My New Stealth Grow Cupboard Options

[anon133]

Hi peeps

Here is my newly completed stealthy grow cupboard.

My primary concern for this project was stealth. It all fits in a lockable metal cabinet in my garage.


As you can see the whole lot comes apart and fits in the bottom of the cabinet when not in use. The lamps are stored in another locked drawer.


The fan I used is a vent axia solo which has a constant trickle mode and a boost mode and uses a centrifugal fan so suitable for the carbon filter. In trickle mode it is inaudible and in boost which I've hooked up to a thermostat it is still quieter than the freezer which it sits next to. At both fan speeds I am getting a good flow of air through the exhaust. In order to fit the whole thing in such a small space I had to custom design/build the carbon filter. It is a carbon filled rectangle the full width of the unit and about 6" high with about 50mm thick carbon bed. It has 3 1/2kg of carbon pellets in it and a surface area similar to the 100mm filter in the shop. The airflow at the boost speed of the fan is way way under what the shop filter can handle so I think it should de-smelly the exhaust ok. We will see soon!

The 1st pic above shows all the components layed out. Everything has plugs and sockets to make dismantling easy. It takes about 15-20mins to put together or take apart. All of the electrics are self contained on the main unit and it runs from one 13amp socket. It actually only pulls around 2amps with lights, heater and fan running with the magority of that for the lighting.

The 2nd pic above shows the back and underside of the main fan/filter control unit. The 3 grilles seen on the back are the exit vents from the carbon filter. You can also see the sockets for the lighting power, heater power and fan control thermostat. The heater is also thermostatically controlled.



This last pic shows the whole lot assembled with the lights switched on. The lighting is a 125w Growking 6400k and eight 25w 2700k CFLs.

In all it's cost me around £250 so my first grow should pay for itself (compared to buying at £140/oz) and I hope that whatever I grow will be far superior to anything I've bought in the uk.
It's also been built with secrecy rivaling the lockheed skunkworks (excuse the pun). I am the only person that knows it exists (apart from you lot!)(shhh!!) It's also taken a total of around 6 days (done a few hours at a time) to construct. I hope the results will be worth al the effort and risk.

Now all I have to do is get some beans and get growing! Anyone got any good suggestions? They need to be suitable for LST/scrog and give a good return as I can only fit about 3 or 4 plants in there. If I can get 3oz total per cycle then I'll be very happy.

A

[compostverte]

That's an awesome bit of engineering you have there.

What are the actual dimensions of the growing area ?

[anon133]

That's an awesome bit of engineering you have there.

What are the actual dimensions of the growing area ?

Thanks for the compliment.

It's internal dimensions are 36" wide x 18" deep x 36" tall

A

[Hashishin]

Looks very professional, you obviously have a good working knowledge with electrics. Well done.

[eek]

Welcome,

mmm real pretty work there.

Can we see a pic when you have it in the locked cupboard? I love a bit of stealth, especially when the family visit

I have recently moved my flower room into my shed, its a bit of a strain on the heater. What Watt tube heater do you have lurking in there?

All the best of luck, Not that your going to need it

[anon133]

Hi

I've used a 120w tube heater from screwfix (£15.99). It's maintaining 16c with lights out and 6c outside. If it gets too cold I can always add another if neccessary.

I'm not a professional builder/carpenter/spark etc. Just good at DIY. Mrs A makes sure I have lots of practice! My dad was an electrician though and I learnt all my electrical skills from him. I was good at woodwork at school too.

I'd prefer not to show a pic of the outside as I can't afford anyone to recognise it. It's not anything to look at really anyway. Just a normal cream/beige office cabinet. I still have a slight amount of light leakage around the lock but some gaffer tape will soon sort that out.

A

[Haggis123]

Very, Very Nice...mate......well done.
Is that a flexi silencer I can see in one of your pics ??

[anon133]

Very, Very Nice...mate......well done.
Is that a flexi silencer I can see in one of your pics ??

Thanks

No silencers on this build. The fan is so quiet there's no real need although there is a very slight whooshing. The ticking of a kitchen clock I have on the wall is louder.

The aluminium tube you can see is semi-rigid ducting which carries air from the fan into the filter housing box. It is corrugated aluminium which you can bend by hand and it stays in whatever shape you form it to. I got it from the well known two letter DIY store for about a fiver.

A

[DougalTheDingo]

I do like this cupboard.. would like to see how things go in it, see how it compares to the 70-200w HID grows.

[Sticky Fingaz]

Very nice tidy looking box, great job man

[anon133]

Hi

Just thought I'd let you see how my cabinet it going.

This pic is at about 4 1/2 weeks from seed.



A

eta: My inlaws popped round a couple of days ago and did a load of work in the garden whilst I was at work. They were in and out of the garage all afternoon and nothing was noticed. Phew! I hope the filter works as well when they start getting really stinky.

This post has been edited by anon133: May 31 2008, 06:22 AM

[1badzuk]

Very nice.. Some creative thinking for sure, like the cabinet idea, low watt lights,ill be watching..

[tsk]

total genius anon. top notch

can you raise the 20w cfl's?

[anon133]

Hi

Thanks for the compliments guys. I only hope it lives up to my expectations. I'll hopefully know in 12 or so weeks time.

Tsk, the 8 domestic cfl's are 25w already. what did you mean by "can you raise the cfl's"? The whole light bar is movable up and down if that's what you meant?

I think I'm going to need some new carbon though as I think I may have been sold aquarium grade stuff. The plants aren't that smelly yet as they are still in veg but there is a definate planty type smell in the garage when you open the garage door.

Has anyone here ordered from the Graphite trading company or it's new sister Activated Carbon Trading? Any problems?

Thanks

A

edited for spelling

This post has been edited by anon133: Jun 10 2008, 03:13 PM

[tsk]

The whole light bar is movable up and down if that's what you meant?

sweet as a nut A, excellence



e2a - no experience with ordering carbon online, but was under the impression that aquarium grade stuff was good enough for small grows

more in?

This post has been edited by tsk: Jun 10 2008, 03:44 PM