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150w HPS Club and Resource Guide......
- Thread starter Pipedream
- Start date
cajun79
Member
Im just going to buy a cooltube now found one going kinda cheap.
Now to my main and biggest problem, my grow cabinet has been scrapped in favour of something a bit bigger, its a 60x60x120cm grow tent put into a cupboard around the same size.
My main problem is the noise, I bought a 4" inline fan off ebay for £25 and its soooo loud I cant use it at all. If you really listen you can hear it upto 10 meters away.
I think my best bet now is to buy an acoustic fan with insulated ducting, and even use a speed control to tuen it down a bit.
I need advice on which would be more quiet a 100mm fan which pulls around 323(m3) and is rated at 80watts 19db
The 125mm pulls around 480(m3) and runs at about 150 watts 24 db
I was thinking buying the bigger 5" and using the speed control to turn it down and hopefully thats as quiet as it gets.
Anyway any ideas guys making a stealth grow room really isnt as simple as I first thought, but once the hard work of building it is done than I can get onto the growing (rubbing hands together)
Now to my main and biggest problem, my grow cabinet has been scrapped in favour of something a bit bigger, its a 60x60x120cm grow tent put into a cupboard around the same size.
My main problem is the noise, I bought a 4" inline fan off ebay for £25 and its soooo loud I cant use it at all. If you really listen you can hear it upto 10 meters away.
I think my best bet now is to buy an acoustic fan with insulated ducting, and even use a speed control to tuen it down a bit.
I need advice on which would be more quiet a 100mm fan which pulls around 323(m3) and is rated at 80watts 19db
The 125mm pulls around 480(m3) and runs at about 150 watts 24 db
I was thinking buying the bigger 5" and using the speed control to turn it down and hopefully thats as quiet as it gets.
Anyway any ideas guys making a stealth grow room really isnt as simple as I first thought, but once the hard work of building it is done than I can get onto the growing (rubbing hands together)
The problem here as I often see it is the inverse porportionality of cabinet size to heat. Given a fixed light source, as the cabinet size decreases, heat build up and the need to remove it increases. And, the installation of larger or more fans are just going to make more noise. It kind of fights against the stealth aspect so many of us are looking for.
Unless you are growing for multiple heavy smokers or plan on supporting your growing hobby by selling a bit, you really can't out-smoke a single 150 when the setup is running properly. I for one am all for subsidizing the light output of a 150 with a couple of "higher temp spectrum" CFLs. However, being realistic about the amount I actually need to produce, I feel the cost, complexity, and on-going additional expense of adding a second 150 is just not worth it for me. If for some reason I found my self in a position where I needed the additional production, I think I would first consider moving up to a larger bulb and retiring the 150.
Of course we all have our own individual needs and preferences, so this is JMHO.
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ambr0sia
Member
It's been said over and over that you really can't overdo intake, provided you aren't causing security or structural issues; Either way, it'd make me feel alot better if someone could confirm that my intake setup (going in tonight!) isn't completely plum stupid.
Since I've stepped up to a 6" fan / exhaust, I've calculated out my intake needs to be at bare minimum 56.52"^2. Since that'd mean some pretty serious PVC, I've decided to go with a floor register instead. I picked up a 14"x14" air return grill (196"^2), which I plan to mount on the floor of my veg cab (which is my one and only intake). All air passing through this will be passed through one 1/4" layer of cut-to-fit furnace / AC carbon filter (chosen more for it's light-blocking capabilities than odor-filtering capacity) backed by a paper-thin layer of Filtrete Ultra Allergen 1250. This intake will be further light-proofed by a piece of 3/4" plywood sitting on drawer rails approximately 1.5" above it, where the bottom of the veg cab actually begins; I figure I'll leave a couple inches on each side for the air to flow up around the sides.
Is this too much intake? Do ya'll think this will keep everything light-proof? If not, what else could I do to minimize light leaking in or out?
Thanks!
Since I've stepped up to a 6" fan / exhaust, I've calculated out my intake needs to be at bare minimum 56.52"^2. Since that'd mean some pretty serious PVC, I've decided to go with a floor register instead. I picked up a 14"x14" air return grill (196"^2), which I plan to mount on the floor of my veg cab (which is my one and only intake). All air passing through this will be passed through one 1/4" layer of cut-to-fit furnace / AC carbon filter (chosen more for it's light-blocking capabilities than odor-filtering capacity) backed by a paper-thin layer of Filtrete Ultra Allergen 1250. This intake will be further light-proofed by a piece of 3/4" plywood sitting on drawer rails approximately 1.5" above it, where the bottom of the veg cab actually begins; I figure I'll leave a couple inches on each side for the air to flow up around the sides.
Is this too much intake? Do ya'll think this will keep everything light-proof? If not, what else could I do to minimize light leaking in or out?
Thanks!
I just lost a huge post... fuck
cajun - I can't tell what fans you are talking about just based upon what you are saying so I can't give you an opinion. Although with all that space and the fact you are going to cool tube you will probably be able to get by with two computer fans, one for the cool tube which should have it's own intake and exhaust ducting, and one to evacuate the grow area.
