Design Question (Please Help)

Hello,

Link to Design - http://www.growweedeasy.com/building-an-ultra-stealthy-grow-cabinet

Okay, I found this design an was going to begin it's construction (Well already have), just I'm having a few complications with it. I'm looking for idea's on how to make this possible and work it's best. Any idea's i'd enjoy playing with, and looking into. I plan to use a 400w hps with cool-tube, and 6 inch fan and ducting.

1.) The ballasts location, it appear's to be in an enclosed location in the top. It also states in the read, that there is a 4" opening into fan room for it. In the design/pictures it appear's there is non. And if there was shouldn't there be a intake and not just an opening. Will this work if there is just a 4 inch opening, wouldn't this just create pressurized air space for the ballasts room in turn creating no cooling effect?

2. The Carbon Filters location seems to be at the top and discrete which is ideal. My issue is coming down to push or pull effect on them. I've done some research into this and it seems pulling would be best to get the most out of the filters effectiveness, and to increase it life span. So would it be in my best interest to put the carbon filter into the room instead and pull through the cool-tube and up to the exhaust?

3. Lastly the ducting/venting from the cool tube, would it work better to just have 1 tube to the top venting chamber, and just have a slinky ducking it to vent on the inside to achieve height differentials of the lighting system?

Thank you

Hey dude, as far as I can see the fan would extract the grow and ballast room.
You're right though it should go carbon filter>cool tube>fan.

I'd have the filter at the top of the grow room with ducting to cool tube, then ducting to fan room.
6" fans are hella loud tho, nuthin shady about them!

Thank's for you reply, I enjoy any and all advise. So, I'm still wonder about extracting air from the Ballast room. My concern is If there's no intake for it than it wouldn't work effectively. I've currently got the bottom chamber and top chamber air tight from one another beside ducting which I haven't decided where to attach to the top chamber. I'd hate to put a intake into the top chamber which will now mess with my bottom chamber pressure. Therefore my question and latest Idea is should I just do my venting as Carbon Filter>Cooltube> ducting up to ballast room> than Hole into fan room>Ducting to outside. (With this I'd have the light's hot air going through the ballast room but It be cleaned from the carbon filter yet still fairly warm, would this be okay though?

Also, Shouldn't all my hole and ducting be 6 inch beside my intake hole at the bottom of the grow.? The hole I'm concern with is in the read it state into fan room from ballast room its 4" wouldn't it be best to have it 6 inch to have a continuous flow?

Lastly, any idea's on cancelling some of the sound coming from the 6" fan? I'm concerned because I'm in a shared home, but in the basement... and the top fokes are cool and know what i'm doing, but I don't want there friends and family hearing it going.

your tech is dated

yes the Hid light gets u a steady amount but if u are going hidden the heat caused by it is not worth the money to keep it adjusted to correct temp

change your HID light out for a LED ..............if u are willing to invest u can get a great light that does veggie and flower (switchable)........other wise u can buy a veggie and a flowering LED panel light and swtich it out when needed

the amount of air u were moving to keep it cool no longer is needed.........u just need to do your areas math and get a fan that moves that (lowering your power cost sound lvls and heat made)

LED lights are like a formula they can blend them so for your buy u want to look for
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grow_light#LED

430-453nm .............this is growth u want more of this lightwave in the LED light during growth
642-662nm...............this is flowering u want more of this light wave in the LED light during budding
UV.............................this is good for resins during later flowering little of this is nice but rem to wear protection for eyes
IR...............................this is infer red this makes the plant feel warmth(they will no look lit up just place hand under u feel warmth that is IR) good for both
10,000k......................this is a finisher light used in later flowering
6,000k........................this is anouther finisher

Hello,

The heat in the box is the only element that I'm concerned with , I'm able to deal with it, I'll have a variable controller for the fan so temperature changes shouldn't be to much to deal with. I've heard that it's quieter to run a bigger 6" fan low than, than to run a smaller 4" on high. I am more than willing to invest money into an led system, but my research is still coming up with that the hps lighting will still result in better yields. Although I'm willing to invest into led instead considering I'm forced to scrog grow with such a small foot print of growing space. If someone can come up with an alternative led that compares to a quality 400 watt hps yield and time to harvest than that would be amazing but i'm just not seeing it.

