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sm0k4's PC cab - 5 year comeback

S

sm0k4

Got my micro cab built. Going to start in this while I get the materials to build my bigger one.

I started with these:



I bought angle forms to screw onto the wide rear wall so I could screw the back narrow wall through the back PCI & PSU slots of the case. I pieced it together in my stripped down PC case to make a nice box. Then I caulked all seams and edges except the rear and front panels to the main door. Next was the caulking of the black 90 degree angle PVC pieces into the intake holes. This will also serve as a wire pass-through.

The filter is a home-brew design that I may have to tinker with, but it does suck air out of the cab, just hope the carbon does its job.






I then glued my door panel after making some adjustments for the locking latch. I over-compensated because I forgot to take the measurement of the latch height.
smile.gif
It was pretty warped so I clamped it down on both ends for about 30 hours or so.



I then used aluminum tape to seal the front and rear panels to the main door frame. I forgot to take pics of just that part, but you can see it in the pic with the light installed.

After taping it all up I mounted hanging screws to the ceiling sheet metal and hung my light up. The light is a custom LED panel of 12" long by 5" wide using Osram GD+ LEDs. There is 20-25 Watts of light (depending on the current I run them at) in this space giving me nearly 35 Watts/Ft.^2 which should be plenty for LED in this space.

Then I shut the door and it fit nicely. No noticeable leaks with the lights on. Then the lights off test. There was a leak at the bottom of the front panel and the rear door edge. I sealed the door up better and added a black filter material to stop the light in front. I will eventually replace the fan because it is opaque (DOH!) and causing the light leak in front. I realized this fatal error when I was mounting my light, haha. I just used an old fan I had on hand.







I had the cab running for almost 4 hours now and will open it on the 4 hour mark running as-is to see temps. I germinated 4 bag seeds I have while I wait for my Nirvana seeds to arrive. Two of the bag seeds I sprouted were crossed with a white widow male I kept pollen from if I remember right. Who knows though, that was back in 2003. Hope they germinate even. This will be my first grow in about 5 years. The strains I ordered were Blackberry and AK-48.

Medium will be Botanicare CocoGro and nutrients I have so far are Botanicare PBP Grow and Cal Mag+. Any others I should get besides the Soil for bloom? Maybe Liquid Karma?

Well thats it for now. Not too technical on the build details, but its pretty straight-forward. I'm going to have it in a closet so it should be plenty stealth enough in the corner against the wall. With boxes on and in front of it.
 
S

sm0k4

After rethinking and redesigning I have better air flow and cooling. Also redid the light color mixture.

The light wasn't really designed around veg in mind, so after redoing the design in cad to get my distribution right, I resoldered the LEDs and eliminated some reds. I now have 6 white, 4 blue, and 6 red (3 625nm, 3 660nm). Meant to use 5 blue, but I burned one with the iron and killed it. No spares. Oops.

I have one 80mm fan outside the wall and one 80mm fan inside the wall, then the 1/2 inch carbon filter I DIYed attached to that. I fastened them all with 3 inch #8-32 bolts. I have another plan to make carbon changes easier also. This one was a pain to mount while keeping the carbon inside the panty hose spread out evenly, but I should have that solved when I need to change it.






Day 7 for a bagseed cross with a white widow male.
Day 5 for Blackberries #1 & #2, and AK-48.

Wasn't sure how far to have the light so I had it all the way up at about 13" above the pots. I saw the stretch so I decided since I have 1W emitters I would lower the light. It is now 5" above the pots. I will see how this does over the next few days.

So far its been only 1 feeding last night. Very light dosage.

 

woolybear

Well-known member
Veteran
Hi smok4,

Just found out about DIY leds today. Read KNNA's epic threads. Question - where can you buy those thermal pads online? Or can I pick those up at radio shack? Or Fry's even?

My apologies if this is a dumb question, I'm overloaded on info at the moment.
 

