36hbxb-hw first co air handler grow cab!

I will be logging the progress of building my new chamber out of this air handler. I have some other ideas id like to build down the road into this chamber but for now it will be a simple soil grow chamber.
Materials:
-Bath fan~ 3" low cfm
-Small oscillating tower fan ~ need something very slim that will allow me to mount it up with my light to allow maximum foliage space. I need some help finding something very small that will give me a perfect intermittent breeze in a small area
-Quantum light~ I made a post over in the LED section with my dimensions to see what light will be best. I plan on getting the DIY kit.
-Pot~ superroots 40 liter air pot
-Drain pan~ gravity drain to be piped out of the cabinet and over to a bucket that i can dump into my garden
- Air intake filter~ this unit already has a 20x22 rack at the bottom. Perfect because the extraction fan is at the top
-Return and intake plenums~ return plenum will be the base, this will have a louver installed to help light trap the bottom of the unit. it will also put the chamber far enough off the ground to allow me to gravity drain into the bucket. Supply plenum will be big enough to accommodate the light, possibly the oscillating fan, and the exhaust fan.

~~future ideas~~
sealed micro hydro chamber
obstacles include air condition on a micro scale, dehumidification, and water chilling
I was hoping if i do hydro it will reduce the humidity down to enough that the air conditioning unit will keep the chamber dry enough. The problem is i have no idea how you would do air conditioning on such a small scale lol.. this is my end goal to build a fully sealed hydro micro chamber then after its perfected expand it.

here is a cutsheet on the different air handler cabinets. The one i have is the 36 but i will eventually get ahold of a 48 or a 60 and upgrade. This will be a prototype
http://www.republicsupplyco.com/SpecSheets/hbxb-hw.pdf

this chamber could be used to take clones, dry herb or just to force flower outdoor container pots as well. if i didnt want to invest in the grow lights. it could also be made into a mother chamber

So lemme see if I understand you correctly. You intend to take the A-Coil and hot water coils out of the unit and just use the box as a grow cab?

Exactly. This will be the perfect micro box!
The blower and everything too are coming out . I throw these cabinets out all the time because it’s cheaper for us to buy a whole air handler and rip the parts out than to buy the individual parts. For example an A coil cost 100$ less than the entire unit lol

the only thing I’m undecided on is what light (I wanna try doing a quantum kit) and what oscillating fan

A QB kit would probably be good for that space. I am not sure how much distance you need from the canopy to the light.

I have my tent running without a oscillating fan. I bet that with enough exhaust flow you could do without it and save the space. Grab one of those 10 inch vortex blowers from growershouse.com for $114 and set that up exhausting out the top and have passive intakes down low on all sides. Perhaps a speed control like a variac for the blower. I dunno, just thinking out loud.

In such a small space a few pc fans move plenty of air and take up little room.
For circulation I mean, not for extraction.

I posted in your other thread about the QBs, yes a 135 kit is plenty, I mentioned strip builds due to diode density and distance from canopy. However another option would be these

https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/quantum-boards/products/qb120-quantum-board

a four pack of those you can run dimmed down on a hlg240 and wont require heat sinks, the diode count is less dense and you should be able to get them closer than the qb135w kit.
But please note the dimensions. You would need 19"x 22.5" area to fit 4 next to each other.

There are also these
https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/quantum-boards/products/qb132-quantum-board

Again they come in a four pack.

yes the qb 120's were what i originally was interested in
so buy a 4 pack of the 3000k would be good? the options are: 3k, 3500k, 4k
maybe i could tilt the boards at a bit of an angle to fit them in there? I will upgrade to a bigger chamber when i get ahold of it, as much as im interested in the strip lights, I think I'd really like to go with the 120's

the 5 ton air handler is 26 x 24 which seems perfect spacing for four of those boards , might just be a bit until i get one
i like the idea of several passive intakes except the idea was there would be a filter at the bottom of the chamber~ if i did several intakes i would be cutting holes everywhere in the cabinet. I wish they made an oscillating computer clip fan of some sort lol all i can find is mini tower fans. Id really like a tower fan that mounts horizontally

https://www.findchips.com/search/HLG-240H-C2100 does it matter who i buy the driver from or what the amount of pins and stuff is? I noticed there are an A and B version and I really have no clue what im looking at. Im guessing molex connectors, driver, and qb120 kit at 3k?

Nizza said:

the 5 ton air handler is 26 x 24 which seems perfect spacing for four of those boards , might just be a bit until i get one
i like the idea of several passive intakes except the idea was there would be a filter at the bottom of the chamber~ if i did several intakes i would be cutting holes everywhere in the cabinet. I wish they made an oscillating computer clip fan of some sort lol all i can find is mini tower fans. Id really like a tower fan that mounts horizontally

Click to expand...

