Sealed Room 16 Bio-Bucket Med Garden In the works...

[kp^]

Hello fellow growers and stoners alike! I’m a cab/stealth grower that’s had a green thumb in years past. I’ve got a good number of grows under the belt with cab style/closet growing…. I want to kick it up a notch + for medical reasons I want more sexy ladies!!! I’m testing my skills at a larger room for a medical garden. My past has been 2-4ladies and now I want to start a 16 Bio-Bucket setup. My questions are not Bio-Bucket related, or growing But overall room design, flow etc… I’m seeking advice and recommendations on my design which will improve it’s stealth, longevity, perpetual grow system etc….

I have approx 10feet long X 8feet wide X 8feet height.







Going with a 16 Bio-Bucket setup, ~45gallon res… lumatek 2000w…..AC, dehumidifier, Control wizard climate controller, and the 24-7 nutrient monitor. Going with 8” and 6” vortex fans, Room with have co2 in future, but not at for the first grow…. I’m still debating on the lumtatek’s… Was thinking Galexy, or something else…

For construction I’m using 2x4’s and ½” and 5/8” plywood for all the framing aspects of the room. I will be screwing everything together for various reasons…. Insulating with R15, and then covering with some thin board.. I’m still debating what I will do to cover/seal the room from within. I was thinking about sheetrock, but I don’t feel like dealing with sheetrock in general….Sheetrocking is in my blood, but I think it’s excessive for the room. I think there are better alternative thats cheaper and more flexible for the room. I

I’ve already got some good ideas for sealing/covering the exterior of the room. It’s plywood.. so I have lots of options… It might be a backdrop for a “tool” room or something…..

I live in a state that’s cool for most of the year, and I would like to intake this air if all possible. Why you ask? Cut down electricity costs of AC… If the ambient temp is cooler than the outside, pump that outside air into the grow, and the ladies will really enjoy it! Em I wrong here? Of course all intakes will pass through a filter/carbon scrubber etc… And it could be passive. Still thinking of ideas..

So below I share with you my work for my little medical operation I want to start very sooon. I’m trying to plan out all aspects of this now, so next month I can start buying all the supplies…. I want things done right the first time… etc. I’m putting the time and doing my research into this








I’ve got the electrician on standby to install 220 and 110 circuits for the grow…... I want lights to be on 220 while everything else… fans, meters, pumps etc are 110. This should help with loads on the circuit Im thinking…


Ok, so the room will need to be divided for a air lung..... Plus I want to keep light from leaking into the main room when opening the first door. I was thinking of the following: There are two solid interior base doors..they are pre-hung for around $60 per door.. The first door is going to make the room sealed. The second door I was thinking of the same type of door.. But looking for suggestions. Zipper would not cut it I don’t think because of the suction of the room etc.. Ideas?



Ok, images are below... I hope they answer most of your questions so I can get the best possible answers and asstiance. I'm trying to learn, and make my knowledge expand. I've still got lots of work ahead of me, but Ive got the time and dedication. I just need some help and re-assurance from other growers with more experiance than I


Thanks all and PEACE OUT!

 

[PeteWeedSeed]

Wow this is the most planned out grow I've ever seen posted.

One thing I'm not sure of, your pulling hot air from the lights and forcing them into the carbon scrubber. I think you may run into heat build-up after a few hours of lights on. And the heat from the a/c also building up heat in the entrance room will add to the heatup.
Maybe hang your primary scrubber in the room and pull from it.

The feed lines, why do they go all the way around? I would consider just running ontop the drain to save on pressure and allow a smaller pump. That could also save on power.

Where you putting the room fans for circulation? maybe one on your fresh air intake and one on the opposite side, to spin the fresh air around the room... just an idea

Cool ideas! should be an awesome grow room

Also, no larger grow ever goes right the first time, you probably won't notice some stuff you should have done differently until your half way through your first grow... don't be surprised, be prepared.That's what I've learned. Since your planning a more permanent grow, it's a sure thing.

 

[Dmafioso13]

I noticed when I used my fully submersible pump and it ran constantly it heated up the reservoir up to temps exceeding 90degrees. Although your diargram shows you will mount your pump externally I am most certain that over time the pump will get very hot and raise the temps of ur water too high. My idea for cooling that w/o running an expensive chiller is to maybe find a Heatsink and electric fan that you can mount onto the pump to dissapate the heat.

 

[itsaplant]

damm planed to a t diagrams and all

 

[badugi]

Nice pictures. I think you might be trying to cover too much of an area with 2000w, though.

Sealed room, yet intake?

I also agree that blowing hot air through the scrubber isn't ideal. Suck through the scrubber and exhaust out.

Is there any reason that the window A/C is mounted in the mantrap, rather than sticking out of the room? Smell leak issues? Noise issues? Do you plan on putting another scrubber on the fan that's in the mantrap and going outside?

