Newbie's first stealth cab design + Sketchup

[banjobrain]

Hey mate, thanks for dropping by. I am following your thread too, but guess I'll respond here since you ask more questions.

The fan I'm using is rated 190 something CFM. I almost went bigger, but a friend advised me to go with this one and just try to minimize my ducting. The truth of how it will work out should be unveiled in a week or two; I'll definitely let you know. I agree that erring on the size of large is smart; I think the 190 is big enough, but my space is a bit smaller than what you're planning. Again, we will see. I may have to upgrade something and should have space for it if needed. Mathematically, I have a total of under 18 cf, so 90cfm should meet 5 exchanges/minute; I am hoping the ducting impedance will allow that to still be met with the 190 fan.

About heat and fan; there are a few things to look for. First and most importantly, many fans have cutoff temperatures at which they will turn off for safety reasons. If yours has this, you'd better not hit that temp. Second, is just the concern over what the blades are made of. Clearly metal will deal with heat better than plastic; but in most cases if you're moving enough air the plastic shouldn't have a problem. Just doing this the first time, I want to play it safe, and it's easier for me to keep the scrubber in the box and "pull" on it with this setup.

If I understand your setup right, your utility room will be sealed and passive intake through a cooltube? That's the initial plan I was going with until I realized my height restriction. I think it should work great if you seal rigorously.

Good luck again, can't wait to see your progress,
~A

Yeah...that's exactly right. I'm thinking that my utility room will be sealed and I will hook the scrubber directly up to the ducting that vents in from the cooltube.

The scrubber will not be directly attached to the fan, but if it works, the fan should pull through the scrubber, with clean exhaust air blowing outside of the box.

I am also thinking that by keeping the scrubber inside the utility room, this will allow me to build a muffler on the outside of the box...minimizing the external "growth" of my box.

• I wanted to know what your thoughts are regarding darkroom louvers for ventilation.

I have been looking into the ones that B&H sells, and although they are considerably more expensive than some pvc, the install would be much easier and give the box an overall cleaner appearance.

I think that they would be more worthwhile in the long run. I'd like to build this box well the first time and have it last. No rushing this little project.

I have, however acquired all my tools and should procure my wood next week and will start framing it out. (hopefully)

 

[banjobrain]

Doh!!! After that post, I saw that you were also using louvers! Sweet!

I can't tell from your photos, but how are they set up?

I was initially thinking that I would install one on the outside of the box in the mother/veg room, one from the mother room into the flowering room, and perhaps one below the shelf that I plan on building in the mother room, so that even more fresh air would dissipate around the shelf...

My initial thought is that the one underneath the shelf might be overkill...what do you think?

 

[banjobrain]

http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EProductDetail.asp?ProductFamilyID=3&FGNumber=E-HC1H151Z

Check this link out.

After realizing the cost of a "store bought" 250 hps, I decided that I might try and rig up a DIY cool tube. You, Yukon and many others have done it, so it can't be rocket science.

Does the flood light in the above link seem like it might be a good candidate to disassemble?

 

[Guest]

Hey mate.

Right now I'm running one louver into the back right of the flower, and one louver in the front of the "wall" dividing the mother and flower rooms. You should be able to see on the more recent "overall" photo. I am unsure if this will be enough, but I've left room such that another one or a smaller PVC vent could be adapted if needed. I'll have to let you know. I've been waiting almost a week just for a decent day to paint the box; this is holding me up, but once that's done, I should move forward quickly.

I'm not sure I understand your proposed layout for the louvers. I was keeping it simple with a single path: in flower, thru wall, out thru the ventilation system. If I need more, I will probably increase flow on both, rather than break this pattern. I'm not really concerned with heat in the mother room as much as the flower.

About the cooltube, I DIY'd the tube and socket myself, but I didn't dissemble a light; a friend of mine highly recommended a digital ballast, and I went with his suggestion. I don't think it would be hard to disassemble any light, but I can't speak to what would be a better or worse choice for that.

Pray for a sunny day, and maybe I'll get an update up and can better respond to your thoughts.

 

[stink.whistler]

You did a really nice job with sketchup, I've been playing with it lately for my designing needs, but am nowhere near as good as you with it!

On your fan, it has two speeds, right? How big a difference is there in the sound levels of the two speeds, and how happy are you overall with the stealthiness of the fan?

 

[SmokeToLive]

Hey! How goes it? I just thought I would post a touch more inspiration. Hope you get started soon!

 

[I N Hail]

Hey SmokeToLive its your big redneck freind give me a call those Amnisia haze, SD x's are ready if u want a few of the beans.


I N Hail (aka Kermit Greenskip)



OOOPS , I might have meant Smoke2live if im wrong sorry Smoketolive

 

[SmokeToLive]

Hey SmokeToLive its your big redneck freind give me a call those Amnisia haze, SD x's are ready if u want a few of the beans.


I N Hail (aka Kermit Greenskip)



OOOPS , I might have meant Smoke2live if im wrong sorry Smoketolive

Yeah ... I don't know you ... but nice to meet you anyway.

