Hi all!

I've just bought a wardrobe which I'm going to turn into a growing space. Mrs Gwoo (non-smoker) has given me the go ahead and I'm itching to get a proper space sorted out. Not too sure how I managed to wangle it. but I'm on my best behaviour lest her mind be changed . I only want to grow a bit of percy to keep me going, and if I can pull 2 or 3oz every 3 months I'll be perfectly satisfied .

So, I present to the growers of UK420 my drobe design, and I hope to get some feedback from you experts before I start the (daunting!) task of actually building this thing.

First of all, the drobe I'll be using:

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This little darling measures approx. 103cm x 62cm x 180cm and cost me the princely sum of £66 from B&Q. This gives a total square footage of about 6.5 - should be plenty for my small requirements.

Here is what I've planned for her insides (that sounds wrong ):

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The top bit is a panel on which I can mount plug sockets, thermometer, fan controller etc.

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Behind that I have planned a 5" Ruck with the matching Rhino filter. The fan draws air through the filter, then pumps it into the air cooled Sputnik reflector before being exhausted out the top.

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I have read that the sputnik / coolstar reflector is a better choice than the cool tube due to superior light spread. One thing I'm not too sure on is how I change the bulb though? Greens say it is supplied with a tube of silicone with which to seal the glass, I assume I'd have to peel this off and re-apply to change the bulb would I? Or maybe some heat-proof alu tape will be better?

On to the passive intake...

Looks fucking mint mucka sound job

So, as I mentioned I've planned for a passive intake. Primarily this is because of noise. I'm not too fussed about stealth noise, I don't have any neighbours adjoinng any walls to the room the drobe will sit in, but it's more that it has to be quiet enough to live with as my place isn't massive. I imagine one Ruck will be loud enough, without two to control.

I've read various times that passive intakes should be 5 times the area of the exhaust. I make the ehaust area 19.63 in^2, for a total area of 98.15 in^2. I've gone slightly bigger at 108.5 in^2 so hopefully this will be adequate.

I've designed the intake in the form of a long, horizontal light baffle which I hope will stop any leaks (again I'm flying blind here so feel free to chip in and tell me if I've made some horrible error!).

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So that's about as far as I've got so far. I'd really appreciate any comments/suggestions/feedback people may have on what I'm doing right or wrong in my plans. I'd especially like to hear opinions on light, specifically recommendations on 250w vs 400w HPS. I'm also hoping my extraction will be up to scratch so if anyone can advise on that I'll be grateful.

Cheers!

leepy - Thanks for the reply mate . Let me know if you spot any areas for improvement.

Hi and welcome to UK420 Nice planning of your drobe dude, what software did you use for the 3d stuff? I like to use 3ds max myself.

Goldie_2007

goldie - Thanks for the welcome I used Sketchup for these, I personally find 3ds Max is a bit too cumbersome for this sort of planning. I'm sure it's fine if you know it well, but I'm just a dabbler. Sketchup is ideal for this sort of work though where you want to make up some components and try them in different positions easily, make tweaks etc. It really beats a pen and paper for getting an idea of how things will fit, which for small cabs like mine is really essential.

Some good video tutorials here if you've never used it before, it doesn't take long to learn at all.

Nice little program, am sure many could put it to good use, I find 3d software a very good tool in designing stuff like this, great for ironing out any problems that might appear later on in the drobes development.

Here's my latest design which I'm attempting to build over the coming months, a little ambitous but am sure it can be done

Good luck with your design and build, looks like you have everything well sorted!

Goldie_2007

Hi Gwoo

I have one of those shades - great bit of kit

Glass just fills with dust and shit

To be honest my extraction fan 5 inch sucks better with glass out of shade !

Extraction is still conected to shade at the mo - but when it gets colder i will disconect it and extract a few inches away

Gives you more flexibility with temps bro - and a good shade

hb



ps if you draw in air from the room you will have to dump the filtered air in another room ( eg like loft )

I had a nose through your thread a couple of days ago, very nice! I even played around with a vertical design for the drobe after reading it, but the rectangular shape isn't ideal with a single lamp. I think the octogon is a good shape for it, the design is spot on. As for being ambitious, as Oscar Wilde said, "ambition is the last refuge of failure". If there's one thing I've learned from researching my drobe, it's that growers are as determined and resourceful as they come, I don't doubt for a second that you'll make your design a reality. If I didn't need the stealthy appearance I'd have a bash at a slightly bigger version myself!

