-high 70's. This is with the 400w MH bulb. I plan to use a 150w HPS bulb for flower (the 400w MH bulb I just had around, I'd use a smaller watt bulb if I had one). I'm interested to see what the temps do. Have a feeling I'm going to have to go another route with lights.

I also picked up a fan controller from the hardware store... Its made for ceiling fans (not a dimmer) its a 3 speed fan controller. I wasn't completely sure it would work, but I wired it inline with my fans plug in... And in does. I'll get a pic of the switch later, would like to hear some input.

Other than that just working on odds and ends tonight, will get some pics up later.

-Z

Looks good! Real clean.

I've got a 2'x2' cab in the garage. I took a month break, and back at it as well, as of this weekend. I was running a 200w cfl, then added a 150w hps in the winter. Temps run about 20f deg higher than the garage temp for me with those lights. Good luck! Subbed.

What strains are you thinking? Obviously I'm XXX right now (Blue Dream before). We'll see how she runs. Heard it was a finicky strain to grow. I like the reviews of the smoke though.

Peace!

For the first grow Im just using bagseed... I had some old fem. seeds I was going to use but it doesn't look like they are going germ. Its been 5 days now.

I'd really like to try out the auto flowers... Since doing the whole mother plant and clones requires a whole nother growing space... I'd like to pull at least 4oz out of this, which I think is a good low expectation.... Maybe once I hone my skills, get 6oz +... I just want to get thru this trial grow and see how I do...

heres what i think ill do for growing initially, and as roots spread out, just fill up the container around the bags. this particular brand of pellets just seems to float more than what ive used in the past. :/


also, heres the fan controller i wired in.. i know i should probably just order one made for this. but its for fans, and has been working fine for the 24 hr test run. :/ ill probably just tak a controller onto my next order.

Lookin good

The bags float pretty bad as well... Grrr.. Never had this problem before, going to have to do some research, might need to switch brands....

Anyway. I had to do a little work on the bottom one last time, so I grabbed a shot if the intake, junction box, etc... I ran Romex in the cab, and used a heavy duty pigtail to plug in the wall.

That looks really good. I need to build a new one, I have grown out of my old one. I typically build mine square but this time I think I will try going wider maybe 6'wx2.5'd. I didn't have project for today anyway.

well, i rolled it inside the other night, its just been way too cold out in the garage. plus i think ill be keeping it inside most of the time anyway, so it was good to run some tests... Overall i was pretty impressed, I put it in the guest room. closed the heating duct into the room, and let er go. The house runs around 74* (temps in the room should be a bit lower with no heat pumping in) Temps in the box reached 88* and never saw it read above 89* (this was just the exhaust fan running too)
so i hung a couple circulating fans, one towards the bottom pushing across and up, and the other i mounted just below the light, fanning across the light towards the exhaust.


i also renovated my exhaust system, pretty sure i had alot of restriction with my previous idea. To the hardware store i went; found a 6" plate and a 6" 90* bend, a 6" to 4" reducer and some dryer ducting. Plumbed it all up, and stuffed a lot of insulation in the top section around the ducting. Just need to cut out a board to cover the whole top and it should greatly reduce my noise. Initial testing has seen temps as low as 77*, and seem to reach a high of 82*. Waiting on the lights to come back on for further results. still running a 400w MH bulb.

well Ive been making some changes, and trying various fan layouts. Seems like my temps are going to hover in the low 80's. it will hang in the high 70's for awhile at startup and again when outside air temps start dropping at night. I feel like this would be fine, but summer temps are going to be a little bit higher, which gives me no room for leeway.
-Could run a window unit to keep the room cooler, which really doesnt sound that bad the more i think about it, but ongoing costs $$$.
-Do a 'cool tube' type setup for the bulb (which might also be necessary anyway once plants start running out of room).
-Orrrr... ive spent time reading on these LEDs, and this DIY thread is looking very temping... initial thoughts would be to run the cree cxa3070, 2 3000k and 1 5000k. and just follow the DIY thread here: http://rollitup.org/t/diy-led-grow-lights-with-cree-cxa3070-cobs-and-cpu-coolers.805681/
-I also initially looked at the marshydro lights (400w mars II), which looks like it would cost roughly the same amount, but im under the impression this DIY light would be much better.

