Playing with SketchUp - Box idea

[yeknomssa]

well hello everyone. i've been playing around with everyone's favorite 3D modeler, Google SketchUp. heres an idea i had for a future box of mine. it takes some ideas from the NGB box, but its meant to be soil based and can easily be set up for perpetual harvest (in theory anyway)





(i know the pipe from the light in the flower chamber isn't connected to anything, i just couldn't find the kind of fan i wanted and didn't feel like building one from scratch in sketchup)

in trying to fix the inevitable heat issues of the NGB box, i thought of adding fresh air to each room. But my physics aren't spot on and i think that the fresh air to each room may mess with the airflow between the rooms and may compromise the negative pressure environment.

i did have a different idea for ventilation though. what if the rooms weren't linked? what if fresh air came into each room and then was extracted from all the rooms at once. i'm imagining some kind of manifold setup from each room that are all hooked together to the same exhaust fan.

its still in the idea phase so i'd love some constructive criticism from some more experience box builders. let m know what you think!

 

[imnotcrazy]

That box design is @ 170 cubic feet, you'll need quite the fan for the neg pressure you'll require...Especially if you are intending to utilize the same fan to air cool the HPS flowering light

 

[Guest]

thats gonna be a loudass box. Are you planning a 'perpetual' scrog? Otherwise, I'm not sure I see the pont of such a large veg area.

Your ventilation seems a little......special. It'll work but it just seems like you overcomplicated things.
it would probably be a lot cheaper and more effective to use a large 8x8 or 8x12 darkroom louvres. the 8x8's are either $24 or $32 each (can't remember) but they flow really well and don't take up much space because they mount flat. You WILL need a ton of airflow in a space that small.
I'm assuming you plan on using a 1k or a 600 in the flower area. Either one of those is going to make a lot of heat for the space. Remember, the 1k is only really gonna produce more if you can keep the heat in there down at reasonable levels.

With your manifold idea, just make sure your exhaust manifold's intakes are proportionate in size to the amount of air they need to pull through.

 

[yeknomssa]

i totally agree with you guys, i hadn't thought about the square footage like that. also after further consideration, i don't really need to grow quite as much as that cab is capable of holding. i'll be working on something similar but smaller and hopefully with better venting. should have a design worked up in a day or two

 

[hedpi]

hi yeknomssa,

i did my cab like 1 month ago, 3d and 2d too eheh, smaller than that one, but similar design, except i dont have the pipes connecting each division to the other, each one has a separate ventilation (2x80mm in, 1x120mm out). My dimensions are total:HxLxW 1mx1mx0.5m, and it's capable of flowering 8 plants (with vertical lamp setup) or 9 (horizontal lamp setup). The idea is a perpetual 2week2plant harvest (each 2 weeks harvest 2 plants). I'll try to get some pics of the 3D and the real cab and put them here.
Oh, the area for the flowering is around 1sq foot (i converted in google, it's a little under 1 foot) and the lamps are all CFL (bc of heat/space) and i'm using a total of 400w (80w on the mother/clone div. 2x20 with 2300k + 2x20 with 6500k, all vertical, 120w on the veg/grow div 1x40 circular 6500k and 4x20 with 6500k vert and horiz, and 200w on the flowering div. 1x200 with 2300k, also vertical).
Hope it gives you some ideas, but i'll be back with some pics

 

[yeknomssa]

hedpi:
thanks a ton, man. i also have a couple plans for a smaller box with a manifold like single exhaust (i'll upload a pic soon).

but your box sounds almost exactly like what i want. unless i decide to go with 3 seperate cabs. see i've been thinking about some super stealth cabinets around the house. (i'll upload a pic or two of those ideas too).

just keep i mind i'm in the early early stages of developing myself a nice steady system. my ideas may be rough heh. but my end goal is to never have to buy and be able to grow a couple different varieties to have at my disposal

 

[yeknomssa]

here's my idea foe an al in one manifold setup (still preliminary)

 

[hedpi]

hi man, i'm back..with some pics.
Here's the 3D project i did, including live size pots,lamps,etc (except the 200w lamp which i didnt have yet then, and i made it much larger than it really is).

Back when i did the project i was thinking of using passive intake (which is hidden by the pots, but it's there, on the bottom right corner of each division) and 2x 80mm for extraction, plus i was using the veg lamps horizontaly, but i also changed that.

Here's the real thing:

Changed passive intake to 2x80mm (12v, 0.2amp) pc fans on the bottom inside corner of each div(here's on the mother/clone div):

Exhaust moved to the front part of the walls, and changed to a single 120mm (230v, 0.15amp) sunon extractor (here's the one on the mother/clone division):

It's not very stealthy, but it's ok. This is also where i park my bike so it's usually more covered up..

So wood?
1x - 1000x1000mm rear panel (i got all these free, but it's cheap)
2x - 1038x500mm doors
5x - 1000x500mm panels (sides, middle, top, bottom)
1x - 480x500mm shelve
(you'll need also some black silicone (10$), for light isolating the veg from the flo,
around 30-40 screws/nails to mount it up (10$), 4 "invisible" hinges $15 for the doors, 2 locks $6 for the doors, and you dont really need the things you grab to open the doors, but it gives it a better look and they're $1 each, you'll also need to make some feet, i just used some wood i had around and put it under the cab, i like to do this bc mine is in the garage so if i have a flood it has a little extra protection, you should also get all electrical stuff out of the ground if you can have this problem too)

Lamps?

1x 200w cfl (2400k warm) for flo
1x 40w circular cfl (6500k cool) for veg
4x 20w cfl (6500k cool) for veg
2x 20w cfl (6500k cool) for mother/clone
2x 20w cfl (2400k warm) for mother/clone

Other stuff?

