My doubledrobe experiment.

[Skeeta]

Well, here we go. My first real post on this awesome site (or any canna site for that matter). I've said hello in the newcomers section but not to would just be rude.

I thought I'd show off my doubledrobe for the admiration/amusement/derision/rape (delete as appropriate) of the community and hopefully get some feedback to act on.

This is my first ever grow so please be kinda kind (in a "cruel to be" fashion if necessary). If I've been silly in places I ask you to please, remember to your first grow and see the thinking behind my ideas.

So to it.

Here's the article in question.

A wardrobe purchased by me on Ebay for the princely sum of 20 new pounds from a man in Birmingham. It doesn't have 100% of the features I was looking for but hey, for 2 draw, what you gonna do?

I had to dismantle it to get it in the car but I used that to my benefit. Putting it back together in my little 1 bedroom flat involved lots and lots of silicon sealant and many more tacks than it originally had so this baby ain't falling apart any time soon.

Notice it does have rather unstealthy (and insecure) catches on the doors. They WILL be going when I find some appropriate looking barrel locks but, for now, they do keep the doors closed.

It was obviously a single, large compartment to begin with but I added a chipboard partition right down the middle to create two smaller ones. My ultimate intention is to permanently have a veg and bloom side running side by side. Just two plants in each but on an assembly line basis.

The light is a 250W dual spectrum job and, if it does the job, I'll be investing in another for bay 1 soon. I was very pleased with the way it's the exact right size to fill the compartment whilst leaving enough gap around the sides for the air to flow.

For ventilation I fitted a 4 inch silent runner and the obligatory carbon filter. From my research I worked out that a little 4 inch fan was enough for such a small area as this wardrobe but, rather than purchase a fan for each compartment I mounted it in such a way that it split its suction between both. I did however knock up a box out of leftover chipboard to blank off the unused side if it's not being used. No sense in sucking where it's not needed right?

I did have the idea of positioning the air intakes in the floor of the unit. In my mind it allows incoming air to rise straight up through the leaves in the most efficient possible way but it remains to be seen if I was correct in that.

The outgoing air is vented directly through the roof and, when switched off, you wouldn't know it's there.

All electrics are controlled by electronic timers (£14 for the set of three from Argos) and there's just a single power lead out the back of the drobe to power it up.

I can't say I'm pleased with everything though. The wind shield I used in an attempt to light proof the doors works really well at stopping wind but is a huge fail when it comes to its new primary purpose. I can use the light escaping to navigate around the room at night and, needless to say, that's a bad thing.

I need to find a better solution that works with those mad cantilever hinges wardrobes have before I go bloom on the girls asses.

So there it is. I'd appreciate and comments, thoughts and ideas your combined experience can provide. I can't say I've seen another drobe quite like this but there may well be a very good reason for that and I'm about to find out.

Finally a pic of the princesses in their palace.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Skeeta

[Subliminal Criminal]

considering you have done it all yourself i would say great effort..

im building a grow room in my bedroom but its going to take ages..

[Smelly Cat]

Nice build, looks very tidy with the 2 sections and the compartment up top.

Those fans are designed to work with very little resistance, can you feel it sucking enough air through the filter and wardrobe with the doors closed? Might be an idea to get a couple circulation fans in there as well.

[Joint hogger]

Run it with a thermometer/hygrometer in it to check the temps,

If its more than 32c then you'll run into problems come summer,

For the doors light leaks, youcan use draught excluder or if you want something better, look at cutting wood batons instead.

If you have a look at my veg cab siggy, there might be a few things that will help you out.

[Skeeta]

Those fans are designed to work with very little resistance, can you feel it sucking enough air through the filter and wardrobe with the doors closed? Might be an idea to get a couple circulation fans in there as well.

It does seem to be sucking unimpeded at the moment as far as I can tell. There's no discernable difference in the fans note either when suddenly put the blank box into place or close the doors. It does throw some nice heat out the top too.

Run it with a thermometer/hygrometer in it to check the temps,

If its more than 32c then you'll run into problems come summer,

For the doors light leaks, youcan use draught excluder or if you want something better, look at cutting wood batons instead.

If you have a look at my veg cab siggy, there might be a few things that will help you out.

