Community Outreach: A 600 Watt project. Help me design.

[ZinksInk]

Hello folks,
I just finished moving into my new space and am going to need a bit of help with my deign. Heres a long introduction I struggled to shorten...

I have been growing with a 400 for a few years now and can get a decent pull. Now im looking to step it up slowly by running a 600.

The goal of this project is to pull as much quality bud as possible, which can be taken to some medical market and support my own needs. This system needs to be designed on a budget. Ideally once a turn key is developed I am looking to expand.

I will be using 600 watts to flower. Other specs need to be designed to accommodate this. I am going to be placing this unit in a closet which currently has sliding doors.

I will have the measurements of the room up later this afternoon. I am looking for any build ideas, once I get a sketch so you all know what kind of room im looking at.

Other restrains include ambient temperatures in the house. I will be using an air conditioner to cool the room. I am in is a smaller cottage style home, that heats up quite a bit in the summer. Ambient temperatures for the last month have hit 75 indoors by 11am with no lights or electricity on inside!

Regarding Noise:
The home its self should be able to handle the noise from the fans and I do not speculate that this will be an issue. I will build a baffle box if required and or use double insulated ducting (aka put 6" insulated ducts on fan then put the 6" through an 8" if noise is still an issue). As always all fans will be suspended when possible.

Venting
Venting to the outside will be tricky... I have a partitioned room which the grow will be taking place (inside the closet).

There is a window on the opposite wall of closet maybe 10 feet away. I am afraid that I will loose a fair amount of air pressure getting turns in the tubing as the window and closet are parallel to each other. Any ideas on this would be appreciated? Perhaps rigged tubing? I hear this is best, is it worth the additional cost?



As always smell is a concern but precautions will be taken with charcoal filters.

Heres a quick recap:
•600 Watt
•A Closet Grow
•Air-conditioner (almost certainly) needed

(Thining about using a 6" Exaust fan as my hood is a sealed 6" unit)

Also, Im looking to get up and running as soon as possible.


I just sold all of my previous gear, so all I've got now is a 600watt digital galaxy ballast and a Sun System reflector.

I was going to get out of the game for a bit, but after a recent move and a falling out with a long time girlfriend of 6 years, my calling is clear. I enjoy the work i do and the satisfaction of running a system from start to finish is unexplainable.

Erb has always been a healthy part of my development and greatly improved the quality of life.

Im looking for any build and design ideas. Ill also be asking for advise once I get some money together for that AC unit. Ive got the basic specs for sizing an Ac unit but will be running this by everyone as I have never included an AC unit in my show.

Thanks,
Much Love

-Zink

 

[TrichyTrichy]

check out the NextGen cmh/hps combo

 

[ZinksInk]

TrichyTrichy: Hmmm... I will loot at NextGen possibly for a future run. I have seen a number of major retailers switching over to the NextGen at hydro shops. I have not really researched this manufacturer and their models. The Digital 400 I was was running in the past was a combo, so i know how convent this can be. I had Lumatek series and worked great.

This round I am looking to set up a turnkey and I will not be swapping the bulb so this is not a concern. I will have a separate area for cloning and the flowering room will be only for flowering. I can easily get clones for a test run so i am looking to get up and flowering first.

I have already have purchased a second hand Galaxy 600 Watt Electronic Ballast along with a Sun Systems - Super Sun 2 Hood. This is a 6" Air cooled, glass sealed unit. I got the ballast and hood for 275. I thought this was a decent price.

Im clearing out my closet now so I can measure dimensions. More soon.

 

[qbert]

I am afraid that I will loose a fair amount of air pressure getting turns in the tubing as the window and closet are parallel to each other. Any ideas on this would be appreciated? Perhaps rigged tubing? I hear this is best, is it worth the additional cost?

You mean rigid tubing? Yeah, smooth hard ducting will be best, as it minimizes turbulence in the air stream. Use as little flexible duct as possible, imo.

Without the noise restriction you can get a nice powerful centrifugal and you shouldn't have any trouble pulling through a filter and pushing it through 10 feet of smooth duct out of the room.

I have already have purchased a second hand Galaxy 600 Watt Electronic Ballast along with a Sun Systems - Super Sun 2 Hood. This is a 6" Air cooled, glass sealed unit. I got the ballast and hood for 275. I thought this was a decent price.

That ballast and reflector are about $185 each on horticulturesource.com + shipping, so yeah that's a decent price. I wish I could get away with 600w, but I can't.

I was going to get out of the game for a bit, but after a recent move and a falling out with a long time girlfriend of 6 years

I think its prudent to say that maybe you should give it a little down time after a falling out. Never know what those ex's will do if it was a nasty falling out. Only you can decide if some down time is appropriate and how much.

 

[Amon]

On the tight budget.. Hmm.

I think I'd just paint the whole interior of the closet flat white for reflection first off. and the inside of the doors if possible, if not, hang reflective insulation throughout with tape to avoid damaging stuff. Looks like bubblewrap and is in the roofing insulation area. works great.

Venting can sometimes be hidden by cutting a hole in the floor that can be reapaired before moving out. Especially if closet is carpeted, pull carpet out and save. If floor is cement, check ceiling. Maybe snake it to line up with a roof vent if there are any. I've screwed mine to sit just inside the lip of a roof vent before and nothing has worked as well since.

Computer fans are great for noise reduction. Also they use much less power. check out some avail at Xoxide.com Wrap ducting with insulation, use thick foam rubber to mount everything to..

