CFLs clear PVC hung vertical *concept*
- Thread starter ST8DunWSociety
- Start date
ST8DunWSociety
Member
Alright groutchy i got a drawl up for you, and the rest of the people following along. I decided to do your one 42 watt max CFL challange in a trash can, not only for your avatar's name sake but also kind of like scrubs was going to do, but in a more inconspicuous fashion.
Introducing the StashCan!
Pretty much the picture is how i want it, the actual scale to which i drew this isn't accurate, but close enough to get the idea. The bottom of the StashCan will have little feet pads that will raise it about 1 inch off the ground (2.5 CM)
Below it will have the passive intake of Scrubs design with a HEPA air filter as a prefilter.
What isn't indicated in the diagram is a couple ideas that i'm still working on. First is how to access the OBBT and plant / screen. What i'm figuring is where the bottom of the screen is will be attached to the bottom half of the StashCan (the bottom half of the actual trash can will be about flush with the stand) and top half will sit on the bottom half by pegs that go into the stand and mating surface (which will most likely be internal) will seal with weatherstripping, or bath silicon (i have this in black already).
There will be two carbon scrubbers with layered carbon / carbon foam (to maximize air flow) and one computer fan attached to the cast acylic tube. The control area of this set up will also house 12v PSU, light timer, fans, air pump and exhaust hole cut in back, covered with breathable fabric the color of the can.
The acrylic tube will hang from the stand and will be easy to remove from control unit (so when you go to access the plant the top half and control unit will stay attached to the top half). The point of the separate intake of this tube would be to keep this part completely separate to the grow chamber so there would be not chance of any possible smell issues with the carbon filter design i want to use, again, another idea would be to just add another carbon filter and have the tube hang from the control center. The top of the control center will be sealed but with a removable top that has trash glued too it for added realism.
Things to do:
Find the right trash can
Find the right container for OBBT
Wait for Acrylic tube to come in
Scavenge around HD
Work on engineering a security seal for top half to bottom half
Test cabon filter
Introducing the StashCan!
Pretty much the picture is how i want it, the actual scale to which i drew this isn't accurate, but close enough to get the idea. The bottom of the StashCan will have little feet pads that will raise it about 1 inch off the ground (2.5 CM)
Below it will have the passive intake of Scrubs design with a HEPA air filter as a prefilter.
What isn't indicated in the diagram is a couple ideas that i'm still working on. First is how to access the OBBT and plant / screen. What i'm figuring is where the bottom of the screen is will be attached to the bottom half of the StashCan (the bottom half of the actual trash can will be about flush with the stand) and top half will sit on the bottom half by pegs that go into the stand and mating surface (which will most likely be internal) will seal with weatherstripping, or bath silicon (i have this in black already).
There will be two carbon scrubbers with layered carbon / carbon foam (to maximize air flow) and one computer fan attached to the cast acylic tube. The control area of this set up will also house 12v PSU, light timer, fans, air pump and exhaust hole cut in back, covered with breathable fabric the color of the can.
The acrylic tube will hang from the stand and will be easy to remove from control unit (so when you go to access the plant the top half and control unit will stay attached to the top half). The point of the separate intake of this tube would be to keep this part completely separate to the grow chamber so there would be not chance of any possible smell issues with the carbon filter design i want to use, again, another idea would be to just add another carbon filter and have the tube hang from the control center. The top of the control center will be sealed but with a removable top that has trash glued too it for added realism.
Things to do:
Find the right trash can
Find the right container for OBBT
Wait for Acrylic tube to come in
Scavenge around HD
Work on engineering a security seal for top half to bottom half
Test cabon filter
good luck st8. looks like a fun lil project you have ahead of yourself!
grouchy
Active member
Can't wait to see it. Feel free to post the actual info in my thread as well. It might make for easier reading. You could also look into making a wooden base for the can to sit on instead of pegs. It may allow you extra room for mounting electrical stuff. I had planned on running a small 70w or 100w hps in the proverbial tin trash can and was planning on making the base to house the ballast, timer and fans. Sorry if I am not up to date but what are obbt's?
ST8DunWSociety
Member
Oh man.. They are kind of like a combination of hyrdos and soil based grow system. They are based on keeping good bacteria and fungus in the grow medium to support the plant.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=137656 -LadyL's Biobox club
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.p...highlight=OBBT -DM's
Think of organics on crack
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=137656 -LadyL's Biobox club
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.p...highlight=OBBT -DM's
Think of organics on crack
grouchy
Active member
Your second link is no good. The first one looks promising. Its almost like my little hempy idea. I just transplated one of my plants from a small soil pot into my little bucket. It consists of perlite on the bottom with no drain holes. About 2" up is a drain for the water to overflow. At the drain level I added a layer of coco. On top of the coco is where I transplanted the plant from soil and filled in around it with fox farm ocean forest. I believe it is called a "hempy bucquet"
You will need a jolly high trashcan, st8. Mine struggles to fit a small thin pot under the vertical bulb. Some limitations on minimum height with OBBTs. I used rubber weatherstripping between the top and bottom sections - works great.