Hi heyboy. Good to hear about the reflector. Is it cooler with the glass off then? I was kind of relying on having it on as it forms part of the ducting - without it I'd have to rejig the fan/filter a bit. I was hoping the filter will deal with the dust getting in - or do you mean dust blows through from the filter itself? Getting in to the reflector to clean and change bulbs is a bit of a concern of mine actually.

Re dumping air in the same room as intake - do you say that because of heat or some other reason? I don't really have an option of exhaust anywhere else. I live in a flat so don't have an attic. The room is a spare bedroom which can have the window open when I'm in and on the latch when I'm out (I'm on the ground floor), and I can keep the door to the room open. Ducting off elsewhere is not an option though. Do you think this will be a problem for me?

A 400w will be just the job in that space Gwoo, You may get away without the air cooled jobbie too. Air flow is your goal then you san tweek with other stuff.


Bert...

You could easily build a "roof" from matching laminate wood or,
extend the roof in a box shape and this could be stealthed (if need be) to look like
normal above cabinet clutter.

In this extended space you can fit your filter or fan,
gaining height.

I used a 120mm computer fan as the extraction on passive intake for the first two weeks or so, it was near silent.
then fit it to the intake and used a 5" ruck and c/f again not much noise. But I only use a 250w light which creates moderate heat.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Bert - thanks, that helps a lot! I was really hoping someone would tell me the 400 would be OK as my greedy side was leaning towards more light!

metalbasher - thanks for you input - thats an interesting idea. I had planned on sticking a bottomless box on top to stealth the exhaust hole a bit, hadn't thought about moving the fan and filter out though - do you think the noise would be an issue? I could box the fan and muffle it, but do you think it might vibrate a bit? Never seen one of these things running so I'm not really sure what to expect from them. The extra height would be nice though, my current plan allows for plants 2.5' tall absolute max, closer to 2' ideally. Though maybe keeping them small is better anyway as even a 400 wont penetrate too deep. Hmmm decisions decisions!

I really appreciate the help chaps, cheers.

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachmentHi gwoo

the glass quickly gets a layer of dust on it

in uk we like to extract thru shades due to our temps

in say the usa - they like to cool the shade from a seperate air source - so important to seal shade for smells

really the shade has been dersigned for this

for effiency and quietness - keep ducting as short and straight as possible

you can hard plumb it - google 5inch plastic pipe - comes with ace tape and slots onto fan etc ( no clips etc )

lots of threads on here about loss of light thru glass


so if you dont seal your shade carbon filter will have to go on outside

metalbashers idea would sort that out

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hb

That's a nice design Gwoo, and I like the look of your drobe. The biggest 2 problems I had since building the Sacred Drobe were heat and insufficient intake - I see you've catered for that with an air-cooled hood. I use a cool tube, and the coverage seems fine - it's smaller than the sputnik, so takes up less space which is the key thing for me. I ended up making a few vent holes in the bottom of the drobe that really improved air flow, as my intakes are passive too.

I imagine you'd have real heat problems with a 600 - I've not gone above 400, despite the temptation - I think more powerful in and outtakes would be needed first...

Good luck with your drobe and I hope it gives you years of pleasure.

I had real problems running a 400 without air cooling. In a drobe, I wouldn't recommend leaving air cooling out.

Hi Gwoo Im on my first grow and just flying by the seat of my pants myself.

