Anti's MicroStealth Cab Design (Dr. Bud Method)

[Hydro-Soil]

That way, I could turn fans all the way down if someone knocked on the door.

Again, 80cfm for close to $100 (if you find it on sale) and at full speed it's silent. Put it inside a cab behind a door and it's totally silent running flat out.

Why worry about not being able to reach the switch before you go to the door. Total silence while maintaining total airflow.

Yes, the little PC fans can work in a pinch but if you're going to use your cab for more than 1 or 2 grows it's definitely worth it to have excellent airflow.

Peace of mind is an extremely valuable commodity and can be had for much less than people think.

 

[Anti]

anti,great design bro!! excellent actually..im using sketchup for my own design at the moment and am wondering how you converted the sketchup file into an image file to be upoaded here

I just got the camera into a position I wanted for the picture and then did "export to image" (or something like that, not looking at it right now) off the file menu.

Easy-peasy.

[EDIT: I think the actual command is something like "export as 2d image" under the File menu.]

 

[Anti]

UPDATE w/pics! Two weeks since seeds were planted! UPDATE w/pics!

UPDATE w/pics! Two weeks since seeds were planted! UPDATE w/pics!

Ok. I promised I'd post some pics when I had something to show.

Here we are on day 13/14/15 from seed. (Plants were potted on three successive days.):

 

[Green Smoke]

anti,great design bro!! excellent actually..im using sketchup for my own design at the moment and am wondering how you converted the sketchup file into an image file to be upoaded here

Click: File, Export, 2D Graphic. It will save the image as a jpeg.

 

[nekoloving]

I've been pricing parts for this build and I found something some of you may be interested in.

Newegg has a a box of (4) Cooler Master 120mm "Silent Fan" PC fans for $12.99 (linky). They don't move quite as much air as the fans Anti bought, (44.73 CFM vs max of 95.22 CFM) but they are quite a bit quieter (19.1 dBA vs 25.5 dBA to 45 dBA for max speed). The real kicker for me is you pretty much get 4 fans for the price of one .

i may have missed this post before - however i recommend buying one of these - the extra money is for the bearings and lifetime and true quality:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...escription=&Ntk=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=


[edit] also for pc fans look at the number of wires - 3 or 4 wires are fine:

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=11&name=Controller-Panels <<--- controller panels - some do some very interesting things, like have heat sensors!

 

[Anti]

Finished watering for 3rd time since planting on day 16. Added superthrive to aerated tap water at 3 drops per gallon. Ph'd to 6ish.

All runts have been moved to left cab. There are more than 25 healthy growing young ladies (we hope they're ladies, anyway) in the right cab. Went to fabric store and bought a yard of black felt for about $4. (It was thick, but easy to breathe through) I have tons more than I needed, but it obstructs air much less than the carbon filter pads I had bought last week for $10 to keep air from spilling out the vents.

I cut the felt down so that it overlapped the vent hole by about an inch all around and then thumb-tacked them in the corners. The result is that I can now run my fans much quieter (Now inaudible within inches) without having a heat issue.

Cab temps are sitting pretty around 72 degrees.

More pics to follow.

 

[Agent-Smith]

Looking good so far! I am still jealous of your sketchup skills....I've yet to be able to design my tunnel on it lol

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Click: File, Export, 2D Graphic. It will save the image as a jpeg.

Don't forget to use Jstrip or some other program to remove the exim data from your jpegs before uploading!

 

[Thundurkel]

Anti, you need to take a look here. Very helpfull ppl on the phone. They;ll mail you a catalog to. You will LOVE these as they will do JUST what youre doing now, but reusable.
http://www.stuewe.com/products/minitreepots.html

Wow!! Those are SO perfect for the DrBud style I'd like to give those a try sometime... Congrats on getting all your stuff going Anti I love the CD case stealthness of it!

 

[Anti]

UPDATE w/PICS! Day 20 from germination

UPDATE w/PICS! Day 20 from germination

Thought I'd give you an update and some pics, and in return I'm asking for your help.

So far, everything seems to be rolling along smoothly AFAIK but I'm not posting these pics to brag. If you see something that looks awry, please say so. Be as specific as you like. If you need a better pic of something to be sure, ask for it. Thank you.