Voidling

Member
Looks good. I think the pc grow is much more viable with leds, as the need less space and put out less heat. You forgot to mention your cab temp, I'd love to know what the cab temp is over ambient. Or did you answer that in another thread, I know someone did. I updated my thread a little, will have a big update tomorrow I think.

@Wooly I know Sm0k4 posted a part number for the thermal pads for digikey. I too would like to know if I could pick them up at Fry's or RadioShack and save on shipping.
 
S

sm0k4

Hi smok4,

Just found out about DIY leds today. Read KNNA's epic threads. Question - where can you buy those thermal pads online? Or can I pick those up at radio shack? Or Fry's even?

My apologies if this is a dumb question, I'm overloaded on info at the moment.


The thermal pad I use is made by 3M. It is .5 mm thick which is a little too thick for our purpose, but with some soldering skills its not hard to overcome that.

I bought the pad from Digikey. Part number3M9593-ND.

I used extra pad to help with cooling, but all that is needed is the same size as the LED. Thermal conductivity with this pad is great. One sheet of that thermal pad will last a while. Probably over 300 LEDs worth.

I have them running at 630mA and still they are still relatively cool to the touch. The heat sink gets to about 90 F with no ventilation. Usually its around 80ish with the fans going. This is why my cab temp is always around the 80s. As long as it don't go back up to 90 I'll be good. If I reversed the intake and filter, the heat would be exhausted and not used in the cab. With enough exhaust and air flow, this setup works nice to use the light heat in the grow area.

I have a DIY tutorial on GC. I don't feel like re-doing the light writeup here. There are some good tips if you are new to this type of thing. Driver calculations and all that.
 
S

sm0k4

Looks good. I think the pc grow is much more viable with leds, as the need less space and put out less heat. You forgot to mention your cab temp, I'd love to know what the cab temp is over ambient. Or did you answer that in another thread, I know someone did. I updated my thread a little, will have a big update tomorrow I think.

@Wooly I know Sm0k4 posted a part number for the thermal pads for digikey. I too would like to know if I could pick them up at Fry's or RadioShack and save on shipping.

For the temps:

After redoing the scrubber and exhaust for the third time, I have stable 80-85 when lights on. 75-78 when lights off. This was only after last night. I will see what I get for today. Its not nearing 90 like it was and I can actually feel suction on the scrubber. I believe I will have good negative pressure now for effective odor control. With 80mm fans, I would recommend using two. Just have one outside the case so it won't take up more room. The fan + scrubber only take up a little over an inch in my cab. Not bad. I must than CamperDon at GC for this tip. Works like a charm. Both fans pull enough air. One didn't cut it. If I plug one intake port, I get even more suction on the other intake. Looks like I got it.

For the pad:

Fry's probably won't have this specific thickness or any thinner. Uf you look for one, get it no thicker than .5mm. .3mm would be even better.

I feel I was lucky to find one available at this thickness. One side is naturally tacky also so I used the tacky side to mount to the heat sink. Then soldered the LED over it. The solder holds the led to the pad.

Always tape across your traces right next to the LED pins to act as a support. That way your traces don't lift off due to gravitational pull and time which will result in an air gap between the LED and heat sink. Then the LED will die and you will find out why the hard way. Never happened to me yet, but its always good to make sure your work is solid and safe.
 

woolybear

Well-known member
Veteran
Thanks for the tips on the pad, smok4 - did some shopping;

At digikey, a 8.25" x 6.1" sheet of thermal pad is $24, Thermal Conductivity 4.1 W/m-K.

Found 3M Thermal Pad 5590H, 0.5MM - 9.44" X 1 foot, for $20 + Free Shipping at another store... however, its conductivity is less, 3.0 W/m-K.

Go with the digikey or would the 3M work? 50 sq in vs 113 sq inches.

thermal_generic.jpg

 
S

sm0k4

Thanks for the tips on the pad, smok4 - did some shopping;

At digikey, a 8.25" x 6.1" sheet of thermal pad is $24, Thermal Conductivity 4.1 W/m-K.

