First Micro (hydro pc)

B420 · Sep 19, 2009

Alright so, This is my first attempt at a micro grow of any kind. I am using an old gateway tower that I've had laying around for that last 10yrs or so. For lighting I am using 4 26w 6500K CFLs mounted horizontally and incased in a cooltube area using plexi glass and sealed with weather-stripping. I am cooling the cooltube area with a Thermaltake 80mm fan. The other fan is for the grow area and is the fan that came with the case long ago, Superred CHA9212CB-A 31.1~54.72 CFM. Still got some work before it is finished it looks kinda rough right now but will come together by tomorrow night. Here are some pics:

NukaCola · Sep 19, 2009

Looks good, what strain are you going to use?

B420 · Sep 19, 2009

I am waiting on a mix of seeds from a friend, I know for sure though that I will run a cross that was called pkaksage.

ScrubNinja · Sep 20, 2009

Really nice case man. I hope mine can be that professional when I build it. Do you think the glass could be too far away from the lights? I had an idea to put mine quite close, like a quarter inch away.

UniXx · Sep 20, 2009

Good luck with this one! Micro grows are so awesome...

NukaCola · Sep 20, 2009

B420,

Is the glass necessarily with a cfl's? Wouldn't you lose some light penetration with the glass installed?

jonkanoo · Sep 20, 2009

B420 · Sep 20, 2009

ScrubNinja - Thanks for the compliment. I am sure that the plexi could be closer to the lights, I just ended up putting it there because the case had some tabs already in place to rest it on.

UniXx - Thanks I hope it does actually go well. This is my first attempt at a micro environment so hopefully I can get the hang of it quickly.

NukaCola - I am not sure that it is necessary and while I probably do lose some of the quality in the lights to the plexiglas, I think that the pros of a separate area solely dedicated to the lights and cooling of that area outweighs the cons of the reduced light penetration and definitely will make environmental control easier to handle.

jonkanoo - Thanks for checking this out.

B420 · Sep 20, 2009

And here is a pic of how the case looks now, I am pretty happy with it and hopefully I can get a plant in there sooner than later.

ScrubNinja · Sep 21, 2009

Fantastico. What do you do about where the plexiglass meets the door? I'm thinking about using rubber weatherstrip. It's sort of like a fridge seal you can stick on easily. Shouldn't be long till you grow in it now eh?

BCBUDDY · Sep 21, 2009

looks very well thought out, good job man.

B420 · Sep 22, 2009

ScrubNinja - Where the plexi meets the sides of the case I actually did use the rubber weather-stripping you are talking about, it does the job quickly and well. Where it meets the front of the case I created a cardboard ducting system that uses one intake for the whole case but divides the intake into one for the cooltube and one for the grow chamber. I sealed that off using HVAC tape. And shouldn't be long till there is life in the case, I am waiting for seeds. Its rough to watch your recently completed work sit unused.

BCBUDDY - Thanks for the compliment. Thanks for stopping by.

CloudNine · Sep 22, 2009

Better get some fem seeds if you are only doing one plant. PC looks great btw.

You work station looks just like mine except 10 times cleaner. Big mess of wires, ac & dc adapters, unused fans, empty epoxy tubes, little bits of carbon everywhere.. I need to clean lol

2tokesnpass · Sep 22, 2009

nice fukn setup bro, about the plexyglass,,,u could easily add a small fan at the top blowing on the bulbs directly to the exhaust, should keep ur temps just as low.. real sweet setup tho dude,,im watchin this 1,..

2tokes

ScrubNinja · Sep 22, 2009

2tokesnpass said:
nice fukn setup bro, about the plexyglass,,,u could easily add a small fan at the top blowing on the bulbs directly to the exhaust, should keep ur temps just as low.. real sweet setup tho dude,,im watchin this 1,..

2tokes

Yeah I agree with this. I am hoping to use just one intake fan for the light section, this way if there is any leak between the lights and the grow, the air will leak into the grow area, where it will be filtered, otherwise it could suck smelly air out into the light's unfiltered flow. But I don't think you have a carbon filter anyway?

B420 · Sep 25, 2009

I am not too sure what you are trying to describe about the fan blowing the lights, could you explain better? I have a small carbon sheet over the grow area exhaust, I plan on constructing a micro filter with actual activated carbon pellets before I put the grow into flower.

I2KanGrow · Sep 25, 2009

Looking great B420, This is going to be one to watch!

ScrubNinja · Sep 25, 2009

B420 said:
I am not too sure what you are trying to describe about the fan blowing the lights, could you explain better

See in the light section you have the thermaltake on the left and a passive intake on the right. This creates a negative pressure environment in the light section, so it wants to suck air into it. This is bad as it could suck some stank ass weed smell into the light section, where it will get blown out freely without being filtered by carbon.

I'm not saying it will definitely do this if there is a leak, because if your main grow area is functioning right, that will also be a negative pressure space. So it could go either way, if there even was a leak. You have done a great job by the looks :yes:

So anyway, what I was saying is if you move the fan to the right, and have a passive exhaust hole, you have made yourself a positive pressure environment. So any leak would go into the cab, instead of the opposite. And as a bonus you would have a fan actively blowing air onto the bulbs, instead of passively sucking air through them.

RagnorokYoshi · Sep 25, 2009

i was wondering if a pc hydro grow would work and what do you know you have one. congrats man i hope it grows well

Aerohead · Sep 26, 2009

RagnorokYoshi said:
i was wondering if a pc hydro grow would work and what do you know you have one. congrats man i hope it grows well

Yes, hydro works very well in PC cases, check my thread to remove all doubt...

B420 very nice looking setup, looks like a good grow is coming your way!!!

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