600 watts in a c-24?

[Sneaky Ninja]

I just want to know if its possible to efficiently run two 300 watt lights in my c-24. I'm not sure how I'm going to set up my ventilation as of yet, any advice would be appreciated tho.

I have a 10,000 btu AC less than 3 feet from the left side of the cabinet, that can easily keep my room at 60 degrees (lowest temp it will go). So I'm sure I can easily duct cold air into my cab to help with temps, weither it be directly from the AC or just from the chilled air of the room.

I plan on useing either a single cooltube for both lights, or a double cooltube setup with a simple T or Y fitting. For the fan I'm leaning towards a Vortex. As for the model I'm undecided, it will depend on what I'll need to keep the temps down in the cab.

I'm not sure how to set up the ventilation tho. I'm guessing set up some passive vents on the left side of the cab, with the ac kimd of blowing in, or have a fan pushing air at the vent from the outside. Then have the vortex sucking air through a carbon scrubber, and through the cooltube wich will simply suck the air through the main cab with my plants. I'll have a fan maybe two inside the cab to circulate air, not sure how much of a differant that makes tho.

I just need to know under those conditions if it sounds possible to run 600 possibly more off of a dual bulb setup in a cool tube.


Crude drawing of what I'm talking about. I forgot to add the carbon scrubber in the pic, but you get the idea. Any questions just ask.


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If it matters at all its not exactly a mills pride c-24 cab.
Ameriwood
Theres the link to my cab, it's sounds and looks pretty much the same, just a differant company. Again not sure if it matter, I just don't want to leave anything out.

 

[Guest]

Hello SN.That is a nice cabinet.Gonna have to look into one of those myself.

Personally,I would go with a single 4 or 600 watt light with the cooltube.

I think you will also have to have some kind of fan to draw the cool air inside the cabinet.....just my

Looks like a really nice setup tho'.....Good Luck.

What kind of strains will you be growing?


Have a good one!

 

[Guest]

i run a 600 in a 5 and 1/2 x 2 1/2 x5 ft...my temps are never above 80

 

[Sneaky Ninja]

Thanks for the responses, before I go shelling out the cash for all of this, or start hacking into my cab. I just want to figure out what I'm doing. Nothing set in stone, just running my ideas by people with expeirience, before I make a mistake that I can't fix and will have to live with lol. Have to start somewhere.

coffinuppalung:
I found the cabinet at a Big lots store. Pretty much a closeout store if you don't have them where you're from. It costs about $105 after taxes. From what I've seen of the C-24 its the same exact thing, just looks a little bit better in my opinion.

I'm not sure on a strain yet. I'm thinking Northern lights, heard great things. Great high, high yeilds, and low smell. I'm up for suggestions tho =]. I'm looking mostly towards yeild tho. Something easy to learn with.

Why would you go with one bulb over two tho? Wouldn't two help with dispersing the light a little bit more evenly, and create less shadows. Hence more contact with the light, also less distance the light has to travel?
Would the exhaust create enough (negative pressure?) to suck air in, I mean I could easily add a computer fan or something for intake but would it really be neccessary in a C-24?


mastermagic:
If I didn't do the math wrong, you're cab is quite a bit bigger than what I'm going to be working with tho. So pretty much I'll be looking at over 80 (whats the optimal temp?). What kind of cooling system are you working with? I see the fans in the pics, just not quite sure what I'm looking at tho. Wouldn't a vortex, at least a higher end one (if thats what I'll be needing) push/pull more air than a bunch of computer fans? Hence better cooling properties, especially if I have 60-70 degree air coming into the box from my room.

 

[Guest]

well my friend i could ad another 600 without any worrys in my space....key to big watts in small spaces...big ventilation...i use one bulb in my cab and do perpetual grow...one side of the cabinet gets a little more light....my ventalation consist of a small fan blowing fresh ac air into the bottom of the cab 6 48 volt multi-fans extracting all air from the cabinet and two more multi-fans blowing between the canopy and bulb....is the c24 4x2..if so i had my 600 in that size cab. before i built this one....i had no problems...i just wanted more plants...i think im going to add a 400 to my cab....my friend you underestimate my fans....these are not regular 12 volt fans...they are 48 volt...and cool better than my blower

 

[Guest]

they are equipment room fans.... for computer rooms...truly amazing and cheap to run as opposed to my power sucking blower

 

[Sneaky Ninja]

mastermagic:
Haha wasn't trying to undermine your ventilation. Just asking, have to learn somehow right? You're right about the 4x2. So it is possible to have 600w in there with a decent temp? If so good, thats exactly what I need to know. Nice looking grow by the way.

 

[Guest]

well put it this way i had my 600 in a 4x2 space with that same fan rack and my temps wer 82 degrees....so yes... again if your ventalation is up to par you can use your 600 watts

 

[pinecone]

Why would you go with one bulb over two tho? Wouldn't two help with dispersing the light a little bit more evenly, and create less shadows. Hence more contact with the light, also less distance the light has to travel?

Would the exhaust create enough (negative pressure?) to suck air in, I mean I could easily add a computer fan or something for intake but would it really be neccessary in a C-24?