Here's a whole cab shot from today:



Here's a closeup on the left side (w/runts):


Here's a couple of the right side:



Here's the plant that was on the front right of the right side, for detail:




For those just joining us, or for those who don't remember:

Each room is 17"x17" and 23" tall

246w of 2700k CFL per side

Today's temp: 72.1F on left side and 70.2F on right

Total of 30 seedlings (at 20 days from seed) all in vegetative growth at 18/6.

Planted in 3"x3"x8" 32oz half & half containers*, filled a mixture of 33% perlite and 66% miracle grow moisture control potting mix. All plants have been watered via modified submersion method 3 times.

* - 5 plants were planted in 20oz soda bottles to see the difference the container size made.


Anti's modified submersion method:

1. place first plant in a bucket or something (I'm using a gallon milk jug with top cut off) fill the bucket (not plant) with about 1/2 inch of whatever you're about to water with.

(In my case, 5 gallon bucket of tap water that had been bubbling 24/7 for a week with a pump and airstone and about 15 drops of superthrive at 3 drops per gallon. Ph'd to around 6)

2. Pour water slowly over the top of the soil, without allowing any to overfill the container. Because the container is submerged in the water, any air in the soil will be forced to come up through the soil....

3. Continue to slowly water the plant until bubbles stop. Then drain into separate container (to avoid contaminating dunk water) til it stops dripping, giving container a light squeeze to be sure there's no excess water.

4. Grab plant #2 and drop it into the gallon jug w/water. Repeat.

Your thoughts are welcome. I do not intend to feed anything other than water and superthrive to these plants until they start to show me signs that they want it. Everything I've read about using MG is people complaining that they overferted their stuff and they hate MG.... except the people who don't do that and LOVE MG. I bought it because it was the best option I could get cheaply at Home Depot.

 

[Anti]

Personally, I'm amazed by the relative uniformity and health of these plants. I had 4 ak47 beans that I'd been holding onto for a few years since my last grow. I also had an altoids box full of randomly collected "good" bag seeds that I'd come across or friends had given to me over a couple of years. None of these plants are clones. They're all seeds and I doubt many of them share the same set of parents but they're all doing so much better than my last grow did.

For you lurkers who come across this: I highly recommend spending a few weeks or months taking notes while reading the really long threads around here from first to last post. I did that for about 2 months before I even created an account here. Nearly any question I had was raised and answered several times through in several different voices by the time I was finished.

 

[nekoloving]

Personally, I'm amazed by the relative uniformity and health of these plants. I had 4 ak47 beans that I'd been holding onto for a few years since my last grow. I also had an altoids box full of randomly collected "good" bag seeds that I'd come across or friends had given to me over a couple of years. None of these plants are clones. They're all seeds and I doubt many of them share the same set of parents but they're all doing so much better than my last grow did.

For you lurkers who come across this: I highly recommend spending a few weeks or months taking notes while reading the really long threads around here from first to last post. I did that for about 2 months before I even created an account here. Nearly any question I had was raised and answered several times through in several different voices by the time I was finished.

+Rep

 

[AP KUSH]

hey anti great job man K+

 

[cmario89]

Personally, I'm amazed by the relative uniformity and health of these plants. I had 4 ak47 beans that I'd been holding onto for a few years since my last grow. I also had an altoids box full of randomly collected "good" bag seeds that I'd come across or friends had given to me over a couple of years. None of these plants are clones. They're all seeds and I doubt many of them share the same set of parents but they're all doing so much better than my last grow did.

For you lurkers who come across this: I highly recommend spending a few weeks or months taking notes while reading the really long threads around here from first to last post. I did that for about 2 months before I even created an account here. Nearly any question I had was raised and answered several times through in several different voices by the time I was finished.

Great thread anti. i have been lurking around a while and have found your thread to have the most information in one place so thanks alot!!!
If you dont mind i have a few questions to ask you about my build.

I see u dropped the fan controller idea and went with fans that came with adjustable knobs, im interested in the fan controller you were going to get but do u think it would work with ac/dc plug?
http://www.nzxt.com/Download/NZXT_English_Meter.doc

my cab is about 21.5 x 12.5 x 18.5 giving me 2.87 cubic feet and 1.86 sqfeet

since i want to move 14.5 cuft per minute im going with a 80 mm fan
which is a exhaust area of 7.8 square inchs so for pasive intake im going with 7 x 1.73 diameter holes. Is this good enough?

