Noob fridge grow box build

Hey guys, just wanted to introduce myself before I bombard you all with a loads of questions .

Been roaming the forum for the last few weeks trying to gain as much information as I could before I started my grow, I've learnt alot from people success but also learnt alot from the failures too.

I've researched fridge grows, and I know there are a few pitfalls with them which I am well aware of, Heat issues, cold issues, also humidity issues, But I've done a fair bit of research and I'm confident I can overcome these problems with a bit of tinkering here and there.
So I got this from a neighbour today for free which is a good start



After a bloody good clean, I removed all the non essential bits, the motor and all the nasty stuff had already been removed which was a bonus.
I cut the middle part out that separates the fridge and the freezer, (which was a messy job) and ended up with this



So, I'm looking to produce 1-2 oz per grow, obviously only big enough to grow 1 at a time, using a Viparspectra 300w, fridge is approx 500mm x 500mm and 1.8m high.

On my shopping list I have a Rhino carbon filter and fan for the exhaust, and was going to do a passive inlet with 2 x 3inch holes at the bottom. Which I have drawn on in this picture


Do you think this will be suffient? I could always increase the size or add more if not.

I know this is all quite vague at the minute but please tell me I'm going in the right direction and I would love to see similar builds/grows.

Cheers, I'll be back once I've got more done.
Lee

On the right track id say.

Would this fan kit be good for my needs would you think? It's 155 M3 hour. Don't want to buy something that's not up to the job but at the same time don't want anything that's going to be too powerful. Thanks

I

Fridgek9 said:

Would this fan kit be good for my needs would you think? It's 155 M3 hour. Don't want to buy something that's not up to the job but at the same time don't want anything that's going to be too powerful. Thanks


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I Would look at a larger fan and filter combo and invest in a speed controller. You will be able to slow the larger fan down and reduce noise, plus if you run into temp issues once you've got a plant on the go, you can turn the fan up.

That's a great shout, hadn't thought of that cheers

Got a bit done today, So I've got 2 x 3" air intakes in I've used some guttering downpipe I've done it the way I have because I can easily add a 3 inch fan to it if I need too or add another intake into the box, but we'll see. I'm thinking if I use a wire rack to sit the pot on the air should pass all round the plant as it rises, but that's just words lol, I've also got some air filter material to go over the intakes to stop and nastys getting in as it will be living in the garage.


And its probably a bit overkill since the inside was already white but if a jobs worth doing and all that

My carbon filter and fan was delivered today and I've got a load of stuff being delivered next week so hopefully should be ready to test towards the end of next week, I'd like to get the light on and fan set up so I can start fine tuning the temps and humidity levels before I attempt to grow anything.
Thanks for looking

So had some deliveries today, managed to get the filter in and connected, put a new socket in so I can power it mounted the fan underneath, ideally I wanted to mount it inside the fridge but space is a bit tight as you can imagine, just waiting on the rachet hangers to arrive to support the light and we're pretty much ready to go.


Got some air filter foam over the intakes.

Looking nice and stealthy


Light hangers should be here tomorrow, and just got to finish off the mylar sheet stuff and we're good to go, had the fan running today whilst sorting the garage and it stayed at 55% humidity and 19°c, temps a bit low so if the light doesn't bring that up a bit ill add a tube heater and see if I can get it up a bit. So far quite pleased. Please check back soon.

Nice build!
Only suggestion is get rid of the foil it will only cause hotspots.

Subbed up!

I agree, the white will probably be more reflective than the foil.

I love it when people use a fridge, best bit about them is nobody thinks a hum from a fridge is suspicious!

KrazyG said:

Nice build!
Only suggestion is get rid of the foil it will only cause hotspots.

Subbed up!

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Oh really? I thought I was doing the right thing putting that on, was a bugger to get on straight anyway, I'll take it off tomorrow thanks for the info.

coreywebster said:

I agree, the white will probably be more reflective than the foil.

