DIY CFL grow cupboard and hood

R

R3plica

Active Member
Hi.
I've made my own Diy grow cupboard which I thought i should share.
The cupboard is 21"X24"X36". Unfortunately thats as big as i could get it with the wood i had at home.
The lights that i fitted first is the 4X18W 4000k cfls on the side as well as the 45W 4000k Cfl and the 18w 6500K cfl.
I was then after that able to get a 105w 6500k CFL which i made a hood out of wood and used the reflective sheets from a MV Street lamp.
I have fitted 4 pc fans, 2 intake (bottom) and 2 exhaust (top)
I have also put a removable shelf which is slighty slanted so excess water will drain to the corner and down to the bucket

I have ran the Lights for a few hours and the tempreture sits at 82F and it drops to about 70F when the lights are off but the fans were running. Any suggestions on how i Can either lower the day or raise the night tempreture.
I had the lights on a timer but was runnning the fans all the time, If i had to turn the fans off during the night would it raise the tempreture? but at what cost without constant fresh air?

I do have a few more fans, so i thought maybe i can put another 2 just for circulation and another intake and exhauast. Then run the intake and exahaust during the day and the circulation fans constantly?

Well here are some pics as well.

Any suggestions or questions will be great.
Thanks
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fir3dragon

fir3dragon

Well-Known Member
R3plica said:
Hi.
I've made my own Diy grow cupboard which I thought i should share.
The cupboard is 21"X24"X36". Unfortunately thats as big as i could get it with the wood i had at home.
The lights that i fitted first is the 4X18W 4000k cfls on the side as well as the 45W 4000k Cfl and the 18w 6500K cfl.
I was then after that able to get a 105w 6500k CFL which i made a hood out of wood and used the reflective sheets from a MV Street lamp.
I have fitted 4 pc fans, 2 intake (bottom) and 2 exhaust (top)
I have also put a removable shelf which is slighty slanted so excess water will drain to the corner and down to the bucket

I have ran the Lights for a few hours and the tempreture sits at 82F and it drops to about 70F when the lights are off but the fans were running. Any suggestions on how i Can either lower the day or raise the night tempreture.
I had the lights on a timer but was runnning the fans all the time, If i had to turn the fans off during the night would it raise the tempreture? but at what cost without constant fresh air?

I do have a few more fans, so i thought maybe i can put another 2 just for circulation and another intake and exhauast. Then run the intake and exahaust during the day and the circulation fans constantly?

Well here are some pics as well.

Any suggestions or questions will be great.
Thanks
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Click to expand...

keep your lights on 24/0 or 18/6 keep fans all 24/0 thats what i do... how did you make that hood?
 
R

R3plica

Active Member
fir3dragon said:
keep your lights on 24/0 or 18/6 keep fans all 24/0 thats what i do... how did you make that hood?
Click to expand...
Its hard to explain. Basically I took a square block and made a circle for the bulb to fit in, I attached that block perpendicular to some plywood with hooks on the back to hang. Then to stop the bulb and lamp holder sliding out i hand to join another block purpendicular to the other end and put a big u-bolt to hold the lamp holder down.

The reflective sheet i placed exactly like it was in the street lamp and just screwed those in.

Its very ghetto fix, but on the cheap and 20 mins to make it does the job.

Everything for this cupboard I have already had lying around execpt the 105w bulb and the lamp holder which I had to buy.

Times are getting tough here in South africa so had to make a plan. Lol


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As for the times, this will be my second grow, But with the limited space im still not sure if ill be able to grow a scrog from seedling to flower in there, or if ill have to veg in there and move it outdoors.
But last time i used 24/0 for seedlings, then changed to about 18/6 for veg and 12/12 for flower.
 
M

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
why run 2 fans to intake? a passive vent will work just as well.
you could leave 1 fan powered 24/7 to have some airflow & power 1 or 2 fans either on the same timer as your lights or a thermostat to power them when the temps get over 75.
 
R

R3plica

Active Member
mrmadcow said:
why run 2 fans to intake? a passive vent will work just as well.
you could leave 1 fan powered 24/7 to have some airflow & power 1 or 2 fans either on the same timer as your lights or a thermostat to power them when the temps get over 75.
Click to expand...
At the moment I have all the fans runnning of a 12v switching plug, So i would need to get another one to give the fans seperate power then, So can run 1 or 2 of the 4 fans runnning 24/7 But am thinking of giving that a try,
The reason i went for 2 intake and 2 exhaust is the fans are only 80mm big, and i wanted to be able to change the air in the cupboard in 1 or 2 minutes. thought as well that if i can get a nice air vacumn going it would cool it nicely during lighting cycle.

unfortunately dont have thermostat so wouldnt be able to control fans on the tempreture but that would be ideal.

Can you explain more what you mean by a passive vent? is it just a airvent that can close and open manually when i want it open?
 
M

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
passive venting is just a hole at the bottom where air is sucked in. you get a vacuum or negative pressure,when you pull the air out of the cab.as long as the passive hole is larger than the fan, the needed air will be sucked in. your 2 intake fans are not doing much other than adding noise.
a screen or filter of some sort over the intake is a good idea to keep bugs out.
 
R

R3plica

Active Member
Thanks, well I can take them off and see what difference it will make, with the temps
I was also still planning to get some flexible ducting so I can vent and pull the air from outside and then put a screen or thin foam filter on the ends.
 
R

R3plica

Active Member
I thought That the outside air will vary in co2 depending on night or day, but thought it would be more pure than the air inside from all the bong and cigarette smoking that goes on.
 
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