Pc grow box,with a twist

[Aerohead]

Scrub, you are correct regarding the cooling of my PC case, I have 2 X 120mm intakes at the top front and a large passive in the lower front. The blower fan overpowers the intakes by quite a bit and brings a good amount of air through the passive because I have to clean the filter often. I believe you are also correct that the blower moves so much air it doesn't much matter what I have for intakes.
One important note is that I created a solid wall in the back of the case forcing all of the air to exit via the blower, all intakes passive of not are in the front so the case gets a very strong cross flow forcing the air to move across the canopy. The only reason I am using intake fans is to save prescious cab space. I had to get air blowing on the canopy somehow and mounting the fans inside the case would have taken up a good bit of space. As far as top or bottom intakes, I don't think there is much temp difference from 24" (top of the case) and 2" from the ground.
It's a little easier for me to cool this case because of the PL-L's, The ballasts are external and I only have 1 hot spot in the case (bulb sockets) and I can get the exhaust right on it and get it out of the case without mixing it through the canopy. My thoughts on the 7 fan approach is that it's gotta be very turbulant in there and might be moving the hot air around about through the case before it exits. Fewer more powerful fans give you quite a bit more control of the air flow pattern in the case. Ideally drawing air rapidly across the case and canopy.

Anyway, after all of this, if you can keep the temps aroung 80F you will be fine with that grow for now, that's likely to change during a heat wave though.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Thanks for clarifying, dude That makes good sense

 

[BC Chronic]

Thanks Scrub and Aero...Yeah i guess a 7 fans is pushing it huh? I get what both of you are saying...It has been fun trying it though...I ordered an 1 amp fan to blow at the lights( I am sticking with 7 lights) for now or should I get fewer, 43 watt ones? Fewer big lights would make more sense wouldn't it? I like a cool room anyways no matter what time of year... A/C all the way or at least a fan going ... I live in a house with 2 other people so i will most definately go scrubber crazy ala Sugarbear's thread. Should I cover the 2-80mm intake fans on the bottom? as it is now, the crazy thing is working so should I mess with a good thing or what? I guess going the way Aero and Scrub have both said probably makes more sense in the long run....still going to mess about for awhile anyways to try and make this work efficiently...I really appreciate your feedback so keep it coming...

 

[ScrubNinja]

Well, you only need the carbon filter over your exhaust. Now I think of it, that's another reason for a single exhaust. Don't forget that the amps isn't *everything*. I put a 1 amp fan in my ccfl pod and it didn't do much because it's so low cfm. A 1.5A delta rocked the house though! Even turned to the barest minimum where it was still turning, it still cooled many many times more than the original 1 amp fan on high speed!

Noone really knows your level of stealth required so it's a personal call as to when it's finished. I have never had a cab where I could sit back and say "done". The tent came close but that's cheating. How does it look while running with the room lights off? If the intakes leak light, sure, cover them.

 

[BC Chronic]

Thanks Scrub...I checked out another fan( I didn't like that 1amp after reading up on it) maybe to replace the intake blowing at the lights and its .34 amps 2600 rpm and 114cfm...is that better?I will either take out or cover the 2 80's for intake and the two 80's for exhaust depending on the next test with both adapters working properly to see for sure if i can get the temps down in the 70's.. 80 isn't bad though...pics in 2 days and i promise they will be good...I can't stand those ones I have now...it looks much better than what they show...I know it will be a task to create filters but thats all the fun Scrub...Every time I look at this build, i keep seeing ways to improve it...it never ends does it

 

[ScrubNinja]

Cool bro Which fan is that exactly? Obviously I ain't paid too much attention to the lower amp ones when I was looking around, but 114cfm from .34 amps sounds a little too optimistic from memory. If it's a reputable brand, such as gets mentioned from time to time - delta, scythe, etc etc, then I think that would be a good fan. But still, I would use a higher amps than that just so I can turn the knob to 11 when I need it. Sorry to harp on about it cos I know fans cost money! But yeah, if it's a good brand, I would get it, if you don't want a higher amps fan.