Found 3M Thermal Pad 5590H, 0.5MM - 9.44" X 1 foot, for $20 + Free Shipping at another store... however, its conductivity is less, 3.0 W/m-K.

Go with the digikey or would the 3M work? 50 sq in vs 113 sq inches.


That bigger sheet should work ok. I just went with mine because I had other things to get from Digikey. It might be harder to work with but it should be soft enough.
 
S

sm0k4

nice sm0k4, what kind of driver are you using? are you using any resistors?

I am using my own custom driver circuit.

Parts consist of:
Cat4101 IC
860 ohm resistor
.1 uF Capacitor
1uF Capacitor
PCB (my design) - or you can proto-board it.

This driver will use any voltage up to 25V and up to 1A of current. so 25 Watts any way you want to hook it up.

Right now that light is running at 630mA. There are two identical strings running at 20 volts or so each. Both are in parallel with the CAT4101 driver. Each string draws 13.6 Watts for 27 watts total, but the driver is still only warm, not scalding hot. I'm not sure how high I can bump these drivers up to, over 25 Watts might be pushing it but I have spares and I need to test out my limits. Not going to drive the reds much more than this though. 600 would be my limit on those. I would go to 700 or 800 on the white and blue though if they were on their own string.

Here is some pics of the light prototype build.

Here is the driver I made on a vector board when I was still testing out the driver. I have PCBs here now for my big light when I get to building it.


Here is the LED side of the light showing my traces.


Here is a side view showing my DIY heat sink assembly.


Here is the light half lit up. This is old, I changed the colors around since this pic.

 
what wattage of LEDs are you using, this little light looks like it would do wonders in a small and stealthy veg space :) and guess what i need :) do u know where i can get detailed diagrams and info for building a light unit like this :) thanks
 
S

sm0k4

I posted the detailed build here. It should have pretty much everything I used and did except the driver. Those you can buy already made though.
 
S

sm0k4

Day 13 on tallest, 10 on smallest.

After moving light down to about 5" above canopy I had no stretch with these 1 watt Osrams.

Got a closeup of the deformed bagseed I crossed with a white widow. Unstable genetics it seems, the new growth seems to be looking a bit more normal.

Growing in coco for the first time and also micro for the first time. Should be interesting.

Back left plant is AK48 from Nirvana - 10 days
Front left plant is Blackberry from Nirvana (heavy Indica dominance) - 11 days
Back right plant is my bagseed x WW cross - 13 days
Front right is another Blackberry - 10 days
 

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S

sm0k4

Day 19

Day 19

Last night I got to train them again since the new growth took off a bit. Here are the shots. Maybe a week or two more of veg, then the flip.



 

Voidling

Member
It's looking nice. I'm still waiting on my seeds, it's been nearly a month.

How are you liking the coco as a growing medium?

I'd like to know what you'd suggest for the carbon filter with pc fan. I'm hoping to put a 120mm or 140mm fan in my cab. I'm still trying to figure out how to do my ventilation at this point.
 
S

sm0k4

My filter went through three re-designs already. I think I got a design I like and that will work well in this space.

I think the smaller fans will give you better water pressure rating and sucking power through the filter. I'm not a pro on the subject, but I think I remember reading this.

My fans are also stacked for better pressure. I have one on the outside of the cab but under the front panel of the PC. The second one is inside the cab. I used a long bolt to hold it all together. I need to buy two new fans at some point. Maybe when I need to change the carbon.

Keeping the carbon in place was the only issue with my scrubber. This needs to be modified for easy changing, but I have a plan sort of. For this one I took women's leggings and cut the foot section off with enough room to fit in my filter housing. I filled with enough carbon to evenly spread out in the filter. I then sewed the stocking closed except a small hole on the end to pour extra carbon out.

I put the bottom half of my plastic filter housing on the bolts, then laid out my carbon filled stocking across that. I put the cover over the carbon stocking one corner at a time, working the carbon around the filter evenly as I went on to the next corner. When I got to the last corner I dumped out the extra bulge of carbon, then tightened the last corner with the nut.