I love it when people use a fridge, best bit about them is nobody thinks a hum from a fridge is suspicious!

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Yes, I've got a 'dimmer plug' as suggested by KrazyG, and when it's turned about halfway it sounds exactly like a normal fridge , csnt wait to start growing now.

Fridgek9 said:

Yes, I've got a 'dimmer plug' as suggested by KrazyG, and when it's turned about halfway it sounds exactly like a normal fridge , csnt wait to start growing now.

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Does the fan hum when you turn it down with the dimmer?
Some cheap speed controllers can cause the fan to hum which will damage the fan motor.

KrazyG said:

Does the fan hum when you turn it down with the dimmer?
Some cheap speed controllers can cause the fan to hum which will damage the fan motor.

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Yes I did notice a hum when it was turned down nearly all the way sound like a car that was running out of fuel if that makes sense, but it should never need to be that low anyway (hopefully). Glad I got one tho seems like it will give me a bit more controllability.

Fridgek9 said:

Yes I did notice a hum when it was turned down nearly all the way sound like a car that was running out of fuel if that makes sense, but it should never need to be that low anyway (hopefully). Glad I got one tho seems like it will give me a bit more controllability.

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Keep it just above the hum point and you'll be good!

So the light hangers finally arrived today, had it on for the last couple of hours and the temp is staying around 25°c which I believe is well within the range I'm looking for so quite happy with that, but the humidity is around 30% so I'm looking at humidifiers on ebay, there's loads around the £10 mark, but will they do the job? Bearing in mind the size of the 'room' is only about 500mm x 430mm x 1. 8m.
From what I have read it needs to be around 50-60% for veg and a little lower for flowering is that right?

Anyway here's how things stand today.

Cheers guys

That's cool! Your humidity will come up with plants in there too.

So I'm doing my own head in here, probably over thinking it, but I've got problems with my humidity levels, last night I was looking thru people's grows and seen someone had good results by putting a water bowl and a wet towel in to bring the humidity up so I thought I'd give it a go, and to be fair it did bring the humidity up from 30% to around 40% so a good increase, but I feel that's not good enough, I'm only growing 1 plant at a time so I would really like optimal conditions so I can get the best yield possible. I've tried adjusting the fan speed but the higher the fan goes the temp drops as well as humidity, and if I put it on low the temp goes well above 30°c, Can anyone point me in the direction of a controllable mini humidifier (if such a thing exists) or am I being a bit too anal with all this?
Should I just put a plant in and hope the humidity raises on its own as Darkweb quite rightly points out that when a plants in there it'll raise itself?

Thanks for everyone's help it's invaluable.

Try it see how it goes........you might be totally fine. I get pretty dry with wood heat in the winter.

Don´t wurry the leaves on the plant will raise the humidity in the grow space.
And if it don´t ( what would be strange ) then buy a ultrasonic mistmaker and a 24 volt adapter for 9 Dollar on aliexpress.
Control it with a 24 volt thermostate which also cost around 9 Dollar on ali and you´re in.
I think that set will be enough to make the humidity to an acceptable level .

Great stealth grow fridge you have there , the best i ever saw on the internet and from what i can see it will work great.

Keep in mind that if you use an ultrasonic humidifier you're also going to want to run distilled or RO water through it. Otherwise, ultrasonic humidifiers will put out a bunch of mineral deposits that can start clogging your carbon filter. When that happens, your temps will start to rise 'for no reason'. It happened to me and it wasn't exactly the first thing that I thought of when I was trying to figure out what was happening. Having said that, an evaporative humidifier is the way to go to avoid that headache. Sorry I can't recommend one for you as I have yet to cross over myself.

One other observation. As bad ass as those intake pipes look on the back of your unit, you'll probably get much cooler air brought in to your box if the inlets were to be closer to the cold concrete floor. I'm not sure what temps are like in your region but I just thought it might be something worth considering.