I plan to follow the dr as well with 16+ plantlets /sqft but what would you recommend for watts per sqft and what watt bulb would you go with with heat in mind onlywant to fans (1 ciruclation and 1 exhaust)?

Can you explain what your doing for crbon filtern i kinda got lost?

thanks in advance for the help rep+

 

[Anti]

Doing my best to answer your questions...

Doing my best to answer your questions...

Great thread anti. i have been lurking around a while and have found your thread to have the most information in one place so thanks alot!!!
If you dont mind i have a few questions to ask you about my build.

I see u dropped the fan controller idea and went with fans that came with adjustable knobs, im interested in the fan controller you were going to get but do u think it would work with ac/dc plug?
http://www.nzxt.com/Download/NZXT_English_Meter.doc

I don't know squat about electricity or electronics. That's why I did what I did, which was to use a $15 computer power supply which can run all of my fans with power to spare (and plugs for more fans if I need 'em) WITHOUT HAVING TO SPLICE OR WIRE ANYTHING!

I was super into that controller you're talking about. (It looks so cool!) but based on the whole amateur wiring thing, I figured it was better to go with those other fans. For $11 each, they each do what that controller would've done for a different fan. Also, that controller can only handle 2 fans, so I would've had to get 2 of them and that was just getting too pricey.

my cab is about 21.5 x 12.5 x 18.5 giving me 2.87 cubic feet and 1.86 sqfeet

since i want to move 14.5 cuft per minute im going with a 80 mm fan
which is a exhaust area of 7.8 square inchs so for pasive intake im going with 7 x 1.73 diameter holes. Is this good enough?

The general rule of thumb is to have about twice as much passive intake airspace as you have exhaust space. Without doing the actual math (which I assume you've done) it sounds like that should be adequate.

I plan to follow the dr as well with 16+ plantlets /sqft but what would you recommend for watts per sqft and what watt bulb would you go with with heat in mind onlywant to fans (1 ciruclation and 1 exhaust)?

I'm going with 42 watt CFL bulbs (6 per chamber) and they put out 1700 lumen each for a grand total of 10,200 total lumens in the chamber.

From what I've read, actual sunlight is around 10,000 lumen per sq. ft, but that anything over 5000 lum/sq ft should be able to do the job. Some people will tell you that you don't need nearly that much during veg, but my plants seem to be healthy, so I'm happy to leave it as is.

My cab is ~250w per chamber, and 2.01 sq ft per chamber so that's about 124w per square foot and 5074 lumens per square ft. Seems to be working fine.

Can you explain what your doing for crbon filtern i kinda got lost?

I haven't built my carbon filter yet. Gonna do that this week, as yesterday I came home and there was a slight but distinct smell of yummy weedness in the air. Last time I grew, my plants were nearly scentless until flowering, but these are already starting to smell at day 23 from seed.

Check back here over the next week or so and I'll have a step-by-step with pictures of whatever I decide to go with. I'm considering a couple of different designs... but basically, whichever I go with will be attached directly to the central fan and fit inside the little box that's above the drying room. The fan will pull air through the carbon as opposed to shoving air into the carbon, which is easier on the fan.

RedGreenry has a carbon filter design that looks promising which utilizes two rubbermade containers with the bottoms cut out. I looked for a link but I couldn't find it. maybe someone else here has it.

thanks in advance for the help rep+

I'll try to help anyone in any way that I can... just remember two things:

#1. I'm a newb with notes, not a veteran. I'm a good student, so I can read a thread and tell you who is likely to be talking shit and who is likely to have a good reason for what they say. The shit talkers don't make it into my notes. (Keep in mind that some people who know what they're talking about may have different experiences than others who also know so you can't take anything anyone says as 100% gospel. I have a text file full of notes and I cut and paste into labeled sections (feeding, soil, lights, misc, etc) anytime I read anything that seems worthwhile.

#2. Pass it on to others when they ask YOU.