 

[BC Chronic]

Thanks Scrub and no you are not being a bother at all...I am very grateful for what you have done for me and this build...I guess I just wanted something different from everyone else...Delta 120MMX38MM Dual Ball Bearing Case Fan 5500RPM 252.85CFM 66.5DBA ..How about 2 of these for intake and Exhaust??? I mean 1 for each side! I'll take out the other ones but I still want something different from the other pc's...what do you think about that light question from before?? Thanks again bro

 

[ScrubNinja]

Hmmm well I have only flowered the once under cfl and that was a range of bulbs so I can't say. I think if you are attempting to grow any kind of a bush, you should get the biggest bulbs you can, the bigger ones reach further. But then, I would not actually be attempting to grow any kind of bush under cfl's in a pc. You have some plans what you wanna do? Scrog or lst is a must I think.

You will only need one of those fans but if you want 2, I am not gonna hold a man back. Take into account you have to slow them, and power them. It's a lot of amps required and you will need a specialist adjustable power supply if you want to adjust it that way. There's much less choice of pc fan controllers that handle those sort of amps. A PC fan control is also going to require special wiring to emulate a pc's PSU (12 and 5v), or indeed a pc's psu as your power supply.

Edit: if you have some of these bulbs, look at their lumens (look em up online if need be, you can usually find them). Let's say you have a 23w and it gives off 1900 lumen. 1900 divided by 23 will give you your lumens per watt. Then compare bulbs. I wouldn't let that be the deciding factor, but it's a major factor imo.

 

[BC Chronic]

Thanks yet again Scrub..I am going with 1 Delta I have a 12 volt 3 amp adapter plus those 600ma ones too so I could use both I guess...Do I really need to speed up or slow down just that 1 Delta?? I really think (since I am using CFL"s which so many hate?!) the 43 watt ones will be better...I have 3 6500k and 3 2600k 43 watters..those would be okay huh?? i do have the bonus of the lights down the side too which should help in the CFL's reaching all areas of the plants...SOG or LST or even Scrog are all great but first this fan setup...It did work great the way it is but you have convinced me to slow down Scrub ...Aero even said it would be turbulent in there so I'll try a wind test later.. So 1 Delta(like I wrote before) for intake and the 80mm cooling fan and the 120mm for exhaust..Does that sound better?? By the small number of people checking my thread out, it must mean I am doing too much wrong or what?? Or is it the crappy pics?? Or both.UGH..so the light thing..I'll stick with the 43 watt ones ..I have 6 of em..3 2600 and 3 1600 lumens...by the way you said, there would be 293 lumens per watt...is that right??UGH.i feel like I am back in math class! Will ( now I am really losing it!) 258 watts be insane? I think I am going insane here?!Sounds pretty high huh.. maybe 4 or 5 thenGrowing is the least of my worries huh..Thats the easy part So, to sum this rant up, I should take out the 4 80mm fans that really aren't that useful and go with what I stated earlier..If you can understand even a bit of what I have told you, can you enlighten meThanks bro

 

[BC Chronic]

Thanks for the input others have given me too..Anyone else willing to help would be great..probably driving Scrub crazy by now..these pics were taken with my cell so they are probably crummy too..tomorrow I will have some real pics for sure..now I am in the process of removing a few fans..waiting on feedback first though..thanks everyone

 

[ScrubNinja]

No no not driving me crazy at all I am very busy and will continue to be so for a while, I got a terrible pest. I hope you get more opinions here.

Borrow a camera and go nuts. This is the internet so you can upload 3000 pics if you want. And the more the better. I have no idea of your level of stealth required. I think you mentioned you live with people but how are you planning to do this? Basically the fans should be running 24/7 so how loud can you have a computer running 24/7 and not look suspicious? How do you convey this level across to me through a text medium like this? There is going to be some level of experimentation here and if we could just type out the magic formula, it would have been done already.

