300w DWC double PC case scrog

[Mr_Micro]

Hey Elephunk!

Sounds like your build is starting to come together quite well. The only concern I'd have is heat, but providing that you have enough ventilation and the ballast is remoted you should have no trouble running a 150 watt HPS in your setup. Worst case scenario you might have to make some kind of cool tube for it or put in a glass or acrylic heat shield with a separate ventilation system for the light, which still isn't too hard to do.

As far as my Co2 setup goes, in some ways it's a little hard to say how much of my yield is from the Co2 and how much is from genetics (since I always grow from seed) but I'd estimate that I get an extra quarter ounce on average when I use the Co2. I only tested this once though, a side by side comparison with two identical PC case growboxes, both with DWC hydro systems and the same genetics, only one of them had Co2 and the other didn't.
If I recall correctly the box with Co2 yielded 8 grams more than the box without Co2 and the buds were noticeably more dense. 8 grams may not sound like a whole lot, but for a PC case grow that can be a big difference.

As far as the fans go, they run 24/7 so I never shut em off. The Co2 system I use is a passive one that needs no pumps or timers, it just produces a constant flow of Co2 into the growbox from a tube positioned in the middle of the top right hand side of the growing chamber. Since the exhaust fan is a few inches down from it on the left side of the case I imagine that the exhaust fan pulls the Co2 across the case as it comes out of the tube, and since Co2 is heavier than air it falls over the canopy as the exhaust fan pulls it across the case. At least that's the theory LOL

But anyhoo... At the end of the day I do feel it was worth it spending an extra $20 on the Co2 system to get a good $120 extra worth of top notch hydroponic chronic out of my grow

 

[Elephunk]

Hell yeah man. I think I will pick one of them up and give it a try.

Oh and I do have cool tubes over each of those bulbs. Unfortunately the ballasts are inside metal electrical boxes mounted to the roof of the case (inside). I did rig up a passive intake for them though so that the 35mm fans connected at the end of the cool tubes will suck air through the ballast boxes, through the cool tube, and out the back. And then I have the other 2 exhaust fans drawing hot air out of the actual grow area. So I'm really really really REALLY hoping it's going to be enough to keep my temperature in check. I'm not holding my breath though.

 

[Elephunk]

Quick update:

The lights are finally on. I have the 150w HPS and the 100w CMH going right now. Eventually I'll change the 150w hps to a 100 or 150w CMH. I just have to get a metal halide ballast for it, but I'm strapped for cash right now. I have to see how the temperatures go which will decide if I keep the box 250w or switch it down to 200w. We'll see.

Anyway, I just have to mount the reflectors to the roof and secure the glass tubes. Unfortunately the adapter for my fan speed controller is busted so I'll have to order a new one before I can get this thing fully finished out. And I'm also still waiting on my 120 CFM 120mm exhaust fans. I'm pretty sure I have enough power to cool this box. Then it's just a matter of dialing in the fans to the best noise/temperature ratio.

I think this thing is finally starting to take shape! Thank god it'll all be over soon.

 

[TORO!]

heh it is funny i was hating on the double case idea until i tried it and it looks normal. I am going to join mine together like that and i got the biggest white tub like that which is the exact width of two next to each other but with more volume because there is no wasted space with tapering in between the two. you should get it too it fits perfectly. i also ordered a 250w HTG HPS light and I am getting a 250w CMH bulb for it and i'm going to put a tempered custom cut glass lens underneath with 4 120mm fans blowing through above.

 

[TORO!]

that cool tube setup looks nice. i was thinking of doing dual 100 or 150 CMHs but it would have doubled my cost with ballasts, sockets, bulbs, and glass. The 250w CMH uses magnetic HPS ballasts so I can use the nice and cheap 250w HTG with one wing reflector that i can adjust to be very flat and low profile. I'll heep the glass like half an inch below the bulb or just low enough to fit 120mm fans.

