CAR HID PC Case Grow Concepts and soon to come case build.

I'm considering doing a grow (strawberries for now) just for practice in a PC case with 2x 55W HIDs I have 6000K bulbs and will be ordering 3000K bulbs when necessary for $15
i am going to shop for cases.

I'll be laser cutting a light trapping intake, i have plenty of panda rubber stuff (white/black poly) and I have lots of aluminum ducting tape. I'm considering using 2 cfls or fluorescents.

Should I?

What would be an ideal odor control in this case?

Any suggestions are welcome.

the ideal odor control is always an activated carbon scrubber. Nothing else can beat it, although ONA blocks and citrus magic do work fairly well, but use them as supplements.
check these links for the basic diy concept
https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/101248-best-diy-ez-walmart-carbon.html
http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/569506-diy-carbon-filter-compendium.html

keep in mind though, that an average pc fan will NOT be able to pull or push air through such a filter. Ideally you want a small let's say 6" inline duct fan or you may have luck with a pc fan as long it's especially rated for high static pressure. It's CFM rating is meaningless, it's the static pressure rating that defines if it will be able to move air through resistance or not.

I forgot to say, that instead of the can filter design, you could use a 2" activated carbon sheets behind the exhaust fan. I believe that this will be somewhat successful, however there is a consensus that activated carbon pellets are clearly superior in performance in comparison to sheets; the disadvantage of course is that it's bulky and sticks out.

Also, if you buy pellets, ideally buy pellets rated for air filtration, not water filtration (like those for aquariums)! I still believe you can make a good job even with aquarium activated carbon pellets though, but why not shoot for the best?

you'll avoid much trouble if you choose a low-odour strain to begin with. Now, which strains are low-odour...good luck with that, everybody has their opinion. I believe that C-99 and Northern Lights are consistently considered low-odour, while anything crossed with skunk means it's gonna reek pretty strong.

This is what I'm currently planning for trapping the light on the intake (it's only going to take up 92x92x127mm space at the very bottom of the case) It will be made of laser cut black acrylic. I know a triple fin is ideal, but I'm going to put black all over the inside so that this should not allow any light to pass to the outside.


View attachment 2401578

I'll post my designs for a carbon filter as soon as they're done, the encasing will probably be very similar to this.

So here is the Carbon Filter Idea. Smaller than the intake (just a 92x92x92mm cube) it has two screens that will be lined with panty hose and then filled the center with activated carbon. Should I mix the activated carbon with something else so it isn't super super restrictive of a filter?

Here is what I have for a design.
View attachment 2401629

what about the fan? do you have any particular models in mind?
also, which software did you use for those models? looks nice

I used Solid Works 2012 to make the models, laser cut enclosures have become second nature to me now so i banged that model out in about 5 minutes for each one.

I don't have any particular fans in mind. I think I'll be powering the whole case from an arduino (hidden in the faceplate of the case).

It will monitor up to 16 analog signals inside the case, so multiple temperature sensors, multiple humidity sensors, multiple sensors for air quality, and air contaminants (odor). It can cycle the lights by a relay, it will be able to cycle pump relays, and i will be able to connect to the computer via usb without ever opening the door to see any values. I could even put readout screens on the faceplate.

Are there any 80mm fans that would be best for something like this? I was thinking of using 12V just because they would power the ballasts very well too. I'm going to have to find some sort of 12V power supply capable of upwards of 110W because thats how much my HIDs will draw in total.

How much heat issues do you think I'll have (case noise is not an issue so I'm going to have 4 fans on each light trap)

the idea is that going from front to back of case, all the fans will be operating at faster speeds. So the front intake fan at 25% back intake fan 50% front exhaust fan 75% back exhaust fan 100% this way there is always negative pressure not only in the case itself, but within its light traps as well, so no air ever leaks out without going through the carbon filter first.

Any thoughts on how I'll be able to fit a hydro setup in such a small small tiny tiny place?

lots of interesting stuff here. I'm rather knowledgeable about arduino, but I never had to chance to rook around for air quality and contaminants sensors. When you reach the stage where you'll be ordering or setting them up please write all the details about the parts etc so that I can look them up. Hydro is gonna be a little bit of a challenge...

I'll keep you updated. Whats the smallest hydro setup I can do in here?

thanks I'll be looking forward to your project. In case your question about a hydro setup was directed to me, I'll just say that I don't have any experience with them so I can't add anything other than they're a bit harder than soil setups especially for tight space. I'm sure some experienced members will offer some good info. I've come across some of them by googling from time to time but never studied them closely enough. It helps to find complete grow journals from seed to harvest and not just presentations of setups, because in the first case you know that the setup actually worked and the grow was successful.

I think that this case will just end up being used as a cloning station. I found a friend that really liked the idea. He wanted to be able to see his clones without going out of his way to get to his grow tent. That way he can just open a door look at the clones and then bring them down when they're ready. But I have done a lot more work on the case, and though I haven't been posting pictures of the build, I'm going to try taking some later to show here.

I used the same kind of light traps as I had shown you before and they've been working great. I have a couple ideas to keep the light traps from taking up space INSIDE the case and instead either split or completely put the light traps outside. (cases this big sometimes have custom cable covers. It goes behind the case and just has a couple holes coming out for wires (so you don't screw with the plugged in wires without taking the cover off) it would hide the exhaust fan very well, and I could cut out some of the interior grill of the faceplate to fit the intake light trap better.

I ran out of aluminum ducting tape and electrical tape at the same time, so I have to get more before I finish the wiring. I think you're really going to like what I did for wiring though.

happypotter said:

lots of interesting stuff here. I'm rather knowledgeable about arduino, but I never had to chance to rook around for air quality and contaminants sensors. When you reach the stage where you'll be ordering or setting them up please write all the details about the parts etc so that I can look them up. Hydro is gonna be a little bit of a challenge...

Click to expand...

A little off-topic but I just ordered a pH meter and board that hooks up to my arduino stuff, if you'd be interested in my putting up some info/tutorial I'd be more than happy to.