 

[nekoloving]

hey guys for fans for this kinda stuff if you care about noise and performance keep an eye on htpc builds. [home theator pc]. these are typically built with silence in mind. i'm thinking about a few adaptions based on this and a few case designs i've seen; but anything computer feel free to hit me up

also anti ive got to ask something. i've waited trying to see it in my mind, and i see that the cd bit hides the face of it, but unless its in a spot where the thickness doesnt show wouldnt one wonder wth is inside the big bit?

just trying to figure the `why` its like that. personally i've come to the conclusion in my personal space that a closet is probably the best non-explination area for me lol. either way keep up the awesome work sir~

 

[JackSkellington]

great design +k

 

[Anti]

also anti ive got to ask something. i've waited trying to see it in my mind, and i see that the cd bit hides the face of it, but unless its in a spot where the thickness doesnt show wouldnt one wonder wth is inside the big bit?

Well, this thing recently passed it's first hurdle in real life. My girlfriend told her mother a while back that I was building a CD cabinet. She didn't say anything more than that, but still...

So of course, next time she came by (friday) she asked to see the finished product. And she stood in a room with it and admired it and she did ask why it was so big. My reason is that I have a rather large piece of home theater equipment that is approximately 3.5ft wide by 2.5ft deep and 6" tall sitting on top of it, and that I needed a cabinet that was big enough to support the equipment.

I also said that I just used the extra space in the back to store "clutter."

This was an almost-mother-in-law type and she seemed to buy it all and never tried to look behind it or notice the fans running.

So that's good. It looks pretty natural in it's environment. There's a black computer desk next to it and a set of black speakers and a couple of black computer monitors in it's immediate environment so it fits with the scheme of the room.

If you wanted more stealth, you could easily build something like this but with different shelf spacing and fill it with DVDs and put your TV and DVD player on top of it. My girlfriend wanted it in the computer room, so that's why it was built the way it was.

For more of a "bought" look you could add 1/16" laminate pieces to the top and sides and it would look like traditional cabinetry. You could also USE traditional cabinetry, but I was trying to work w/lil money.

I agree a closet build might be more practical for some... but I want it to be out in the open so that if the landlord needs to get into the closet... no issues.

 

[JackSkellington]

aye anti reading yer thread i decided to switch what i was guna do yer stykle of grow...only probs i have are wiring i kno nuthng about it so do you gotta wire those 6 lights togethor er im knda cnfused on that n fer what you plug it all into...like a power strip?? sry id read the hole thng but i knda cant read fer long wthout sidetrackn so yeea lol but also what all did you buy?? cuz i wna do it almost exactly like yers except maybe a lil bigger....thnx bud yr an excellent student cuz u snd like u got yr shit togethor like a pro..keep it up

 

[nekoloving]

also anti ive got to ask something. i've waited trying to see it in my mind, and i see that the cd bit hides the face of it, but unless its in a spot where the thickness doesnt show wouldnt one wonder wth is inside the big bit?

Well, this thing recently passed it's first hurdle in real life. My girlfriend told her mother a while back that I was building a CD cabinet. She didn't say anything more than that, but still...

So of course, next time she came by (friday) she asked to see the finished product. And she stood in a room with it and admired it and she did ask why it was so big. My reason is that I have a rather large piece of home theater equipment that is approximately 3.5ft wide by 2.5ft deep and 6" tall sitting on top of it, and that I needed a cabinet that was big enough to support the equipment.

I also said that I just used the extra space in the back to store "clutter."

This was an almost-mother-in-law type and she seemed to buy it all and never tried to look behind it or notice the fans running.

So that's good. It looks pretty natural in it's environment. There's a black computer desk next to it and a set of black speakers and a couple of black computer monitors in it's immediate environment so it fits with the scheme of the room.

If you wanted more stealth, you could easily build something like this but with different shelf spacing and fill it with DVDs and put your TV and DVD player on top of it. My girlfriend wanted it in the computer room, so that's why it was built the way it was.

For more of a "bought" look you could add 1/16" laminate pieces to the top and sides and it would look like traditional cabinetry. You could also USE traditional cabinetry, but I was trying to work w/lil money.

I agree a closet build might be more practical for some... but I want it to be out in the open so that if the landlord needs to get into the closet... no issues.

ok i could buy that - some cheap cd case i got at some salvation army or w/e doesnt have doors w/e as long as stuff is on top, yeah _ glad to hear it passed hehe