New setup, want it to be as silent as possible

[Tranc3R]

Hi all, glad this site is still going strong

Haven't been around in a long time but looking to get back into the fun of things.

Previous experience was with 400w HPS + DWC +SCROG in a small ass cupboard and to be honest, while it produced good results, it was fairly ghetto and made me sweat, used a shitty ass fan that was loud, the smell wasn't contained properly and was overall noisey.. I want to improve this as much as possible for this next one.

I'm looking to start again, but i want it to be as stealth as possible so i'm looking for tips from you pro guys out there, any help would be greatly appreciated


Questions:
Build or buy a cupboard .. or go with a grow tent?
Looking at grow tents that are around 3ft x 3ft x 6ft, maybe slightly smaller at the moment.
I'm thinking a cupboard might be more stealthy? I've never seen a grow tent in person.

Fans: What is the quietest 4 or 6" on the market? and what accessories to make them as quiet as possible

Lighting: I'm thinking of going with maybe 600w or getting a 400W CMH bulb for my old ballast.
Design would be Carbon filter -> Cool tube -> fan -> duct to outside the room the tent or cupboard is in.

Grow stuff: I absolutely loved DWC, was so simple and worked well. But the Air pump really got to me, what options do i have here?

I don't mind changing style of hydro, the main thing is for it to be as silent as possible.

Maybe hempy or flood and drain setup? Or is there a silent air pump for DWC?

So the main things again are, stealth, silence and simplicity for all aspects.


Thanks for any help guys

 

[TheTimeKeeper]

Hey Tranc3R,

I've been in the same boat as you, and in terms of 'stealth' visually, you can't beat a store bought or custom built cabinet.. I personally built one that's on rolling wheels, as nothing could be bought that was big enough for what I wanted (2x3' flower cab, mother area, large area for carbon filter and area for nutes/runoff/elecs).. though I do warn that building from scratch is a big undertaking, and by no means will it be chaep!

After much research I went a 6" in-line 'mixed flow' fan and it's superb, it's mounted on bunjie cords and is very quiet as I run it on a variac and have it at about 30% - my only advice here is do NOT get a cheap fan, if anything, this is one area you should be spending money as you DO get what you pay for and there would be nothing worse than having a failed crop due to a failed fan.

My setup has a passive intake, the fan pulls through the carbon filter which is housed in a 'chamber' to which the air cooled hood is connected. Pulling through the carbon filter causes alot of pressure early on in the scheme of things, and often the carbon filters are full of... well activated carbon, to which carbon dust comes off, which in turn will get into your light.. much better off having light>filter>fan>out IMO

DWC is great and I love it, but I found it hard work and too much to go wrong.. I went with Coco & drippers (drain to waste).. well worth investigating, it's very forgiving, easy and cheap to setup and not much to go wrong. You don't need to run air pumps etc, just a digi timer on your dripper pump.

Hope this helps, and best of luck!

 

[Chunkypigs]

Hey, go to a hydro shop and look at the tents, they are great for a small grow. you can be set up in a day and growing or build something for months that never works right, maybe... done that! this can be a good place to learn from others mistakes, do lots of reading here.

lots of great cab grows on here to learn from.

coco over DWC for quiet, GH Bluestones were the best quiet strong pump I could find.

there are no quiet 4" or 6" fans at full speed that I've heard, never tried the S&P tho...

If you have a secure place tents are great, what are the details of your spot? you got real privacy? really sucks with a noisey tent full of bubble buckets that you can hear in the downstairs rooms... lots of months to worry... I didn't plan properly when I got started and had major paranoia for months. I think it's very easy to get carried away with this plant... ; P

good luck! hope you are enjoying the best weed in the world (your own) soon...