Just in case it's not clear, that's a loud fan. A very very very loud fan, but a very very very powerful one. It is ridiculous overkill. I'm all down for overkill, but this is too much if you are expecting your pc to make a gentle low whirr, or be silent. If you want a pc, and results like Aerohead, then you have chosen a great fan imo. Stealth and lumens don't go together. I've never used this fan so I can only go so far telling you how it will perform. So give us a better idea of what you plan to do. None of us want to recommend the wrong thing, and without details you will only get generic info. "Should I use a 23 or 42w etc" - you tell me? Assess your situation and base your decision on that. Should I roll a blunt or smoke a bong today? Hmmm my throat is a little sore, so I will smoke a bong. See what I mean?

I find if you summarize your questions at the end, neatly, you get better replies. Man, you have no idea the shit some of us have to go through. I spent probably 3 hours working on one single conversion between replies here, and I am also stoned 24/7. So it's hard to pay attention some times. Your words just come across as fanintakecflwattsblahblah?????? you know? Put it together, run it, tell us what happens, and what you don't know how to fix. Sorry if I sound grump at all bro, I'm really not, I'm just not good at phrasing things sometimes, but yeah - communication issues is the problem for me. Clear paragraphs help a lot also.

I am going with 1 Delta I have a 12 volt 3 amp adapter plus those 600ma ones too so I could use both I guess.

This is a good example. See, I don't actually know the amps of this fan off by heart. You haven't mentioned them to my knowledge. So.... what am I to do? I am too busy to google, so is everyone else. 10 seconds typing that out earlier could potentially have changed this whole conversation. Anyway, isn't it over 3 amps? I would check that. If you read the last conversation on my PC fan thread with a user called maryjohn, we have had this exact discussion with this exact fan, I believe.

• Summarise
• Illustrate
• Elaborate

Make it easy for us Hope this helps and if I didn't answer anything than please just try again taking this into account.

 

[BC Chronic]

Verbal Diarrhea probably sums up my last post huh?! Sorry..The delta fan I want ( should be here in a week or so) is 1.04 amps ,151 cfm and 55db and I am using it as an intake blowing at the lights too. I am not worried about the noise and no one else will even figure that out here. Did you not see the last pics?I am going to change a few things so I'll post pics when I do.

 

[ScrubNinja]

I did see the last pics but they are the same as the first pics. Ok cool, so that is a completely different fan that I thought you were talking about. Remember the discussion about Aero's voodoo? How I said I would remove the intake fan (and the intake) and all that? Well if you went with my suggestion, that is the perfect fan to blow air on your bulbs from inside the cab, I couldn't picture a better fan choice for that, honestly. But you are basically doing an aero style design, so I am not too sure. I would be very wary, you know how I feel about intake fans. I would be scared that you couldn't slow it down enough.

Okokokok. Hold up. You ARE basically doing an Aero ventilation thing here and it's important to note something. Aero does not use a carbon filter. You will be. So those ideas are not going to mesh. You will HAVE TO understand this before you go any further.

Do a thread title search for Pressure and see if you can find a thread by freezerboy, I read it a long time ago and it was very good. This is fresh in my head after setting up a carbon filter last night. So answer me this: do you understand the difference between negative and positive pressure? This is where most carbon filtered active intake (intake fan) systems are going to fall over flat. Show me a single thread on this forum where any active intaker with a carbon filter has done any kind of real calcs. Look man, I have explained this too many times. It's on the fan thread, it's on every post I've ever made about intake fans.

An intake fan will create positive pressure in the cab and force it out through the gaps. If it doesn't, then what the f*ck is it actually doing? Can a single active intaker (with filter) tell me this? BC, you tell me. What is your reason for this intake fan? Huh? How is it not going to force smelly air out of the gaps? Nobody is that good with sticky tape and weather stripping. If you do use a speed controller and manage to slow it enough so it's not overpowering the pressure created by the exhaust fan, then you have a pretty weak fuckin' fan right there bro. Hope this makes sense. And no I'm still not agro even if it seems it, haha And thanks for simplifying it for us dummies.

Edit: in summation none of this even matters until you make a carbon filter so do that, is my opinion of what your next step should be.