I take it you will have an access door like me?
(I hope to enter this in your challenge one day grouchy!)
I take it you will have an access door like me?
(I hope to enter this in your challenge one day grouchy!)
grouchy
Active member
Haha that's the spirit (no matter how misguided)
Power usage is the holdback at the moment. I might start using a laptop for computing instead of a desktop + huge screen, and that should give me enough to work with. (some kind of computer needs to be on 24/7) You think my cunning plan will work, st8?
Power usage is the holdback at the moment. I might start using a laptop for computing instead of a desktop + huge screen, and that should give me enough to work with. (some kind of computer needs to be on 24/7) You think my cunning plan will work, st8?
ST8DunWSociety
Member
Cutting power can be simple and complicated too brother. First off if you have thing that charges your cell phone, unplug it, on your tower / screen, if your not going to run it 24/7, unplug that bitch too. If you have more then one projects (if though it might not pratically be sound to do) that are in flowering, adjust their timers so when one is on the other is off. Use large appliances during off ties (4-7am, or 2-4 am, ingeneral when most people are sleeping). If you arn't in a room make sure all the lights are off else where. The other thing too it is use some pratical since too, enegry usesage is KWH (kilowatt hours) or how much of 1000watts do you use in one hour?. Another biggun is putting a timer on your hotwater heater so it will only work when your around (time it so it's off until about 2 hours before you would need to really use it), Switch from regular light bulbs to CFLs (which should be a given at this point , Put components suchs as microwaves, toasters, coffie makers, blinders, ect on a powerstrip and if they aren't in use flip the switch on the powerstrip (can be a pain if you use your microwave as a clock though)
Ohh, thanks for the tip on the can, i'm going to work on a scale drawling by hand in the next couple days. And to access the can i'm going to have about 5 inchs of the bottom come off of the rest of the can, with probably a twist lock of sorts, ohh and the height limitations are really in the form of the actual container, the minium amount of tubs is something like 1 1/2 or 2 gallons
Thanks for the heads up on the second link, tiz fixed now
, Put components suchs as microwaves, toasters, coffie makers, blinders, ect on a powerstrip and if they aren't in use flip the switch on the powerstrip (can be a pain if you use your microwave as a clock though)Ohh, thanks for the tip on the can, i'm going to work on a scale drawling by hand in the next couple days. And to access the can i'm going to have about 5 inchs of the bottom come off of the rest of the can, with probably a twist lock of sorts, ohh and the height limitations are really in the form of the actual container, the minium amount of tubs is something like 1 1/2 or 2 gallons
Thanks for the heads up on the second link, tiz fixed now
ST8DunWSociety
Member
SO! I contacted the company who could make the 3inch cast acrylic tube,
"Hello sir Do you have this tube,"
Guy making the tube, "Yeah can do it, it'll take 3 months, cost 67 dollers,"
My response, "Ok, I'll let you know" My silent reaction (fuck dat wid ah stick).
So the search continues. I'm looking into companies that deal with glass to see if i can get a 3 ID 3.25 OD glass tube, two 18inches, one 14inches. And yes looking to use a hefty tall trash can, probably the cheap metal circular swing flap type. I believe i've ran across a few that would be tall enough to do this.
BTW a 42 watt CFL is about 2.88 inches
So we will see what some of the glass companies will make me some tubiez for
"Hello sir Do you have this tube,"
Guy making the tube, "Yeah can do it, it'll take 3 months, cost 67 dollers,"
My response, "Ok, I'll let you know" My silent reaction (fuck dat wid ah stick).
So the search continues. I'm looking into companies that deal with glass to see if i can get a 3 ID 3.25 OD glass tube, two 18inches, one 14inches. And yes looking to use a hefty tall trash can, probably the cheap metal circular swing flap type. I believe i've ran across a few that would be tall enough to do this.
BTW a 42 watt CFL is about 2.88 inches
So we will see what some of the glass companies will make me some tubiez for
grow1620
Member
try this place
Personally I would think glass would block less light than acrylics or pvc, but I am just guessing. Does anyone have some numbers or a source on light trasmission?
I just read the thread and am glad to see I am not the only one interested in cooling their CFL's. I did a preliminary round of testing (with some hard numbers) this evening, check out the results...
Yes CFL's can definitely burn a plant (even before they touch).
I went a different route with my cooltube design.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=141954
Not trying to thread jack, I'm just excited, and looking for ideas for the next round of testing.
I just read the thread and am glad to see I am not the only one interested in cooling their CFL's. I did a preliminary round of testing (with some hard numbers) this evening, check out the results...
Yes CFL's can definitely burn a plant (even before they touch).
I went a different route with my cooltube design.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=141954
Not trying to thread jack, I'm just excited, and looking for ideas for the next round of testing.
ST8DunWSociety
Member
Hey grow1620, good link only one problem, i need 3" ID (at 42 watt CFL is about 2.8 inches) but good link no the less!
