How I bullt my Grow Box-Step by step

Hello Everybody,

I have learned so much from this site, that in gratitude, I wanted to post the following hoping it will help somebody somewhere...

please feel free to chime in whith your Questions, Comments and / or concerns as any and all help will be apreciated.

Note for all the Newbies... if you are planning to grow indoors be ready to invest on a Ballast, in my opinion you can save 50% by buying a Conversion Ballast for both MH an HPS lights.

Note to all who Read... IF you hit a Road Block...USE YOUR IMAGINATION.

I'll Post a supply and expense list when it's all said and done.

here we go.

To tell you the truth before I joined this site my box looked like this...


Young and Inexperienced...

anyway I got my inspiration from a guy named "Stratlogic" <-- Good Looking out!!! from another site if you want to see his setup

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/cabinet-closet-grow-room-setup/65884-grow-box-construction.html

anywho.. I started by simply taking EVERYTHING apart one screw at a time.

once I had all the components separated it was time to start re-building so here we go...

after I deciced where my fans were going to go I thought it would be easier if I made the wholes first.

This is my Back Panel,For the intake I will place a 6" Fan that will end up in Lower left corner (picture is shown from Back)



For Exaust I will use a 4" Fan, I placed this in the middle top Part for 2 reasons One because of course, heat rises, but second I am hoping this will help suck the heat from the light.



time to place the fans.

I had some Picture Hangers that worked perfectly for holding the Fan in Place.




The Back fan Screwed Right in SWEET!!




Corrected one of the biggest mistakes I made at the beggining and Finally made a Proper Frame... Note make sure that you measure correctly to make sure all your pieces fit Flush.




Another mistake I made the first time was not making the box mobile, so this time I put weels on the Base.

But after I placed the the Panels back on the Frame I had a surprise with the Fans...



After one more try I finally got the walls right and tested the Fans to make sure they worked wich they do so Yaaaayy!!!



have to load some more pics so please stand by...

Question to the Experienced Growers and the Mathematically inclined...

my Grow Space is about 2x2x4 and I am going to place a 400W HPS / MH bulbs as needed (conversion ballast) will my 6" intake and 4" exaust be enough to circulate the air? will I not know untill I put a thermometer in there?

You should have used the bigger stronger fan for the exhaust and the smaller one for the intake. You want a negative pressure inside your box so that heat is sucked out and cool air is pulled in

cool we have the same size cabinet. i use cfls tho

i have the same size box with a 400W HPS, except i converted 120mm computer case fans. i found that you dont even need the intake fan, the exaust will suck the air in through the intake hole, but beware, the air movement creates a mighty wind dropping your RH, sometimes drastically depending on the temp of the air being sucked in. i am currently in week 2 of flowering my first crop and im having trouble keeping temps down while maintaining a slight breeze and a RH between 35 and 40%. Im sure the solution will be to isolate the temps from the lamp, maybe with a piece of tempered glass, or a home made cool tube. Does anyone know the ratio for temperature to the required CFMs? Also what happens when our plants get large wont the light inevitably burn the tops? ill let you know what i figure out as i go along, until then good luck.

tom__420 said:

You should have used the bigger stronger fan for the exhaust and the smaller one for the intake. You want a negative pressure inside your box so that heat is sucked out and cool air is pulled in

Click to expand...

you know what I think it will work then since my Exaust - even though it's smaller - seems to be stronger since the airflow feels stronger going out than going in.

thanks for the pointer...

You don't need an intake fan at all, just a hole slightly bigger than the exhaust that air can pass through but light cannot. By using an intake fan less powerful than the exhaust, you are restricting the amount of air the exhaust can flow to as much as the inlet fan will blow in. With a passive inlet ie; no fan, air will come in at whatever speed it is being exhausted, with only slight resistance if it has to travel through any ducting, whilst maintaining negative pressure.

I actually have both of those fans and they aren't that strong man. The black four inch one broke and the six inch white one needs to be greased or else it makes an annoying noise. I honestly wouldn't think that it would be able to cool a 400 watt HPS... What are your temps like?

When you said a conversion ballast, Is that a ballest where you could switch the bulbs for veg/flower?

x4buried2alive0x said:

When you said a conversion ballast, Is that a ballest where you could switch the bulbs for veg/flower?

Click to expand...

It's basically just a ballast with a switchable ignitor, a HPS bulb needs one but a MH doesn't. So just by flicking a switch, you can use either bulb, yes.

Hairy Bob said:

It's basically just a ballast with a switchable ignitor, a HPS bulb needs one but a MH doesn't. So just by flicking a switch, you can use either bulb, yes.

