Cab Design - Need input and criticism

[marx2k]

In the next few months I plan to begin construction on a cab that will have both a veg/clone as well as flowering section.

I want to build this cab for easy setup and takedown in case I need to move or just need to take it down real quick for any reason.

Here is a quick sketch of the front


Here are some specs for the type of cab it will be:
- 400W HPS cooled via cooltube system
- DWC hydro setup with a rubbermaid tub as standalone res
- 6" inline Vortex fan
- DIY Can Scrubber

The height of the setup will be 6' - I can go taller up to 7' if need be.
The width and depth is 3' square.

The veg area will be sectioned off above the flowering area via 1/4" board.

The res area will also be sectioned off below the flowering area via 1/4" particle board. The board itself will serve as the holder for the net pots and will serve also to block light to the res area.

The top and bottom of the cab will be identical:


I will have 1/4" particle board as side paneling on 3 sides of the cab. The floor of the cab also will be 1/4" particle board laying under the frame instead of on top of it.

Both divider boards will be 36" square with notches cut out in order to accommodate for the frame 2x4's.

The door to the setup will be the same setup as the front of the frame and will have 1/4" particle board on the outside of it.

Here are my questions:
1. Whats the best way of exchanging air in the veg area? Should I mount the fan below the veg area and just pump air from the flower area INTO the veg area and have a passive output on the top of the cab?

2. Is it better to have one 24" can scrubber in in the back corner of the cab or is it better to have 2 12" scrubbers in both back corners of the cab with a Y connection into the cooltube?

3. Is the cooltube being 4" going to bottleneck the entire setup since the cab scrubber is going to be 6" output, the fan is 6" and the ducting will all be 6" except for reducing it at both ends of the cooltube. If so, how to fix this? Hurricane glass?

4. How would one go about getting the particle board dividers INTO the cab? Since the 2x4" frame boards will be blocking from easy insert, removal. What would be the best way of figuring this problem out? Because basically the only way I can think of this would be to have a 40x40" piece of board for each divider with a 2x4 notch cut out of each corner and then having to top load it. There must be an easier way. Remember, this needs to be light-tight. Im planning for the front of the divider to come all the way up to the door with weatherstripping or felt tape along the edge to keep the light tight.

Now that I think about this a little more... the board dividers would have to extend PAST the cab to meet the particle board door since the door will be screwed onto the frame which will be hinged into the cab frame. Uh oh...

5. Given the dimensions, whats the best ratio for the divisions here? I would like to have 4 to 6 plant sites for the tub, and I will only have one mother which will be constantly pruned to maintain small size in the veg area. How large should the DWC tub be, what should be the max height on the veg and DWC area to give maximum grow area to the flower section. Keep in mind that there will be 4 to 6 plants in this one res, so one must account for water volume needed.

6. With a DWC system like this, what would be the easiest way to change out the water/nutes when it comes time to do that? What to do with the rootballs while thats happening?

7. Look over this supply list and see if Im missing something:

Floor And Ceiling:
2 - 40" 2x4
2 - 36" 2x4
1 - 40x40x1/4" particle board

Frame:
4 - 64"(+) 2x4 (depending on height that I want for this cab)
3 - 40x64(+)x1/4" particle board for walls
2 - 40x40x1/4" particle board for dividers

Door:
2 - 36" 2x4
2 - 64"(+) 2x4
1 - 36x64(+)x1/4" particle board for door

Does this seem right to you guys?
What am I missing?

Overall, do you folks think this will be a decent setup once I iron the technicalities out? I mean, this seems like a pretty straightforward deal, right?

 

[marx2k]

You will also notice a miscalculation in my sketch regarding the 4" height of the 2x4's on top and bottom and the height of the post for the cab. Should be 64" not 68"

Me too high.

But again, that's a variable height depending on final plan cab needs.

 

[samba]

By placing you Can Scrubber vertically you lose some growarea, if possible place it up next to or above the cooltube. Hot air rises anyway... And I only had a look at you picture,so maybe this advice is useless

 

[Gantz]

dude!!! click on my NGB cab link for inspiration

 

[marx2k]

By placing you Can Scrubber vertically you lose some growarea, if possible place it up next to or above the cooltube. Hot air rises anyway... And I only had a look at you picture,so maybe this advice is useless

I imagine when filled with charcoal, the can is going to be *HEAVY*. Also, ducting that to the cooltube might be tricky. Lets say it's hanging horizontally in the corner above the cooltube using bungee cord or something..