I'm not really getting the purpose / use of the louvered vents.

I'd also recommend Sheetrock / drywall, primarily for sound insulation purposes. Then maybe a can of aerosol adhesive, roll of panda film, and a paint roller (or other "wallpapering tools"). That would be the cheaper way to go about it, although other materials are available. (I went with pebbled fiberglass-reinforced resin panels, about $28 per 4x8.)

I know there isn't that much juice running through that room, but installing a subpanel would be nice and may save on wiring costs.

 

[thecarguy]

If you're going through the effort of building a room with an airconditioner, you may as well vapor seal it, get a co2 generator and not vent at all! Higher yields, less odor and sound pollution.

If your area is cool most of the year, let the hot side of the AC bathe in that cool air! Also, aircool your lights, but intake and exhaust out of the cab, so the air doesn't get mixed up with the CO2'ed, smelly air. With this, the cost of running a small AC will hardly be more than running a 250 watt fan.

I use the Home Depot prehung doors, but I would go with the exterior door because it seals much better.

Also, I would really consider going with 4 x 600 watts, you'll have much better light distribution, more efficient bulbs, and more proven ballasts since you plan on going digital. The dig 1000s are still a little finicky.

Stay up,

 

[kp^]

PeteWeedSeed: Thanks for stopping by, and all the comments and suggestions!
I planned on the heat from the diff elements, AC, dehumidfyer etc... I was planning on Super Sun 2 air-cooled hoods. DOH!!, I knew I forgot to add that detail. hehe :smoking: I wanted to suck all the hot/stinky air from the room... thru the hoods using an 8" vortex and into the lung room -scrubber. From the lung room all air gets exhausted thru a scrubber as well.

I feel that if I pull air from the room from the cabron scrubber one would think that the air is scrubbed but what about a leak in the hoods..? That stinky air will just be released into my lung room. I know I can make all the ducting air-proof etc... but what about the hoods? I may have missed where others have found a solution. IF So then I will agree by putting the carbon scrubber in the room and pulling air from it..

The feed lines may look like they are routed in a weird way.. etc. Basically The feed lines are being pumped ~3ft up vertical, and then run horizontal into a ball-joint. This is where the break from the main line and into each 8 bucket ring.. etc. Hmmm, I will try to explain it better if I can... can't think straight right now.

Room fans are prolly gonna be mounted on the wall somewhere.. Room controls etc will be mounted where I see a good spot. Possible in the lung room, not sure yet... Not too worried as I've got lots of other things to think about first.

I agree with you all about how things never go right. Gotta keep tweaking as you go.. etc

Dmafioso13: Thanks for the feedback! I've been reading up on pumps, and what everyone uses. The pro's and the cons etc. With the buckets that I have, plus with the type of grow, and how things are It will be mounted externally. I dont want me res to be heated in anyway. With Bio-buckets, that heat is BAD! I'm getting a pump thats bigger than needed, plus I need to PUSH lots of water.

I hope either BigToke, or someone else using bio-buckets can help me with pump sizes etc. I know there is an math equation somewhere... grrrr!

itsaplant: HAHHA, thanks bro! That made me laugh!

badugi: Hey, thanks for stopping by! You know I was thinking he same thing about coverage. But when The room is built, and all the other elements in place... res, buckets, ducting etc. The rough footprint of the buckets is about 7' x 7'. Now 1000w do about 4x4... I'll 2000w with sun system 2 hoods. I should be set.. no?

Yeah, my sealed room + intake idea. Sounds funny, but its doable I think... Any suggestions for my dilemma here? So what do you think I should do? Using the outside cold air would be beneficial I would think?

The reason I don't want to have the ass end of the AC sticking out of the room for stealth reasons. I will build as many scrubbers as needed to properly intake, and exhust all air. I can't have smell or light leaks.

Awww, shucks sheetrock? hahaha . I knew someone would say do it. You're correct! Any links or other info on these pebbled fiberglass-reinforced resin panels?

Already planning on a subpanel just for the project. my electrician is on standby. Prolly puttin in a 200amp and I would_like 220a and 110a lines. I want the lights on the 220 and everything else on 110. I can do this right? haha. I'm no sparky

Thanks again everyone for stopping by, and helping me in this project!

 

[badugi]

The fiberglass reinforced resin panels were sold under the brand name "GlasTeel" at Home Depot. Quite expensive and has little/no sound deadening properties, but easy as hell to clean (wipe down with wet sponge), rigid reflective surface (as opposed to flexible/rippable film), mold-proof, and will last virtually forever.

If stealth is a top concern, and you've got the budget for it, go double up on the 5/8" drywall. Specialty sound-deadening drywall is also available. If you've got a large budget, sandwich a sheet of rubber (such as EPDM rubber sold as pond liners, or sound-insulating sheeting). When joining drywall seams, leave a small gap and use silicone to fill this in, to reduce vibrations. This should be plenty for hiding growroom noises to the point where it is nearly silent standing outside the room. Other sound-deadening measures such as drywall hangers, rubber U's, and air spacing isn't likely necessary, but YMMV. You'll find inline duct mufflers to be quite useful, as well.

