Microgrow cabinet - fan suggestions

GreenNets · Jan 23, 2016

Hello farmers! I'm gonna start my grow as soon as my cabinet is complete. I'll run a SOG with 1 liter pots and 55w PLL's in different spectrums (not sure how many yet). The final length of the PLL's will be about 55cm.

I have built a cabinet out of plywood with dimensions:
80cm length
75cm height
30cm deep

It will be my first run so I'm not experience at all. Do you guys have any suggestions on ventilation? I need it to be as stealthy as possible so I'm going to use a DIY scrubber for odor control. My first thought was a 120mm PC fan for exhaust but I'm not sure it will be enough to pull through the scrubber.

What do you think? :tiphat:

GoatCheese · Jan 26, 2016

Hey.
I have no experience on small cabs for flowering, but with vege, for sure
PC fan prolly is only good for air circulations, i would think. But i never used one, so what do i know.
Exhaust fans, used in many bathrooms could work, some of these move air fairly well, or small inline fans.
..fairly cheap. There are different sizes ( and/or air movement power) so don't buy the first one you find.
scroll down for pics and info on some small inline, and one of these bathroom exh-fans
http://www.extractorfanworld.co.uk/choosing-a-bathroom-fan-58-c.asp
Or one of these could work ..same story with the size/power
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Kitchen-and-bathroom-exhaust-fan-exhaust-fan-6-inch-circular-duct-exhaust-blower-fresh-air-mute/32479019174.html

chronosync · Jan 26, 2016

Smoke a cigarette in there. I mean put one in an ashtray or something like it. Close it up for a few. Check it out.

Dropped Cat · Jan 27, 2016

In my opinion, if the plants you grow are low odor, the fans
only need to exchange the air enough to keep the plants in fresh air.

Stealth is no smell, no hear, no see and you will need to have a
misdirect source of noise to cover the sound of your grow.

The only silent fan is an unplugged one.

Here is my first box, slightly larger than yours, that has a 4" 125 CFM
fan with a 4” x 12" scrubber and a 4 foot duct muffler:

The fan and muffler is installed in the wall behind the box.
PC fans are good for circulation, but if your buds are stinky
you will need a more robust system.

Stealth is not easy or cheap.

chronosync · Jan 27, 2016

What are PLLs ? They look different, how are they? Cheap, avl in lots if specs?

Dropped Cat · Jan 28, 2016

chronosync said:
What are PLLs ? They look different, how are they? Cheap, avl in lots if specs?

Mostly mail order or will call at lighting supply houses.
I pay around 8.00 US for one 55W light, and use three
in my current flower box.

They available in various watts and color temps.

Screw in LED are slowly replacing the PL L users.

GreenNets · Jan 31, 2016

Dropped Cat said:
In my opinion, if the plants you grow are low odor, the fans
only need to exchange the air enough to keep the plants in fresh air.

Stealth is no smell, no hear, no see and you will need to have a
misdirect source of noise to cover the sound of your grow.

The only silent fan is an unplugged one.

Here is my first box, slightly larger than yours, that has a 4" 125 CFM
fan with a 4” x 12" scrubber and a 4 foot duct muffler:

View Image

The fan and muffler is installed in the wall behind the box.
PC fans are good for circulation, but if your buds are stinky
you will need a more robust system.

Stealth is not easy or cheap.

Yeah, I'll probably use one PC fan for air-circulation only. I'm thinking about this exhaust fan [FONT=&quot]TD-160-100-N-SILENT ([/FONT]http://www.solerpalau.com/td-160-100-n-silent-230v50hz.html). Do you think its overkill?

GreenNets · Jan 31, 2016

The only problem I see is how to build a scrubber that fits in my cab

GoatCheese · Feb 1, 2016

GreenNets said:
The only problem I see is how to build a scrubber that fits in my cab

Build an external one, a stealth-box ontop of the stealth box. Can be set on a side too.
..so that the no parts of the vent-system are actually inside your grow box, only a hole for the duct hose.

jesbuds · Feb 1, 2016

120x38mm server grade fans, splice on DC adapter and cover with HEPA humidifier filter. Cheap, effective and long lasting. If the fans running full bore are too loud, can also use a 6v DC adapter for them.

