1000 watt + silent grow cab build... ideas anyone? EVERYONE??? :)

[NiceShoes]

Hello IC

So I am investigating a grow cab that can hold + cool a 1000 watt light and at the same time be completely silent!!! This is actually my number one concern here because I have the odor thing down... not really... but it's not the big factor...

The gear...

All from HTG ey,
GrowBright 6" Inline Fan & Charcoal Filter Combo (Fan is SOOOOO LOUD!!!)
1000 watt ArgoStar (Ballast can cook eggs!!!)
Cool Tube


I'd like the floor to be 4x4, might stretch it out a couple feet for the filters or whatknot...

If I replaced all the flex-duct work with this DIY DUCT MUFFLER . It would be a hell of a lot of work but would ultimitaly be worth it to have a silent grow box right? I put the 6" Fan inside of a box and stuffed the hell out of it w/ insulation. Did nothing... nadda. The noise all comes from the intake. If I put the fan at the end of everything (filter>cool tube>fan>exaust outside, replace all the > with the diy muffler ) it should be a good set up right and pretty quiet?

If/when I build my box I install studs (2x4 studs) and use the 18" insulation at home depot (on sale!), finish the outside and inside before I hang the mylar or panda film then follow thru with the diy muffler this should all be pretty silent correct?

Everything would be enclosed inside of the box, heat is not an issue, well, let's pretend for now it isnt.

What do ya think? Would this work? What do YOU suggest?

Thanks a bunch guys!

NiceShoes

 

[BlueberryNutz]

what i would do is build a smaller cab next to your bigger cab and place the duct muffler in that one. doesnt have to be anything special, just big enough to hold the muffler and maybe line it with some foam padding or something then do some passive vents on the back.

 

[NiceShoes]

what i would do is build a smaller cab next to your bigger cab and place the duct muffler in that one. doesnt have to be anything special, just big enough to hold the muffler and maybe line it with some foam padding or something then do some passive vents on the back.

What does having a seperate cab for the muffler do? I am asking for knowelage



NiceShoes

 

[cellardweller]

It muffles the muffler..

 

[NiceShoes]

That would be cool but not stealth enough. Thanks for the tip though because it gave me a great idea! Also, all of my ducting will be a duct muffler... What I think I will do is build a box in the top back corner, it will be my exhaust however. The box will contain the fan as well as 1-1/2 to 2 feet of duct muffler ducting on each side.

I'm also considering to build an oversized carbon filter so it will be less restrictive on the intake and any woosh sound will be eliminated. I am not sure if this will actually work, may make it worse by creating more surface area to woosh... Any suggestions?

For the exhaust I want to put a type of filter to collect any fiberglass that breaks from the muffler. I am thinking of building a custom miniaturized filter box like you would have in your home. However it would need to be changed I imagine once a month. It may not work anyhow because it will be at the final section that is 1 or 2 feet from my fan. This may ad additional unwanted noise... ?


Thanks,
NiceShoes

 

[BIG BOY]

just use insulated flex duct. trust me it will just as quiet if not quieter than having the aggravation of building something that will be a pain to make changes to or move around for that matter.

i have use it on all my duct work and it is super quiet.

 

[FunkBomb]

Insulated ducting combined with an insulated/soundproofed box to hold the fan in would be necessary. i think that would be as close to silent as you could get.

-Funk

 

[NiceShoes]

OK, I'll get some insulated ducting and hook it up to what I have now to see if it makes a difference. What would be a good type of wood to use in building the box? MDF?

NiceShoes

 

[BIG BOY]

yeah i believe MDF would be a good choice. be a lot easier to work with than plywood IMO. wont warp or be warped like plywood, well at least as bad.

 

[ThePotanist]

to cut down on funk and noise i would take a big rubermaid dril a ton of holes around the body of it take some wire mesh make a cyclinder the lenth of the height of the can make a hole in the lid the size of a vortex fan u can use some kinda fabric around the interior on the trash can like the matting they use for landscaping then just cover the interior cage with panty hose or tights as all other diy scrubber and then use one of the fan to blow through the unit u can use i think an 8icn reducer on one of the fans then run insulated ducting for ur box to this filter and have a fan also at the light blowing air on the light so your gonna have some air blowing on the light through the duct plus the help of the suction from the fan on top of the trash can. as i think of it now you may need to make the the interior cage out of mesh a little longer then the length of the trash can so u can make some relief cuts and bend them inward and use the tabs to connet the cage to the bottom of the can. now this will take a ton of carbon to fill but with that much carbon i think it would take forever and a day till it needs to be replaced and you can even reuse the carbon by burningover a fire for a while to reactivate it. hope this helps in somewhat for you.