I think the LED is the best option, i would hope my current exhaust system would be plenty, and just let the A/C in the house take care of the rest. House is usually kept around 72*-74* Should be able to ride out this metal halide for the rest of veg, and maybe have a LED ready for flowering.

ive been cleaning everything out, and soaking the crap out of these clay pellets... well be re-installing everything after a little more soak time.
anyway, enough reading, heres some recent pics.

I rigged up some semi passive intake fans in a cardboard box, lolol . the fans are old and pretty slow moving, but it actually dropped temps a couple degrees when i stuck it over the intake area. will be making something a little more permanent. Also, put some foam panel on the back of the door.

I think im finally done 'effing with the 'design' and can focus on growing. Just a few more cab. updates.

i picked up another 6" plate and 6" ducting elbow. mounted it on the inside right under the light hood, what a difference. I ended up turning off the fan i had blowing under the light. I guess the fan was just pushing the hot air around the box, now the elbow just sucks the hot air right out. Im going to get some flexible 6" ducting and rig up various mounting points so i can lower it with the light for early stages (ive debated not even moving the light at all, we'll see)
Hoping to just finish out this grow with a 400w HPS bulb. easy, cheap, and not another project. right now temps are averaging about 10* above ambient room temps. Which will get interesting when room temps start reaching 75+. right now its 65* in there, and running like a dream.

I soaked the crap out of the hydroton, and it finally settled down a little. But i think i ultimately just needed more media to get the flood balance right. Well, I got to thinkin... . . why not just mix in some larger rocks to take up space. Somehow i got to thinking about lava rock, low a behold people have experimented with it in the hydro world, and many soil growers mix it in as well. So i washed it all the best i could. Added 10 good handfulls, mixed it about, now i have virtually no shifting/floating during flood times.

so my process for seeding;
soak seeds in water, 6-12 hours.
I use the paper towel method in a little plastic sandwich container, poke holes in the top. set it on top of my cable box, cover with towel, and wait till they pop out about 1/2 inch.
take a rapid rooter plug, cut it in half so its not as long. stick seed in rooter plug, and back into plastic container for another day or so.
by now the roots are coming out of the plug. and its time to put it under the lights. *the foil may or may not be necessary. lol
since i cut the rooter plugs bottom off, i just set it on top of my hydroton and lightly press it down a little.
it balances rather nice, and will sit just above the water line. makes planting easy, and the plug will never be soaking in the flood level.
hand water for a few days and eventually the roots will hit the water on their own.
Some of these seeds are doing better than others. its just bag seed, seems like the shells arent shedding like they should.

Just to reiterate, im definitely an amateur at this, just something ive always wanted to do. I work in the landscaping industry, and like to think its a closely related field, lol. And who knows, when im old and cant work out in the field, i can just sit at home and grow weed. From here its all in theory and still in research/debate for me. Ive got dyna-grow/bloom. some GH florakleen and all my PHing needs. also picked up a hannah ph meter and a TDS meter with my last order. Im holding out on my next order until i get a final list.

just typed up some specs if you will. figured id share.

Interior Dimension - 3.8'T x 2.7'W x 1.6'D = 15.8 cu.ft
Inlet area - 14"L x 1-1/2"W = 21 sq.in
Exhaust area - 4" diameter = 12.5 sq.in
Fan - 6" 235 cfm
Light - 400w MH/HPS
Light Sched. - Veg: 4pm to 12pm, 4 hours off
Flower: 4pm to 4am, 12 hours off
Reservoir Cap. - 10 gal. *full
Flood table Cap - 10 gal. *full
Media displacement - 6 gal clay pebbles + 2 gal lava rock
H2o schedule: 4:10pm, 5:10pm, 7:10pm, 8:10pm, 10:10pm, 11:10pm, etc. Skipping an hour every two. Veg; Water for 2-3 minutes each. Only while lights are on. Flowering; same pattern, only when lights are on, watering for 5-15 minutes each watering.

