I wanna do a Fridgerator box... the right way...

Ok, I've "googled" refrigerator boxes and designs, and haven't seen a design out there that really looks like its been well executed... I'm learning about air flow restrictions...

I call bull-shit to that, I can do it... WELL...ON A BUDGET!!!

I'm a man of creativity, ingenuity with a Mig welder, 80 Gallon Craftsman Air Compressor and $15k worth of Snap On tools..

Heres the List of stuff I have and have access too, with cost for those of you considering this...
(I "flip" cars for a living so I have ALOT OF SPARE PARTS and I'm a 8 year metal Fabricator and my lil brother's step dad is a 30+ year Tool and Die Man...I'M GOING TO DO SOME DAMAGE TO THIS REFRIGERATOR!!!)

Stuff on Hand
1 - $10 harbor freight Sawzall with a hand full of dull blades found on the floor and in tool boxes
1 - stack of 3/4" 18" x 36" counter top's particle board counter tops ** stolen from work** Free**

1 - 18.6 Cubic foot refrigerator ** Free **
(14.3 cu. ft. fresh food, 4.3 cu. ft. freezer)

1 - High Flow "Squirrel Trap" Industrial fan ** Free **
currently hard-wired (buying a "dimmer" light switch for adjusting speed $5 Menard's)

Boxes of assorted sized pulleys from junk auto parts lying around the garage ** Free **

Free Angle Iron and Sheet Metal ** AS MUCH AS I NEED!!! WHEN EVER I NEED IT** **

The Mayhem Begins Tomorrow morning 10 a.m.

PICS WILL BE POSTED SOON!!!

battle royale. im starting my new fridge tomorrow, just a little project away from the other big ones. Im gutting an old nonworking fridge (free, Craigslist), and putting one 150 watt cfl on the top half with 6 lowryder beneath it, and the same on the bottom half with plexi glass keeping light heat in, and vent it out the back.i figure ill get anywere from1.5 to 6 oz a week. perpetual grow. fun

well i am on the same path as you with the fridge, gonna pick it up sunday. i have a plan so i will lay it out there and you tell me if theres anything wrong with this idea cuz i dont want to screw this up.

i am going to purchase a cool tube for my 400w balast. and using the coil of the fridge i am going to make a heat exchanger that i can pump cool fluid through.

i will run two fans, one in the wall of the fridge and another in the floor of the freezer box.

in the back of the freezer box i will make one three inch intake running out the back of the freezer box using a 90 degree pvc coupler i will run that down the back and to the floor

ya follow

i will make the heat exchanger out of a five gallon bucket and some coils from the fridge. by lining a continuous coil in the bucket flowing cool fluid through them and passing warm lamp air over those coils

heres the idea behind this wacky scheme. i draw low air into the freezer via my long duct, filtered of course. it goes through the freezer and one fan, straight down into the cooltube out through another fan into the heat exchanger and into the lower grow chamber this allows me to use continuous feed air that is cooled to the lower budding chamber thus removing the heat twice. the fact that i dont vent the lower chamber to the outside means i can use heavy co2 enrichment through flowering and not lose my gas to exhaust. in turn i can bring a fresh supply of ambient air in the freezer which i can use to mother at least two plants with flouros. i will use a simple and compact ebb and flow in channel type resevoirs with external tanks and pumps. clones can be propegated in an aeroponics res which i will also construct with a pump and a nebulizer. soo whadya think.

wow all i can say is wow genius....

so far i think i have everything but the fans. i have never used flouros so what should i use in the mother chamber i know what spectrum kelvin and lumens all that stuff but i am not to sure what exactly to use

use the big cfl the 100w 1

the monstrosity that they sell with all the different tubes on it??? it kind of limits my space if that is what you're talking about. i was thinking of getting a shit load of sockets and building a bank of lights above each site.

naw the 1 cfl that uses the mogul socket and they sell em wit reflectors an stuff..or do it how u said either way genius cant wait 2 c da grow.

i think, though i am not sure, that i can set this up to be a 12 to 20 plant site yielding an oz or slightly less per site. two mothers cloned every six weeks. 10 to 20 oz depending on nutes.

not .. genius its actually a really simple and efficient idea and since you run all the air through 8-10 cubic feet of space you never really overpressurize the chamber, should just be a breeze by the time it gets there.

growforfreedom1 said:

i will make the heat exchanger out of a five gallon bucket and some coils from the fridge. by lining a continuous coil in the bucket flowing cool fluid through them and passing warm lamp air over those coils

heres the idea behind this wacky scheme. i draw low air into the freezer via my long duct, filtered of course. it goes through the freezer and one fan, straight down into the cooltube out through another fan into the heat exchanger and into the lower grow chamber this allows me to use continuous feed air that is cooled to the lower budding chamber thus removing the heat twice. the fact that i dont vent the lower chamber to the outside means i can use heavy co2 enrichment through flowering and not lose my gas to exhaust. in turn i can bring a fresh supply of ambient air in the freezer which i can use to mother at least two plants with flouros. i will use a simple and compact ebb and flow in channel type resevoirs with external tanks and pumps. clones can be propegated in an aeroponics res which i will also construct with a pump and a nebulizer. soo whadya think.

