Test my DIY Knowledge (And save yourself money!)

I want to answer any DIY questions I can here. I have a lot of experience and want to share whatever I can. I specialize in building on a budget.

Carbon filters, ducting, cool tubes, construction, electrical safety, wiring fans, finding materials, mixing soil, or whatever else is important when doing it yourself and saving money is the name of the game in this thread. Ask it all here and I will try my best to answer, research an answer, or direct you to a relevant thread that already exists.

One caveat: I only do soil. Nothing hydro, not even a DIY aero cloner. That shit is effective and quick, but too expensive for my tastes.

Ask away!

Hi am looking at makeing a cool tubes I am finding it hard to get the glass for the tube what glass tube can i use thanks

I went on eBay there called Pyrex tube. They used to sell them to bake with.
They are called bake a round. I guess you made bread out of them but there sold in the usa not where I am

hey dude sorry for answering the question for you UncleBuck but im also trying to make a cooltube.. and ive seen a site, ill try to find it, they use a pyrex bake-a-round tube its 4" for ducting.. its not produced anymore but you can easily find it on eBay,craigslist,kijiji, ect. just look around. also amazon has them for $25 i think..

subbed. i want to read some of this

What's the best way to make sure I don't fuck up my houses circuit if I'm running everything through one outlet? I really want to install another outlet....

newbud123 said:

Hi am looking at makeing a cool tubes I am finding it hard to get the glass for the tube what glass tube can i use thanks

I went on eBay there called Pyrex tube. They used to sell them to bake with.
They are called bake a round. I guess you made bread out of them but there sold in the usa not where I am

Click to expand...

the pyrex is what a lot of people use, it costs about $25 online plus shipping unless you find a good deal. be sure to get dimensions, especially interiror dimensions on one before ordering online, though. you want to make sure your bulb can fit in there with space to spare. here is the best tutorial i have seen for how to construct it: https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/279224-diy-cool-tube.html

i have seen a cool tutorial here on how to cut glass with minimal materials, let me check, and i will be back in a second and will edit this post. EDIT - found it! https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/269191-new-ish-way-make-cool-2.html

another option is to use hurricane glass or a candle holder, which you can find at many arts and crafts stores (Michaels, Bed Bath Beyond, others....) EDIT - i found this while i was looking for the link above https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/161300-batwing-reflector-cool-tube-40-a.html (a reflector is ALWAYS a good idea with a cool tube, unless your light is centered like in a vertical set up)

also, just noticed your link....are you using CFLs, or have you upgraded to HPS or MH? i ask because mh lamps tend to be fatter and hps lamps thinner, which could effect your cool tube choice.

vhsmopnglo said:

What's the best way to make sure I don't fuck up my houses circuit if I'm running everything through one outlet? I really want to install another outlet....

Click to expand...

here is what you do:

find out which breaker controls the outlet. usually they are labeled and this will be easy to do, but if not, you may have to plug in a lamp to that outlet and keep trying breakers one at a time until you isolate which breaker controls the outlet. once you figure that out, you need to find out which other outlets are connected to that breaker.

once you know which breaker controls the outlet and what other outlets it controls, take note of how many amps are on that breaker. most will be either 15 or 20 amps.

now here is the rule: NEVER EVER EVER EVER exceed 80% of that breaker's capacity!

thus, if it is 15 amps, your max equipment amps is 12. if it is 20 amps, you can only run 16 amps of equipment.

there are several ways to calculate amps. sometimes it will list the amps right on the ballast or fan or whatever other equipment. sometimes it will only list watts. so you need to do some math.

amps = watts/volts

so if you have a 600 watt light running on 120 volts (standard in the united states), that is 600/120 = 5 amps.





all said though, the best thing to do is talk to a qualified electrician! just tell him you are planning on setting up something else similarly high wattage, like a home theatre system. electricity is not to be taken lightly

UncleBuck, just wanted to stop in and say that's is awesome you're helping out all the little kids like this

But what I really wanted to say is your sig definitely made me laugh

His sig made you laugh? LOL what?
Subbed. this thread is already full of good info

Uncle buck I'm trying to make a rubbermaid growbox do yuo think these things are really worth building and do you think one 4 inch fan with carbon filter on it be enogh to cool off. A bout 260 watts

Johnny Retro said:

His sig made you laugh? LOL what?
Subbed. this thread is already full of good info

Click to expand...

"I have sharted many times. No shame, it just feels like a fart sometimes."

That's what made me laugh

Oh shit my bad, for some reason i thought you said avatar

Hi Uncle Buck, I posted in another area of this forum but never got an answer.