the hid light will only make more if the total watt is higher

i just ran led vs HID
a plant i pull 4 oz out of with a (2 600w hids mh and hps same time same tent) vs 2 led panel 300 w (acutal power use is 175w per light)

my base line is the HID i pull 4 oz of this strain ........60/40 ............60 % hard dence 40% fluffy stuff
the results of the LED were very good i got 3 and half oz from it ...............80/20 80% hard 20% fluffy

the LED did a better job compared to a HID ............the power use was lower and since i was not running a HID i could change out my 400cfm inline for a 240cfm booster fan (lower power drawl and amps )

since your system is small u will get the best results out of something like that LED
LED is good for depth and small areas
HID is good for area of coverage ......but depth they are limited on

if u were something like a 5x5 area a HID 1000w would be the choice for u since it will cover the whole area even a 4x4 with a 600w ..............but that size LED is honestly the better of the choices

some places offer u a 90 day return no ?s asked full refund ..................i would say to buy from one of those ppl and try a Auto seed (78 days seed in ground to stuff that is smokable in your pipe ) so u can get a full test out of the light with in the 90 day limit u can have it sent back at the 82 day mark if u do not like it

Hey, with 1/2 as many watts the Led's yielded 75 percent of what the 2 - 600 watts produced. That's a considerable difference, what kind of led's are you using and brand if you don't mind me asking? Do you have any proof of pictures on that, because those yield differances are so far between each other. I'f I could just fit 400 watts worth of leds into my 2 x 2.5 ft area than obviously I'd have no second thought on hps or led Least with those statistics.

the lights i used was
apollo 300w panel
generic 300w panel

those are the 2 lights i have in my 4x4 tent .......i ordered the apollo the generic light they sent from china and messed up sent 2 to a buddy he had no use for it so gave it to me to fill in the 4x4 more

as for pics i am sorry i do not have any of the old ones(i clean the computer out 4 times a year ).............i just started my system back up i can show u a pic of the one that gotten going (i broke it down for 4 months to see if anyone talked....redid the system )

age........18.5 day old plant ...from seed
strain ....berry bomb auto
soil....... ideal420soil
light....... started under a t5 for 6 days then moved to LED
Feed.........just rapid start rooting 1 ml to a quart ........nothing else soil is super soil

I'm still thinking if I can cool the room a 400watt hid will produce the best yield. Can't see any led lights that can get close to the output i'm looking for. For fan noise I'll just put some egg cartons to outline the walls of the fan room like a ghetto man studio to dampen the noise + rubber to connect it to the wall like in the design read, or maybe just dynomat it lol.

There are far better grow cabs on here in RIU.org

do what u think is best man ..............i am just doing what others did for me

i wish i listened and skipped buying 2500 bucks of extra un needed gear that i have now

this is my last stab at it ..................sit down tonight and gather up all the electrical info ..........run your numbers they are off

your planing on using a 400HPS .............mine was in a 1200w MH and a HPS same time then i cut that in half to 600w 2 300 panels(actual 175w a pannel).......the half once reduction can be account to several factors other then the light(try as i might i am not a lab so varibles are only controlled to a certin point not 0.0 like a lab)..........but the fact that 80% of the buds were tight buds compared to my normal 60%

u can look around a 600w panel a good one is equaled to the same grow power as a 1000w hid ................the only different in the grow is the area of coverage a HID get a better AOE (area of effect) but a LED the light is move controlled and focused light so it get better depeth

your in a tiny controled space with no options of anything bigger so getting the maximum out of it is the goal ..............HID light will not get u as much or as good as a LED ................just for the depth factor (not counting the heat and the power and the sound)


really before u buy have a look ..........LED it is about the lens angle most of them are 120 /90 degrees so when the light hits they are defelcted into those angles to cover the area ..........now the really good makers go one step more some makers assign a lens to each LED and they normally go with 90/60 degrees ................this gives u massive depth into the plant making those fluffier inner/lower buds get more light and live up to the upper buds power and goodness

here is what i learned anyone that knows better correct it lens angles vs depth of useable light
120....................22 inches 24 inches
90.......................32....36....claims of 42
60.......................40 to 60 inches

this is light the plant can use passing tho the leaves getting lower into the plant ...............and this does account for 12 inches above the top cola where the light should be hung

good luck...................i just passed on what others did for me