diggin' the rabbit burrow

[soursmoker]

Hey NKOTS, sorry it took me so long to get over here and respond but this is my advice...

If you use PL-L lighting

Best of luck

this, deff think about PL-Ls

If not this time, look into them for the future...

Hi KNOTS,

Thanks for asking me my opinion ,

How about just one big clone chamber ? More space for your next cloning tray or large bubble cloner, also don't forget to test temps.

Mitch.

this^^

I think you should take out the tools section and the dividers in the clones Chambers. just keep you tools somewhere else, no need to have those in the cab.

Also how do you plan to light seal it?

this^^

here's my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt

I would not bother with remote ballasting the cfls. IMO, it's more trouble than it's worth and most of the heat comes from the bulb and not the ballast.

I would not make a cfl 'hood'. I would just mount the lights on the walls pretty much as high as possible. Since you are limited in height, if it were my cab, I would mount the cfls horizontally (parallel to the ceiling), ie not hanging down.

I'd think about knocking the wall between the clone chambers out and just dealing with one clone area. I might even see if it was feasible to knock the tool wall out too, ditching the tool area, and make a larger clone area.

I think you're going to need another computer fan to help with heat/circulation.

ALL OF THIS^^

passive intakes usually mean a hole with outside light coming through them. a solution should be in the plan

this, although NKOTS says this is gonna be a veg area, so it is not as big of a deal right?

That has pretty much everything that I wanted to say in it

If you really want to get the hood it wont harm but I think aslong you paint the surface white / get reflective material in there you wont need a hood - heat will be ok either way I guess.

I would get that wall between the clone chambers out for sure though. For the venting I would either get a strong fan or get a 2nd one to be sure u have enough airflow. Temps wont be a prob if the airflow is good enough.

look into a bathroom exhaust fan if the PC fans don't do the job.

Instead of mylar i use flat white sheets.
So these are first steps i took:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=43874&pictureid=1039648View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=43874&pictureid=1039649View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=43874&pictureid=1039650View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=43874&pictureid=1039652View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=43874&pictureid=1039655View Image

Very nice, looks like you will be just alright!

If I think of anything else I'll come back and let ya know!

 

[NKOTS]

Hey there, sour
Your reply is in no way too late and i know you were out in the mountains last days. How was the hike? PM me pls.

Thanks for your input! How do you like the burrow?
I was thinking about bathroom fan, just not sure about its noise, will need to do the research just in case the cpu fan fails to provide enough airflow.
Stay cool, pal

 

[NKOTS]

alright, next step is ventilation.
drilled the holes for passive inlet and for active outlet. as mentioned before in the pix, this top right corner will host the computer fan to suck air out of the cab. secondly, it will include the remote ballast. didn't figure out how i will build the ballast case just yet but i have some ideas.
several units of tubing will be used to provide a light-trap as mentioned before.

to make connecting the fan easier, i made a simple inline fan that can be attached to the tubing thanks to same diameter.

all i needed for this step was: fan, 2 square/circle connectors and some duct tape.

i inserted the fan into the connector (good to cut the edge a little in order to make space for the cables), stabilised it with the second connector and glued it firmly with the duct tape. easy yet effective!



after that i added next tubing units to drive air out from the main chamber. it seems a little too noisy so i need to figure out some improvement options.

 

[NKOTS]

on with the venting system.
installed the pc fan.



then made the passive inlet light-trap.
and camouflage!



what do you think, folks?

 

[5th]

what do you think, folks?

I think your intake/exhaust setup is like the rest of the build so far. So clean, it's clinical. Keep up the great work.

 

[soursmoker]

AWESOME! looks like you got a great idea in your head of what you are trying to acccomplish and I have full faith that you will...

You are going to have a MUCH nicer Veg cab than my flower Cab lol

 

[NKOTS]

5th and soursmoker, thanks for the comments, glad you like this work in progress!


alright then, time for another venting section (cloning chamber).

i know you guys suggested me to screw the dividers - still subject to consideration!

now, my intention is to have the same fan suck air from that area. i need passive inlet and a way to connect the exhausts.

how about this?



i also threw main power unit in the right section of the cab:



oh, and this is the baking pan that i want to use as a frame of the multi-CFL hood:



do you think this will work?

 

[5th]

I'm curious to find out myself...

My gut is telling me that the air from the fan won't be enough to pull air out of the cloning area as it's passing through the exhaust tube on its way out of the cab... Mainly due to the amound of drag/constriction/bends and turns in the intake.

...but I'm high...and usually wrong about everything...lol...lemme know how it works.

Score on your reflector, if it works half as good as it fits...your golden.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

Instead of mylar i use flat white sheets.
So these are first steps i took:
[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=43874&pictureid=1039648&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=43874&pictureid=1039649&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=43874&pictureid=1039650&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=43874&pictureid=1039652&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=43874&pictureid=1039655&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

those are perfect! Better than mylar. There is another material you could check out called prodex, but I think your white sheets are better. I think that mini hood will be fine

 

[SecondAttempt]

just tuning in... super clean thus far. I was going to recommend reflectix but those white panels are nice. I need to do something like what you've done with the pc fan... what are those square/round white abs connectors? As in where do I find them what are they normally used for?

Thank you, keep it clean.

 

[sgapetti]

this solution will give you equal airflo in both chambers and the possibility to use the larger one @ 12/12 when necessary, we start from here, tell me what you think about it.

Peace S

 

[Cabinet Ninja]

Hopefully you aren't too far into the build for me to drop in.