 

[NiceShoes]

to cut down on funk and noise i would take a big rubermaid dril a ton of holes around the body of it take some wire mesh make a cyclinder the lenth of the height of the can make a hole in the lid the size of a vortex fan u can use some kinda fabric around the interior on the trash can like the matting they use for landscaping then just cover the interior cage with panty hose or tights as all other diy scrubber and then use one of the fan to blow through the unit u can use i think an 8icn reducer on one of the fans then run insulated ducting for ur box to this filter and have a fan also at the light blowing air on the light so your gonna have some air blowing on the light through the duct plus the help of the suction from the fan on top of the trash can. as i think of it now you may need to make the the interior cage out of mesh a little longer then the length of the trash can so u can make some relief cuts and bend them inward and use the tabs to connet the cage to the bottom of the can. now this will take a ton of carbon to fill but with that much carbon i think it would take forever and a day till it needs to be replaced and you can even reuse the carbon by burningover a fire for a while to reactivate it. hope this helps in somewhat for you.

Hey I am very interested in what you are trying to say but putting it all together is a puzzle. Could you try to explain it again. Maybe with some periods and paragraphs? I'd really appreciate it bro!

Thanks

 

[NiceShoes]

yeah i believe MDF would be a good choice. be a lot easier to work with than plywood IMO. wont warp or be warped like plywood, well at least as bad.

I was thinking because it has good sound deadening properties. I am going to research this a little bit. I read somewhere there is something better than MDF, it's is a type of MDF with a different type of glue, it uses a composite instead of glue? I am gonna look this up again real quick. I'll post it back when I find it.


Anyone know anything about dynamat besides it's extremely high price tag?


NiceShoes

 

[Snagglepuss]

10,000 btu portable a/c would be perfect

 

[FrankRizzo]

Some people just put their fan in a cooler filled with a bunch of padding. Saves making the box if you can get it to fit where you want it.

 

[inefectualize]

water-cooling :

 

[NiceShoes]

10,000 btu portable a/c would be perfect

water-cooling :

Cooling the light is not an issue. My main concern here is sound. I have the fan in a box already with insulation. The fan operates quiet, the noise comes from the intake/exhaust and it is A LOT of noise...

 

[ThePotanist]

sorry my english is horrible but my ideas are good and my plants healthy hehe and ill try to go by this step by step i have never made this but the concept is that of a huge carbon filter cross with a muffler in 1 unit.

ull need

trash can( 50gal rubermade)
some wire mesh
2 of the vortex fan( the black plastic round ones you get at walmart for 10$)
some pantyhose or tights
possible some land scaping felt
duct tape
some reducers
misc. tools odds and ends.

1. Take youre mesh and roll a cage the diameter of your round fan. your cage should be longer then the height of the trash can. once you have a cylinder take some scissors and cut 3 inchs in about every 4 inchs around the mess. then you can fold these tabs in and duct tape or epoxy to attach cage to the bottom of the can. as a post note check step 5 as u may want to make the cage large enuff to fit the fan inside the cage or to just mount the reducer to it.

2. drill a shit ton of holes on the barrel of the trash can go with about a half inch so u insure plenty of good air flow. use a spray adhesive and sometype of mesh to the interios so ur carbon doesnt poor out on the floor. I think landspacing felt would work for this but im sure theres a ton of materials u could use.

3. use panty hose or tights to stop from flooding in to the center chamber u made in step one. this will help to cut down on the massive amount of carbon you will have to use.

4. fill with carbon. dont know where to get as much as u would need but its gonna be pricy as hell but with this much carbon you can defunk a large scale meth labe for 5 years so for a 1000w grow u may have to change the carbon in 10 years. I had read somewhere you can reactivate charcoal by burning it on a screen over and open fire. hear it releases all the smells it traped but it can then be reused may cut down on future cost.

