ductless growbox

[vindiesel]

here's my setup:
-30"WX20"DX36"H rubbermaid cabinet
-1 150W HPS in enlosed ballast hood/maybe 4X20W CFL too
for main exhaust i will use a 4" vortex. i will have 8" of passive intake holes, not sure how many, but 8" total. probably 4 2" holes w/ elbows. my vortex will be mounted into 1 wall of box, intakes on opposite wall. that's it. i see no need for any ducts at all. i want this grow to be simple yet very effective. i don't see why i need to add ducts anywhere. the box will be in laudery room part of basement. vortex will exhaust to room. i will also have a vaportronic 4000 in box and a vaportronic plugged in, in basement. let me know what u think.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Have you turned on that fan yet? They sound like a rocket taking off for the moon. Unless stealth is of no concern, you'll probably want ducting if only to connect a muffler.

 

[Guest]

Oh c'mon, it ain't that bad, EcoPlus is the bitch and Elicient the best. But if it's stealth he seeks, a set up along the lines of your muffler would be a bonus. This guy wants no ducting so he could attach a fan muffler box to the side of the grow box, self contained and all that jazz, noam sayin'.

Ty-Stik

 

[FreezerBoy]

I'll freely admit to a bit of hyperbole there yet, I have the 4" Elicent (the quietest of this type of fan) It took a muffler, speed contoller and fan isolation box to even begin to get it under control.

Prior to the inline, my grow was "cops investigating a death" safe. Now, I can't let anyone in the garage. I found out the hard way that the driveway is safe for conversation but, I was sweating bullets the whole time and escaped ASAP. Stealth wise, it is not hyperbole to call these fans dangerously loud.

 

[vindiesel]

so the elicent is better, or more quiet than a vortex...? i never checked them out and have yet to get a fan. been going back and forth on fans for weeks.

ty-stik, please explain what u mean by attatching a muffler to side of box...they sell those or it's DIY... thanks freezerboy also.

how about, if i go w/ no ducts, if i went w/ a strong and quiet 4 or 6" plug in axial fan...? will not be hooking a scrubber up to it either....would that work? it sure would be easier, more quiet and cheaper. they come in high enough cfm...

 

[kbc2007]

the 4" will be strong enough cfm wise but it's loud!
you will need to make a diy muffler...may also need to wrap insulation around the fan itself.
make sure the fan has some rubber between the bolts and you cab...to reduce vibration.

 

[vindiesel]

i just did alittle more research. the vortex is 49db. the elicent is 54db, so the vortex IS more quiet. i also called 3 online shops who sold both. they all said they're pretty much the same in terms of quietness, but they all said the vortex is much better. i think i'm just gonna go vortex w/ speed control. 10 year warranty too...

 

[Guest]

i just did alittle more research. the vortex is 49db. the elicent is 54db, so the vortex IS more quiet. i also called 3 online shops who sold both. they all said they're pretty much the same in terms of quietness, but they all said the vortex is much better. i think i'm just gonna go vortex w/ speed control. 10 year warranty too...

This isnt directed at you but......

Those numbers are absolute bullshit. 60db is normal conversation. I tested the stanley blower with a db meter and it tested around 60db on high and it is really quiet. No way a vortex is anywhere near that.


http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=1470907#post1470907

 

[vindiesel]

u saying the vortex is louder then..?

 

[Guest]

To me a vortex is maybe 10 times louder and more annoying like a high pitched jet taking off. I really wish I had one available to test but I don't go near grow shops. But I need it silent so its all relative.

 

[vindiesel]

are u F'n serious...! ur saying then that the vortex sounds like at least 10X louder than your blower...come on... u have a vortex? i hear it's quiet, then i hear it's normal, and now i hear it's loud like u are sayin... WTF...lol.

 

[Guest]

Well, its all opinion on my part and I'm no expert and opinions are like assholes so sorry if I'm off here......

I've heard a vortex in a grow room, and I've tested my stanley with a meter and I would say they aren't close. On top of that I haven't really heard anyone say an inline fan is quiet. Maybe one is quiet compared to the other but they are all still loud.