Click to expand...

Nice. Thats what im looking for, where can you get them? And i like that box your making snappy, Im waiting to see the materials. lol

http://home-garden.shop.ebay.co.uk/items/_W0QQ_dmptZUKQ5fHomeGardenQ5fGardenQ5fPlantsSeedsBulbsQ5fJN?_nkw=hps+mh+ballast&_sacat=2032&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_odkw=ballast&_osacat=2032
I get most of my gear off ebay, just do a bit of reading on what manufacturers are good and don't go buying any old shit 'cos it's got the flashiest listing.

x4buried2alive0x said:

When you said a conversion ballast, Is that a ballest where you could switch the bulbs for veg/flower?

Click to expand...

So the inlet is on the bottom and the exhaust is on the top. Do you have anything covering the inlet to eliminate dust and what not. Even though this is the construction phase, it looks like the inlet has no covering or anything. Is this right?

So I don't need an inlet fan? Should I make sure I have a fan blowing the heat upward to keep the heat going out the exhaust? Looks good though. Keep up the gr8 work.

x4buried2alive0x said:

When you said a conversion ballast, Is that a ballest where you could switch the bulbs for veg/flower?

Click to expand...

yes thats what that means, you dont have to switch from MH /HPS or vice versa when you grow, u can if you want , but i dont ! look @ my journal, i have 2 400 w HPS/MH Hydrofarm SunBursts, soon i will have 3 of them 1200w in my room

OnlineSimRacer said:

So I don't need an inlet fan? Should I make sure I have a fan blowing the heat upward to keep the heat going out the exhaust? Looks good though. Keep up the gr8 work.

Click to expand...

No, heat rises. This is why we put the exhaust at the top of the room.
It's not a bad idea to have an oscillating fan in there to move air around, and it makes stems stronger from moving in the wind.
Nobody needs an inlet fan. As long as the exhaust is sufficient for the room size, and there's somewhere for air to get in, it will, just as fast as the exhaust can remove it.
This is because the exhaust fan lowers the pressure inside the room, and so more air is pushed in from the higher pressure outside. This has the added bonus of sucking air in through any leaks, rather than letting stinky weed smell out.
If you put an inlet fan into the equation, the best it will do is blow in the same amount of air that would come in without it. If it's too big it will increase the pressure inside the room, and cause air/smell leaks. If it's too small it will restrict the amount of air that can enter the room and make the exhaust fan work harder.
All clear? Good, now spread the word, seems like every time I come on here I have to explain this again...

Hairy Bob said:

No, heat rises. This is why we put the exhaust at the top of the room.
It's not a bad idea to have an oscillating fan in there to move air around, and it makes stems stronger from moving in the wind.
Nobody needs an inlet fan. As long as the exhaust is sufficient for the room size, and there's somewhere for air to get in, it will, just as fast as the exhaust can remove it.
This is because the exhaust fan lowers the pressure inside the room, and so more air is pushed in from the higher pressure outside. This has the added bonus of sucking air in through any leaks, rather than letting stinky weed smell out.
If you put an inlet fan into the equation, the best it will do is blow in the same amount of air that would come in without it. If it's too big it will increase the pressure inside the room, and cause air/smell leaks. If it's too small it will restrict the amount of air that can enter the room and make the exhaust fan work harder.
All clear? Good, now spread the word, seems like every time I come on here I have to explain this again...

Click to expand...

New student....

You're cool, I don't mind explaining and helping people out, but I bet if you looked at my post history about half of them would be trying to clarify principles of light and ventilation!
But if I can spread a bit of knowledge, it's worth the wear on my fingers...
p.s. Sorry Snappy for jacking your thread.

Hairy Bob said:

http://home-garden.shop.ebay.co.uk/items/_W0QQ_dmptZUKQ5fHomeGardenQ5fGardenQ5fPlantsSeedsBulbsQ5fJN?_nkw=hps+mh+ballast&_sacat=2032&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_odkw=ballast&_osacat=2032
I get most of my gear off ebay, just do a bit of reading on what manufacturers are good and don't go buying any old shit 'cos it's got the flashiest listing.

Click to expand...

http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=45667
What about this one from htg? And do you have a link for that section in ebay.us?

i have a 400 watt hps system in the mail from them. 165 bucks AFTER shipping. Cant find a better deal anywhere. I also haven't heard/read any bad reviews about there products. cant say for sure, cause i have no personal experience since i havent gotten my package, but they seem like a reputable company. They email you with an expected shipping date, reciepts, ect.