 

[I N Hail]

Aesnewgrower

Your cab looks great ,Monday imgoing to my bro's cabnit shop and get me one.
What is the size of yours (how wide) ? How many plant's do u plan to have in there?


I N Hail (aka Kermit Greenskip)

 

[I N Hail]

Nice to meet you smoke my memory not that good have such a hard time with names
thanks for not getting mad at me my friend.



I N Hail (aka Kermit Greenskip)


P.S. You can still have some if you like let me know.

 

[catman]

Hows your project coming about Aes?

 

[SmokeToLive]

Nice to meet you smoke my memory not that good have such a hard time with names
thanks for not getting mad at me my friend.



I N Hail (aka Kermit Greenskip)


P.S. You can still have some if you like let me know.

Nothing to be angry over. And I just might let you know.

 

[Guest]

You did a really nice job with sketchup, I've been playing with it lately for my designing needs, but am nowhere near as good as you with it!

On your fan, it has two speeds, right? How big a difference is there in the sound levels of the two speeds, and how happy are you overall with the stealthiness of the fan?

Stink: Thanks. The fan has two speeds, determined by wiring. A lot of my decision to buy this fan was based on size; I had looked at a whisperline, but it was too large to meet my goal of all-in-box. It's pretty damn small, actually a little smaller in length and same width as the 4" versions! The fan itself is damn quiet, but the rush of sound is not. Once I get my ventilation set up, I think it will be sufficiently muffled, by the box and other measures I might take to isolate it. Will have to see.

I-N Hale: It's three footish wide, two footish deep, three footish (a little less) tall. If i have a good time with this I will probably upgrade to something a bit different; a little taller for sativas and something without the beam in-between the doors such that I could do a large hydro tub on rollers. For now, I'm going with pots and soil, so it's no problem, but if you're looking for a starter cabinet you might want to keep these things in mind; I didn't think about the convenience of servicing a plant until I had this.

Smoketolive and Catman: Thanks for the encouragement and checking up. I have most of the things I need, but have been waiting to paint, I don't have a lot of space and don't exactly want to take this outside, so I'm waiting for a time when we can do it and leave to avoid breathing paint fumes. Since there's still a big gap of time until I'll be planning to fire it up for real, I have relaxed a bit about it and am no longer surging ahead.

Right now, the louvers are in, the shelf/wall are solid, and we have the plan figured out. Just need to snag a top for it and paint. Not sure how I want to top it, whether I want to do it with some sort of countertop and put a fish tank on it, or just use wood and smooth down the edges, is still up in the air. Any suggestions or opinions in this direction are appreciated.

Will be posting back in, thanks for checking up.
~A

 

[Guest]

PS- I also got bulbs, both MH and HPS bulbs, such that I can swap out for veg and flowering. I found a "tubular" MH that is about the same dimensions as the HPS, so it will fit in the bake-a-round.

Went with cheapo bulbs to start, no sense spending a ton on specific bulbs when I don't know what I'm doing with everything else! I did pick the best spectrums I could, though I don't remember at the moment which.

 

[J-Blunt]

im interested to see what u do with the top of the box and how you use the magnetic locks....i want to use the same cabinet and almost the same design. think im going to put 8 of the PL-L type cfl's for flower and 2 or 3 for mother room. also on my design i put the mother room on the right, just preferance i guess. nice updates tho...hope the louvers dont cause any trouble

good luck

 

[Payaso]

Darkroom louvers are great... I like this idea!

How about putting the aquarium right on top of the cabinet?

 

[Guest]

How about putting the aquarium right on top of the cabinet?

I was really thinking about doing this, but I want to make sure that if I get fish I'll have enough time and won't be traveling to much such that they can be well-fed. I've actually been thinking about a tank for aquatic plants or corals such that fish could be a bit more self-sustained.

That's a whole new can of worms, however! Would probably end up researching that as much as the cannabis plants. So, I'm waiting to make this move until I'm a bit more settled down and am ready to fire up the box.

Thanks for dropping by,
A

 

[stink.whistler]

I'll be curious to hear how strong those magnetic locks are. I have considered them as well, but am afraid an adult without even trying might be able to break them. I.e. are they strong enough that an actual grown up, trying to open it and thinking it might just be stuck and thus gives a harder than normal tug might be able to open the cab, or will they hold strong.

 

[Murphle]

I really like the magnet idea too. For future reference, Amazon frequently has those Adorama louvers, and alot of times are on sale. I've gotten 6 now. Last set I got was open box, and they were 6 bux each. Your cab is coming along nicely. Keep up the good work!!

 

[K.J]

Another cool thing I got: These kidco magnetic child locks. They mount inside the cabinet, totally invisible from the outside, but make the doors require a magnet to open. Should help me keep a good seal and help add a little security. The ones I got are adhesive, but they do support screws, so I will likely do that. These appealed to me because no drilling thru the door was needed; IE nobody will see the lock.

Good luck with those! We tried using Tot-Lok's, which I'm sure are basically the same thing. They didn't work. Our door was the correct thickness and we followed the directions to a T, but the damn lock only worked sporadically. We actually got locked out of our utility room and had to drill the lock out from the outside. Sucked! But then again, we're no pro builders so maybe we just F'd it up.