new pvc pipe cab.

[iliketogrow2]

my old cab was a wood sided old dresser with a lockable door and a house fan built into the side. it had some pros and cons.

the pros were that it was lockable and tall so it had the potential for a flower/veg levels.

the cons were that it held heat, was to tall, and leaked light. the dimensions were also not very good for growing more than a plant or 2. heres a pic of hte old box


today i built a frame out of pvc pipes. its about 3.5' tall 2.5' deep and 2.5' wide. i wraped the frame in black and white mylar (which i have recently discovered is GREAT stuff) and cut a piece of plywood that sits on top of the frame.

hopefully that description made sense...

the plywood ceiling is there so that i have somthing to hang the lights from, and vent air in and out of. i will put some pictures up as soon as construction is finished.

heres my problem... i use 2 2' shoplight fixtures with 2 20W bulbs each. and a 125 W envirolight.

in my old cab i had the envirolight mounted on the wall over my scrog as pictures below


since that picture i added the hanging shop lights. it was easy but my new cab has nothing i can mount a light from horizontally. any suggestions?

 

[iliketogrow2]

i put an hour or so of work into my new cab until giving up very frustrated. since there is nothing with which to mount the socket horizontally i strapped a piece of chicken wire between two sides of the frame and mounted the light to that but it bends ridiculously. so i put a piece of string around the bulb and through a hook in the ceiling of my cab to keep the bulb balanced. i its a very amature job. there are 2 21CFM computer fans blowing on the bulb. could the bulb get hot enough to catch fire to the string? im going to try and replce the welded wire with a length of 2X4 today so that it doesnt bend. wish me luck.

 

[Guest]

string around a bulb..now thats funny and impossible i would think..ok i see its a cfl...dont try that with a hps

 

[iliketogrow2]

updates!

updates!

ok. fed up i tore the whole thing apart which was wobbling and coming apart uncontrolably. i put it all back together and wrapped all the joints with duct tape. then i screwed a 2X4 into 1 of the pipes so i would have somthing viable to mount my envirolite on that wouldnt bend.

i rewraped the frame in black and white mylar and put the plant back in as well as a pair of 2' shop lights which are just standing freely vertically.

im having total buyers remore. with my new setup i cant get all the buds as close to the bulb as in my old box. there is no ventilation in my new box which was the best part of my old box. and there is some light leak near the bottom.

tell me what you guys think.

 

[Guest]

Bro, this is close to an experiment I tried a while back. PVC does NOT do well as a frame. It seems like they would but I found the entire thing to be way too wobbly, nothing to mount anything on (such as walls) and the list goes on and on.

If you are dead set on a cabinet (vs. just using an entire closet) then I'd recommend going with one of the Mills Prides cabs that you can get at Home depot... or just build one with 1x2's and plywood.

Hell, when ya think about it, there are so many possible ways to build a flower box - just check out some posts and run with what sticks out to ya.

But I would highly recommend to walk away from the PVC model. I thought it was tough when first building it, after about 3months and some flowering, the problems never stopped coming... just not worth the headache IMO.

 

[NOKUY]

go to thrift stores and g-sales and find a cabinet, nightstand, or whatever, and just modify it for your needs.

Keep the PVC and make a Scrog frame if you are gonna be height restricted.

peep the link in my sig. for some ideas from my cabinet and peep the DIY thread by pontiac if you havent

 

[iliketogrow2]

Hey nokuy thats a great looking cabinet you got there, and i would love to build somthing like that if i had my dad's workshop and tools or the budget to make somthing that nice. but im a university student looking at a pretty tight budget.

I think klutter is on to somthing. My first cabinet was a old dresser tilted on its side with the drawer's removed and a door cut to size out of wood on hinges. it worked perfectly during the first part of my plants life but its just heavy inconvient and not a very good shape for a scrog.

My NEW IDEA!!

im going to lie the dresser on its side and divide the cab into 2, a veg and a flower. im going to remove the balsa wood sides that are a mess anyways and replace them with 3/4" plywood. On the bright side i can use my left over pvc for ventilation like you did nokuv~

Any suggestions on how to divide the cab? just get a piece of plywood cut to size?

 

[NOKUY]

thanks "ilike2grow2"

as for dividing the rooms.... the plywood cut to fit should work...just make sure that you are able to seal the light away from the veg area to flower area.

 

[iliketogrow2]

nokuy, my new cab is really starting to come together, i have got hte plywood sides on, wheels, a 1 1/2" pvc intake light trap that i also bring my wires through. 4 computer fans are hooked up on a paralel circuit exhausting, ive only mounted 2 so far those because those drill bits you use to cut big holes are a bitch to use but ill do the other 2 tomorow. i hung my 2' shoplites from the ceiling on chains with S-hooks. im going to get the other 2 fans mounted and my envirolight tomorw then install the divider and seal it with caulking. ill put some pics up sooner or later