So when I say its loud its subjective but when I say it can't be anywhere near 60db I'm basing that on comparison to a fan I havent tested so I guess that leaves a lot open like pitch, tone and distance. But I can't have any inline fan in my house period and the stanley is fine so .........

 

[Guest]

i can help you out here diesel as i have the exact same type of closet set up with a 150 watt and there are also 8 regular based sockets around the sides of the inside of the box for cfls if i want to use em.

anyway using a vortex or any type of inline is over kill and espedially if you ar only using 2" hles as passive intakes the box might even implode when the fan turns on.

i have a 4" hole in the bottom side of the box with a 65 cfm axial from radio shack and this is my intake and for exhaust i hve a 125 cfm 4" axial at the opposite top corner. i also have installed a 6 inch axial near the top too, but it is as loud as your vortex would be.

in the summer when the house is like 72 degrees i have to run the top 125 cfm fan and that keeps temps in check if they get out of hand ill turn the bottom one on the 65 cfm.

but now in the winter the house temps are 68 give or take a degree all i have to do is turn the bottom intake fan (65cfm) on and thats it it actually makes the blades on the top exhuast fan rotate pretty quickly and also with this type of passive xhuast it actually cools better than when i have the fans both going for some reason. i believe thaat the hot air is at the top of the box and it is the first to be pushed out when the bottome intake fan is the only one running.

when they are both on it mixes the hot and cold air to much and doesnt exhuast "just" hot air it exhausts mixed air that has an over all hotter temp than when it was stratifying on its own and being passivly xhuasted and replace with cool air . ive been tweaking on this grow box for about 18 months and i have the ins and outs of small grow chambers phsics and so forth all worked out and dialled in let me know if you need some step by step or anything in not new here either just got paranoid one day and closed my account after smoking some wappa bud and then the nest day i registered again. lol

 

[vindiesel]

cool. but i don't think a vortex is over kill. it's like 170 cfm or something. plus, besides light, air movement is next important. i was originally gonna go with axials but changed my mind. just like i changed my mind today on setup. for good this time. i ditched the rubbermaid cab and ordered a 3'X1.5'(20")X5' grow tent. has alot of 4 and 5" holes for exhaust/intakes, with flaps. i also am ditching the 150W HPS w/ 4X20W CFL...now just gonna go with 1 250W HPS.

 

[Guest]

soylent green=great band, kinda like internal bleeding mixed with master.

as far as inlines go eres my story when i was setting up my closet for growing i needed to buy a six inch for my air cooled reflector and a 4 inch to run the rooms exhaust (atsmosphere) and pull it through a carbon filter, basic setup
carbon filter hoooked ot 4" inline and out it goes to the attic. i had just recieved a settlement of $20k so i had money to throw around but still tried to keep shit to a minimum.

well harvest moon has every manufacturer of inlines in stock; can fan, vortex, elicent, hurricane, soar &palua (sp?), and of course eco+plus.

now i wanted maximum airflow on both the 4 and 6 inch fans i was to purchase. i was not trying to buy the most expensive fan or anything like that just something that met my needs and worked good. so i after a week or so of comparing it was a toss up between canfan high output 6 inch or eco+, both had a cfm of 440 with the can fan costing $208.95 and the ecoplus @ $173.95. and the same with the 4" modles can fan HO @178 cfm $164.95 and the eco+ @ 170 cfm $135.95. im very tight with the guys up at the moon so they let me take them out the box and do a side by side right there in the store on the table in the back. they both sounded the same and i tested only the 6 inch ones as i figured the 4" would tell the same story. well i saved $29.00 and went with the eco+ 4" and saved $36.00 and went with the eco+ 6"

well i got them up and running in my closet garden and they were quiet and i was well pleased by my comparative shopping that save me 65 bucks over all.
about two months later the 6 inch wich was always on exhausting the 600 watt sodium reflector started to shake the house. the eco pluses were quiet in the begining but they grew louder and louder over 8 weeks time until one day i was on the other side of my house when the lights turned on and i said "jesus christ is that my fans making that noise" it sonded like someone with a couple subs in thier trunk were out in my driveway banging music. loud vibrating humm

i putt about 2" of weather seal around the footprint of the mounting bracket for the fans and wall anchored them to studs in the wall and still they were loud as shit. i had to buy a rheostat to controll the speed of the six inch one and the 4 inch only ran for 2 minutes every hour with a carbon filter attached so it wasnt that bad. well i was out of money so i couldnt just go buy a better fan and my comparative shopping tht saved me arond 70 bucks in the end ended up costing me 200 buck more casue i need the better fan now.

