Stealth Mother Box Build, Please Comment

[Illadelph]

Okay, Got the Light all set up. Only thing now is the front panel/door. Anyone got any suggestions on this? I used mending plates to attach two of the drawer faces to eachotehr, and think that this will work. I will need to go have 2 more pieces of that white laminated particle board cut for me at home depot, because i only have 3 of the five drawers. Would be so much easier if I had all five. I thought I could buy replacements at home depot, but theirs are 5" high i think, an mine are like 6", and they need all be the same size, or else it will look sketch. also, i'll have to put some handles on em i guess. That will be hard, getting the placement right. Hopefully I can find the same handles at HD.

Still looking for suggestions for preventing light from leaking around the edge of the door. I got some V-seal weather stripping, the kind that has a fold down the leanght of it, but am thinking it might not help much because it is white, dont know if I can find black but i'll try. This door really needs to fit as flush as posibble. The whole stealth factor pretty much comes down to the door.

Also still looking for suggestions on how to keep the door tightly closed. Have these magnet things on my TV stand doors, thinking about taking them off and using them.. I hope the magnets will be strong enough to hold the doors weight. Any other suggestions would be great also.

Can someone tell me which type of CFL's are the best for flowering and veging, they dont use the same names with the brand at home depot. There is soft white, bright white, and day light. And if the soft white is not the best for vege, how much of a difference does it really make? Like is it worth it to change them to the other ones?

Also, wanted to make a screen too, because my inside space is about 27wx15Dx30H minus the space that pot will take up. How close to the top of the pots, or bottom of the lights do I want to have the screen? I was going to do the PVC screen, but now think I can just make one completely out of string. A net if you will. I think i have seen this in other peoples pictures, let me know if you dont think it will work.

also, how close can I let my plants get to the CFL's?

 

[Illadelph]

Ok, got the mother fucker built pretty much. It aint pretty, but it'll work. My only problem is I still can't figure out a way to keep the light from leaking around the edges of the door. Tried some Weatherseal stuff called V-seal that is thin and white, but the light just went right through it. Even tried coloring it black with sharpy. Still didnt work. It shoudlnt draw any attention as long as the light on it isnt on. and nobody tries to open one of the drawers So if someone needs to go down there, i can just unplug it.

Also, I did something that I should have just done to begin with, which is turn the doornob to my basement door around so that nobody can go down there. The thing i was really worried about in the first place was that someone will have to let my dog out while i'm at work, and if they happen to go snooping around my house, which they would have no reason too, but you never know, some people are nosey, and if have an opportunity to snoop around when you aren't home, might take it.

let me know if anyone thinks this whole situation sounds sketchy? I'm feeling a lot better about it now that I can lock people out of my basement.

Here is a shot of it with the light off. compared to what it looked like before I did anything too it, and a shot off half way thought the job

 

[ScrubNinja]

I don't know if anyones mentioned it yet, but you want that fan at the top of the chamber - heat rises.

I'm not sure what you've done with the face, it's a bit early here...are all the drawers one piece now and they open out like a regular door or do you have to pull off each drawer face to get in? Anyways, mr micro over on the micro grow forum perfected a light sealing technique using black caulk/silicone and vaseline. Squeeze the caulk out over one of the surfaces, smear the other surface with vaseline, close the door, let set for 24 hours or so. Then open carefully and clean off the vaseline.

I've had leaves burn slightly when they grew into a cfl during veg but nothing critical. Generally it's safe to grow right up close to them although buds are more sensitive. If you want nice tight internodes, put plants close to the lights (as long as temps allow) and if you want them to be stretchier, put them further from the lights

For vegging you need around 6500k which is called Daylight here. For flower you need around 2700k which is Warm White here. I always read the box and look at the "k" (kelvin) rating just to be sure what I'm buying because different manufacturers have different standards but at the same time, it apparently doesn't matter if you get say, a 3000k for flowering, as against a 2700k.

In the tiny case in my sig, I used one 23 watt Daylight for most of veg and was super impressed. This time around I'm running the same, plus a 24w 3000k for a more mixed spectrum. And just because I can.