During hot summer months I also have to run my 600w light during the night hours to help with sunlight beating on roof.. fighting that while light is on is tuff. 8pm to 8am during summer for me works pretty good.

air tight, those doors will be your biggest problem. Maybe remove them, frame it with 2x4's and just go plastic with a zipper to entering. Just a thought. I am almost done with my umteenth build. I enjoy the challenge each time I move of designing a working system..

best of luck 2 ya

 

[ZinksInk]

qbert: Ill check out the smooth ducting. I've been having this feeling its the way to go. Too much trial and error in the past has prevented me from giving this a shot as it eats up your budget real quick!

On a side note:
The ex should not be a problem. She dumped me, Im moving on, hence the falling out. For me it will be healthiest if we are not friends. We have grown in the past and it has always been medically permitted. Some of her family she is close to is also in the scene so i do not think theres a problem here. Also a few months before, ...when we were together I sold all of my gear. So thats already in the clear. Thanks for the thought...

Amon:
I think I will go with white paint as I have never been able to get the money together to buy what i considered decent reflective material.

I didn't think about how easy it would be to cover up the hole using the carpet. My cottage home is on a raised foundation so this could be a possibility... and could work well with my idea for a window box exhaust. I am still exploring how comfortable I am with drilling a 6- 8" hole in my floor. How would this work? Peel back carpet, use a stud finder to avoid floor joists? Drill? Would a regular hole saw blade be enough to punch through? More details please.....
--------

Wondering if I should commit to a sealed room. I will be running an air conditioner and many people will tell me you need to seal that up for efficiency, however im looking at just using the AC to regulate my ambient temperatures in the home. Like i said im in a 1 bedroom thats kinda a cottage / bungalow style so this seems like it could be feasible...

I have the dimensions for everyone. They are an approximation to give every one a rough idea of what kinda space this is.

EDIT:
THIS WAS THE ORIGNAL PROPOSED SPACE, NOW CONTEMPLATING USING THIS AS TOOL STORAGE AND HANGING LAMP IN THE ROOM TO KEEP IT SIMPLE


The Width of the Closet is 72"
The Height is 90"
and the Depth is about 22"

These are the interior dimensions rounded down by perhaps an inch. If I do frame off the inside I will be doing a remeasure and measuring down to 1/16" before I cut any lumber or order any thing. I rounded down drastically, figuring this would help avoid any issues of gear fitting in. (I do want a little room for play with the design. )

I should probably split the closet into two sections and Frame in part of one section for the exhaust system.

As always, I try and make a design I can break down in 24-48 hours tops.

 

[ZinksInk]

Might just hang the 600 in the room and light proof that with some panda film.
My head is starting to hurt thinking about this construction.

Fresh air could then be vented in though the panda film from the adjacent room where i want to place my air conditioner any ways...

And then vented out through the window in that room....

Sounds simpler... Closet can then be used for tool storage...

 

[ZinksInk]

New plan is to run the system 12/12 starting at 7pm till 7am.

Currently all I have a window fan forcing fresh air into my room, the intake is secure with air coming in from the rest of the house

Today the outside my house temps are slightly above 57 and I am holding a tempature inside my room of 79 degrees.
and humidi at 41%

This is with a 600 watt hps in a room roughly 3.5' x 5'
I will be only using roughly 12 sq feet or so for flowering.
I will be air cooling the hood, however it is not currently setup. Hence, temporarily I have removed the tempered glass. when i get the 6" AC hood setup [i need to buy a fan] I do not think i should have a problem getting my temperatures down to the 70-75 degrees id like my room to sit at.

I feel the air moving in the room... I am almost ready for a test run.

 

[john cutter]

What about hanging the bare buld vertically and growing in buckets around the light? Blow the heat upwards and then just exhaust through the ceiling or out at the top of the door. Pull in air from the bottom of the door.

 

[ZinksInk]

John: thats a good idea, ill do a test build similar to that and see if it gets my temps any lower

Right now i'm also looking at just dropping an 8K BTU Air Conditioner in there which would run 200 bucks new... This would need to be replaced with time, but if it gets me up and running i want to do it. Im just wondering if 8K BTU will cool the 600, assuming this is not going to be air cooled. From what I have read here it should be?

Im looking for the links as how to frame in the box air conditioner.. cant seem to find it, any one got that post handy?


*EDIT: IVE FOUND IT http://icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=95491&highlight=air+conditioner *

 

[ZinksInk]

Damn just lost a post. Long story short the room is now up and running, pretty much dialed in.

Black ( ;-( ) film is sealing the room. Fresh air in is coming into the room from a portable AC, i also have a window fan at the top of the room acting as another air exchanger with one air intake and one air exhaust just to move some of the air around the room. Last night temps were holding at around 70.4, on the top of the table, possible a little lower where canopy will be. This is due to the airconditoner on the floor pointing up at the lamp directly cooling the bulb as i have removed the tempered glass. I call my design a mock sealed room. Its ghetto fabulous

I am going to sprout DJ Short Vanilluna seeds tonight and will migrate updates to a grow journal. I will be floating my seeds to sprout them and then feed them a drop of watered down superthrive once popped. Once more developed and rooted i will be using Natures Nectar Organic nutrients. I am not going for a 100% organic crop as i do not believe superthrive is a qualifier. I will use this brand as it is what i have already stocked and hence its keeping my startup cost down.

Once i do final clean of the room i will post some photos and post the link for my journal here.

Thanks again to TrichyTrichy, qbert, Amon, and john cutter for bouncing all the ideas around. The future photos will reflect a build which incorporated many of these thoughts.

Getting a system up and running is always a source of pride and joy for me. Feeling inspired once again, I look forward to showing and learning from the ic mag community. After lurking for numerous years its time to share and give back to the community what I can.