 

[guest3589]

Nice 'DoubleWide' PC case design there Elephunk. Putting two cases together like that was a clever idea, here in my house every monitor has a KVM and at least two computers.

 

[Elephunk]

TORO!- Yeah man, all good. The reason I got stuck using the 2 ballasts is because I was an idiot and didn't think things through well enough before buying parts. This was when I was still thinking I was going to use 300w as opposed to the 250w. If I was to do this again I would do the same thing you're doing. A single 250w HPS ballast with a CMH bulb. That gives you the option of putting the ballast outside the box and just installing the bulb inside. And yes, either keep a single cooltube or just section that whole area off with a piece of glass.

What you're going to do seems like the way to do it. That's how I should have done it in the first place.

The deal with the buckets... I was originally trying to find one large bin that would fit in the space perfectly, but I wasn't able to find one. In the end I think I actually like having the individual buckets because I didn't want all the roots growing together. With the smaller tubs I'm doing 2 plants per container. If I have any problems it will be isolated to only 1 container and not all of the plants. I dunno, I'll just see how yours goes and make the switch later . It would be sweet to have like 30-40 small clones in one big dwc tub SOG style, but still growing up through a screen so they don't hit the lights.

Expert- Thanks man! I just hope it grows dank nugs for me now.

 

[TORO!]

Yeah gotcha. I got the HTG wing reflector with the ballast and socket/HPS bulb and i think one single piece of glass will work fine for me. your cool tubes are definitely cool though. If I already had that setup I would be running 200w or 300w in matching CMH bulbs to make lighting even. 300w might be overkill though and 200w may be even pushing it too but then again I'm running 250 just for the HPS ballast and standard sockets and parts.

My stuff should get here monday and i gotta work on stealthing this thing out because I can't have anyone knowing i'm growing in there.

There is space left when using the double wide tub but i'm using a normal PC power supply for all of my fans plus i will have my co2, air pump, and carbon filter all in a walled off back chamber behind the tub. I have a cool idea I'm about to post a thread on for cooling small DWC reservoirs that you should check out.

 

[Elephunk]

Just the cool tubes and reflectors in place. I still have to seal up the ends of the tubes so the whole thing works the way it's supposed to.

It might not look like it from the pics, but after letting the bulbs run for about 10 minutes and really warm up... Dude, this thing is fucking BRIGHT. As far as lighting goes I think these buds will grow quite happily. Can't wait.

 

[Mr_Micro]

Ooh very very nice Elephunk! That's quite an elaborate ventilation system you have for sure! Any chance we could get a little more info and pics on how you made the ventilation system of the cooltubes? Like where the intake is coming from and where the exhaust goes? It's a brilliant idea and I'd love to try it myself, but I'm still really confused on how to set up a cooltube system like this in a PC case.

And how are the temps doing now that you've got everything set up?


I think what I'll be most curious to see is how the plants under the CMH grow compare to how the plants under the HPS grow. I still have my doubts about the effectiveness of CMH over HPS so this should be really interesting to watch

 

[Elephunk]

Ask and you shall receive!

It's extremely simple really once you see the layout.

The case I have has a really nice locking door that closes over the drive bays so you don't even see them. Along the sides of the door there are ventilation holes so the fan in the bottom-front of the case could pull air through.

I drilled a 1" hole through the front of one of the drive bay covers on each computer case. Then I just put a piece of PVC tube and sealed up the cracks with foil tape. This piece of PVC fits perfectly into the electrical box I used to hold my ballast components which I then mounted to the roof of the computer case.

I bolted the sockets to the front of the ballast box. Before I did this though I knocked out another one of those precut holes. Once the glass cooltube was put into place the smaller hole in the ballast box was enclosed within the cooltube and sealed up with more foil tape.

So basically I have an isolated inline system that passively sucks air through the front of the case, through the ballast box, through the cooltube, and exhausts directly out the back of the case via the 80mm fan.