so things have suddenly changed... ive been researching lighting pretty heavy the last couple days, and after a usual session on the forums I went to water and check on things in the box. Seemingly out of nowhere the bulb made a noise, changed to a different hue, and began a steady flicker... after about 5 min of me going WTF, i noticed it was heating up pretty good so i unplugged it. Bulb seems ok, but the ballast no longer seems to be powering on... So i ran to the store to pick up some temporary bulbs... ended up finding some 100w equiv. Cree bulbs, right on! so this is temporary until i figure out what im doing, figure i can also use these bulbs to supplement my lighting in the future. feel free to tell me what to do at this point, lol

Z

Time to build those Cree cxa3070 LEDs you won't regret it

should i get 3 of the 3000k cxa? run those along with these two bulbs to complete flowering? or is there something else i should add to the mix to have a complete array if you will? run them directly across the middle, then maybe offset these two bulbs in the middles.

[QUOTtheE="Zoltan32, post: 11355075, member: 124940"]should i get 3 of the 3000k cxa? run those along with these two bulbs to complete flowering? or is there something else i should add to the mix to have a complete array if you will? run them directly across the middle, then maybe offset these two bulbs in the middles.[/QUOTE]
3 of cxa will way overpower those store bought Cree bulbs , get your cobs ordered from digikey they ship fast, if your going with 3 of them sure make one of them a 5000k ,if only running 2 of the cobs 3000k will impress you

Zoltan32 said:

should i get 3 of the 3000k cxa? run those along with these two bulbs to complete flowering? or is there something else i should add to the mix to have a complete array if you will? run them directly across the middle, then maybe offset these two bulbs in the middles.

Click to expand...

The Cree CXA's not only double the output of lumens versus the bulbs, they also about double the efficiency, so it will take them half the power to emit twice the light of the bulbs...

I think 3x CXA3070 3k's would really rock.....at 1.4 amps....with reflectors, probably helps canopy penetration but the overall light density across the canopy will diminish.....without reflectors, 3 cobs running @ 1.4 amps gives you about 160 watts, while canopy penetration will diminish a bit, but you will have excellent coverage at almost 40 watts/ per sq. ft...

The other thing might be to run just two CXA's but maybe at like 75w's apiece.....efficiency drops a tad when running at 1.7 amps or so, but you could really penetrate your canopy and still have excellent light spread as well....

just for reference....my tiny cab 27" x 19" has 2x CXA3070's and 2x Vero 29 all 3k.....going to be ran @ 500ma, for about 84 watts across 3.4 sq. ft....but only 32" of height.... I would run more wattage usually to give me about 35 watt/ sq ft, but my efficiency is averaging about 50% with all four cobs at that current, so no need

Here are #'s, I received last year from Mr flux
[Even though these are not the 15w versions, still about the same Radiometric effiency...

Led Benchmark says the CCT of the 5k actually tested to 4365K
http://www.ledbenchmark.com/display.php?id=126&name=Cree,+Inc.+9W+Dimmable+DW+Globe


I have been using a mix of the Cree 2700k, 5000k and Phillips 3k bulbs for a little over a year, great for side lighting, will and can flower....

last time I actually weighed, I was averaging .8 grams / watt

Zoltan32 said:

should i get 3 of the 3000k cxa? run those along with these two bulbs to complete flowering? or is there something else i should add to the mix to have a complete array if you will? run them directly across the middle, then maybe offset these two bulbs in the middles.

Click to expand...

your small plants should stay alive under your small bulbs for a few days while you build your cree cobs, but get moving on deciding what direction your going so you dont lose or hurt your plants in the long run, if you want something fast and plug in ready the area 51's or the new 5 watt mars hydro II , in the middle range of watts would rock your grow cab also, but but but, I would go the cxa3070 route for sure if you can do it,