GreenNets · Feb 1, 2016

GoatCheese said:
Build an external one, a stealth-box ontop of the stealth box. Can be set on a side too.
..so that the no parts of the vent-system are actually inside your grow box, only a hole for the duct hose.

Yeah that would be awesome but I can't do it right now. I have to use my current space in the cab. Hmmmm, I have to figure this out.

GoatCheese · Feb 1, 2016

GreenNets said:
Yeah, I'll probably use one PC fan for air-circulation only. I'm thinking about this exhaust fan [FONT=&quot]TD-160-100-N-SILENT ([/FONT]http://www.solerpalau.com/td-160-100-n-silent-230v50hz.html). Do you think its overkill?

Can you adjust air flow speed on that model? Claes Ohlson sells one that has two settings 140 m3/h and 180m3/h, for your little cab, i think that is too much.
I think the one in my 60x 60 x 140cm tent is 180 m3/h and it's plenty for the tent, let alone your cab. maybe closer to 100-120m3/h for your cab, but like i said earlier, i'm not too experienced on little cabs
..but even 140m3/h, to me, seems abit much

maybe others will chime in

Dropped Cat · Feb 2, 2016

GreenNets said:
Yeah, I'll probably use one PC fan for air-circulation only. I'm thinking about this exhaust fan [FONT=&quot]TD-160-100-N-SILENT ([/FONT]http://www.solerpalau.com/td-160-100-n-silent-230v50hz.html). Do you think its overkill?

My first fan was Soler Palau 125, and I wired it to
100% and used a Variac for tuning.

Soler Palau fans are quality, I had mine going 24/7
for 4 years+.

GoatCheese · Feb 2, 2016

GreenNets said:
Yeah, I'll probably use one PC fan for air-circulation only. I'm thinking about this exhaust fan [FONT=&quot]TD-160-100-N-SILENT ([/FONT]http://www.solerpalau.com/td-160-100-n-silent-230v50hz.html). Do you think its overkill?

If you can get some speed-controller thing to go with that [FONT="&amp]TD-160-100-N-SILENT, then it might be a good option, cause if you're going to up-scale your growspace at some point, then you'd already have an inline for a 250w/400w hps tent/cab grow.

[/FONT]It's nicely quite at arund 25db (was it). Will be even less if you can speed it down abit, to around 100m3/h. Then it might be a good option, cause it sure looks good quality.

About noise
Uninsulated duct hose is quite noisy, atleast the aluminum-kind. So if you have to use some, get the insulated kind, thou it costs abit more, but much less noise.

GreenNets · Mar 5, 2016

I'm thankful for all your help. I haven't had the time to complete my build yet. And I'm still thinking about a solution for my ventilation.

A friend of mine have a Soler & Palau TD-100X In-line Exhaust Fan for sale. I can get it for a really nice price. What do you think about it? Mount the fan outside my cabinet and connect it to a scrubber inside my cab. I'm worried about the fan sound though.

Damn, its hard to decide. I want the best possible solution. Arrghhh

ronbo51 · Mar 5, 2016

GreenNets said:
I'm thankful for all your help. I haven't had the time to complete my build yet. And I'm still thinking about a solution for my ventilation.

A friend of mine have a Soler & Palau TD-100X In-line Exhaust Fan for sale. I can get it for a really nice price. What do you think about it? Mount the fan outside my cabinet and connect it to a scrubber inside my cab. I'm worried about the fan sound though.

Damn, its hard to decide. I want the best possible solution. Arrghhh

Get the S&P. I just built a cab and mine is humming along 24/7 almost silently. Between the phresh 4"x8" filter and the fan the profile is about 6" high and 20" in length and easily fits in a 24" space. I used carpet padding scraps scrounged from the carpet business next to work to line the entire inside of the mechanical portion of the cab and it significantly contributed to stealthiness.

