New drobe build

[Guest]

I'm building new drobe, plenty of things i'm working out as i go 2 steps forward 1 back it seems. Want to do it as well as i can though and better than last one.Been asking a few q’s so thought be better get one thread together for progress. Thanks to those given me some input. @jointhogger @@Fragg @@GreenVision and others.

Cut no bones about it, I'm shit at DIY. Generally i get it done, but its a bit of a bodge job normally! Getting better...but plenty of fuck ups along the way, and plenty of money wasted , getting a good tool collection though.

So this thread is to track progress and get some advice on the way please

I had a perfectly good drobe, but fancied more room...so i got a new one, Ikea Pax 2m x 1m x 0.6m . Got it for a bargain £20 off gumtree. Anyway, got it home, ripped the old one to shreds and chopped it up before dumping in various tips, stealth like

Bit of a shame really to trash it, proper old 1950’s thing. Figured it had a good end of its life, getting back to its roots so to speak,

So, I built the new one and thought bollocks, its shite, its massive and totally not stealth in the garage! Ahh well, too late now, so time to make good.

It was wobbly as fuk when i built it, so I've got a bit of OSB to replace the hardboard back. I then drilled a load of screws in around all the frame, now its pretty solid. One of the doors doesn't hang straight, but not worked that out yet. Something to do with screws on the hinges i think. Confused me when i had a play with it.

[Guest]

Next up, insulation. I grow in garage and temps pain in the arse in winter.

Didn’t get a picture, but I had a slab of kingspan left over. So I chopped that up and fitted it under the base. Glued it on, no more nails my arse. Put a screw in it. Then I filled the gaps round the side with some foam gap filler. That went pretty well. Apart from getting it all over my hands. Hands like spider man for ages.

I had some foil insulation blanket, which I thought I’d put inside. Dragged it up from the cellar, had a look at it, tried it out and decide it was too thick. I want to keep as much space as I can to make the new space worth it. I might tack some to the back on the OSB though.

I thought that polysterne insulation board would be good. Went and got some, but that was too thick too and looked a nightmare to work with. So stetted on Thermawrap foil insulation blanket, bit pricey £25 for 1mx7m. Apparently it’s the same as 30mm polysterne board or 65mm mineral fibre whatever that means.

This is loads better. So today I’ve stappled that round the top sides like so

I had a bit of a stoner brainwave about taking that insulation all the way round and onto the doors inside. I want a way to make it light proof and the doors are a bit shit. Decided that easiest way to do that would be create a false front behind the doors.

I had thought about using OSB behind the doors, but tried some off cuts and too thick, plus it was going to be difficult for me to get it flush, work round hinges, etc without losing too much room.

So then I got the old hardboard back and cut it down to make like a solid door that would open halfway down the crease. It works OK when screwed in. Pic below its not screwed, but you get the idea.

That seemed OK, but then as I stapled the foil round I thought if I take it all the way along the door , then it will light proof most of the door crack, insulate, sound proof etc. I think it will work, and if I get the stapling right wont be slack when the door is shut.

Least that’s how it seemd when I tried it tonight. Anyone tried this before? Seems to simple but not seem anyone do it before, so got to be something wrong with it!

Hard to get a pic, but looks like this. Still thinking about it.

Anyway that’s where we are so far. Need to have a play around with fan and filter. 5inch Mountain Air is really long.

Things to do

1. Work out the doors /foil
2. Put some kingspan on the ceiling or roof.
3. Drill / Cut vent holes
4. Move washing machine waste pipe
5. Battons for lights and filter
6. Hang Fan filter and tubing. Bit complicated where I need to exit
7. Water proofing base? Any suggestions? Just of thick plastic
8. Electrics
9. Sort door locks
10. Sort out some kind of raised platform so I can put a tube heatrer in there. Any ideas? Thinking one of them bakers trays might do the job

Blimey, loads to do. What have I forgot? Luckily got a mate whos pretty handy and expereinced in the erb coming to give me a hand later in the week. Hopefully will get up and running in next week ready for xmas J

[Joint hogger]

get or make a wood pallet for under the drobe & have space in it for holding tube heaters if your going down that road

& there's no point putting insulation on the base as that only defects any heat from the tube heaters, I'd also consider

ditching the passive vents at the back & drill air holes in the base of the drobe instead, as it's probably made of chipboard,

i'd stick another piece of wood on top of the base & drill the air holes, then you can staple the cooker hood material to the

underside of the base to act as a light blocker.