You won't really need a 200A (capacity) subpanel or anything fancy... just a simple Square D "HomeLine" series 100A subpanel (about $20 at HD) should be plenty.

I installed all the outlets in my room at about 7' height. No need to have 'em at the conventional ankle-level.

My A/C's back end is similarly hidden, not sticking outside of a window; sticks into an indoor room, where a ghetto A/C box extracts heat to the outside (muffler attached).

 

[kp^]

If you're going through the effort of building a room with an airconditioner, you may as well vapor seal it, get a co2 generator and not vent at all! Higher yields, less odor and sound pollution.

If your area is cool most of the year, let the hot side of the AC bathe in that cool air! Also, aircool your lights, but intake and exhaust out of the cab, so the air doesn't get mixed up with the CO2'ed, smelly air. With this, the cost of running a small AC will hardly be more than running a 250 watt fan.

I use the Home Depot prehung doors, but I would go with the exterior door because it seals much better.

Also, I would really consider going with 4 x 600 watts, you'll have much better light distribution, more efficient bulbs, and more proven ballasts since you plan on going digital. The dig 1000s are still a little finicky.

Stay up,

WOW, Great info and suggestions. Thank you!! You hit one of my questions on the spot! Hmmm, 4 600's... I will def considered 600's.. What kinda of power will that draw? The 1k's where around 10amps on a 220 circuit..?

Good idea on the exterior door / it will def seal better!! TY

 

[petemoss]

Hi kp^,
Good to see someone designing a Bio Bucket system! I used to run Bio buckets way back when Hurtback was showing everyone his system on OG. I can show you how to calculate your pump size. Start with your desired turnover, say 15X per hour for example. That means each 5 gal bucket will get 5X15 or 75 gph. All together, your 16 buckets should receive 16X75 or 1200 gph total. Add about 15% more flow to compensate for the bends and length of the feed run and you will need to pump about 1400 gph. Now you need to find a pump that will deliver 1400 gph at 3 foot lift.

Your 1.5" feed line looks a little strange. I would have the pump feed into a big loop and tap 1/2 inch tubing to each bucket. That will give you more velocity and shoot the nute solution down the side of the bucket with more power than a 3/4" tube to each bucket. I drew a feed loop on top of your nice drawing to illustrate:

 

[kp^]

petemoss, Thank you for the awesome info and stopping by!! Much appreciated!

The supply line design.. Hehehe... Yeah, its a little funky, and I'm happy that you stepped in to suggest a better idea. It took a min to see it, but I see what you've done. A few questions tho.... So you suggest a single loop instead of two like in my design? So how do I supply the other buckets without the supply line being on the same side as the drain? I guess I could move the main drain? Don't I want the drain and supply opposite sides of the eachother???

Any comment/suggestions about pumping vertical, and having gravity help?

I was lookin at the Reeflo Dart 36000GPH pump... I see others used magflo, but read some about these reeflo pumps.. Sounds like they are really good... i dunno yet to!

 

[kp^]

doh, dbl post.

 

[petemoss]

kp^,
As you probably know, Hurtback's original design had the feed lines inside the drain hose. Many thought that the feed solution would not circulate properly throughout the bucket and thus create "dead spots". In practice, the original design works very well. This diagram was drawn by Hurtback to illustrate how the water flowed. I added the blue water lines to show that the flow shoots down from the elbow and along the walls of the bucket. I don't think it matters if your feed elbow is on the same side as the drain. The main flow follows a U shape along the sides and bottom of the buckets. Hurtback said he used some food dye to follow how the water flowed around and through the dense root ball.


I have no experience with larger pumps, so I can't advise you on that. The biggest pump I used was a 500 gph magdrive that was used to circulate the solution for my chiller. I've read that people who use drip feeds and aero cloners prefer the more powerful reef or sump type pumps that are capable of pumping water vertically with less loss than the magdrives.

 

[kp^]

badugi
Thanks again for coming back with more info!! Thank you! I will have to visit my local homedepot, and check out this fiberglass material... I'm taking notes, and making changes etc as yall help!

WOW, K+ for all the great tips on sound dampening!!

Yeah, I was going a little crazy with a 200amp sub panel, prolly putting one of the cheap 100amp ones in like you mention.... I'm gonna see if I can get ahold of my sparky today, so by next week I will have a new subpanel, and can start building!!! And yes, I'll be taking picturs of the entire process.. Prolly gonna start my own diary!

You don't happen to have any pics of your AC setup?? If not, no worries.. I'm just curious of your 'ghetto' AC box, and how you made it partially stealth.. etc. hehe

Thanks again!!