Blynx's 1 sqft CFL cab & other CFL micro cabs

[Shred_Bundy]

Thats some fine work Blynx! I love your setup.

 

[shawkmon]

updates

 

[pANicModE]

still doing the micro cabbies I see looking good brother

 

[Hovz]

Amazing job Blynx. I didn't read the whole thread but the first 20 pages are so are filled with nice buds in small spaces. Promise ill come back and read the rest. Very inspiring.

 

[Kappaccino]

awesome experiment op.

 

[blynx]

New cab

New cab

I found this cab that's about the same size as my CFL scrog cab.

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The inside is 22.75" wide by 11" deep by 27" height.

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The cab needs some ventilation.

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[MicroRoy]

Its going to be another good one.


Will you do a build thread?

 

[blynx]

The cab needs some paint on the inside

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The cab also needs some ventilation at the top of the cab

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So I had been seeing LED lights at the local box stores but they seemed to be really lacking in lumens compared to CFLs.

Then I saw this at a club store

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I figured what the heck, 1300 lumens at 22.5w might be worth a shot, so I picked some up.

 

[blynx]

I pulled the lens off the light to see what was inside the fixture.

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Here's a closeup of the LEDs.

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I took a Dremel and cut the hood/reflector off the LEDs.

***** NOTE: After I cut removed the reflector and turned the lights on I found out the reflector is used for passive cooling. *****

I tried to come up with a method that would allow me some flexibility in removal/changing/fixing, yet also keep the light height profile small. I decided to go with mounting the lights on a piece of wood.

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I put screws into the sides of the wood and 'tied' the lights on with wire.

 

[Terpene]

Those retrofits are neat, cut some holes in the top of the cab, shove the cans in, run a couple screws through the housing into the cabinet, done. I wasn't expecting you to do the cut and slice thing - make sure you check the temps of the housings as they touch the wood!

I know Ive suggested them before, but the ultra thin IP66 LEDs put out a ton of light. I'm running 2 30w in small veg (2w x 2d x 2h) and 2 50w in large veg (4w x 2d x 4h). The 50s get about as warm as a ready to serve tea kettle and the 30s run about as "hot" as a CFL.

Heres a brightness breakdown based on my ghetto, swing style garden light meter.

Rather than wire them, I did the lazy thing and searched Amazon for an IP66 with plug. Pull it out of the box, plug it in and you're done.

 

[blynx]

I decided to go with 4 lights at 22.5w each for a total of 90w. Here are all four lights mounted on the piece of wood.

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Let's get the lights mounted in the cab.

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I did center the upper ventilation hole and the bar does go across it, but it doesn't impede the airflow.

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I decided to put a light at one end of the lights to have it blow air across them toward the upper ventilation hole.

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I mounted the fan by wiring the fan to a small block of wood and attaching a long piece of velcro to hold the fan in place.

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[blynx]

Hey Blynx, I know Ive suggested them before, but the ultra thin IP66 LEDs put out a ton of light. I'm running 2 30w in small veg (2w x 2d x 2h) and 2 50w in large veg (4w x 2d x 4h). The 50s get about as warm as a ready to serve tea kettle and the 30s run about as "hot" as a CFL.

Heres a brightness breakdown based on my ghetto, swing style garden light meter.

Rather than wire them, I did the lazy thing and searched Amazon for an IP66 with plug. Pull it out of the box, plug it in and you're done.

Yep I looked at them and they are cool. So are COBS, but these were looking me in the face right at the same time I found this cab so I went with them. The big appeal was I got them in town without having to mail order and wait.

 

[blynx]

I haven't had much luck vegging under 2700k lights, and this cab is setup with 2700k lighting, so I decided to throw a plant straight to flower.

I had this GG4 plant in a 6" container.


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Let's get her transplanted to a larger container.

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After I transplanted it, I tried to slightly bend the upper branches down and I broke the right-side branch and had to tape it lol.

 

[blynx]

Gorilla Glue #4

Day 00 Flower


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[TheScrogFrog]

Nice cab, curious to see how those LED's do.

 

[150wpimpin]

in for LED's

 

[Terpene]

Yep I looked at them and they are cool. So are COBS, but these were looking me in the face right at the same time I found this cab so I went with them. The big appeal was I got them in town without having to mail order and wait.

Just saw the picture of the cabinet - those things are awesome! 90w of LED in 2sqft... you're going to really like how this one goes.

 

[shawkmon]

alright, show time , in for the gg4 grow show !

 

[SwampyTHC]

Blynx Thank you so much for this thread mate its taken me a while to read it all but your information is spot on ive judt built myself a very similar setup and you have just ironed out a few creases for me so thanks bro gl with the gg4 im dying for a shot at that

 

[hempfield]

I decided to go with 4 lights at 22.5w each for a total of 90w. Here are all four lights mounted on the piece of wood.

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Let's get the lights mounted in the cab.

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I did center the upper ventilation hole and the bar does go across it, but it doesn't impede the airflow.

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I decided to put a light at one end of the lights to have it blow air across them toward the upper ventilation hole.

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I mounted the fan by wiring the fan to a small block of wood and attaching a long piece of velcro to hold the fan in place.

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Question/sugestion: why didn't you mount the leds on the ceil of the cabinet , placing the warm part outside the growbox for more head space ?

Will be very interesting to watch this thread (again).