Click to expand...

can you draw something like that for me??? I cant picture it in my head, but...I WANNA SEE IT!!!

i cannot wait to see these in action

UPDATE!!!!

day 1 and 2 complete... with ALOT of progress...

Gutted refrigerator,
** made it have a removable freezer shelf for the top and installed old shelve bracketing in the bottom **

All Lighting and Fans wired using old wiring from refrigerator harness ** FREE**

10 rolls of electrical tape ** Free in toolbox**

Mounted and Installed Squirrel fan, Sealed with caulk
** free caulk tube stolen from work**

installed 10 screw-in light fixtures ** Free from dad**
(4 in top 6 in bottom)

** I want 150w or bigger CFL's for vegging, 6500k for vegging and a MH or HPS bulb for flowering, Right???**

Installed Squirrel trap and used the dial switch from the temperature settings for controlling fan speed

Installed used freezer fan **exhaust** in roof of fridge, wired together with squirrel trap on same circuit...

Looking at using one of these for HPS lighting...
comes with multi ballast, a MH bulb, a bulb cover.... and can be wired for 110w and 220w,,,
http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/bfs/954940839.html
((for $10 Bucks I don't see the harm in trying))

Doors all fit, and seal...

Total cost so far : $0

Pics will be up within the next 48 hours...

I promise NO disappointments...

this operation sounds awesome, mind posting some pics?

silkyjohnson said:

this operation sounds awesome, mind posting some pics?

Click to expand...

I would if my contradicting roommate would let me use his damn camera phone...Seems to think grow boxed are illegal and if i post pics up, he's gonna get caught... I'll get pics up... I dying for some opinions on my design thus far...Constructive Criticism is ALWAYS appreciated...

TOTAL COST TO DATE - $0

Progress is at a standstill **Need to actually start buying stuff now**

Doing (4 maybe more ) 23w 6500k CFL's in the freezer

and (6 maybe more ) 23w 2700k CFL's with a 400w HPS
** need a "cheap" HPS bulb, suggestions???**

doing some R&D on how to run a 400w HPS and how to do an "effective" cool tube

** Can I have the tube capped off at one end and have the heat "pulled out" with an exhaust fan or do I need "full" intake and exhaust flow?**

** Has anyone measured how long the bulbs are?**

My brother in-law is a certified electrician ** and a smoker**
He gave me an early Christmas present today...

** a REALLY NICE used 400w ballast thats been wired for 110v, and He's going to rewire my fans and the other 10 light sockets I put in, just to be safe ** FREE - i just need a bulb now...**

I'm at a crossroads though with what style of Hydroponics I wanna run...

I was looking into a DIY DWC using the crisper drawers and the bottom shelf of the fridge for my cups... ** Good Idea???**

** turn the entire bottom of the fridge into the reservoir and fiberglass everything to make it 1 big reservoir ???**

(1) bag of aquarium rocks ** my grow medium(?)**
** FREE, non colored left over from redoing my fish tank**

(2) 5gal buckets with lids ** FREE, from job site**
Can be used for remote reservoir (?)

(1) gallon of Fiberglass resin / fiberglass Matting / and half a bucket of "duraglass" ** FREE, Left over from speaker box project**

(2) "crisper" drawers with the shelf to cover them
** FREE, junk leftover from Fridge**

(1) 50ft "safety orange" "Semi" flexible PVC air hose
** Free, I hated this air hose, it always coiled up and never laid flat so why not use it for something else??**

(3) tubes of Black Lacquer Sealant ** FREE, Stolen from work**

(1) 1/8" thick 36"x45" Sheet of "Plexiglas"
** FREE, Left over From old Race Car**

I KNOW I STILL NEED MY PUMPS ** I'm broke so that explains that...**

pictures soon?

Good ideas/design man. Good luck.

sounds good so far... just keep doing a little every day and you'll make it...

nice thread, I been looking for a fridge grow cuz I came up on a mini fridge and think I can get it to produce at least enough for my toking needs.

if possible try to make the write up basic and not soo confusing (pothead ) so I can apply the same to my minifridge... check it out

hey man have a look at what i made with the same size fridge im going to do a full size fridge soon as i get 1