Heat management was a big concern of mine from the start so I bought a set of 4 hygrometers from eBay for about 7 quid. The light is in the right position to give the canopy 20 to 22 degrees and about 60%rh at the moment so, fingers crossed, things are looking ok for now but I will keep an eye on things over the warmer months and add fans if necessary.

Your veg cab is sweet. I like the idea of the draft excluders. If I can find any longer than the width of a door I'll probably copy your idea.

[Joint hogger]

I dont know anything about your fan make (silent runner) ? but if its quite loud when running, you can add a cheap fan controller to slow it down

& lower the noise level to a bearable level, the cheapest i'd suggest is the xpelair WAC1, yours for less than £30 delivered

another thing that may have slipped your attention, when getting a matched fan & filter, the recommended amount of air the filter can scrub is for the full area of

the outside of the filter but with the way you've got yours set up, slightly more than half of the surface area of the filter is blocked in, putting strain on the fans motor

& your possibly also running the risk of having smell leaks by the air being pulled through the filters carbon too fast & still be stinking of sweet sweet jane.

(thats another good reason to get a fan controller)

also, got to say, i like the way you did the passive vents, nice & discrete

if you have lights leaks coming from the vents, get some cooker hood black filter material to make a good light blocker, it also helps keep any bugs out.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Joint hogger

[Skeeta]

Love the cooker hood idea and in pretty sure I have some somewhere. I'm going to get on that when I get home. I haven't seen any light escaping from those vents but it can't hurt right?

I did buy a light dimmer switch to use as a fan controller at the start of the build (you may even be able to see it on the shelf below the timers) but I didn't fit it in the end.

Silent runner was just me generalising with the fan. It's actually a Rutland horticulture fan, filter and duct kit I got on eBay for £35.

I'll keep a close nose on the smells when I go to flower and think about fitting that controller if its needed.

[botanics]

@@Skeeta

Nice build dude JH is right about the drag on the fan with that boxed enclosure around half of it though mate don't want to be doing that ideally

[Skeeta]

Well, that's it then. Two experienced growers agree on the same point. I know the time to dig my heels in and stand my ground. This ain't it. The box is history.

Once I've cloned my ladies it'll probably never be used anyway.

Thanks guys.

[Skeeta]

Just a thought.

Has anyone ever had dealings with real big assed fans?

I mean 10 or 12 inches?

I'm thinking about the circulation side of things and I reckon the space in there is going to be properly tight eventually so I may not have room for an oscillator.

In my head I can see a thin ten inch+ fan mounted on the underside of the floor in the space below the wardrobe and running really slowly (I'm talking <100rpm). It would be sending a nice gentle breeze up through the intake grill and through the leaves.

If anyone had ever built or serviced a pc, the fan I'm thinking of is like a huge, slow case fan.

Anyone seen anything similar?

[botanics]

@@Skeeta

Yeah PC fans mate will do for circulation, some wire them to old phone chargers etc

[Skeeta]

Phone charger. Why didn't I think of that? I can get a 200mm fan for less than a tenner but I imagined I'd need PSU to power it.

Heading to eBay heh.

[Smelly Cat]

Love the cooker hood idea and in pretty sure I have some somewhere. I'm going to get on that when I get home. I haven't seen any light escaping from those vents but it can't hurt right?

I did buy a light dimmer switch to use as a fan controller at the start of the build (you may even be able to see it on the shelf below the timers) but I didn't fit it in the end.

Silent runner was just me generalising with the fan. It's actually a Rutland horticulture fan, filter and duct kit I got on eBay for £35.

I'll keep a close nose on the smells when I go to flower and think about fitting that controller if its needed.

I would definately fit the filter to the intakes, It's amazing how much dust is in the air.

My 2 intake filters after about 100 days, proper caked in dust, but much better than being on the buds

[Skeeta]

@@scrapheapcowboy

Jesus, that's mental. I'll certainly be adding that. After recent posts I've sourced a couple of 200mm case fans at £10 a pop. They're single speed things (700rpm) and put out less than 20db in noise but that's at their full 12v.

I already have a variable voltage multi charger I can use to under volt the thing and slow it down if I need to.

Question is, do you recommend placing the cooker hood filter below the fan and sucking the air through it or should I place it between the fan and the grill so I can blow through it?

[Smelly Cat]

@@Skeeta

Personally I would fit the filter to the outside, so air is sucked through it, it will keep the louvres and fan cleaner. You could use double sided velcro for quick removal for cleaning etc..