I don't get much noise from my 5" temp control Ruck but mine is strapped down tightly, not suspended on bungee cords.
your on the right track, because your willing to put some thought and a wee bit of work into your project.

hb - thanks for that. Maybe a rethink is in order then. Maybe I could put the CF on the outside, surrounded in an open topped box for stealth. That way I could pull air through the shade rather than push, and it would mean I could either leave the glass out or just slot it in place and have it removable for cleaning depending on which works best. Re the ducting, I was planning on using the acoustic stuff. Not sure the rigid stuff would work for me because I'd need to be able to move the light.

church - thanks for the reply, and for your drobe guide, it was a big help in planning this. I think a 600 is definitely out. More light than I need and I don't want to try to deal with the heat - as you say I think i'd be fighting a losing battle there! I'm aiming to get my first grow underway just after Christmas so I might get the 400 and see how it copes, then maybe downgrade to a 250 for summer if the 400 gets a bit much. The 250 would only give me 38w/sqft though which I'm not sure is really enough? Interesting comments about the cooltube, I had intended to use one but I read a few posts where people said the sputnik over it due to coverage which swayed me. I suppose it really depends on your space though, in a drobe bad coverage is less of an issue I guess.

metalbasher - yes it looks like maybe an external ventilation system does have some advantages. It's not unusual to see boxes on top of wardrobes, and if the noise isn't much different then it's definitely worth having a rethink. It's not like anybody will ever really go in this room apart from me and Mrs Gwoo anyway, I'm an antisocial bugger

I dont think (and that means me) that air cooling is a must at all if you have enough air flow in your drobe.
Most drobe growers dont use bigger than a 400w unless they are brave or have a huge drobe anyway.
Maybe my place dont get to hot but I have had highs in the 37c during our 2 week summers and lots of airflow has proved enough for me.

As your lucky like me Gwoo and stealth aint a big issue then a fan controller might be helpful come summer. I run my 400w hps at about two3rds power on my bnq dimmer this time of year and its nice to turn it down when Im trying to kip

Oh I got a 4" ruck with a Phat filter same size in a old but solid drobe btw...


Bert...

eta


Bert...

I usually drop to a 250 when the weather's warm, fortunately that's not too often! I agree about the coverage - not that much to cover in a drobe at all.

Bert - isn't 37 a bit hot? I thought i should be aiming for less than 30? I've really got my heart set on air cooling though, even if I could get away with the uncooled version, I think I'm going to have enough problems getting any bud out of this contraption as it is, having the extra temp control will let me concentrate on the mistakes I'm making a bit more!

Church - yes I think that's what I'll do. Not sure if I should go for the 250 for now and up it if I think i've got the cooling capacity or just bite the bullet and get the 400 from the off. Can't really afford to do both at once, but as I'm abstaining from smoking and using the money I would have spent buying weed to fund this endevour, I could get another light later with the money I save.


I've made some modifications to the design based on the comments so far. I've moved the fan and filter out into a wooden box on top of the drobe. This box is divided into 2 parts, one left open on top for the filter, the other enclosed with the fan. I'd fill the fan half wil some kind of noise damping material. Still a little worried about vibration with this plan, but with enough damping it might be OK. Again I've got no real idea what these fans are like so maybe vibration isn't that bad?

e2a: I know the fan is round the wrong way in the pics!

Heezee Gwoo i do love to see a build in progress

are you in the loft by any chance?

good luck with it anyways....looks like you have taken everything into consideration......remember....measure twice....cut once

Hi Mate, cheers for the post. No not in the loft, the drobe will be in a spare bedroom. Don't have a loft unfortunately as I'm in a flat.

I think I'm pretty much sorted and ready to rumble with the building of this thing now after the helpful comments I've had. I've decided to switch to a cooltube just because I don't want the hassle of dismantling the sputnik every time the lamp needs changing or the glass needs a wipe. I emailed greens to ask them what I'd need to do to change the lamp and the answer was as I'd feared, basically take the thing apart and then put it back together again. That's a lot of messing about with silicone just for a bit of extra light spread which I doubt I'll notice in a wardrobe anyway. Not sure why the design it with a grill over the air holes, if it was totally open like the cool tube you could just remove one bit of ducting and stick your arm in to clean and change bulbs.

I found a nice box to modify for my top box:

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I didn't really want to knock something up out of MDF since it would look a bit suss. If I leave the feet off of this it should do the job nicely and give me max room inside the main drobe.

I also wimped out and decided to get a 250w light for now. My reasoning is that I will need to do some pre-flower vegging in the drobe as the only other space I'll have is a small mum/clone box, so I thought if I get the 250 and find I've lots of wiggle room with the temps I can always get a 400 for flowering and use the 250 with a MH lamp for this veg period.