For lights you should really be looking at PL-L lights like suggested earlier. They are cfl lights but instead of being coiled up they lay long and flat for a very even distribution of light. Their ballast is also a separate component that you can house away from the main grow compartment to greatly reduce heat. There is a massive PL-L thread on here that's a gold mine of great info.

Another thing in your ducts, spray paint them matte black on the inside, otherwise lights will still reflect out the ends even with your 90' turns.

For a low profile/easy carbon filter look up carbon filter sheets for cooker smell extractors. You can cut them to size and just glue them in place. No fuss and extremely simple to fit.

The Rabbit den is looking good though, really look forward to seeing some buds in there

 

[NKOTS]

we start from here, tell me what you think about it.

I think you are a genious!
Also quite talented when it comes to computer graphics, thanks for the design. I wish i saw it earlier, i would completely reconsider my project. The problem now is with the ballast, whose location will be in the top chamber so it would block the airflow. Also it doesn't allow for all these tubes that shod light trap any leaks. Still it is worth consideration and i might actually make use of some suggestions of yours. Thanks again!

cab ninja, hello and welcome to the rabbit burrow
I know the thread you refer to and been studying this option. I am quite reluctant with new experiments and the PLLs are a little mystery to me. Secondly my cab dimensions made it hard to find tubes of appropriate length, i woul need to cut on their number and wattage... Besides i already purchased the CFLs so it is pretty much decided now.
I will keep my eye on the PLLs anyway, maybe in some time they will go into the burrow too?

Thx for comments! Stay relaxed

 

[sgapetti]

The problem now is with the ballast, whose location will be in the top chamber so it would block the airflow. Also it doesn't allow for all these tubes that shod light trap any leaks. Still it is worth consideration and i might actually make use of some suggestions of yours. Thanks again!

OK , can you wire the ballasts under the clone chamber? that will give you a warmer floor in the clone chamber and faster rooting

Consider even a different ligth trap because al the bends in the pipes will diminish the air flow. In my veg cab i have a very efficent ligth trap,

from the side

left up , inside the cab , i 12cm pc fan out

near the bottom i have a oversized passive intake

I can take some pic if you consider using that

Peace S

 

[hempfield]

Hi NKOTS,

Nice job you done so far with this cabinet, especially the camouflage of the light trap !

Did you ever consider using white (and blue) LEDs for vegging instead of HPS or CFLs ? This will give you less heat problems, and the cold white light is much better for this purposes. 6 x CREE XML T6 or even cheap 10W multichip LEDs, placed on a 3mm aluminium sheet will be more than enough for that area and you will save a lot of space.

The same sugestion for the cloning area, where I recommend you to use 10W COB LEDs like this : http://dx.com/p/cob-10w-950-1050lm-6000k-led-white-light-rectangle-lamp-bead-yellow-192439

About the carbon filter : how do you intend to build this ? Because you are using a small PC fan, which for sure does not have so much suction power, I recommend you to build a flat filter (like a picture frame) with a carbon layer 15-20mm thick. This frame can be built as large as the side of the veg room side wall and could be mounted as a double wall (you don't need to much space between the filter and the wall - 10mm gap is enough for air to flow). The bigger the scrubber, the less drop on air flow.

 

[xmobotx]

LEDs

i guess you beat me to it ~lol
but yeah no doubt; some 10w XMLs would do that space up nicely

 

[hempfield]

Well, I can't think of a new grow space without LEDs

 

[MJgrow]

Subscribe to this Thread....done !

 

[NKOTS]

ok i must admit i am quite stubborn and wanted to see what comes out if i go the planned way, therefore installed two CFLs in the original small cloning chambers. i think now that i will go the way shown by sgapetti and get rid of the dividers and do this again
sgap thx a lot for your light-trap suggestion. do you really think my 90 degree tube turns will block the airflow? shit, hope not!



had to give it a try...

but while hempfield suggested LEDs i started off the multi-CFL-hood project. it is in progress: the hood is ready but i am still working on the ballast. will keep you updated once it all works.

hempfield thanks a lot for your input. i was considering LED very seriously but i don't understand much about it lol, i got some basic knowledge about electrical stuff but not electronics... i hope some day i give it a go but for now i'll stay old school (unless i got issues with too much heat now).

about the scrubber - not yet sure how to build it, thanks for all your suggestions, very inspirational!
i may first just use these active carbon disposable sheets, cut them to size of my tubing and see if it is enough for odour control during veg?

 

[NKOTS]

ok back to ventilation.
it was too noisy so i replaced hard plastic tubing with soft gum-like tube that doesn't vibrate or resonate. it is much more quiet now!



and here is the main part of hood-to-be in its place:



below is the ready hood, still working on remote ballasting though.
what we're looking at is 8 x 23W = 184W CFL.
do you guys think it is enough for this area (1.45 sqf / 0.13 sqm)?



edit: to answer the Q below: soursmoker, you're generally right however i believe it is valid for those CFLs whose lentgh is longer than diameter (usualy 'flat' ones, not spirals). then the longer surface is exposed towards the plants. in my case these are spiral CFLs and their diameter equals their length. i may be mistaken but imo it justifies such positioning of the bulbs. hopefully the reflective hood directs any side rays down onto the plants?
besides, i have seen several grow cabinets, where the bulbs are positioned at various different angles and they all do the job. hope it proves true for me too!

maybe others can add something to this dilemma and correct me if i'm wrong?