Drobe build

[green_machine]

I got the power tools out today and managed to finish some of the bigger tasks on the drobe.

 

First of I drilled a couple of holes to hold my extension chord, I used a 750W hammer dril fiited with a No. 5 masonoary drill bit and No.5 rawl plugs then screwed in a couple of screws to hang the extension chord from.

 

 

I also marked and cut out the intake section in the roof of the flower cabinet, I treid going in with a hole saw first but this gave a very bad finish on the exit end, so I swapped to a large drill bit and things worked out much better. I still need to go voer this with a file to give me a perfect fit, but I will keep working on this today and holefully get it finished later on.

 

 

greenie

 

e2a - quick DIY question again I need to cut a 4" hole into one of my side panels for my extraction, but the largest hole saw I have for my drill is only 56mm, do you think I could get away with using a jigsaw and free-handing this? as you can see above my jigsaw skills are very poor so I am a bit nervous

Edited November 5, 2020 by green_machine
spelling and add a question

[green_machine]

After a lot of filing and sanding I finally got my intake fans fitted into the roof.

 

I still need to drill ahole so I can pass wires from the veg chamber to the extension chord in the flower chamber but it looks good and I am pretty happy. Ignore the scuff marks and things for the moment, as I said I am going to go through and give everything a coat of paint once it is all finished.

 

I also cut out the extraction hole form the side panel and tested it's size with my fan.

 

 

Lastly I drilled the passive air vents into the veg cabinet, It didn't really go as I planned as there were some wooden beams for the wardrobe behind where I had drilled a couple of the holes which will reduce the size of my intakes but if necessary I can increase the ammount of holes up here.

 

 

atb

greenie

[green_machine]

I went though and sealed all the cracks in the drobe yesterday. it wass a big job but I only took acouple of pictures for illustrative purposes.

 

Before sealing;

 

After sealing:

 

 

I ended up just sealing the whole drobe with the caulk I had, after it has dried I will sand off to give a nice clean finish and then go in with the silicone to make everything water and humidity safe.

 

I also purchased the WAC1 fan controller, it was a bit of a mission to find one, it looks like xpelair have got a new version out, but I was able to find it on the the bay and it should be here for the middle of next week.

 

atb

greenie

[Funk P]

Nice man if the Mrs ever lets me I'll refer to this!

[green_machine]

I got my subscription in today! I went for the animal biscuits so seeds are on the way for the first grow in the new drobe!

 

I also got my WAC1 controller for my fan today.

 

 

Looks good but I am so confused on what I need to do with this

 

I have seen a lot of people like to buy a single plug extension and wire this up to the WAC1 so all you need to do is plug your fan in, but since the space of my electrics is quite small I was wondering if I can cut the wire for my fan and wire this directly to the the WAC1?

 

Secondly, how do I get the wires into the box? it all seems sealed and I am not sure how to get the wires past the case?

 

Lastly, is it possible to mount this onto the wall using screws? I really don't want to have to chisel out a cavity in my external brickwork to fit this, that seems like asking for trouble with my level of diy skills

 

greenie

[growinggold]

Yeah you can screw it wall and direct on to fan wire. I did mine here with an additional fuse, so if hopefully something goes wrong it takes out one or the other and not both. 

 

Look on the photos here:

 

 

You will see I used a 14mm drill bit and some covers I had left over from my one my diyled lights.

 

Also remember nnot to use 1 function. That's right isn't it @Joint hogger

 

[green_machine]

Thanks @growinggold the pictures made it much easier to understand.

 

If I don't have the covers you used for the wire entry points do you think I would be fine going in directly with the wires? I would drill a smaller hole the same diameter of the wire to get a tight fit?

 

Thanks

greenie

 

 

[green_machine]

@growinggold Hey bud I had another quick question for you when you have a sec please.

 

I assume you took the back cover off before drilling your access points, but did you put anything inside while drilling to support the case and stop it from cracking?

 

thanks

greenie

[growinggold]

What's I did is I took the pointy end of the flat drill bit, poked it through the middle of where they have the hole marked. then when I saw it come though other side I stopped and  used it from the other side poking the point bit in the hole. It was a tad messy bit thee covers make it look tidy. I was going to just use cable Joel before I found these . I think it will be lot tidyer hole if u do it smaller. 

Edited November 10, 2020 by growinggold

[Joint hogger]

@growinggold yes mate, position 1 power supply is too low for most fans to run, so best using no2 as the minimum setting.

 

 

[green_machine]

I got the holes drilled into the fan controller today, it went better than I thought. I used a no. 8 spur point drill bit with a piece of wood behind the plastic to support it and it went through easily. The hole was a little small so I then got the dremmel out and expanded it a bit, I went a bit too far so I might need to think about how to secure the wires when I connect it all up.

