Advice for my cabinet (2nd Grow)

[alchamest]

Hi all, am starting my seconds grow soon, just abut finished my cabinet,

 

The dimensions are

l/w/h

0.9M / 0.65M / 1.6M

 

I have got a 400W HPS globe and a white shade ( not a cool tube).

 

I am at the ventilation stage and am a bit stuck on what to do.

 

So now i am looking to either get a cool tube + intake fan, or just try an intake fan to keep the temps down. Did a trial run with no extraction and the temps got to 37 within a bit over an hour. Ambient was about 20ish.

 

So just wondering with the collective wisdom here, in your opinions would a inline fan be enough to keep this sucker cool?

Or should i get a cool tube and inline fan?

OR cool tube +centri fan

 

 

I am on a budget and would like to get out of this relatively cheaply, no more than about $120 ideally. I am not looking to get the best yeild ever just a decent result.

If any extra info will help with ya advice just ask.

 

Thanks for ya help in advance

[DarkSpark]

What are you using for extraction ? an intake fan is hardly necessary. Focus on extracting air and use vents for passive intake. It is a pretty tight grow space similar to those i have worked with in the past. You will NEED a centrifugal fan to keep the temps down in there. However i ran a full grow at between 30 and 39 degrees, plants just stretched a bit more than they should have.

 

I guess to give specific advice clarify some things for me.

 

what is your exhaust fan ?

do you really have intake fans ?

 

even with a cool tube you will need extraction for the main chamber too, not as much but never the less.

[merl1n]

Personally I would be looking at centri with a Y joiner, if you've only got one fan, one end to your cooltube the other venting the grow space. You are going to still need ventilation of the grow area itself and not just the cooltube. The cooltube will reduce the heat from the HPS but the plant itself needs fresh air.

 

You could have two fans one for the cooltube and another for the grow space, which, again is my preference. This way if one fans dies my plants could still survive but if I only had one fan and it died the plants would cook. Another problem with splitting an inline is that the airflow can drop to the point of being useless.

 

So go centri for your grow space IMHO

[Gazza2001au]

a 400w in summer will be to hard to control the temps in that growing space thats what a normal wardrobe measures and hydro shops use to sell 250mm bathroom exhaust fans for those size of setups i was running a tent that size with a 250mm bathroom exhaust fan and a cool tube plus running a 100mm exhaust fan alone for the cool tube in summer i could keep the temps ok but it was still boiling click the links in my signature and u will see how i had my grow tent the same size as your wardrobe set up

[alchamest]

Dark Spark:

 

My rable was probably a bit unclear

 

what is your exhaust fan ?

Dont have any at the moment

 

do you really have intake fans ?

No dont have any

 

 

Thanks for the info, glad to hear that you have worked with similar sizes, i was thinking of extending it length ways a bit so the cabinet woudl end up about 1.6-1.7M long instead of 0.9, it is pretty easy for me to do with where i have it. That should give it a bit more breathing room. But by the sounds of it ill need a Centrufigal fan.

 

Merl1n

Thanks for the info, the Y Joing looks like it is going to be needed, it would be nice to have 2 fans, however i think for now i iwill probably just get 1 to try to save $, maby later on i can put a separate fan on the cool tube. ( if i get one ). If the fan fails then i am F**ked , well more so the plants than i hehe. Hopefully it will be pretty reliable and i get plenty o use out of it. Going to be fun setting up ventilation, didnt think id have to get this into it, but eh air flow is turning out to be as big a factor as lighting.

 

 

Gazza2001au

Checked out ya grow, some nice results in there with that grow space. im really impressed with what you got, thanks

I am inspired to ge this happening soon now, love journals. As i said above i think i will extend the cupboard a bit to help with the temps.

 

 

 

So Now that my cabinet will be a bit bigger to help with temps according to http://www.cannavers...php I will need 57.2 Cubic Feet per Minute of air flow.

From what i have read a centri fan will smash that.

 

If i get the Centri Fan, i may need to hold off on a cool tube for a little while because of costs.