[Guest]

Cheers @@Joint hogger, always man with good input on builds

I was just looking at other thread someone done the holes in the base. Not thought of that. Do you not think I should be insulating the base from the concrete floor? I thought that would keep the base warmer. Thats the only thing that went right first time

So you're saying put the pallet and tube heater under the base of the drobe, not inside it? Thing is it would have to be a permanent structure as you can't get under the drobe once its in place.

[Joint hogger]

as it's going to be permanent & save you space, i'd definitely make some form of wooden pallet for underneath the drobe to free up space,

i was also considering the fact that your going to be running your ducting down to a vent hole inside the drobe instead of running your ducting

out the roof like everyone else

what you could possibly do is box the wooden pallet in at the front/back & have the air coming in at the side, then have the tube heaters sitting

on top of the insulation, you can also insulate the 3 sides of the base box if you think your capable.

heres a quick doodle to give you an idea of what I mean.

[Guest]

Cheers @@Joint hogger. Going get some bits and have s play. The base is only 70mm deep, so might not be enough room. That said I should have about 160-170cm inside when light at highest... TBC

[botanics]

@@bobnudd

In my cab mate,I have the air coming in under the plant floor (left side in then underneath flooring I put in and out from the right side like an air curtain which gets blown through the canopy) The difference from JH's drawing in the main really is the heating element that I haven't put in as it's in the main body of the house but I'm finding this system really good mate and if you can do as JH says above, this would be a good thing to do

When it comes to the wiring and electrics, here's a drawing for a fused spur the correct way It'll give you up to 13 A and well enough for this cab build

Best way is via a 'control board' I find mate so all the sockets desired are mounted upon some osb with a junction box (32 A) then just run a 'tail' to the original socket you wish to spur from

Now I know you say you and DIY are barely friends but you can do the above mate if you follow the advice and make sure BEFORE you open up any circuits that they are dead first, then that all terminations are tight, the correct conductors in their respective terminals they are cut square without copper protruding from the terminal and that cables are clipped tidy to prevent any pulling on them. Don't over insulate the conductors though as thermal temperatures effect total current carrying capacity

[Guest]

Morning @@botanics , thanks for the advice mate. Awesome. Defiantly going have a play with the heating and see what fits in the space.

Re the elecs, I've got 2 double plugs on a separate ring just by the drobe. Washing machine and tumble dryer in one pair. The other I fitted an rcd socket.I planned on running a 8bar switched extension in the drobe from that.

Like the idea of mounting on a Board as I've got a fan controller too to mount up. Do you think there any issue running that extension bar though? I need 6 sockets - light (155w draw LED), 4inch fan, 2 X little fans, rootit mat, tube heater. , so well below 13amps.

[botanics]

@@bobnudd

Went and got a photo for you mate as pics tell the story far better

Now I built this board last year ready to go for the groom build I was supposed to be doing, but work's been tight and plans change hence me still using the cab I knocked up, I only put two double on there but easily can put more if I wish (just matter of another run of T&E into another double from the last on the line). I mounted the ballast on it (ideally mate a ceramic floor tile would be best behind this, but the flashpoint of this board is no where near the temps it burn at and I don't max it anyhow, but like I said, for advising someone, put the tile behind it ), Taped the IEC connectors together to avoid it loosening and possible arcs (heat and fire risk occurs due to loose connections mate so belt and braces, especially when dealing with high loading )

At the top right you can just see the 'tail' what I would do with this is then wire it into a 32A junction box, placed appropriately for the groom I'm building with the relevant fused spur box etc.