2x Electronic timer: 1 for 12/12, 1 for 18/6
1x AC/DC adapter for the pc fans (i have a 12v 0.8 amp, and the fans connected parallel, only 4 fans yet so it's ok, plus i have the air from one of the exhaust fans going to the adapter so it doesnt heat too much)

1x Dimmer switch for the exhaust fans cause they're brutal hehe

4x extension cords (1 global, 1 with electronic timer for 18/6 connected to 12v adapter+mother lights+veg lights, 1 with electronic timer for 12/12 connected to flo lights, and to another extension which has the 3 exhaust fans connected to it, so they only work 12/12 too).
8x 3L pots for flo, 4x 3L pots for veg, 1x 3L (or more) for mother, smaller pots/jiffys/whatever for clones, or whatever you want, but this is how i projected my perpetual.

So after you have all this, and a good mother selected, here's the scheme:

Stats:

Days clones stay in clone room: 7 days
Days they veg: 28 days
Days they flower: 56 days
Total grow time: 91 days from clone
Max clones at the same time: 2
Max veg at the same time: 4
Max flower at the same time: 8
Harvest: 2 plants each 2 weeks

Calendar:

Date - Action -(clo/veg/flo/harv)- Notes
Day1 - Take 2 clones from mom -(2/0/0/0) -
Day7 - Move day1 clones to veg -(0/2/0/0)-
Day14 - 2 clones from mom -(2/2/0/0)-
Day21 - Move day14 clones to veg -(0/4/0/0)-
Day28 - 2 clones from mom -(2/4/0/0)-
Day35 - Move day28 clones to veg, day1 clones to flower -(0/4/2/0)-
Day42 - 2 clones -(2/4/2/0)-
Day49 - day42 to veg, day14 to flower -(0/4/4/0)-
Day56 - 2 clones -(2/4/4/0)-
Day63 - day56 to veg, day28 to flower -(0/4/6/0)-
Day70 - 2 clones -(2/4/6/0)-
Day77 - day70 to veg, day42 to flo -(0/4/8/0)-
Day84 - 2 clones -(2/4/8/0)- 1 week till day1 harvest, stop nutes only water for day1
Day91 - day84 to veg, day56 to flo, -(0/4/8/2)- day1 harvest, permanent cycle starts.
Day98 - 2 clones -(2/4/8/0)- 1 week till day14 harvest, stop nutes only water for day14

So after this, you always have 2/4/8/0 one week, and 0/4/8/2 the other, meaning one week you take cuttings(make 2 clones) and the other you harvest (2 plants). The objective is not to make huge plants and big yields, but to have a small yield constatly each 14days.

I have this made in a full 365 days calendar with more info (nutes and all that crap), and at the end of the year you have made 20 harvests, so even if you only make 50 grams each harvest it's 1kg per year, which is more than most of us use anyway..plus if you stop cloning at the end of the 20 harvests, you still have enough plants growing for 14 more harvests. And if you have friends to trade clones with, you can have growing as much different strains as you want, and smoke a different smoke each 2weeks
Hope it helps you

 

[yeknomssa]

dude, seriously, that is insanely in depth and invaluably helpful. thank you so much. after reading your post and the "compact sog with cfls" post in the micro grows forum, i've decided that sog is the way to go for what i'm looking for. i'll definatley keep you updated on my progress

 

[sneakyninja]

We should create an ICMAG collection of grow related objects for the Sketchup 3d warehouse. That way anyone can just put together quick conceptuals of a grow in an hour or less.

 

[yeknomssa]

i like that idea, sneakyninja. i have a few things that i use alot saved away and it would be nice to find some things i'm looking for, like light ballasts and extractor fans, carbon scrubbers, etc

 

[HappyHemphog]

We should create an ICMAG collection of grow related objects for the Sketchup 3d warehouse. That way anyone can just put together quick conceptuals of a grow in an hour or less.

Do a search, someone already setup a thread and a bunch of people posted objects.

I put up a nice C13 sketchup up on the 3d Warehouse.

 

[hedpi]

Hey Happy,

Just letting you know, you inspired my perpetual, i took yours and adapt it to my needs/capabilities, so thank you!

BTW, here's the sketchup icmag database thread:

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=54591

 

[eLiguL]

If you have hte space and stealth is of no concern then ditch the box idea ASAP. If I knew the amount of work and all the issues that can come with building a box I would have never decided to make one.

Now that ive got that out of my system ill add something constructive to your thread, haha.

If you have never worked with wood or built something comparable to the complexity of your box then I might reconsider. Personally ive never built anything as big as my box and ive had MANY growing pains along the way. I can say now that the flowering door of my box is warped due to my inexperience. Also, the seal on my box is not 100% so I had to duct tape all the "seams" of my box. All the little doodads that you need for your box (hinges, weather stripping, wheels, latches, etc)really adds up $$$$.

If I were to do everything all over again I would build a simple wooden frame and wrap it in poly/panda plastic. So much cheaper and easier to do. Of course this is assuming stealth is no concern to you.

 

[eLiguL]

FWIW heres a few pix of my box




Fullshot with doors closed (someone drew on my box when I wasnt home, thats what those white boxes are covering)




Fullshot with doors open



Veg room



Flower room



Electrical room (looks like a mess but everything is taped down and wire nutted, thats as clean as I could get it to look)



This was suppose to be a drying room but things changed while I was building the box and it has since turned into a storage/air pump room (I chose this room because its dark and a lot cooler than my electrical room)

 

[yeknomssa]

nice box, e. i'm just toying around with some ideas, and refining them as i go. what i'd like to eventually do is take one of my small box ideas and putting it into a piece of furniture. a dresser, a cabinet, etc. nice and stealthy, even though i just live with me and my girlfriend. the ideas will evolve over time if everyone keeps contributing great ideas