5. now mount one of the fans u can either use a reducer and set the fan in the reducer and place the smaller end in to the lid of the can and caluk around to seal it. or u can possible tape a fan to the reducer and pull the smaller end out of the lid and expoxy to the under side of the lid this would help to deaden even more noise. from the fan.

what i am trying to say in step 5 is one way or another you want to blow past your carbon to get all the funk out so the fan will have to be blowing out the can. u can mount the fan inside using one reducer and mounting it like that or use 2 reducer and sandwich the fan to make like an in line fan.

6 hook up ducting use insulted duct with as many straights as possble bends and twists wil creat more turbulane and more noise.

7 mount the othetr fan using a reducer to your light

so the hole path would be sometiing like

fan>reducer>blowing on light> ducting> another reducer> Fan then direct in to the trash can or use 2 reducers then in the can but i think interior mount woild help with your ever prevlant noise control.

also you may have to duct tabe around the lid for a good seal and if u can put a secondary screen cage a slighter smaller then the first u can hook up ur buds to it nd then u have a funk free dryer.

hope this is a lil more clear for u.

 

[NiceShoes]

sorry my english is horrible but my ideas are good and my plants healthy hehe and ill try to go by this step by step i have never made this but the concept is that of a huge carbon filter cross with a muffler in 1 unit...
...hope this is a lil more clear for u.

Hey,

Thanks a lot, I appreciate you taking the time to clarify that for me. I did not even know you where telling me about a carbon filter in the last post!


So the two vortex fans will be silent enough as well powerful enough to pull enough air to cool my 1000 watt hps/CoolTube. Just so you know, my 454cfm fan barely keeps it cool enough to touch the tube...

Thanks,
NiceShoes

 

[ThePotanist]

like i said i never built it its just an idea but should work pretty well you may want to use that loud fan inside the can like i was saying to muffle and get ur filtering this way you will get some more suctions and additonal blowing blow from one of the much quieter fans blowing direct on ur light.

 

[kaljukajakas]

Asphalt roofing tiles or mat will work about as well as dynamat. You'll only need to use it if the hum coming off the walls of your cabinet is louder than your intake. The MDF itself is also pretty dense stuff. A layer of dense fiberglass mat on the walls might work better. Commercial fan boxes are built like that as well: the sheet steel is like the MDF, dense and smooth. If you hit it with noise it will start vibrating like a drum skin. Instead of using a lot more steel so it will take more sound pressure (of a lower frequency) to make it vibrate the designers put a layer of fibreglass mat on the inside so the sound will be absorbed and scattered before it hits the steel.

One of the tricks professional automotive sound insulation people use is layering different sound absorbing materials. For example: glue a layer of asphalt sheet on the walls, then glue a layer of dense felt mat or carpet on top of that, then glue on another layer of asphalt and yet another layer of felt. This should work better than an equivalent thickness of either material.

Air is louder the faster it has to move, so if you're pulling air in from the same room as the cabinet then you'd want to have as big of an intake as possible. I'd go for as many 4" holes in the cabinet wall or floor as will fit. Make a row of them in the rear of the cabinet and and fit the holes with say 2-3' long pieces of fiberglass pipe insulation. It'd basically be row of duct mufflers, put a 90 deg. bend in the top and it's a light trap as well. A 48" wide cabinet should fit six 4" ID duct mufflers in a row. Alternatively you could use 2" thick dense fiberglass sheets to build a light trap. Might be easier and you'd fit an even bigger intake in the same space.

On top of that I'd absolutely go for a huge carbon filter with a thick bed of carbon. As big as possible: a flat rectangular tray for the carbon the size of your cabinet bottom and fastened and sealed under the ceiling of the cabinet so all the air is sucked through it after going through the grow space. The entire top section of the cabinet would then become a filter housing (and utility space) if you seal off the cabinet in front and above the filter.

It'd work like this: air enters through the multiple intakes slowly and quietly, is sucked up through the carbon filter into the ceiling compartment and pushed down to the cooltube through a pipe going through the carbon layer, then exiting the cabinet through well insulated exhaust tubing. Thus intakes (and your ears) will be insulated from the fan noise by both the intake mufflers and the bed of carbon. Of course you'd still want to make an insulated box for the fan...

I'd also try to hermetically seal the doors so no noise gets through the cracks. This is why people who compete with cars that have very loud sound systems sometimes lean on their car windows when taking dB readings: unless the car interior is sealed a lot of sound will leak out through the smallest crack (a flexing window glass), making the interior much quieter.

In the end though, even if you use a 2 ton steel safe for your cabinet and fill the inside with goose down, it won't be completely quiet.