For the cab I set up a bog standard extension (6 way) as not using a huge amount of juice etc and was more practical for it, but the control board above is the best way mate as is using solid core conductors that can handle a shedload if you wanted to up the watts a bit

Hope you get more of a picture now Bob as you can put together a board that suits your needs mate, wire any fan controllers, relays etc, imagination being the only limitation really and keeps it all neat and tidy in one place as a neat and tidy grow room is a productive grow room

Edited August 16, 2016 by botanics

[Joint hogger]

I need 6 sockets - light (155w draw LED), 4inch fan, 2 X little fans, rootit mat, tube heater. , so well below 13amps.

when putting a board together, remember to leave space for any timers & another thing you might need to consider,

especially with clip on fans cables not being very long, so you might need to use a trailing socket to reach them or you could do what I did,

I used inline switches to connect the cables with 2 core cable & can switch the fans off with a flick of the switch now, it's a lot easier if a fan

is on a back pole & you don't need to reach over plants, I always used to end up stinking if I made contact & would have to change if going out

[botanics]

^ Spot on advice this

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice @@Joint hogger@@botanics, been really useful. Been taking my time, reading around and had a hand yesterday off a top man, and cracked through the bulk of it.

So, made the false floor. Drilled 15 holes for 3x outtake. Then used some PVC pipe to act as the feet of the false floor and glue gunned it onto a piece of OSB. THe glue gun wasn't my idea....but it worked a treat

Finished off running the insulation round the doors, and ran the ducting. Went for 4inch acoustic. What a mistake that was. Fucking massive, and was buggered inside . The insulation is seriously nasty. . Anyway, hooked it all up, and just was'nt happy with it. Didn't even make much reduction and took a lot of spcae. Went back to normal 4inch to fan.

Lots happier with it. Sounds the same as with acoustic to me. Then connected it to a solid tube out to behind the washing machine. Even tried to make this look pretty inside. Outside i just filled it in with sealant and used a decent bit of left over accoustic.

Getting there....got the tube heater in, and took head and made a rubbish electrics board Good advice that, made things lot easier. @@Joint hogger, first time i made it...didn't leave space for plugs! Its not going win any beauty contest but its functional

Light up and

My mate was getting rid of some orca film so kindly gave it to me. You can really see where its gone on. I thought the foil was bright and reflective. The pictures show really well how much it pumps back compared to it. Don't know if i'd buy it...however its quality thick stuff as well. Could be blinding in there ...literally

The orca is black on the back, so it proved a good way to light proof the front doors. Good job as the original attempts with batons and insulation were like being in Blackpool. Need to get some velcros on there to hold the front in place like curtain. Got a few more light leaks to solve to...

Biggest thing now is getting it shut secure. Stealth if possible. Hopefully be up and running by end of weekend.

Temps seem to be about 25c with fan 50%, real nice pull on the fan, had a smoke in there and no smell of smoke anywhere And...totally silent up to 75% fan, then just low ambient noise. As long as get the light leaks sorted and find a locking mechanism..happy days.

So what to pop....! Cheers for help and all the other diarys on here that have been great resource

Bob

Edited August 20, 2016 by bobnudd

[Captain Bonglington]

Nice build @@bobnudd!

Regarding the light leaks, P profile draught excluder is handy for around the doors, I also used some heavy duty stuff, it's for sealing large gaps and is almost like memory foam. I put a run of it down the gap between my doors, it's really good stuff.

[Guest]

Cheers Captain need to get some excluder so I'll go for the thick stuff

For sure old wardrobes are easier to light tight

Nice build @@bobnudd!

Regarding the light leaks, P profile draught excluder is handy for around the doors, I also used some heavy duty stuff, it's for sealing large gaps and is almost like memory foam. I put a run of it down the gap between my doors, it's really good stuff.

[Joint hogger]

How many holes did you drill in the floors top plate ?

another thing you could maybe do is tidy your cables up if you can be arsed, plus it's safer as you don't want cables rolled up as they can overheat.