Hope that helps you in your quest a little. Peace.

 

[Illadelph]

That does answer a lot, thanks. Please stick around as you help is valuable, also check out my Grow Diary for this box.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=90246

 

[Illadelph]

Been a while but i did some more work on this project. Added 4 more lights. 4 or them are still Bloom spectrum because they have one less coil than the veg spectrum CFL's, which were to big to fit in the back against the wall, Although i have the Veg spectrum for the four front bulbs. Had to rip the door off, wouldnt stay shut. Gunna try new hinges this time, and foam weather stripping instead of black caulk for light proofing.




those bulbs get hot!!! I was sweating standing infront of them. Anyone think this cold be a fire hazard? the bulbs don't actually touch anything, but they come extremely close to touching the back wall, which is wood.

 

[stndlghtnng]

Probably not a fire hazard but once you have plants in that little space they may not like the heat so much. I have a similar sized veg chamber with 4 T5s flat against the top. I used a piece of 1/4" acrylic from Lowes held just under the actual tubes with shelf clips. This cut my temps inside the box by about 10F (low 90s/high 80s->low 80s/high 70s) and my mama still grows faster than I need her to. When it's time to change the tubes the acrylic sheet just slides out.

 

[Illadelph]

thats a good ass idea, thanks, I might use that.

 

[mrred]

maybe use a piece of plywood to screw the drawers to it, then add some hindges

 

[Illadelph]

Hey, thanks for the reply.

Thats what my original plan was, but i couldn't find a peice of plywood that wasn't warped. It all has a slight curve to it.

Obviously i'll use hinges, thats what i had on there before but took them of with the door, i'm just going to have to use a different kind. I was checking out all the kinds they had at home depot, dont even get how some of those cabinet hinges work.

Then i saw this really long thin flat hinge that i liked because it is flat on one side unlike any of the others. That pole or cylindar or whatever you want to call it, that connects the two "wings", its flat, so the side of the door with the hinge on it will shut flush to the frame, with no crack or gap, or close to none. I would have to cut it to leanght though, and am not sure if it will fall apart if i cut it, but i'm willing to try atleast.

any suggestions for types of hinges you all like to use?

I'll keep you up to date with any progress, might not work on it again right away though..

 

[greenfarmer]

where did you pick up those light bulb plug in things

 

[Illadelph]

home depot, i originally saw them on here, but they make it a lot easier for those of us that aren't really the electrician type, like myself. Are you just starting out?

 

[Illadelph]

I'm soon going to start using this cab i've been making, riht now its just got a peice of plywood for the door/front. Its not light proof, but its for moms, so I dont have to keep the light out of the cab, but i would some day like to find a way to keep the light in the cab, for a bit of a stealth factor.


As I said, I'm going to try to put mothers in here. I decided since soil didn't work out for me and they say DWC is easier, and thats what I'm used too, I'm going to keep the mothers in these buckets I made. I have a rooted clone already waiting to go in.






2 gal. paint bucket with lid from home depot.
Drill a 3" hole in the lid with one of those circular drill saw blades
Put in a 3" net pot.

Drill a hole for an air hose to go through on the side, near the top (above the water line)
Run an air hose though it, put an airstone on the end
Hook it up to an air pump, the one i have is a 5 gal. air pump
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Add hyrodon and a clone, some water and nutes, and put it in the cab

Stack it on top of another bucket if your plant needs to reach the lights.

 

[Illadelph]

Here it is in action. We'll see how it works out.

 

[Illadelph]

The little lady is complaining about the temps being too hot. Its just a few inches away from the lights, i moved them closer since taking the picture above. What do you think the best way to bring the temps down is. Someone suggested putting a plate of plexi glass just below the lights, using shelf pins, since there are already holes for shelf pins. Doesn't sound like a bad idea, but i'd have to cut a piece out of the sheet of plexi glass becuase my fan is mounted on the insides, and is in the way if i wanted to use that solution.

Do you think adding another fan just inside the box would bring the temps down? or just circulate the hot air thats already in the box? As i mentioned, i think it might have something to do with how close they are to the bulbs, but I'm trying too keep the internodes close together. How far should CFLs be away from the growth tip on a newly rooted clone?