So.....I saw your post and thought that maybe you can help me. I have two plants in my greenhouse. When I got them they both had a small problem with mildew. I removed the mildew leaves and thought I had it under control by just pruning. But, it has come back. Its not bad but I don't want it to get any bigger of a problem. How do I get rid of mildew without killing the plants.............or myself later? THanks

jman214 said:

Uncle buck I'm trying to make a rubbermaid growbox do yuo think these things are really worth building and do you think one 4 inch fan with carbon filter on it be enogh to cool off. A bout 260 watts

Click to expand...

the question 'is it worth it?' depends on a lot of things: the riskiness of doing so in your particular state, whether you are doing it for fun/experience or planning on doing it to make bank...etc. only you can answer that, but i have indeed seen a few awesome grows here from these boxes.

now, 260 watts in a rubbermaid is going to put off a lot of heat....it sounds like you plan to use 10 of the 26 watters that are available in many places. the key to whether a 4'' fan can cool it off depends on the strength of the fan.

inline duct booster type fans, which are AXIAL fans, will likely not be sufficient to cool it off if it blowing through a carbon filter. axial fans do not handle static pressure (resistance) very well.

this is the type of 4'' axial fan you would find at home depot: http://www.comfortgurus.com/product_info.php/products_id/562

however, if you use a 4'' impeller type fan, that might be enough to cool a space like you have. i have seen 4'' fans that generate up to 171 cfm, which would be sufficient for a rubbermaid with 250 watts inside and a carbon filter outside.

this is the type of 4'' inpeller/centrifugal fan i just referred to: http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=AEFCPVL04


a rubbermaid is what, about 2'x3'x2', more or less? so that is only about 12-15 cubic feet of space. if you want to keep a small space like that cool with 260 watts inside, you will need to change the air about 3-4 times a minute.

so, being conservative: 15cf x 4 changes per minute = 60 cfm MINIMUM

since the carbon filter reduces the cfm of the fan by about half or so, you need a fan capable of generating 120+ cfm.

my tip for finding one cheap: buy used! you may not be able to find one of those 4'' 171 cfm deals i linked, but sometimes you might find a good bathroom fan or oven hood fan capable of generating that kind of cfm. check craigslist, local home rebuilding centers, junkyards, whatever. you can find good deals!

ventilation is key, however. if ventilation fails, it gets too hot and/or the plants suffocate because they are not getting fresh air from which they can draw co2. you can almost NEVER under do it when it comes to ventilation.

good luck!

schaleese said:

Hi Uncle Buck, I posted in another area of this forum but never got an answer.

So.....I saw your post and thought that maybe you can help me. I have two plants in my greenhouse. When I got them they both had a small problem with mildew. I removed the mildew leaves and thought I had it under control by just pruning. But, it has come back. Its not bad but I don't want it to get any bigger of a problem. How do I get rid of mildew without killing the plants.............or myself later? THanks

Click to expand...

this is not my area of expertise, as i have never experienced mildew. however, mildew signals a moisture problem, so my best guess:

1) prune away the infected leaves, washing scissors between each one to prevent spreading of mildew
2) keep directly under strongest light possible, not crowded near any other plants. maybe even add a light to your greenhouse if you can.
3) put a fan on it to increase airflow and prevent too much moisture from building up
4) (stab in the dark) neem oil, or a water/isopropyl alcohol mix if you want to save money. i know it may not sound like a bright idea to use rubbing alcohol on your babies, but i have done it before to mitigate spider mites, in rotation with neem oil. just make sure to wait until your plants are dry again before puytting them under the lights, otherwise your plants may burn!

also, i would water at the beginning of its light period, rather than at the end.

others here may have better answers on this particular issue, so hopefully they chime in.

Alrighty, here is a quizzer I can ask you before the hubby. I am always giving him DIY chores as he is very handy.

Could a 250 w HPS ballast be built DIY with these things I have added links to??

https://1000bulbs.com/product/6007/BS-LU0250MT.html
AND
http://www.prolighting.com/mobasopo.html

THANKS!!!!

LadyKimi said:

Alrighty, here is a quizzer I can ask you before the hubby. I am always giving him DIY chores as he is very handy.

Could a 250 w HPS ballast be built DIY with these things I have added links to??

https://1000bulbs.com/product/6007/BS-LU0250MT.html
AND
http://www.prolighting.com/mobasopo.html

THANKS!!!!

Click to expand...

i learned what i know the same way, the wife put it on the list for me!

ballast? check
capacitator? check
ignitor? check
mogul? check

those materials are sufficient, and there are wiring diagrams here for when it comes time to build.

the only other thing i would mention is that the mogul looks to have 9'' leads, which means you would have to keep the ballast and the light very close...not ideal.

many people prefer to keep the ballast remote, and if you plan to do this, the one consideration is the temperature rating of the wires connecting them. the light and the ballast can get rather hot, so you will want to find the highest rated possible. it will list the temperature directly on the extension cord, just have to look carefully. i think mine is rated up to 108 degrees celcius, which is good enough for a 250 watter.

also, any chance this thread can be moved back to DIY section? i wanted this thread to be about saving money DIY-style, and i sense that i may get more general growing questions in this section.

if the mod gods out there help me on this, i will be very grateful

Jakenbake said:

UncleBuck, just wanted to stop in and say that's is awesome you're helping out all the little kids like this

But what I really wanted to say is your sig definitely made me laugh

Click to expand...

I sharted twice that day due to beer farts. twice!

almost did it a third time. decided right then not to buy 12 packs anymore...6 pack one night, and go back out the next night for anohter. it may cost a little more, but so does soiling your shorts!

Thanks Uncle!!! I need 8 more rep points before it really counts but I repped ya anyways!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I drive the hubby nuts with these things but he really CAN do almost anything!!!

Remember, Thank Your Wife!! LoL

Kimi