I used to mount tower fans on bungies and hang them horizontal. That's before I started getting wall mounted 16" fans and mounting them on the ceiling of the tents. Now ive shrunk my spaces down so have gone for multiple pc fans and a couple of oscillating monkey fans.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/173366128915?chn=ps

Nizza said:

https://www.findchips.com/search/HLG-240H-C2100 does it matter who i buy the driver from or what the amount of pins and stuff is? I noticed there are an A and B version and I really have no clue what im looking at. Im guessing molex connectors, driver, and qb120 kit at 3k?

Click to expand...

The A type driver has internal dimming screw under a rubber cap, I think the B type needs a pot soldering to the dim leads to dim it.

Nizza said:

yes the qb 120's were what i originally was interested in
so buy a 4 pack of the 3000k would be good? the options are: 3k, 3500k, 4k
maybe i could tilt the boards at a bit of an angle to fit them in there? I will upgrade to a bigger chamber when i get ahold of it, as much as im interested in the strip lights, I think I'd really like to go with the 120's

Click to expand...

Yes I suppose you could put them on an angle, just make sure you work it out properly.
anything 3k-4k is great all round.

I just thought too you could use two single 288 qb v2 boards and just run them really soft. they are like less than 7" wide and 11.25" long so should fit two in? It would only be a few dollars extra and the efficiency will be higher.

I think then you could possibly get a hlg150 or 185 driver but will have to double check that.

yeah a hlg150h-48a and two qb 288 boards , either v2 or r spec, would work and give you 150w with dimming down considerably available. It would be incredibly efficient.
That's if it fits your cab, which I think it does.
Then in future if you wanted to get a bigger cab you could just upgrade your driver.
I have a feeling you wouldn't need more than an aluminium sheet for mounting if you run them that soft.
But you would need to check that with @Stephenj37826

Ok so i made a picture of what I am envisioning to get a little closer to picking a light

width and length are actually 18 x 21 1/2". I expect this to lose 1" around so realistically 17" wide by 19 1/2 deep cabinet

if i wanted to, i could make the supply plenum on the top a bit bigger to accomodate the 120's

but if your saying for this space the 288s are more sensible for height and everything ill do that. I like the idea of no heat sync and lower wattage for higher efficiency.

the real question i think is, In a 17X 20 room, with 18-12" above the plant, for an 18" thick canopy what is the best option as far as cost/effectiveness for the quantum series boards ?
the entire area it will be in is 45" x 17" x 20"
i have found the oscillating mini fan i want so the last thing i need to buy will be the quantum light! I have those mars 2 300w LEDS which would probably be fine for in there, but i read they suck so im interested in what running some real deal LEDS is like

another question, what type of liner could i use for making the inside reflective? I was going to just use bubble wrap but im also interested in whatever material is inside my grow tents. Anyone got any input on this?

I would spray the main grow chamber in a matt white, that's as good as any reflective material and will protect the surface and make it 100% cleanable and far less prone to mould.


What about filtering on exhaust?

im not worried about filtering my exhaust or the smell. I use an intake filter and keep it on a negative pressure to passively pull air through the base upwards to the exhaust fan
the inside of this cab is lined with fiberglass liner so i was looking for a nice cleanable reflective roll of material that i could buy instead of using reflective bubble wrap like i normally use and going right over the liner because it is glued on

also what are the difference between the v1, v2, and r spec?

im thinking running two of the 288's one @ 3k one at 4k and using two dimmable drivers so i can boost one spectrum or another what do u think??
i just dont really understand the whole deal with the differences of r spec and the v1 and v2s

The v1 are the originals and use lm561c diode and the v2 uses lm301b there Is a small difference in efficiency. Like a couple of %
The R spec is brand new and has added Osram 660nm diodes for a deep red boost for flowering.

The v1 are only available currently in 5k which has a big peak in blue but the amount of red the 4k or 3k has.

For the sake of running them without a heat sink you could use a hlg60h-48a per board giving you 120w total in flower which is enough for anything 24x24" or less.
If you went with b drivers you could have an external dimming pot mounted externally on the cab if you wanted.

If the fiberglass is soft insulation you could just either wrap it in panda film, black one side white on other.

Are you going to use an inline carbon filter or is odor not an issue?

@Nizza I checked with Stephen from HLG, you can run the 288 boards at 70w each without heatsink but he recommended mounting them on 1/8th " aluminium sheet.
Personally I would run them more like 60w each.

thanks corey bro!
odor isnt an issue here renfro~ a carbon filter will restrict the air flow of my exhaust and make me run it higher speed, I'd like to make this chamber most effective GPW
Im going with the 288's now and two seperate drivers~ One at r spec and one a v2 4000k