OahuGrown - two 150's is too much for your space. do the math
20" x20" is 2.77 square feet
a single 150 would give you 54 watts per square foot which is pretty good.
Two 150s would give you double that which in your space will likely cause heat and watering/humidity problems for considerably less than double the yield one might expect with double the watts.. in other words once you get above around 65 watts per square foot without supplemental co2 you are at the point of diminishing returns.
In a square footprint you would be better off using a 250 then two 150's - only if your setup was long and narrow would multiple lamps be more efficient than a single larger lamp.
If you have that space plus a veg space to supply clones as needed you can easily grow 3oz every two months and that is alot to smoke for just one person.
-suga
cajun - I can't tell what fans you are talking about just based upon what you are saying so I can't give you an opinion. Although with all that space and the fact you are going to cool tube you will probably be able to get by with two computer fans, one for the cool tube which should have it's own intake and exhaust ducting, and one to evacuate the grow area.
OahuGrown - two 150's is too much for your space. do the math
20" x20" is 2.77 square feet
a single 150 would give you 54 watts per square foot which is pretty good.
Two 150s would give you double that which in your space will likely cause heat and watering/humidity problems for considerably less than double the yield one might expect with double the watts.. in other words once you get above around 65 watts per square foot without supplemental co2 you are at the point of diminishing returns.
In a square footprint you would be better off using a 250 then two 150's - only if your setup was long and narrow would multiple lamps be more efficient than a single larger lamp.
If you have that space plus a veg space to supply clones as needed you can easily grow 3oz every two months and that is alot to smoke for just one person.
-suga
hey ambrosia,
don't worry, if worse comes to worse you can always add a few dual elbow pvc intakes to the floor or back of the flower chamber if you find the fan is straining too hard from too little intake.
The intake setup you describe sounds like it should be okay. Since you have your intakes on the bottom I am assuming the cabinet is somehow supported on legs? if you place a toe-kick board around this and leave the back open to allow air in this will further keep light leaks down.
-suga
don't worry, if worse comes to worse you can always add a few dual elbow pvc intakes to the floor or back of the flower chamber if you find the fan is straining too hard from too little intake.
The intake setup you describe sounds like it should be okay. Since you have your intakes on the bottom I am assuming the cabinet is somehow supported on legs? if you place a toe-kick board around this and leave the back open to allow air in this will further keep light leaks down.
-suga
ambr0sia
Member
At this point, I'm not worried about too little - I'm concerened that I've got too much!sugabear_II said:
That's exactly right - The cab is supported up off the ground by 2x2s in the shape of an "E" laying down on it's sides, with the "legs" of the "E" facing toward the front of the cab - Had I known I was going to use a floor vent intake instead of PVC light traps, I'd have faced the legs backward for the very same reason you suggested. Unfortunately, due to the size / weight of the cab and small size of the room it's in, it'll be a major ordeal to move it somewhere large enough to maneuver around enough to make any changes like that. What is it they say about hindsight again?sugabear_II said:
I really don't think this will be possible to have too much intake. you can always cover some of it up, but I don't think you'll have a problem.ambr0sia said:At this point, I'm not worried about too little - I'm concerened that I've got too much!
ambr0sia said:
doh
you can always swap to using a dark room louver vent;
bounty29 said:
FWIW check this 150 cab out - he's using two of these darkroom louvers in his cab.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=1902167
killa-bud said:
hey ya'know what I am just trying to give general guidelines. If you can run your setup with two 150's and keep temps and humidity under control then by all means go for it. I mean I ran a big cabinet with a 400 in a 4 square foot space ... so I was in a sense breaking my own rule... but let me tell you it was hard to keep that sucker cool ... I ran it from mid-September through March and my central air was on a lot later that season then all my neighbors ... which was not so good... And I cooked one plant pretty good too... it went through a 2 gallon res of flush water in less than 3 days... initially she looked like this...
went away for the weekend and she looked like this ( I removed the worst of the damage before taking this picture)
I guess my point is that I was doing hydro which allows more growth than soil and could therefore use the extra light, I had alot of experience growing in cabinets, and I still managed to cook this plant so I try and steer people away from pushing the envelope with first grows.
-suga
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It took me a bit of work, but I managed to keep a 23" x 19" cab cool with two 150's in a vertical tube.
I was able to keep it cool with an upgrade to a 400CMH
After adding a 150 to the 400, I am still able to keep the cab with growable temps using just fans, but I added AC in the heat of this summer.
Top of the canopy stays about 72-75degF and root zone 67-69degF with lights on using AC.
We need to also realize that a 2ft sq cab floor can provide quite a bit more growing area if used with a vertical light arrangement. Also a better quality bud from top to bottom.
I was able to keep it cool with an upgrade to a 400CMH
After adding a 150 to the 400, I am still able to keep the cab with growable temps using just fans, but I added AC in the heat of this summer.