For ventalation right now i have a 4.5" "muffin" fan (exhaust) 125 CFM i believe. thats towards the top, in the top left corner. In the bottom right corner I have a 2" passive intake, with a black PVC elbow over it for light proofing, which is kinda pointless at this point because the front of the cab isn't light proof. Freezer told me to add another passive intake, I think he said you want twice as big an intake as your exhaust. Is that right? But since i have a gap around edge of the door (which isn't even on right now, because i'm trying to cool things down) that that would be enough for now.

As a temporary solution, I opened a window down there because its a little chilly out today, but I am not willing to do that as a permanent solution. Any Ideas?

Right now I'm leaning toward the plexi glass idea, even thought it would be kinda expensive and complicated, because of the whole fan issue. (would have to buy a plexi glass sheet and a cutting tool.) Anyway, we'll see.

 

[Illadelph]

ended up getting the plexi glass as I mentioned, Only ended up costing 10 bucks for the sheet and the cutting tool. Its not a perfect fit, some cracks around the edges and what not, and I think that you probably get less bright of a light coming through on your plants, but it seems to have helped.



Also did something that many people said wouldn't work, but I had to be hard headed about it and try it. No discredit to those who advised against it, but what I did was add fans onto the intake. I figured since thats how my big cab is vented, the one I bought, and it seems to work for it, I'd give it a try.

I got two of these little 35cfm 115V alternating current fans from radio shack. They are like 20 bucks each. Connect their loose wires to an extension cord that was cut in half, using the end with the plug on it. Just splice the wires together any way you know how, the neater the better as always. Anyway, i got this idea from someone else, same with the plexi glass heat sheild idea.

Just finished the install so we'll see if it works. To be honest. The plexi glass alone seemed to make enough of a difference in temps around the plants, but who knows if it would be enough in the warmer months.

So i put one fan above the plexi glass, to get some fresh air around the CFLs. And another one below it, to get some fresh air around the plants. Also, i was theorizing that both would help the exhaust fan suck out as much air as it is capable off, by creating less of a negative pressure chamber.







I doubt if I'll do any more major modifications to this cab, unless something comes up that needs fixing. But i just thought i'd update so that if any newbies come across this thread, maybe it will help them with their building. I have an Endless Sky mother (bigger one) from clone and a soon to be jack herer donor/mother from seed (smaller one) in the mother clone box now. Seems to be doing just fine for them.

Oh ya, and I should mention, the box lost a lot of its stealth factor with that plywood door instead of the drawers, but if you unplug the fans and lights and shut the plywood door, it doesnt draw any suspicious attention. Blends in with the rest of the basement. With the lights on, and glowing through the cracks around the door, its a dead give away. Just thought I'd include that info since the thread title is "stealth mother box build"







Link to tutorial on proper air flow, venting, circulation. I didn't follow it, but if you are building a cab it would definitely benefit you to read this.

Hoosierdaddy's tutorial

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=100823

 

[CFL Grower]

coming along nicely mate.
ive been thinking about chucking in some plexi in my cab to help with some heat issues but know nothing about it. do they just sell it at local hardware stores?

good luck with it all mate

 

[Illadelph]

ya, you can get like an 18" X 24" sheet of it at home depot for like 6 bucks, and the tool to cut it for like another 4. I got the idea because someone on here suggested it, saying that it brought there canopy temps down 10 degrees. Other people said it wouldnt work, and that i needed more square inches of intake to solve my problem, so I did both. I got the idea for the radio shack fans from someone else who said he hung one in the top of his cab blowing on the CFLs, he said it helped his situation too. so what I did was put in the plexi glass, which did seem to keep the plants from getting heat stressed, although i'm pretty sure it makes the light dimmer that reaches the plants. I put an additional intake with the fan on it above the plexi glass, to circulate air around the CFLS, dont think it makes that big of a difference, and another intake in the bottom of the box, with another intake fan just blowing air in, to make it easier for the exhaust fan to blow air out. I might still need to drill some more passive intakes, we'll see how things are next summer with the heat.