DSM (Diamond Star Motors?) anyway cast acrylic seems to have the same light transmission properties of glass except for most block UV light. But hey get excited!
DSM (Diamond Star Motors?) anyway cast acrylic seems to have the same light transmission properties of glass except for most block UV light. But hey get excited!
My friend grows in an outdoor greenhouse type setup and he got plastic roofing sheets that allow uv through (see home depot I guess). UV is related to trichs, ie it encourages more. Trichs are a protection against uv. I checked out a rainbow here yesterday and there was a huge violet band. That is why I grow the best weed.
Just kidding of course, but it's common book learnin' that weed in the tropics is more psychoactive. I think you're nuts going to all this trouble and not get uv.
I would calculate the area of a 3" ID tube, and measure the blockage the cfl will create (basically the ballast diameter). Calculate the difference and it won't be much I suspect.
3" = 7.1 sq in
2.5" = 4.9 sq in (estimation)
This would leave you 2.2 sq in of free flow. That's equal to a 1.7" hole.
Just kidding of course, but it's common book learnin' that weed in the tropics is more psychoactive. I think you're nuts going to all this trouble and not get uv.
I would calculate the area of a 3" ID tube, and measure the blockage the cfl will create (basically the ballast diameter). Calculate the difference and it won't be much I suspect.
3" = 7.1 sq in
2.5" = 4.9 sq in (estimation)
This would leave you 2.2 sq in of free flow. That's equal to a 1.7" hole.
ST8DunWSociety
Member
Last updated 12/04/2007 10:47 AM
http://energystar.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/energystar.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3867
So the next question to ponder, how much UV light is needed to activate this protection. I have also read that, and I believe oldbootz posted it up too, bud density is effected because the protection is then displayed in the Trichs and possibly effects potency. I guess my real concern was how will UV light effect the plant, that was answered, realistically, and I’m just throwing darts blindly without really knowing this; I doubt that a CFL and produce enough UV light to really do anything useful. I’m basing this on the 150 microwatt per lumen. That’s .15 watts a lumen at around 2800 initial lumens, or 5.35 watts of output of UV per 42 watt CFL. But then again after kind of doing the math as I typed this. 5.35 watt x2 because I want to be closer then 6 inches (ideally like an 1inch away from the bulb) that could be 10.70 + watts of uv light depending on if the lumen intensity increase linear or exponentially as it comes closer to the right (i would guess linear, but i don't know). Long and short of it is, a CFL isn't going to put out as much UV light as other bulbs that produce light through heat.
OK so I’ve got we'ole trusty calculator for area of the tubes diameter A=πd (π is pi, looks funny, no?) so at 3.0 inches ID 9.42, and the bulb is like 2.88 (max) or 8.79 at 2.8 and 9.04 at 2.88
9.42
-8.79
.63
or
9.42
-9.04
.38
So what your telling me is my tube will have the vacuum effect with the fan i have like a .50 (for argument sake) tube? or should go with a 3.25 ID tube to get an 1 inch tube? But wouldn't i want that bulb as close to the tube as I can get it so that i can get as much light from the bulb as possible, in thought it should work with just a .50 area difference because the heat is being drawl upwards (the way it wants to go anyway) and allowing the plants to snuggle right but next to the tube.
I also was looking into mass airflow with a tube with a .50 uncompressible flow radius... The math was too much to worry about at this point with so many variables left undecided.
Ohh well, hopefully that glass company will get back to me soon!
CFL wikipedia page (and the sticker on the once-new fan I put under my PLLs)
So it sounds pretty strong to me. I rotated some daylight and natural (5000k) bulbs around all thru flower in my tent and I think I got frostier than average buds. Frostier than guys growing the same cut outdoors here, in high uv land.
About the sizes, I don't understand your figures because I'm high probably, lol. I use this page.
Type 3 (inches) into diameter and solve it. You get 7.1 sq inches area. Then look only at the ballast of your cfl and measure that diameter. I'm gonna use 2.8" diam cos I'm not sure where you took your measurements. Type that in and solve as above and you get 6.2 sq inches blockage, taken up by the ballast.
7.1 minus 6.2 equals 0.9 sq inches area of free flow. Type it into the area, and solve the others. You can see that it's equal to a Diameter of 1.1 inches.
Now picture the most awesome pc fan or whichever fan you had in mind hooked up to a 1.1 inch hole. I will leave the rest to you
canna cola
Member
grouchy
Active member
Found you guys something!
UVB CFL Bulb 20w - http://www.petco.com/product/108299/Zilla-Desert-50-UVB-Fluorescent-20-Watt-Coil-Bulb.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch
Its also available in a 13w version as a spiral cfl.
Comes in t5 and t8 versions too.
UVB CFL Bulb 20w - http://www.petco.com/product/108299/Zilla-Desert-50-UVB-Fluorescent-20-Watt-Coil-Bulb.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch
Its also available in a 13w version as a spiral cfl.
Comes in t5 and t8 versions too.