You plan will work (with just than one Vortex) - people have done it before without incident. You are better off with one 600w light than two 300w lights though. The reason: a 600w light produces more lumens than 2 300w lights (i.e. you will get more intense light that penetrates further).

Pinecone

 

[Sneaky Ninja]

God you guys are welcoming and responsive here. I like this place lol.

Ok so 1 600w light would work better than 2 300w. That worked out opposite than I thought it would lol. Makes it a whole hell of a lot easier for me tho. Any idea what size fan I would need? Noise really isn't an issue, neither is cash at the moment. I'm only 18 with a pretty decent job so, anythings doable at the moment =].

Also should I have the air being sucked through the cooltube coming straight from outside the cab? Then have the cab vented seperate? I mean to help keep temps down a bit more? I'm thinking not.

Or should I go pretty much with what I have drawn up in my first post (well something similar?). Any suggestions on making it a bit better of a design? Should intake be kind of symetrical in the cab? I'll have a fan or two circulating inside so that might change the answer.

 

[mace_ecam]

I just want to know if its possible to efficiently run two 300 watt lights in my c-24.

whats that, 300W lights?

 

[Sneaky Ninja]

whats that, 300W lights?

I'm not quite sure what your asking, but I was asking about two seperate 300watt hps bulbs going at once in the cab. I guess it would just make more sense to run one 600 watt tho.


I'm mostly concerned about the cooling, because from what I've seen from other C-24 grows 400 is pretty much the max I see people going for heat issues.

 

[mace_ecam]

the reason i was asking is that i never heard of 300W HPS bulbs.
Are you sure such a thing exists? cause if so, i'd like to know.

 

[Sneaky Ninja]

the reason i was asking is that i never heard of 300W HPS bulbs.
Are you sure such a thing exists? cause if so, i'd like to know.

LMAO... I ment to say 360? lol. Well I guess that would of answered why I couldn't do a dual 300w setup. Never noticed that. Thanks tho, now I won't sound stupid next time I want to build a nice 300w setup

 

[mace_ecam]

you didn't sound stupid at all

tought i might have missed some recent developments

one 600W HPS bulb will give you as much light as 2 400W HPS bulbs for less power and heat, they are the most efficient when it comes to lumens per watt
you can go with mixed spectrum bulbs if you want more blue in that

whats the area? (in square foot)

 

[Sneaky Ninja]

you didn't sound stupid at all

tought i might have missed some recent developments

one 600W HPS bulb will give you as much light as 2 400W HPS bulbs for less power and heat, they are the most efficient when it comes to lumens per watt
you can go with mixed spectrum bulbs if you want more blue in that

whats the area? (in square foot)

L =46"
W=19.5"
H =54"

Thats the actual grow area. Not including the big shelf up top that will house my electronics, and fan. I could put it up alot higher, but would that extra space upward really help with yeild?
So about 28.2 (square foot)? I think I did the math right.

That doesn't sound right for some reason tho.

 

[mace_ecam]

area= length x width (2 dimensions)
volume= length x width x heigth (3 dimensions)

46" x 19.5"= 897 square inch, thats ca. 6.3 square foot

you want around 50W per square foot for "normal" grows, more than 50W per square foot for SOG

400W / 6.3sqf = 63W/sqf
600W / 6.3sqf = 95W/sqf

if you do not intend to do a SOG with high plant numbers and high density (ca 4 plants per square foot), then the 400W bulb will be more than sufficient
less heat to deal with

btw., there are 430W HPS bulbs out there with mixed spectrum

have fun, just ask, plenty of people around to help you

mace

 

[mace_ecam]

forgot to say, your height is only 54", is that with the bulb and reflector(or cooltube for that matter)?
iow, do you really have all 54" available for vertical growth?
even 54" is very little, you need a foot distance from the bulb to the plant tops if the bulb is not in a cool tube/cooled reflector

have you looked into ScrOG?

 

[Sneaky Ninja]

That was just measurements with the cab empty so no.

I was thinking of going scrog. I was going to ask about that later on when I was closer to my grow. I saw someone on here do a half pipe type scrog. I was thinking that was a good idea. I think I could get 8-12 plants in there depending on how close I go. I'm probably going to go with 8. Just 2 I think it was 20 gallon rubber made tubs. In a nice little bubbler bucket.


Without the shelf I have 68" I could easily put the fan and everything on top of the cab with it still being stealthy enough. the shelf is 13 3/4". So I could raise that up some, I guess it would depend on the size of the blower tho.

How beneficial would it be to raise it, and how much should I consider? I mean I'd rather keep the shelf, at least a little compartment in there off to one side to keep my pumps, blows, and balast and all that jazz.

The bulb will be in a cool tube by the way. Probably the DIY job with hurricane glass I beleive its called.

 

[mace_ecam]

Sneaky Ninja,

whats the height of the 20 gal tub (good size for 400W bulbs btw)?

is height of tub + heigth of plants + distance from bulb + bulb (and reflector/cool tube) less than 54"?

iow, will it fit?

head room is precious in such setups, if you run out of it in flower, its not fun