The opening of the can can be on the same side as the intake opening on the cooltube. This would force a "U" shape for ducting from the opening of the can to the opening of the cooltube. I wonder if that's going to be an issue.

Also, how would this work when the cooltube is like 3' below the can when the plants are very small?

 

[marx2k]

dude!!! click on my NGB cab link for inspiration

That's a very nice cab, Gantz!

Couple of questions on it..
(Your pictures are tiny so I will comment on what I can make out...)

The Res:
Can you give me a link or something to what sort of foam rubber you're talking about that you used? I was going to use rockwool/expanded clay pellets/netpots, but just using rubber plugs might be a better idea. How tight did you put them into the holes? Did you notice if it impeded horizontal trunk growth?

I like your idea about having the PVC piping going through to the bottom of the res to contain the root mass. This makes a great idea for when I will have to change out the res. And I can imagine this works GREAT with SWC, but what do you think about using the same system to work with DWC? And what I mean is that the res will be about 1-2' instead of 6". I had the idea to not only put a net an inch from the bottom of the res to support the weight of the root, but also to wrap the 4 legs on all sides with netting (I was trying to come up with something with smaller holes than chicken wire, though.. what do you think) so when it's time to change the res and I pull the rootball monstrosity out it doesnt just fall all over the sides. Your thoughts?

You mentioned you used duct tape to tape up the res and the cover. 3 rolls. That's the same thing I did with the buckets I was using. But algae still grew in there somehow I was considering black latex paint, then using duct tape but that might be overkill. I would like to know your thoughts on how to make this type of setup TRULY light tight. I notices that light gets in around the lid mainly as well as through the air tubing. I have been told to use non-clear air tubing but Im not sure where to get it from or if there might be a workaround with using clear tubing (painting it, or something like that)

I was planning on doing a DWC which is basically a larger version of what you have going on there.

Air Intake Holes To The Mother Room:
Why did you put PVC piping into the intake holes in the mother room? I would imagine the INTAKE to the MOTHER room would not need to be light tight, so.. why was this done?
I am under the impression that since my fan will be pulling 400+cfm, I have to throw a couple of 6" holes into the intake. Now, this would take up a lot of real estate not only inside the cab if I chose to use 90 deg. elbows, but also in the back of the cab between the cab and the wall. For this reason I have decided to use louvers. Do you have any tips as far as using those goes?

Ait intake to the flower room:
I understand how you achieved this airflow, but my cabinet design is a bit different and the mother room will be sitting on top of the flower room. I have thought about it a bit and have decided that what I am going to do here is I will install a set of louvers in the floor of the mother room that opens out to the flower room. The scrubber can will be sitting on the bottom of the flowering room and all airflow will be pulled through the air can so the fresh air from the mother room will have a chance to travel through the entire flower room before going into the intake can scrubber, up the ducting to the cooltube, through the cooltube, up to the fan, back into the mother room, but through ducting now and out the top. Does this sound like a good idea to you?
Also, I wonder how I would be able to make sure that the portal from the mother room to the flower room is light tight? Im also trying to conserve space (even though I have given pretty generous height allotments in my design) so 6" elbows of PVC might not be ideal.

((IDEA)) - one side of the mother room will be the plant(s) - but the other side will be the fan and ducting . (remember, this is going to be a 3x3' square we're talking about). What if on either side of the ducting coming up through the floor in the mother room, i drill 2 6" holes which will serve as the port between the mother and flower room. Instead of making the elbows coming out of the ceiling of the flower room, I have one elbow coming up from the floor of the mothering room? Would one corner be enough to cut off light? And if not, would an added louver in the ceiling of the flower room do the trick? This would use otherwise-unused space int he mother room as well as not take up precious real-estate in the flowering room. What do you think?

Smell-masking-techniques:
I noticed you didn't use any sort of carbon scrubbing or masking techniques to get rid of smell. What's the deal?

Mother Room Lighting:
If you were to do it again, would you use fluorescent tubes or would you go with compact fluoros for the design?

I'm trying to decide what I will be using.

Flower Room Lighting:
Again, if you were to do it again, would you do the same hood-cooling 150HPS system or go with a 400W (or 600W) CoolTube design? The hood just seems to take up more space where a cooltube (especially in this kind of setup) would give you more room to play with.



Sorry if this is a lot to read through but Im trying to plan all this out before actually going in and buying all the equipment I would need. Oh, and plus I drank a pot of coffee earlier today. No kidding.

 

[Gantz]

dude i just posted it...it's not my project.

 

[marx2k]

Doesn't anyone else have any input into this project at all?