Top of the canopy stays about 72-75degF and root zone 67-69degF with lights on using AC.
We need to also realize that a 2ft sq cab floor can provide quite a bit more growing area if used with a vertical light arrangement. Also a better quality bud from top to bottom.
hoosierdaddy said:It took me a bit of work, but I managed to keep a 23" x 19" cab cool with two 150's in a vertical tube.
I was able to keep it cool with an upgrade to a 400CMH
After adding a 150 to the 400, I am still able to keep the cab with growable temps using just fans, but I added AC in the heat of this summer.
Top of the canopy stays about 72-75degF and root zone 67-69degF with lights on using AC.
We need to also realize that a 2ft sq cab floor can provide quite a bit more growing area if used with a vertical light arrangement. Also a better quality bud from top to bottom.
nice setups... but how tall is your space?
The space Ouahu asked about is 20"x 20" x36" it looks like you have considerably more headroom.
My cab is quite tall at >4ft. However, I have never had anything really go past the 36" mark except for a Thunk that finished at ~4ft.
Height can be controlled for just about any strain really. If it stretches lots, flower it earlier.
IMO, 36" is plenty of headroom. You can always supercrop stretchers. They will end up yielding better with some supercropping anyway.
One aspect of the verti setup is it allows you to grow strains of differing heights in the same footprint.
Height can be controlled for just about any strain really. If it stretches lots, flower it earlier.
IMO, 36" is plenty of headroom. You can always supercrop stretchers. They will end up yielding better with some supercropping anyway.
One aspect of the verti setup is it allows you to grow strains of differing heights in the same footprint.
OahuGrown
Member
Pipedream and sugagear thanks for the good knowledge.
i will stick to 1 150 watt hps and add cfls if needed and if i can control the heat.
i think im gonna use this for my box instead of making one even though its shorter. I could always add to the height if needed.
I dont know why i cant put links but here it is:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...%2bmatchallpartial&N=10000003+503114+10145001
I dont plan to buy a cool tube but i cant find a glass cylinder to use to make one. To cool the tube would a 85 cfm 12 fan be sufficient?
i will stick to 1 150 watt hps and add cfls if needed and if i can control the heat.
i think im gonna use this for my box instead of making one even though its shorter. I could always add to the height if needed.
I dont know why i cant put links but here it is:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...%2bmatchallpartial&N=10000003+503114+10145001
I dont plan to buy a cool tube but i cant find a glass cylinder to use to make one. To cool the tube would a 85 cfm 12 fan be sufficient?
This last weekend (9/26) I went 12/12 with my 150w hps and 6 55/300w cfl.
This pic shows my addition of glass on the underside of the 150w. It's actually 2 pieces of glass with a rubber spacer between and sealed with foil tape with a muffin fan at each end held on and sealed with foil tape. This really helped with the heat.
These are my girls just starting 12/12:
And these 2 wouldn't fit in the grow room, so I transplanted then outside 9/21. not much sunlight nor time, but we'll see what happens:
Their new growth look promising.
This pic shows my addition of glass on the underside of the 150w. It's actually 2 pieces of glass with a rubber spacer between and sealed with foil tape with a muffin fan at each end held on and sealed with foil tape. This really helped with the heat.
These are my girls just starting 12/12:
And these 2 wouldn't fit in the grow room, so I transplanted then outside 9/21. not much sunlight nor time, but we'll see what happens:
Their new growth look promising.
poppasmirf
New member
100W HPS heat build up
100W HPS heat build up
hey green grow....i am unable to remove the ballast and move it outside the box, i am not comfortable doing electrical work on that scale, especially something is running at least 12hrs a day. last night i hooked up my 5" 105cfm round muffin type fan, and increased my intake to a 5 1/2" X 3 1/2" square grill, which blocks light but not air flow, due to how the grill is designed..im sure some people on here can benefit from this design. and the temps where still reaching about 30-32 celcius, no difference from my old set up. so this morning i installed another intake.. i will now monitor for a few hours, wish me luck, i really dont want to install another fan or intake, but will if neccesary. thanks everyone for your help so far.
100W HPS heat build up
hey green grow....i am unable to remove the ballast and move it outside the box, i am not comfortable doing electrical work on that scale, especially something is running at least 12hrs a day. last night i hooked up my 5" 105cfm round muffin type fan, and increased my intake to a 5 1/2" X 3 1/2" square grill, which blocks light but not air flow, due to how the grill is designed..im sure some people on here can benefit from this design. and the temps where still reaching about 30-32 celcius, no difference from my old set up. so this morning i installed another intake.. i will now monitor for a few hours, wish me luck, i really dont want to install another fan or intake, but will if neccesary. thanks everyone for your help so far.
M
mexilandrace
you are grossly over estimating how hard it is to rewire a light
poppasmirf
New member
temps seem to be about 25 degrees celcius on the cab floor but about a foot from the lights they get up to 30 -32 again, with my desk fan blowing on the lights... this light is a real pain in the ying yang.