 

 

I also got the masonry drill out and drilled 2 more holes into the external brickwork, fitted them with rawl plugs and mounted the casing to the brickwork.

 

 

I don't want to wire it up until the filter and fan are in location, I figure if I am cutting the main power chord I want to make sure I have enough wire on both ends, so it seeems safer to do this after I know exactly where I will be placing the fan.

 

Lastly, I got the light hung up in the veg cabinet and tested it. Small correction on the light, earlier on I had said it was 24w but I checcked when I was installing it and it is only 14w, I have germinated and veg'd plants under this light previously so I think it should be ok, but I can add another one if it becomes necessary.

 

 

The veg cabinet is pretty much ready to go now, I want to touch up the paint in it, there are few scrathes and chips which have happened while I have been working and I will also need to build a light baffle to stop light from the fans leaking into the flowering cabinet and tidy up the wires.

 

greenie

[green_machine]

I got a very pleasent package in the mail today, the animal biscuits have arrived!

 

 

Can't wait to get these popped! Seeing these arrive really gave me an incentive to get the drobe finished so I got a heap of work done today.

 

First up I attached magnetic strip to both of the side panels to hold them in place.

 

 

Both panels got fitted back into the drobe, but they can be removed if necessary.

 

 

I remembered to make some place to pass the wires through in the top panel and we have a nice snug fit there. I will still need to tidy up the wires a bit, but I haave some reflective tape coming from One tree so once that is here I will tape everything up and out of the way. the screws comming out of the panel are from the magnetic strips, I used the smallest screws I had but they were still a bit large, so I will get the dremmel out again and trim these down before re-painting the drobe.

 

 

I have also attached the inner door to the drobe and the lock to keep everything secure.

 

 

And I got the outer door back on the drobe as well. It fits perfectly, you wouldn't be able to tell there was anything unusual behind it.

 

 

Apart from a few small bits and pieces like the paiting, the only major thing left to do is the extraction system. I emailed One tree today to confirm my order, and everything from there should be with me next week!

Taking this into account, I plan to germ the animal biscuits next week, although I will start that in a grow diary for those that want to tag along.

 

Nearly there everyone! thanks for all the help along the way.

 

greenie

Edited November 12, 2020 by green_machine
clicked submit instead of attach

[growinggold]

Nice work buddy, you've taken your time here looks great!. 

 

Excited for diary drop link in here when it starts if you can please. 

[growinggold]

I may have just ordered some animal biscuits too :/ ha.

[green_machine]

@growinggold Nice one mate, I have seen a lot of Vic's work on here over the years and it has always been impressive, I am rally looking forward to popping these beans and seeing what we can find!

 

I thought I would do a quick update on the state of the drobe. I have no finished all the work on it apart from adding the filter and the ducting. These should be with me tomorrow or the day after so I am pretty much good to go.

 

First of I added a false floor to the veg cabinet, this was acts is a baffle to stop any light leaking from here into the main flower section. It was pretty easy to make I cut out some 2cm high posts from a shelf that used to be in the wardrobe and aglued these onto the base of the veg cabinet, then anpother shelf was added on top of these.

 

 

I was having a problem with light leaking out of the main door to the cabinet so I knocked up a little internal door for this as well.

 

 

This was made with cardboard and some packing foam, the internal section was made from the foam, both because it was white and water resistant, while the outer cardboard was just to provide a bit of additional support. It is held in place with some velcro strips.

 

 

Now once the outer door is closed, next to no light leaks thorugh into the room, which is just what I wanted. I will probably replace this with wood at some point, but this lets me get started straight away.

 

 

I also went and fitted a shelf in the flower section so I have somewhere to place my pots. I drilled this with as many 2cm holes as I could so that air can pass through this to the filter. I did try to look for some welded wire mesh to use instead, but everything I was able to find was made from very thin wire and there was not a chance it owuld suport the weight of the pots. I will keep looking and aim to replace this with something down the line.

 

 

I got the fan connected to the controller and tested it and it works great, on the 3rd setting you can't hear anything from the drobe. I also installed some hooks and bungee chords to hang the fan filter from.

 

Lastly I touched up all of the paint on the drobe and checked very carefully (in the dark) for any light leaks between the veg section and flower section, there was I section which was leaking a bit of light, so I filled this with wood filler to correct.

 

A bit of topic and I will add this to the diary, when I start it, but I got my compost sterilised today and will innoculate it toight with some ecothrive biosys. I plan to soak my seeds tonight and then get them planted tomorrow!

 

atb

greenie

Edited November 18, 2020 by green_machine