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440W PL-L stealth cab design

MrAwder

MrAwder

Member
Well I just finished constructing my last cab, and after figuring out everything I did wrong I feel like I should just start a new flower box and make the one I just finished a veg/mom spot. So here is my plan, I think I'm getting pretty handy with sketchup, I just wish it was as easy to actually build as to plan.

It will be a 440w PL-L SOG in 1L airpots. The dimensions are 5ft L x 2ft W x 3ft H. I plan on having 32 sites fed by a drip system using a 5 Gal res, possibly bigger room permitting. The lights and ballasts (and power strip and 12v power supply) will be separated from the plants by a plywood shelf with a window cut out for the lighting area. The top shelf area will be cooled by a 120mm 63 CFM axial fan. The flower chamber will be exhausted through a Can Filter 2600 with a 120mm 63 CFM fan pulling through it and exhausting out the back.

Any comments or criticisms? My only other thought is that I might be able to squeeze a 400w HPS in there instead of 440w pl-l. Would this be worth while or am I going to have to much problem with heat and bleaching?

I forgot to label them, but the big black thing is the res and the thing behind is the scrubber/ducting.





 
MrAwder

MrAwder

Member
wow that looks awesome. not sure how i missed that before. i wonder if i could comfortably fit more wattage in there since it looks like they are cooled more efficiently. i will have to take another stab at my design tomorrow. thanks for the suggestion
 
MrAwder

MrAwder

Member
Okay here is the redesign and I REALLY like how it's shaping up. The vertical lighting arrangement totally kicks ass, and I've put my own little twist on it. I changed it to 25 sites instead of 32 also, just because everything fits nicer/easier this way and the plants will have more room.

So my change to the design... Instead of venting air from the room up through the lights and having to scrub it at high CFM, I decided to make a sort of intake manifold out of PVC and put in T junctions for each light. So it will be a total of 4 2" intakes and each one will be split between 2 lights. The air is still pulled and exhausted out the cab by a ~60 CFM 120mm axial fan located in the top compartment which should also remove heat from the ballast and power supply. The bottom area is still vented through a can 2600 with an axial fan, same as before. The other thing I like about this is that I can use these intake lines as support for the drip system, just running the dripper lines down each length of PVC and zip tying them.

The only real drawback here is that plants on either end are getting half the light of plants in the middle. I'm not overly concerned about this though since the middle area is where they should be packing on the most buds through the SOG cycle.



 
twrex

twrex

Member
Well, if you're planning on going perpetual sog then just make sure you only put the new kids on the edges and then as they get bigger then move them more towards the center. Another idea I'd been playing with in my head was to put another light or two along the top of the cab for a little overhead lighting too.
 
MrAwder

MrAwder

Member
coming through for me again! good stuff. it is crazy how much you can read on this site and still miss this kind of stuff.

i got some tube guards and PVC fittings today and started experimenting in the veg cab i am finishing up. i dont think i got the exact parts Tilt got so I had to come up with a slightly different way of installing the lights but it looks like it will work okay. i will post up some pics when it's done. probably wont be till next week. i need to get paid before i hit the hardware store again and still need some wire and a wall plug for the ballast.

my only other concern is seeing how much the PL-L blocks the ventilation tube and im wondering if enough air will be pulled over them. i guess i will find out next week.
 
twrex

twrex

Member
MrAwder said:
my only other concern is seeing how much the PL-L blocks the ventilation tube and im wondering if enough air will be pulled over them. i guess i will find out next week.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's something I've been concerned with as well, and as you saw in his thread he mounted individual fans over the tubes to draw air through. Later in the thread he even mentioned wanting to upgrade to stronger fans for that task as well, so I'm guessing that they're probably necessary, but if you're feeling like experimenting then by all means!
 
MrAwder

MrAwder

Member
yea. im hoping that since im not exhausting the entire cab, as it looks like he is doing, that i will still be pulling enough air over the lights since it's a much smaller volume. don't think im up to doing all the calculations on the volumes and such though, so it will just have to be determined through trial and error.
 
Tilt

Tilt

Member
I was thinking about setting up a air manifold that uses a single fan to pull air through the tubes
 
twrex

twrex

Member
Someone in one of the threads (I think anti's 4000 cab thread) mentioned using transparent vacuum cleaner ducting for it which seemed like a good idea to me, having something which is a standard size like that allows the ability to make such a manifold simply by using standard plumbing materials which are easily attainable.

edit: I see it was in your entertainment center thread tilt. :)
 
Tilt

Tilt

Member
MrAwder said:
yea. im hoping that since im not exhausting the entire cab, as it looks like he is doing, that i will still be pulling enough air over the lights since it's a much smaller volume. don't think im up to doing all the calculations on the volumes and such though, so it will just have to be determined through trial and error.
Click to expand...


I was wondering how you were gonna cool your cab without exhausting it?

My original idea was to gut a mini fridge I have and put the cooling coils on the inside of the cab and the hot on the outside.
I would have the cool tubes sealed and going through the floor. Then enrich with co2.

Waaayyyy tooooo complicated. I went with the KISS version instead
 
twrex

twrex

Member
Tilt said:
I was wondering how you were gonna cool your cab without exhausting it?

My original idea was to gut a mini fridge I have and put the cooling coils on the inside of the cab and the hot on the outside.
I would have the cool tubes sealed and going through the floor. Then enrich with co2.

Waaayyyy tooooo complicated. I went with the KISS version instead
Click to expand...

The other problem with that is that a mini fridge is not designed to do that task. They are meant to turn on, remove small amounts of heat from a highly insulated tiny space and turn off until the temps reach a certain point again. It's actually meant to spend most of its time off, not on.

To cool something even as small as your cab while putting out as much heat as your lights it would have to run pretty much nonstop which would probably kill the compressor in short order and/or murder your utility bill.
 
fatigues

fatigues

Active member
Veteran
twrex said:
Someone in one of the threads (I think anti's 4000 cab thread) mentioned using transparent vacuum cleaner ducting for it which seemed like a good idea to me, having something which is a standard size like that allows the ability to make such a manifold simply by using standard plumbing materials which are easily attainable.

edit: I see it was in your entertainment center thread tilt. :)
Click to expand...

It was me.

If you are going to use a manifold to draw air in a 440w PLL setup, I highly recommend using clear central vac 2" tubing for cool tubes and fittings. It is far more solid and reliable so you can obtain reliable airflow than screwing around with relatively dodgy (and wiggly) T12 tube guards.

Clear central vac tubing is available in the aisles of most big box hardware retailers. Add a TD-100x to your gear and you should be good to go.
 
twrex

twrex

Member
fatigues said:
Clear central vac tubing is available in the aisles of most big box hardware retailers. Add a TD-100x to your gear and you should be good to go.
Click to expand...

I just searched lowes AND home depot's websites and found nothing of the sort... am I missing something?
 
fatigues

fatigues

Active member
Veteran
twrex said:
I just searched lowes AND home depot's websites and found nothing of the sort... am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Couldn't tell you. I purchased it at Rona, a Big Box hardware retailer in Canada. Lowes Canada carries it as well. Look around.
 
twrex

twrex

Member
fatigues said:
Couldn't tell you. I purchased it at Rona, a Big Box hardware retailer in Canada. Lowes Canada carries it as well. Look around.
Click to expand...

To be honest I've never seen a central vacuum unit in any big box hardware store and I've spent rather a lot of time wandering the aisles of hardware stores in recent years. I'm thinking it's probably a regional thing. Even so, them not having it on their national websites does not bode well.
 
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