My cab

[melon]

Hi,
I am planning on building a cab which is 100cm by 100 cm and 200 cm high (3.3' by 3.3' and 6.6' high approx.) And my big question is, what fans should i use and how many ?, also do mh get verry warm ? and what reflector would be alright for that sort of heat?

 

[pontiac]

Although the final decision is up to you, you can use a 400w-600w light with a cooltube reflector and a 250+ CFM blower or inline fan.

 

[melon]

hmmm... do you think that i could yield about 5oz with a 400w hps and mh ?? ( do you think that mh is better than cfl for veg ??

 

[catman]

post people would say mh is better for veg then cfl.

you could easily yield 5oz with a 400w hps..

that being said, if 5oz is your goal you should consider a 250w hps.

 

[pontiac]

hmmm... do you think that i could yield about 5oz with a 400w hps and mh ?? ( do you think that mh is better than cfl for veg ??

Easily. (see my diary: 8.25oz with 400w hps/mh under unideal conditions) And yes, it is better than CFL for both veg and bloom.

 

[melon]

Well, the thing is that there r two factors decreasing my final yield 1st im a begginer 2nd i wanted to go organic.
At first i wanted to put 2 plants into 100cm by 100cm 200cm heigh box, in 50 liter pots. The problem was that i didnt want to buy 2 ballasts ( 1 for 400 mh and 1 for 600 hps ) ... but now i want to go with 400w lights and a cool tube, but i dont know what is the best size for my growbox to give my plants optimum conditions with light. ( i thought about 60 cm deep 100 cm wide and 200 cm high ) (2' deep, 3.3' wide 6.6' high ) what do you think?

 

[pontiac]

Either box design is fine, just as long as you can adjust the height of your reflector. The second design is better imho (2'x3.3'x6.6'), because light tends to emit from HID bulbs more perpendicularly to the filament than say, a CFL. This feature is further enhanced by most reflector designs. So to keep things short, an HPS light would provide better (more even) coverage in a rectangular floorspace (your second design) than it would in a square floorspace (first design).

Just make sure you orient your reflector like so (Long side of your light parallel to the short side of your cabinet's floor):

 

[FreezerBoy]

hmmm... do you think that i could yield about 5oz with a 400w hps and mh ?? ( do you think that mh is better than cfl for veg ??

I can do better than that with a 250.

Check out what others have done with 400s The 400 Watt Club

Probably more 150-250 here but, still some good reading for cab growers
Mills Pride Club

 

[melon]

ok thanks alot guys

 

[melon]

Hi guys, just to make sure, is the cab with the dimensions 60 cm deep 100 cm wide and 200 cm high (2' deep, 3.3' wide 6.6' high) the optimum for 400w hps ?? or can it be bigger or should it be smaller ? Also should i use mylar or black/white foil on walls ?? do i need a cooltube, or will the normal (cheapest) reflector will do if ive got a good ventilation ?

 

[samba]

Do consider that a cooltube is 50cm long,normally, so you cant have it right way in your closet(remember you need the ducking to)

There is shorter ones on the market. I'm assuming you European (metric), if so here's one
http://pflanzburg.de/store/product_info.php?cPath=1_13&products_id=2962

 

[melon]

Hi guys, just to make sure, is the cab the optimum for 400w hps or can it be bigger or should it be smaller ? Also should i use mylar or black/white foil on walls ??

what about that?

 

[FreezerBoy]

50 watts per sq ft.

If you use the whole floor space, you'll want the 600. Should floor space be chewed up by ballasts, res or similar and you shrink the grow down to 3x3 or smaller, a 400 will do.

 

[melon]

hi, i was thinkin about gettin a 250 w hps ( lower temps ) and 2 105W Blue spec cfls (low temps + maximised yields) is my thinkin right, would that maximise my yield than 400 w on its own ??

 

[melon]

...anyone?

 

[jordas]

well 50w per sq ft is ideal........
if you are interested in a 250w then you want 5 sq ft....

I have a box that is 2 ft by 2.5 ft that is 5 sq ft....
and it works great with a 250w ballast.....

I dont know what kind of ventalation you had in mind........
but heat problems can be tough to deal with in a cab.......

personally in a small cab I think smaller is better I would stick with the 250......

 

[Quazi]

The penetration of the CFLs will not be anything close to the 250W HPS. You'd be adding additional heat and complication for a negligible gain. If you want to have 400W in the flowering chamber, then go with a 400W flowering lamp.

I had originally thought about complimentary CFLs in flower and ultimately decided against it for the reasons that I listed above.

-Q

 

[jordas]

ok.....well if you went the 250w then you want something close to 5 sq ft of floor space....so 2ft deep by 2.5ft wide gets you there.....as you want to be close to the 50w per sq ft......

now as far as a fan goes if you stay with the 250w light and a smaller cab then the S&P TD-100 is a nice fan and it's only $68 plus shipping which is easy on the wallet and fairly quiet if you get yourself a fan speed controller.........should work nicely!

check out: http://www.hvacquick.com/spfnconfig.php?fm=td

 

[Deviant420]

Why not get a switchable system with both a MH and HPS bulb?

~$260 shipped for the 250w
~270 shipped for the 400w

Both with 6" aircooled hoods.

 

[melon]

Why not get a switchable system with both a MH and HPS bulb?

~$260 shipped for the 250w
~270 shipped for the 400w

Both with 6" aircooled hoods.

With fan ?? and all that ? if yes where from ?