 

[BC Chronic]

What I meant was for the fan to be blowing on the bulbs..NOT to suck air from outside or anything like that.I never was going to put a scrubber or anything like that on it either nor did I say I was Scrub.The scrubber is for the exhaust like the hundreds of other pc grows I have seen.Thats it thats all.Why would I want to put a filter on an Intake anyways? Wouldn't that defeat its purpose.If an exhaust works like its supposed to, it will suck as much air out now wouldn't it..Sheesh. Yes those last pics were the same but a little clearer..Anyways I will not bother asking anymore questions till I am done finishing this thing up.If you look at many, many Pc pics and grows, they almost ALL have an intake fan..From being something relatively simple and fun has turned in to some gong show of mathmatical formula's and all other sorts of do this..no don't do that but do it this way...no wait thats not right either..UGH

 

[ScrubNinja]

Okay sorry I didn't mean for it to become like that, just that you need a plan, and that you are confusing.

I never was going to put a scrubber or anything like that on it either nor did I say I was Scrub.

From the pc thread:

Would I be able to cover the intakes with carbon filter like I have done to the exhaust?

As you can see, communication is the issue.

The scrubber is for the exhaust like the hundreds of other pc grows I have seen.

See, I still don't know if you are going to use one, are using one, or if you are just confused on terminology. The carbon filter, aka scrubber is for the smell, and it only goes on the exhaust fan. It has granulated or pelletized carbon in it.

You can filter your intakes to block light, or for hygene reasons, and this should not be called a carbon/scrubber anything. Just say filtered intake and people will know what you mean. Carbon aquarium foam, it is not a scrubber or a carbon filter, just so you know.

Again sorry, I didn't mean to overwhelm you. I will leave it at that and good luck.

 

[BC Chronic]

i am sorry too Scrub.I have had the flu and I was taking some sort of medicine that made me go a mile a minute. The only reason I wanted to cover the intake was for light escaping. I do realize the scrubber goes on the exhaust only. I had stuck on hood range carbon filter(my exhausts) before I read how it doesn't work. I am going to get what I need right now plus a new dig camera. I'd borrow one but my luck would be forgetting to delete the pics.
I guess I have been thinking and writing at the same time and most likely typing things that were wandering around up there. I was always told "Treat your mind like a bad neighbourhood, Don't go there alone". This fits the bill.. Once again I apologize for the rambling and will be more concise next time...Peace

 

[ScrubNinja]

No worries friend You have got the right attitude, just stick at it. The fan you mentioned is great so I would get it, whack in as many 42w as will fit in, use smaller 23w in any little gaps, and see how you go. If there's one thing I hate holding up a grow, it's book learnin', so again, sorry : Fans can always be switched around or slowed down and bulbs can be shifted or removed. Hope you feel better soon too. Doctor Scrub prescribes.....marijuana!

 

[BC Chronic]

I have downgraded radically.
1) I intake fan- delta 151cfm
2)2 exhaust-1 is 53 cfm and the other is 73 cfm
3) 4 lights ..2-43 watt 2700k and 2-32 watt 6700k
4) Scrubbers are in the works for the 2 exhausts and pics to follow once and only once it is complete.I think I was premature in my rush to finish so sorry to everyone ..Newbie
Hope you will all forgive me and once I post pics (3 days or so) I would love the help and feedback
Thanks Scrub and Aero too for waking me up!!
I really believe you will like what I've done.

 

[DailySmoker]

I would swap your intake and exhaust fans around. Negative pressure is the only way to properly contain the smell. If you have a more powerful intake than exhaust it will push the air (smell) out through the cracks and holes.

 

[BC Chronic]

Thanks DailySmoker..You could be right.UGH
Now I have 1.44 cubic feet of space to work with
I went over to Red's thread on ventilation and he says all I need is one exhaust(53cfm) with just a 5''x5'' intake hole..
That sound better??
I could always save that big fan for a cupboard grow later. Back to dismantling I guess
I was completely insane on the whole 7 fan thing
Let me know