i wish i would have just spent the extra $$ in the first place, shit the speed controller took the savings away anyway. i even opened the fans up and cleaned them still loud, but they were quiet at first

at my lst trip to the store i saww they had started carrying C.A.P.'s line of inline fans which have the smallest physicall size of any of the other manufacturers of inlines. and they have the very high cfms too
4"@ 171cfm, 6" @ 449 cfm, 8" @ 743cfm and they are the least expensive. 4" cost $99.95 , 6" cost 139.95, etc. and they are very quality biult looking and run vibration free. they have a 4" set up in a hydro hut and a 6" one set up in one of the other gardens in the store and they seem to be running as quiet as when they were new which i felt was as quiet as an elicent. they have been running for about 2 months now i will be buying one when my current crop is finished. i would look into them if a inline is needed but axial like i said in the above post will work fine ill get the pics to my gallery of my box mother plant garden so you could see

 

[Guest]

i would reed the threads about the hydro huts and home boxes first before ordering one so you can make sure you get one with the good poles that dont off-gas and the poly that dont off-gass either (bad room syndrome)

it goes a little somthing like this. everything they put into the hydro hut or home box yellows and dies and as soon as they take it out ond put the plant somewere else it recovers.

the poles had somthing wrong with them and the company was sending people new ones no questions asked somtime even whole new tents.

the company knows that there are the ones that are bad and off=gass and kill plants so they replace stuff with no problem. only thing is that YOU are the one who has to go crazy trying to find out why your plants are getting fucked up and stuff till you figure out it s the hut.

check the thread out i thinks it in the infirmary ot just search "new growth yellows in my hydrohut".

i know it sound hard to believe that the poles in the tent kill the plants but there are many many members who have the exact same prob. with the huts and home boxes. sheck the thread.asap

 

[Guest]

so the elicent is better, or more quiet than a vortex...? i never checked them out and have yet to get a fan. been going back and forth on fans for weeks.

ty-stik, please explain what u mean by attatching a muffler to side of box...they sell those or it's DIY... thanks freezerboy also.

how about, if i go w/ no ducts, if i went w/ a strong and quiet 4 or 6" plug in axial fan...? will not be hooking a scrubber up to it either....would that work? it sure would be easier, more quiet and cheaper. they come in high enough cfm...

FreezerBoy has his in an ice chest. Build a box onto the side of the grow cabinet to hold the fan and sound deadening materials.

TyStik

 

[Guest]

i just did alittle more research. the vortex is 49db. the elicent is 54db, so the vortex IS more quiet. i also called 3 online shops who sold both. they all said they're pretty much the same in terms of quietness, but they all said the vortex is much better. i think i'm just gonna go vortex w/ speed control. 10 year warranty too...

You are in good shape with the Vortex, I have 2 of them, one Elicient and one EcoPlus.

 

[FreezerBoy]

i just did alittle more research. the vortex is 49db. the elicent is 54db, so the vortex IS more quiet.

A four inch Elicent tops out at 45 dB, the polymer case version goes as low as 36 dB.

It's your box, your rules but, if you intend to have no ducts, no scrubbers, no mufflers etc then an inline is using a hurricane to snuff out a candle. One 120 mm 80-100 cfm computer style axial fan is all you need.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Oh, and pardon my playing Jiminey Cricket but, STOP with the multiple posts in multiple threads already. (he said with a smile but a serious wag of his finger) I want to be helpful but, I'm answering this one question in at least two seperate threads AND PMs. Consolidated in one spot would benefit the entire class.