I've also picked some strains after some lengthy reading of the forum. I'm going for Nirvana's Bubblicious and Papaya. I don't really have £100 spare to spend on top notch genetics only to end up killing them (a very real possibility ), and from what I've read these are both nice strains.

I'm thinking of starting 4 of each, cloning after a couple of weeks and flowering the clones to determine sex, removing the males then picking the best mums from the remaining plants. Take a few cuts of each and aim for 8 x 18" single stem plants, hopefully I'll get a 1/4 off each. See it's all planned out, it's going to be easy (yeah right!)

Good luck with your seed selection man Im sure you'll be happy no matter wot. home grown is the aim round here.
Just wana point out if your gona get a cooltube then you should consider a 400w tbh.
A 250w is over doing it for seeds but great for vegging. You can do both with a big eco bulb (few available now 125w ok) but a few normal 20w cfl's will be ok for the first few weeks then finish off with the cooltube goodness before flowering :-)
Honestly a 400w hps will prove worth it in 13 weeks time.


Bert...

Excellent Sketchup work, I used the same

First off congratulations! You're off to a fab start!



I think getting all non essential equipment (fan/filter)out of your drobe is a smart move. I've not read throughly but did catch that you wanted 2-3 harvests a year? You'll want to think about another drobe to veg in/raise clones in. A tent is another option.

Thanks for the comments chaps.

Bert - I'm still changing my mind daily on the light. I've no idea how hot a 250 and 400 run as I've never seen one in the flesh, and I'm really worried I'll get the 400 then have temp issues. I do want the 400 though! I'm going to get the 250 MH first since I'll need to veg for a few weeks from seed no matter what in order to select mums. I did look at the 125/250 CFLs, but I thought if I get the MH and I find it maxes my temps, I can just use the same setup with a HPS bulb for flowering. If not, I'll buy the 400 HPS and keep the 250 for vegging.

Randalizer - I'm not a super heavy smoker, an oz would last me a couple of months. If I can harvest 3oz from this thing 3 times a year, I'll be more than satisfied. Re a second drobe, unfortunately I can't really get a whole other drobe, my better half was reluctant enough about this one and I don't want to push my luck with twice the fan noise etc! I'm going to get a small chest of drawers or similar and use it with some small CFLs for mums and cloning though. It means I'll have to veg for a couple of weeks in the drobe but I'm not too fussed about that. I'm thinking of going for small, 1-2 stem plants, almost a SOG so I wont do much vegging.

Hey nice design , hope you get some nice solido buds ,

I just want to ask about the Google SketchUp, yano you designed your fans did you just make them free hand or did you get a picture in and go round it from that? Jw coz im finding it really hard to use . I can design the box but can't make lights or anything like that :/. All help will greatly be appreciated.

~Bubbler

Hi Chronic Bubbler, sorry for the late reply. I made all the bits from measurements. It can be tricky and time consuming, but once you get used to it it's quite a simple program. Just takes some practice. I'd recommend modeling the parts from measurements rather than images though because you know they are the right size then. The whole point in doing it for me is to get the parts to scale and see what fits since I'm too lazy to muck about sorting any DIY balls ups I make! If you have trouble making the exact shapes you can always just build simple shapes that fit the dimensions. For the reflector for example, you can just draw a plain box, you'll still be able to see how it fits.

I'm running a 400 now in a drobe (not air cooled) I'm getting max temps 32 at the mo. Rvk 100 4" extract only with passive intake. I'll upgrade this later to rvk 100 as intake and a 5" rvk 125 extact for the summer.

edit - I think better air exchange has a lot to do with better yields so it's not one to skimp on

Hi Yamatoka - that's encouraging. Hopefully with the 400w air cooled I'll be OK. I'm also going to get the airforce 125 bora which is 430m3/h, and my passive intake is 7 times the area of the exhaust, and my light is digital which I think makes less heat? Fingers crossed I'll be OK. I intend to run the lights at night too, and if the worst comes to the worst I'll have to switch to 250w in summer, but I should have had a harvest by then so I doubt I'll mind! I'm giving up dealer weed to pay for all this so I'm gagging for a smoke!

Looking really good Gwoo, i wish you the best of luck. With your designs being so well done I should think putting it all together will be a lot easier!

Ill be keeping locked to your progress.