 

Thanks for the help guys, now to look for a centri fan.

Edited September 20, 2011 by alchamest

[Gazza2001au]

get a centrifugal fan off ebay seen them for around $120 and good luck with it if i had room to extend my grow area i'd invest in a light mover but there a bit pricey

[alchamest]

Thanks man, i think you must be refering to ones like these.

 

125mm EZI AIR CENTRIFUGAL FAN

 

100MM EZI AIR FAN MASTER 2 - 75 WATT - CENTRIFUGAL FAN

 

6" INLINE 155 WATT CENTRIFUGAL EXHAUST VENT FAN BLOWER

 

 

Those light movers are cool inaction, could have a made grow with em, tho i would be set for a few years with that harvest. i want a larger grow room so i can sit in there with my guitar and play.

Edited September 20, 2011 by alchamest

[The Hash Nibbler]

Heya Mate, Cooltube and 150mm Centri fan, then ya gonna need a 150mm x 500mm carbon filter at least to keep the smell down in flower.

Use the 150mm centri fan to pull the air through the cooltube (cooltube has one open end inside cupboard-helps pull warm air out too) and exhaust it into the carbon filter sitting on top of the Cupboard.

That is the cheapest way to get a decent ventilation set up going, no airflow means plants go die die.....

Your going to have to spend a few bucks on gear, but what's worse, buying crap and having to buy good stuff again? or just buying the right gear in the first place? I got a whole cupboard full of "Poor decisions" probably a few hundred bucks of stuff in there..... wasted.

Still better than buying weed........ Peace. Gh72

[merl1n]

Hi again alchamest

 

You say "Going to be fun setting up ventilation, didnt think id have to get this into it, but eh air flow is turning out to be as big a factor as lighting."

 

Most definitely, You MUST have airflow, you can use a smaller light but with no airflow its dead no matter what light you use. Ppl talk about a passive intake, thats just a vent to allow the fresh air in, the fan works as an exhaust and pulls the air thru the grow space and pushes it outside. Your intake vent should be down low where the air is coolest, your exhaust vent should be up high as the used air will be warm from the light and hot air rises. The airflow needs to blow through the canopy of the plant and another fan maybe needed to circulate the air within the grow space. No airflow in the canopy can lead to mouldy buds

 

As GH stated "Your going to have to spend a few bucks on gear, but what's worse, buying crap and having to buy good stuff again? or just buying the right gear in the first place? I got a whole cupboard full of "Poor decisions" probably a few hundred bucks of stuff in there..... wasted.

 

And I'd say many of us have a similar cupboard full of crap, but if you check things out first, confirm what you need and buy quality you can cutdown on crap. But don't throw the crap away, you never know when those bits and pieces may come in handy (especially in an emergency at 2am when a water pipe shits itself)

 

Light movers are great if you have the space and money. Here's an idea start small ie your 'drobe, then build up. If you go spending big moneys and have a stuff up it can be pretty expensive. Start small and learn as you go.

Edited September 20, 2011 by merl1n

[ronny_ford]

There is more than one way to skin a cat, but depending on your personal circumstances, there is only one way, that is better than the rest.

 

If you need to save money, you can build your carbon filter for about $40-$50, if you can find some old PVC pipes/tubing laying around.

 

For an extra $30-$40 you can build yourself a silencer, so no-one can hear your centrifugal fan. With more free PVC pipes/tubing.

 

Additionally, I would use more than a 400W HPS if you are extending your room's length from .9m to 1.7m.

 

Don't buy crap, don't buy nick-knacks. You don't have to buy everything new, or even expensively.

 

Buy things that will last you, otherwise, every single time you harvest, you will be forking out for new gear.

 

Essentially, when you set up your grow room correctly, you will never change your system.

 

The only things you will spend cash on is: new bulbs, nutrients, growing mediums & seeds/clones.

 

Think about all of these things and set yourself up a 12month plan, on designing the last grow room you will ever need to BUILD!!!

 

 

Ronny_Ford