I'll snap some pics later tonight and show the parts, but you should be able to get the idea from the diagram.

This is definitely way more elaborate than it needs to be. Like I said, if I was doing this again I would have a single 250w CMH with a remote ballast outside of the case. Then I would simply have to put in the cooltube and drill a hole in the front of the case for the passive intake.

 

[Elephunk]

The case is getting there. I want to say it's about 85% or so completed.

The adapter for my fan speed controller was broken so I'm waiting for the new one to arrive so I can get the 4 fans going. I also have to figure out how I'm securing the carbon scrubbers in place. I think I'm going to build a small box frame type deal they can be placed into. And then to stop the light from shining right through the 80mm fans on the cooltubes I'm going to make a small box with louvers for the hot air to escape from, but no light. Then I think I should just about be finished with the box...My co2 maker is on the way so I'll rig that up when it arrives.

After that I just have to finish the tubs and get the air tubes in there and I'm ready to roll .

Right now I'm trying to decide which scrog screen I'm going to use. I have a 1" grid and a 3" grid. I'm wondering if the 3" would be better because the colas would get bigger. Not to mention being easier to work with. But I wonder if I would yield more from the grid with the 1" squares. Anyone have any input?

 

[TORO!]

hey man my 250w is a little overkill and im thinking of moving it into a small grow tent and then doing a smaller cmh setup in this like you did. i think i want to do one 150w CMH in a cool tube, how do I do it?

 

[Mr_Micro]

Lookin' good Elephunk! I'm still amazed that those lights are running cool, but more power to you man, it's truly impressive!

As far as the ScrOG screen goes, I'd say stick with the 1" grid. It will help you control the height a lot better than the 3" and you'll still get big fat colas shooting up it.

Lookin' great though, I can't wait to see how your grow in this thing goes

 

[TORO!]

I think I want to do one 150w CMH in a cool tube. How do I do it I'm going to put it sideways im tje case unlike yours.

 

[Elephunk]

Thanks mr. micro. I should be starting soon. Just getting all the final little things finished on the case.


Well... Depends how you're looking to go about it and what parts to use. A 150w CMH would require a metal halide ballast so you can get the ballast kit or just buy a security light. Then just put the ballast core into a metal box of some kind that won't take up too much room. I used the biggest metal electrical boxes I could find at home depot. I think they're just about 5x5".

Then you either buy the 14" pyrex baking tube or I was thinking you could go with a replacement lantern globe. Those are probably only around 5-6" long. There are straight tubes or some that fishbowl out. I was planning on trying the lantern globes for my next micro grow cooltubes. I think they would work great.

But yeah... then I guess from there you just figure out how to rig it all up. I designed my system to have a really simple passive intake that ventilated the ballast box and the light.

 

[TORO!]

yeah i have to ell my dual case grow setup

 

[Elephunk]

damn, how come dude?

Would've been sweet to see both of ours going. You can't just keep it for future use? I mean... You put that much money/time/work into building it.

 

[TORO!]

damn, how come dude?

Would've been sweet to see both of ours going. You can't just keep it for future use? I mean... You put that much money/time/work into building it.

people found out. maybe someone here will buy it.

 

[Elephunk]

Well fuck, fuckity, fuck, fuck, FUCK.

I finally received my new power adapter for my fan speed controller. I fired it up with all 4 fans running. Unfortunately my temperatures were holding steady at 91 degrees. So... That means the entire design is basically fucked and needs to be redone.

The cooltube system was working perfectly as far as the passive intake is concerned. The glass was warm/slightly hot to the touch, but you could still keep your hand on it without it burning.

I basically now have to come up with a way to cool the cab down and make what I have work or switch out the bulbs/ballasts. I'm thinking dual 70w CMH for a total of 140w. And if I do switch them I'll mount the ballasts outside of the case this time to further reduce heat. That's something I should have done in the first place, but I didn't.

This licks balls.