 

[TheTimeKeeper]

Chunkypigs is right, do lots of research! I grew for years before moving to a stealth cab and it's a different ball game (i.e. the design)... after months of research I went with the following design.. pic taken before it was painted and it now looks like a very nice wardrobe! I used hidden child magnetic locks though so noone can get in unless they know how, also as a word of advice, acoustic ducting is pretty much as good as any silencer IMO.. I ended up just using the ducting to save on space and $$.. it works great and all you can really hear is the sound of air moving, which you can't really avoid with such a small and contained setup!

 

[Tranc3R]

Thanks for the replies

I'm going to play with sketch up and see what i could put together. I think some sort of cap made form ply might be the best way to quietness, but i really like the idea of a tent for simplicity and move ability.

I have a room for this stuff to go in that would be undisturbed for the most part. I just don't know if i feel comfortable with a tent, on the plus side, they are cheap.

I'll do some reading on coco and drippers, but whats the go with that. You don't get feed back on how much the plant has eaten? so its a bit of a guessing game to how strong nutes are ? or do you take readings from a res thats at the base of each plant?

 

[TheTimeKeeper]

Hey Tranc3R,

The feeding is easy.. I always follow the feed schedule supplied, they are generally close enough unless you have a super sensitive strain. Main res sits at your desired feed strength and that's it! Doesn't really matter what PPM comes off the plants though there is much argument about this, at the end of the day the only thing you may ever test the runoff for is PH. It's a pretty stress-free and low maintenance way to go.. I top up once every 1-2 weeks, and that's it, I'd top it up even less if the cab was designed to take a bigger res, though mine is approx 50L, with a 50L waste res next to it to collect any runoff... I've had root-rot issues in the past and will never recirc nutes unless going DWC! Ply is good, as you can see I used MDF (18mm), and yes, this whole project with fancy duct connectors, all the bells and whistles did cost a small fortune but a worthwhile investment it has been, however if your saying the room will be undisturbed then I'd def go for a tent, cheaper, as you said - easier to move when you move (well more discrete, they fold down small!) and invest/build some decent silencing and smell reduction mods!

 

[NugarifiK]

If you are looking for the most quiet inline, go with Panasonic whisperline. You will need to add a cord as its made for hardwire applications but it doesn't get any more quiet. However if size is an issue I would look into an S&P Mixed Inline. I use a 240cfm whisperline in my Dr100 and an S&P in my veg tent. Both have pre-carbon filters hooked up and although the S&P is quiet. The whisperline is moreso despite putting out twice the cfm. I researched the hell out of inlines due to stealth being absolutely mandatory for my living situation (condo).

As far as dwc stuff goes I can't help you as I'm a coco / organic guy. Happy growing e-friend.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Walt Jabsco]

I think you ask the wrong question about the quietest fan. You should be asking how to quiet a loud fan.
A Vortex or Can fan matched with the appropriate filter is the only way to do it once and not sweat the stink. Ever.
A small tote containing the fan suspended in a can of expandable foam will take many db's off the fan. a variac controller can be had for very cheap from a link here somewhere that will allow one to dial the fan down even further. A speedster controller will make it hum. But to each there own.
A purpose built duct muffler for exhaust noise can be bought anywhere.

A tent is a better option for people living in non med states for one simple reason in my mind, and that's knowing your entire operation could be secreted in a large tote and taken away from the hotspot in as little as 15 minutes. This eases the associated anxiety from growing somewhere with stiff penalties to a great degree.
Having a purpose built enclosure is not practical in this regard.

If that fateful day arrives and you get a "knock and talk" this won't matter but in the frenzy that ensues while the cops are off getting your warrant it could pay off in spades. If they already had a warrant the would already be inside so this is only insurance in the event there is mere suspicion and you have time for a tear down. Getting rid of that dresser that looks like R2D2 threw up in it will be a headache you won't need at that point in time.
So in closing buy twice the fan and filter you think you need, suppress the ensuing noise, and think about the ramifications of having a giant plywood box with all manner of holes and wires vs a easily stowable tent. And above all.....