White Rhino under CFLs

Hi dude I will give you some more help in a bit! My family and I have all got this hardcore flu bug thats going around, feeling uncomfortably hot and have been throwing up out of my arse for 2 days now lol, sorry for graphic detail! am on Beechham's cold & flu, paracetamol, imodium and some other crap, hope to get well soon and post some more help on this thread. Peace. - STELTHY

Hey stelth. Sorry to hear about the sickness. Get better champ. I suggest a few guiness and loads of sudafed.

People the babies have started. Here they are in all their glory.

Hey hey good! how far away have you got your light and are you using your 125 watter ? PS/ still not feeling well, GUINESS theres a thought, is iron good for flu & dioherea?? - STELTHY

Yeah its about 4 inches away. They are so small i didnt want to burn or heat stress them. If i notice stretching will move it closer. Yes the 125w is whats on them.

Sounds like this is all set to go well! so far so good I hope you made the correct decision and are going to get a carbon filter? The way I look at it, its piece of mind... NO SMELL = NO COPS!!! and since you're only planning on growing 1 or 2 small personal plants the filter will last you a good few years , My girls are absolutley reaking they stink propper, with the filter in play I cant smell sweet F.A but man when those cupboard doors open jeez its strong - STELTHY

Hi all. Well i have been busy today. I certainly wont win any carpentry awards but the fans are in. I also bought some savage tape and sealed all the edges of the cupboard to attempt to make it airtight. I added some of the trim stuff that stelth suggested in places that it would work and installed some latches to keep the door firmly closed. I am going to put them on the bottom of the cabinet aswell just for a tigher fit. The front two doors still need a little tweaking but that can be done next day off. I guess i had planned to get a carbon filter. The smallest i can find it 125mmx400mm which seems massive for the fans that i have. I really wanted one about the size of two coke cans but i guess they dont exist. Anyway here are some pics of the cabinet. I have my two seedlings elsewhere under a few 28w cfls so i can run some tests on the cab for heat. Really good as today was a thumping hot day so if i can control it today then i should be ok. Any tips or advice is always welcome. Oh and i do have a little fan to move air around inside the cabinet but its just not in these pics.

rocksteady6 said:

Hi all. Well i have been busy today. I certainly wont win any carpentry awards but the fans are in. I also bought some savage tape and sealed all the edges of the cupboard to attempt to make it airtight. I added some of the trim stuff that stelth suggested in places that it would work and installed some latches to keep the door firmly closed. I am going to put them on the bottom of the cabinet aswell just for a tigher fit. The front two doors still need a little tweaking but that can be done next day off. I guess i had planned to get a carbon filter. The smallest i can find it 125mmx400mm which seems massive for the fans that i have. I really wanted one about the size of two coke cans but i guess they dont exist. Anyway here are some pics of the cabinet. I have my two seedlings elsewhere under a few 28w cfls so i can run some tests on the cab for heat. Really good as today was a thumping hot day so if i can control it today then i should be ok. Any tips or advice is always welcome. Oh and i do have a little fan to move air around inside the cabinet but its just not in these pics.

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Well done mate the cabs coming along well, my only critisim would be try n tidy the white tape a bit and get rid of the air pocketd and folds, anyhow... the fans are in the correct place so thats all good I guess once you have done/got everything you need you can tidy the wiring after but lets get you growing 1st... I like the internal latches good idea where did you get them?? you'll have a hard time finding a smaller filter than the 125mmx400mm one, so I'd go with that, anyhow more carbon....more filtering happy day! As soon as your seedlings pop their next set of leaves its ok to put them under the 125w CFL with a 6 - 8 inch gap are you going to run the fans 24/7 or just while the lights are on, in which case do you have a time switch or 2? what kind of soil are you using is it a perlite mix? and what nuits are you planning on using and for which stages of growth? chat soon from - STELTHY

Infact you'll need 4 time switches 1) 1 for the little fan 2) 2 for both the in and out takes, 3) and another one for your 125 watter, but thats all youll need unless you plug the extension leads (plug to wall end) in to just one timer and have them all running on the same time period?? - STELTHY

I was thinking about running them all: lights, fans etc at the same time, on the same schedule. The temps in the cab when all are off are pretty good at about 26C. There is obviously problems with stinky air escaping through the fan holes whilst the fans are off though. I will work that out later. Yes i agree the taping is a little sloppy but the tape i bought was so sticky that it was very hard to get it at right angles into the edges of the cab without some airholes. I was thinking of using a silicon type substance but was just much more expensive and if you haventn figured out by now i am a little tight on money for my grow.
Another issue that has arisen is that the centre of the fans is obviously where the fans engine is and this heats up after long use therefore making the air that is coming in hotter. I measured the temps coming in by the intake and it was at 27.8C and then the air coming in was at 29.5C. The air inside the cab is stable at 30.2C and didnt bother measuring the air going out. It was a stinking hot day today though and winter is approaching so i think i should be ok. Can anyone advise as to how much a carbon filter reduces the power of the out take fan? Mine is already pretty piss weak so am slightly concerned. Please dont just say get a stronger fan. I know that would help.

you need a better fan then, carbon filters slow them a fair bit mate

Del yes getting a better fan is an option down the road. I want two small plants that I maybe get a q of each. I do appreciate the advice and don't think I am not listening it's just not viable at present. I looked at the prices elsewhere and Australia is pretty expensive in comparrison. The air flow is good with the fans I have but worried the carbon filter will stop exhaust altogether. I am using 70% perlite 30% good soil for the grow so far. Have just given them a very small dose of rhizotonic.

rocksteady6 said:

Del yes getting a better fan is an option down the road. I want two small plants that I maybe get a q of each. I do appreciate the advice and don't think I am not listening it's just not viable at present. I looked at the prices elsewhere and Australia is pretty expensive in comparrison. The air flow is good with the fans I have but worried the carbon filter will stop exhaust altogether. I am using 70% perlite 30% good soil for the grow so far. Have just given them a very small dose of rhizotonic.