Bonus tip: The exhaust in my cab is out the back. When I first backed it up to the wall leaving 4" there was noise. It was the sound of the air hitting the hard surface of the wall and reflecting and echoing. I tacked a fluffy blanket to the wall behind it, still leaving 4 " for air but now the air noise got absorbed in the soft surfaces. Sound moves just like light.

GoatCheese · Mar 5, 2016

GreenNets said:
I'm thankful for all your help. I haven't had the time to complete my build yet. And I'm still thinking about a solution for my ventilation.

A friend of mine have a Soler & Palau TD-100X In-line Exhaust Fan for sale. I can get it for a really nice price. What do you think about it? Mount the fan outside my cabinet and connect it to a scrubber inside my cab. I'm worried about the fan sound though.

Damn, its hard to decide. I want the best possible solution. Arrghhh

If you buy a controller with it to reduce the RPMs, it will bring the noise level down also. It wont be super noisy in any case, but sure, you can't call it stealth if it's around 30db or something in the room. Anyone walking into the room will ask, "what's that?" if it's 30db, but your neighbours wont be able to hear it.
...and if you have to sleep in the same room, it might be a bit of a bitch

Sure, the controller might cost abit of extra (never used one myself), but if noise is REALLY a possible ISSUE, then better safe than sorry, and so i would also buy a controller of some sort.

Here's something to look at by the same Company.
You can see other kinds on the page aswell, if you scroll down abit

http://www.amazon.com/Soler-Palau-2..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=1QDNMA3G8WPG9ABQA79N

Also, you can fine tune the air flow suiting every type of smaller cabs your ever gonna build with the controller.

..Too much air flow is not good for your plants, especially if the air is cold and dry.

:::

Yea, it's better to connect the fan so that it sucks through the scrubber, if possible. More efficient that way, i think
, cause the fan does not have to push the air to the scrubber this way around.

Buy the damn thing if it's a good price. You can use a 250-400w hps-cooltube with the inline if you wanna up scale to a grow tent at some point or bigger cab = more weed!

different_trip · Mar 8, 2016

Im actually planning on something very similiar on a 50x50x100. Ive bought the cheap inlines and they sound like jets, not an option for stealth. Blew money on big carbon filters, didnt think they were as big as they are. Money down the drain growing micro.

Then I tried diy carbon filter and cheap pc fans (120mm), one push and one pulling with a carbon layer in the middle. Fans couldnt really handle it and it would take some effort switching out and renew the carbon when needed.

Now I bought more expensive pc-fans with alot better pressure ratings, the Noctua nf-f12 ippc3000 and a controller slowing it down. This thing is a beast for being made for pc and now I use it pushing out thru a carbon layer, 120x120x40mm. I meassured my commercial filter and the walls is 30mm thick. Its not moving alot of air, yet you can feel it on the hand or in the face like a breeze. Considering the space is very small and 1-5min per airchange is optimal, I think it will do the trick if matching up the intakes.

On the other side I have the carbon exposed for quick changes under a minute or two and the carbon is acting like a muffler.

LakeEffect · Mar 11, 2016

The amp draw on pc fans is what you want to look at. A standard cheapo 120mm fan will pull about .15 amps at 12volts. Pretty quiet but not good for much beyond circulation. A 12volt fan that draws .75amps or higher will move a lot more air. I like to get bigger fans than needed so I can dial down the voltage which also reduces the noise. A step down voltage converter will cost about 10bux and slows the fan down by reducing the voltage which cuts down the amp draw. a normal fan controller adds resistance which gets wasted as a little bit of heat, keeping your amp draw the same as running the fan at 100%. Check my link in my signature, my cab has several types of 12v fans with different controls and an external exhaust box

jesbuds · Mar 11, 2016

Yea the 120x25's don't have a ton of forward pressure, if you're using PC fans to go through a filter I'd almost always opt for 120x38's which as LakeEffect pointed out, the fans can always be undervolted.

Microgrow cabinet - fan suggestions

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