A C-24 is BoRn!!!!! 400 watt DWC - IN Progress

[Remailer]

Hi all.
Just wanted to start my thread with all my progress for everyone to follow. So sit back and enjoy the ride.

Any ideas or comments would be great.


OK So we start.
Tools USED:


Here is the cab. With everything i bought in it. at this point all i have done is put the cab together. I also got a sheet of plywood and attached it to the back.






i decided to use the right side as my bloom room. So i cut a square hole in the top of the right side and mounted the 110cfm bathroom fan. mounted on 1/2 inch weather stripping.








Next I lightproofed my Bin and the lid.







But i ran into a small problem with the Lid. It will not fit attached to the bin in the cab. As you can see the lid is wall to wall without the bin. So i decided to use one of the shelfs as my lid.

 

[Remailer]

Next i needed to get some air moving to the plants. So i cut a 4 inch hole in the shelf and attached 4 inch ducting. This is where i ran into problem #2. I cut the vent hole in the front and it was blocking me from taking the bin out for water change. So i turned the shelf around and cut a 4 inch hole in the floor and cut a 4 inch hole in the back of the plywood floor under my soon to be VEG room.





Ok now to get some AIR to the water.... I drilled 4 holes in the the center wall and feed the air hose lines through. I also drilled 4 holes in the top of the lightproof bin to get the lines through. The air pump is sitting on top of stryfoam( i know it is spelled wrong and a lot of other things, Not my strong point) and 1/2 weather stripping it does NOT hum or viberate the cab on full blast.







Next i had to get the AIR out of the cab. Not much to that. 4 inch hole and vent out.

 

[Remailer]

My 400 watt digital is in the mail. But untill then i go super stealth in about 1 min flat.




My Ph and ppm meter is also in the mail but it is coming along very nice. Let me know what yall think.

I have about $600-700 invested so far, with a few other things i need i think i will be around $850-900 total.

 

[THEchrontastica]

Good lookin cab setup!... i just purchased the c24 myself, and am prob gonna put it together tomorrow but i have a question if you think you could help me out.... i see that you purchased a piece of plywood for the back piece.. did you get this cut the same size as the piece of flmsy cardboard that comes with the original pieces?

 

[DeadlyFoez]

DONT GET PLYWOOD!!! Trust me on this, get particle board. Plywood bends and bow and isn't nearly as strong. Once you get the particle board you dont need to cut the width down at all, just the height. I measure my length from the top of the top board and the bottom of the bottom board. What also works great to not make any light leaks on the board is to use those black rolls of glazing compound, the stuff that pro use to place glass sheets in as windows in buildings. u can by it at home depot.

 

[pinecone]

You are going to have some heat problems with that fan and a 400w light if you cab in a regular part of your living space that stays around 70 degrees. You might want to think about investing in a more substantial in-line fan (like a 4" or 6" Vortex).

The Mill's Boxes work very well for growing, but adequate ventilation (enough surface area on the intake and a good fan) are a must with 400w.

Pine

 

[rastamonunika]

Hey foez what did you use to seal your doors>?

Did you use the glaze or weather stripping>?

Good Luck with your grow remailer!

lots of Love and Light
unika

 

[DeadlyFoez]

Neither. I went to my local "Big Lots" (dollar store type thing) and found 5/8" wide rolls of felt. They were perfect. I use some household glue and an electric staple gun that shoots out brad nails and put a nail about every 4-5 inches (well i did the electric staple gun idea for building a cab for a friend), but it does come out great. All the weather stripping a bLowes and Home Depot wouldn't have worked the way the felt did, and the felt was the perfect width unlike everythign else I looked at.

I'd be able to do a tut if people wanted. It seems as if a lot of people want a professional way of putting together their cab

 

[mushupork5]

thats a nice cab, good attention to detail

 

[rastamonunika]

u mine as well Foez, it would help the community and probably hex some Karmic debt =P

but really tho, i tihnk it would be very helpful for everyone . . .

I love your cab, you can definately tell that you took a lot of time and put in a lot of effort. but it tis welll done =)

much respect

Love and Light
unika

 

[Remailer]

Thank you for all your words.

DeadlyFoez - I thought about not using plywood but i got a real thick sheet. and put a full box of wood screws in the back.

pinecone - Well i plan on using the glass in the cab for a cool tube. The thought had crossed my mind to get another fan ( 4" ) and just use that with the light. So the cab would have its own vent for the light and the space. But i have not got there yet. I was also thinking about putting another shelf at the very top of the bloom room and cutting a 4" hole in the shelf it would have like 6-8 inches compartment from the fan

this is a picture of a peice of paper across the intake hole i shut the door ( STILL NOT SEALED IN ANY WAY) and put my camera on the shelf with the timer. As you can see with all the other leakes i have it is still pushing up the paper. so i really dont tnink i will have a problem. As it is now it cools 2 deg below outside temp.



mushupork5- thank you

 

[Guest]

I have found that the weather stripping doesnt last long--it tends to wear out and then its worthless. I used a combo of weatherstrip/ eavesdrip for the bottom seam and panda paper/ foil tape for the sides. I also hung a 2 piece curtain across the front to hide the seam between the doors.