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Hey Rock,

The cab's looking good. With stealthy's help you should be up and growing some great plants soon.

Keep em green!!!



Big

I am eternally grateful for stelths help on this. I have been putting the cab through various tests and it seems i could have fucked up with the intake/exhaust. As the centre of the fan where the engine is heats up when used for extended periods the intake blows, what i imagine is, warmer air inside. I turned off the intake and kept the exhaust going and the suction made the intake spin even when off. Was quite cool.

I am contemplating using both as exhaust with the already made hole as a passive intake which would mean regardless of the centre of the fan heating up it is sucking that air straight out of the cab. I have a few more days to test a few variables but open to suggestions. Here are the little rhinos so far. This is 9 days since placing in the mix. No pre germing.
Boring i know.

Nice and healthy rocksteady Glad your getting things sorted.

I have always tried to position my intake on the side by an open window so I get a gentle breeze and cool air sucked in. Against a wall with a few inches gap and its well hidden and works well if you like a bit of fresh air Still, stelthy's got you sorted !

Thanks Maturesmoker. I cant move the cabinet by a window or even leave one open as both my and my partner work all day so its can only draw air from the rest of the house.

A little update on the seedlings. I told my mrs she could name them and they are now called Bethany and Gertrude. Gertrude is a bit retarded. Some of the leaves are a little bent but this happened on my last plant too and seemed to sort itself out after a bit of growth. Still undecided about the carbon filter as i just cant figure how i would attach it to the comp fans i have. The fans are pretty loud and i would only run them when the lights were on. That means there is always going to be air escaping through the intake fan whilst all are off. I will deal with it more effectively soon. Anyone any advice on the carbon socks? I am thinking another maybe 2 weeks and i will switch from 24/0 to 12/12. They will be small but thats ok with me.

rocksteady6 said:

Thanks Maturesmoker. I cant move the cabinet by a window or even leave one open as both my and my partner work all day so its can only draw air from the rest of the house.

A little update on the seedlings. I told my mrs she could name them and they are now called Bethany and Gertrude. Gertrude is a bit retarded. Some of the leaves are a little bent but this happened on my last plant too and seemed to sort itself out after a bit of growth. Still undecided about the carbon filter as i just cant figure how i would attach it to the comp fans i have. The fans are pretty loud and i would only run them when the lights were on. That means there is always going to be air escaping through the intake fan whilst all are off. I will deal with it more effectively soon. Anyone any advice on the carbon socks? I am thinking another maybe 2 weeks and i will switch from 24/0 to 12/12. They will be small but thats ok with me.

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Bethany & Gertrude, great names I also like to name my plants. Both look healthy and happy. Another 2 weeks and they will be ready to go.

I'm wondering how much a CF would reduce efficiency of a PC fan? maybe too much? I think you're in the UK? Go into B&Q and look at bathroom extractor fans, I'm sure I paid around £15.00 each for the basic (white plastic) models. They are 4" inline and easily wired up and move way more air than a PC fan. Once fitted in and with blue tack pressed all around to stop vibration they are very quiet and efficient.

Actually 'screwfix' have them for around the same price, here's a link to the extraction fans page. They sell at 'trade' prices and are hard to beat on service. I use one 'in' and another reversed 'out' and use PC fans to assist the airflow towards the exhaust.

http://www.screwfix.com/cats/100593/Heating-Cooling/Extractor-Fans

Nah MS i am in Aus. That extracter fan looks pretty sexy. I will keep my eye out for them. The 120mm fans i have are actually sold from a grow shop so i would say a lot more powerful than the plastic ones designed for computers. It has a big metal casing and does seriously blow a fair bit of air.
Unfortuanetly it doesnt matter what fan i get it still doesnt solve the issue of when i turn it off the air escaping back through. I guess filtering at least when the lights are on is better than not at all.
I keep seeing these home made contraptions with febreeze and urine removers and buckets with fans but i dont want my house smelling like chemicals. I would rather the weed smell. Anyway i will keep researching. Its pretty slow going with the CFLs so have plenty of time.
Have just discoved, with the help of another RIP user, that i have fungus gnats. I couldnt see any this morning but hope they havent laid their eggs as i think the larvae are the real problem.

put some washed sand on top to stop gnats getting in and out, make sure its got no salt or anything in it though

on top of the medium?

dirtydrukqs said:

on top of the medium?

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Yes they mean on top of the medium. I think about 2 inches according to ninja. It does have its issues though as i blocks oxygen getting to the roots as effectively. The gnats are all gone. I just used a surface spray around the box and stopped misting the surface all the time. I think that was the cause of me getting them.