So far no odor unless I open the door. There is not much smell from the vegging plants but it is really noticeable when I open the door. I smell nothing coming out of the fan exhaust. Only flowering time will tell.

Buy the scrubber filter housing from a PC store. I just got a regular filter kit and took it apart to modify it the way I wanted it. Mine had two sections. I sandwiched my legging with carbon in between them. I bought an 80mm filter kit and a 90mm filter kit. I would suggest one of those sizes for a PC exhaust. 90mm if you can. 120mm spreads the air out more, so would take more to suck through a filter.

Here is a pic of the two filters. I was going to put these two pieces together but it was too thick, so I used the original inserts that came with them. I just turned the insert around and it gave me about a half inch of space for carbon. Since I got two filter kits in each package, when I break one I have a spare. I drilled mounting holes and extra holes in the middle.

 

Voidling

Member
Thank you very much. Is this setup lightproof for you?

I'll see what I can find in 80 and 90 mm fans. I've read that too but scrubninja (?) post on pc fans had a 120mm I think listed at 9mm/h2o. I figured I'd have to double it up. I just wasnt sure how to make it lightproof and attach a carbon scrubber. I'm debating on running it directly out the back or up into another compartment and venting it out from there. My project has come to a standstill until I can figure it out.

Thank you much. I appreciate that info. I hadn't heard of the filter attachment you used. Thanks
 

alexeieff

Member
You just solved my problems...it's two weeks now that I'm searchin the best way to make a scrubber for pc fans, easy to recharge, clean, small and easy to fit...thank you!
 
S

sm0k4

Thank you very much. Is this setup lightproof for you?

I'll see what I can find in 80 and 90 mm fans. I've read that too but scrubninja (?) post on pc fans had a 120mm I think listed at 9mm/h2o. I figured I'd have to double it up. I just wasnt sure how to make it lightproof and attach a carbon scrubber. I'm debating on running it directly out the back or up into another compartment and venting it out from there. My project has come to a standstill until I can figure it out.

Thank you much. I appreciate that info. I hadn't heard of the filter attachment you used. Thanks

I don't have the pics of the build in progress, but the panty hose and carbon totally seal out the light. I have about a half inch of carbon spread across that filter. The only thing that needs improving is the carbon changing procedure. Right now it takes a while to install the carbon stuffed panty hose.

I plan to cut a frame to use so the panty hose stays spread out and I don't have to hold it while bolting it together. Tedious process with only 1 person.

Just remember 1 fan probably won't suck through the carbon good enough for good air exchange. You will most likely need two fans stacked, both with good h20 pressure ratings.
 
S

sm0k4

You just solved my problems...it's two weeks now that I'm searchin the best way to make a scrubber for pc fans, easy to recharge, clean, small and easy to fit...thank you!

Glad I could help! Here are the other build pics if you see any other ideas you like.


This is the fan mounted outside the box and under the PC cover



Here is the fan on the inside. Anything that needs to be air tight gets weather stripping for a seal. Keeps smelly air from getting in the cracks before getting filtered.



Here is the filter assembled on top of the inner fan.



The carbon pellets are in the panty hose. I only used enough of the foot material to fit across my filter. Then I sewed the end shut. I have the carbon clamped in between the plastic fan housings. I put the thin filter that came with it in also for a pre-filter.

I tightened one corner at a time while stretching the panty hose and pressing the carbon pellets evenly across the filter as I tightened the other corners.

When I got to the last corner I just snipped a small hole in the panty hose and dumped the excess. Then stretched it out and tightened it down.

There is a bulge in the middle, but that is from the pressure on the bolts.

So far so good. Can't get a whiff of anything on the outside yet. I get a real good whiff when I open the door, but nothing when the door is closed. They are only in veg though, so not nearly as strong smelling as they will get. I will flip to flower in a week or so probably, then the true test begins.
 

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