Hope this helps,
Seed

 

[fari]

hey this might sound like a dumb question but anyways, what exactly is c24? Nice looking cab can't wait to see some action in it...
Bless all,

 

[Remailer]

Well it's a CAB at homer depot, or sLowes. The C-24 is the larger CAB like 4foot long x 2 foot deep x 6 feet high. there is a smaller one but i am and cant remember the name. c-23 or c-18 i think.

 

[pontiac]

Beautiful...Absolutley beautiful! Im loving this so far. Please pm me as soon as you start growing.

 

[DeadlyFoez]

Remailer-- The problem with plywood is that no matter what, not matter how thick, once humidity touches it it bows and creates light leaks in the back. I made that first mistake on my first cab and my second one I used partical board and it came out so much better. And not only do you have to worry about humidity, but the constant fluxuation of temperature because of light cycles. Once again, I say from experience, get 5/8" particle board and it will come together perfect and be stronger than plywood.

 

[pinecone]

pinecone - Well i plan on using the glass in the cab for a cool tube. The thought had crossed my mind to get another fan ( 4" ) and just use that with the light. So the cab would have its own vent for the light and the space. But i have not got there yet. I was also thinking about putting another shelf at the very top of the bloom room and cutting a 4" hole in the shelf it would have like 6-8 inches compartment from the fan

Unless you run C02 (and need to keep the C02 in cab while ventilating-cooling the light at the same time) there is no reason to run a system with 2 fans (one cooling the light and the other exhuasting the cab). Thus, I think your basic approach (one fan - passive intake) is correct. If you want to try the cooltube or a vented hood just have the air exhaust through the light.

The problem with the cab is that you are using a crappy bathroom fan to try to vent a small cab with a 400w light. I won't guarantee that it won't work well, however, I would be very suprised if it did (based on my own cab and others I've seen). I just think you need more fan (a better fan) with the 400w light.

this is a picture of a peice of paper across the intake hole i shut the door ( STILL NOT SEALED IN ANY WAY) and put my camera on the shelf with the timer. As you can see with all the other leakes i have it is still pushing up the paper. so i really dont tnink i will have a problem. As it is now it cools 2 deg below outside temp

Generally speaking your intake surface area should be 1.5 to 2 times your exhuast area; so if you are using a 4'' round fan (exhuast area = phi*4 = 14 square inches) you should have a surface area of 21 inches + on the intake. This ensures that an adequate amount of air gets into the cab, that the fan can function properly (so its not working against a bunch of resistence), and the a slight vacume is created within the cab to suck the doors shut.

From you picture it appears that air is moving into the cab very quickly. This isn't necessarily a good sign as it means there is a lot of resistance. To understand what I'm taking about consider what would happen if you cut a very big hole in the side of your cab. With a very big hole more air would get into the cab, encoutering less resistance on the way in. The air would also be moving into the cab at a slower rate (less wind if you like) and no vacume would be created.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade - I would just rather see you get started on the right track.

Pinecone

 

[Remailer]

DeadlyFoez- I will take your advice in the next box. I have allready sealed the CAB. But thank you really for your advice. I plan on have 2 Cabs so i will do that on the next one.

pinecone or anyone- I though in a small area like i have the 110cfm would be good enough. it is super quiet. and i see what your saying about double the intake. Dont think i am taking this the worng way i WELCOME any advice or comments good or bad. We all have to share info and tips in order to thrive. we cant all do it on our own.


I will keep updating with pics and info as i work on the box.

Thank for reading and keep them comming.

 

[dwtc]

if you want to use co2 then you need to vent the light seperatly.
go to homedepot and get the stanley blower for 45 dollars and vent youre cab with that. it will deff be producing some heat in that closet.

heres my cab. i vent my cab and light seperatly












sorry for the highjack, tryin to pass on the knowledge

down with the clowns

 

[pinecone]

pinecone or anyone- I though in a small area like i have the 110cfm would be good enough. it is super quiet. and i see what your saying about double the intake. Dont think i am taking this the worng way i WELCOME any advice or comments good or bad. We all have to share info and tips in order to thrive. we cant all do it on our own.

Good ventilation is a key when you have a big light in a small box. If you have a lot of space for the heat from the light to dissapate, ventilation is less important.

People that put even bigger blower style fans (like the 256 cfm Dayton) Mill's boxes have heat issues with 400w lights unless they keep their box in a real cool part of the house. People have much better luck with inline fans that were designed for your intended purpose. I like the Vortex line myself and use the 6'' one in my box (It is overkill but my light hood has 6'' air cool fittings).

The other thing that a lot of folks don't know is that all cfms are not created equal. The inline fans (like the Vortex line) are much quieter and move a lot more air under resistance that blower style fans (like your bathroom fan and the Dayton). For this reason - a fan like the 4" Vortex (rated at 189cfm) would far more effective at ventilating your box, than something like the 256cfm Dayton.

You are going to see how your setup runs with the current fan. If it doesn't work I would just bite the bullet and get a nice fan. It will make a huge difference.

Pinecone