I need some feedback on my first grow room setup!

GonnaGrow

New Member
First off, Thank you for viewing my post, and taking time to give me your feedback. This is my first indoor grow, and all the information I've gotten has come from online or just from friends locally. My room is still a work in progress, and I hope to complete it within the next week or two. Here's where I'm at now and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
The room is in a basement, and I started by putting up some studs.
10799753_10205290756575568_1864956351_nstuds.jpg


For the walls I used these 2" thick panels made of two sheets of fiberglass with 2" of foam in between. The panels interlock. After that I sealed all gaps and and the seams between the panels with silicone. I then Painted the walls flat white, and hung my 1000w XXXL air cooled reflector, carbon filter, exhaust fan, and duct work. That's where I'm at today.

Next I plan to drill a hole for my air intake fan, and for a short piece of pipe where all my cords will go through. The dimensions of the room are 6x6x7. After this room is done, it will become the veg room and I will build the flower room right beside it. The flowering room will be somewhere around 7x10x7.
How do you think I've done so far? I don't know how I feel the wye duct connector between the carbon filter and the exhaust fan. Originally, I wasn't planning on using it. Instead, just have two fans. One for the filter, and one for the lights. More to Come later.
 
Don't even think about covering up those studs until you put in more electrical capacity. Build to code. Add a circuit to your breaker panel for each room, if possible. Don't use metal electrical boxes, Put in GFI. Put light switches in for some of the outlets and a room light. You need to explain (to yourself) exactly how you will power all the fans, AC, lights, pumps, timers, controllers and the vacuum cleaner. Buy a cheap fire extinguisher and put in down there while you build and leave it there.

You'll also need to provide for ventilation. Where's the air inlet? You'll probably get cool, dry air from the house. Does light cooling air mix with plant air? Hot, moist, pungent air needs to go somewhere. Where does the air go in the winter? In the summer? Where does the moisture go? Don't build a mold bomb.

You're getting to a critical point; don't be too hasty to cover those walls. Once you cover it up, it becomes a lot more expensive to add infrastructure.:high-five:
 
Don't even think about covering up those studs until you put in more electrical capacity. Build to code. Add a circuit to your breaker panel for each room, if possible. Don't use metal electrical boxes, Put in GFI.



Hello again, sorry I've been gone for a few day's I work double shifts on the weekends. I had a little time to squeeze some work in on the GR. Now before you shit your pants when you see the exposed wire, just know that I was just mocking it up. Tonight I'm going to put the wire on the other side of the wall and run it through the studs. I installed a 40 amp 240v breaker and ran the wire from the box to the grow room. I secured it with plastic staples like you said and drilled a separate hole for it to go through instead of running it through that old air duct hole. I installed a 240v GFI in the middle of run and then a 240v 500w baseboard at the end.
GOPR4602_1416797870857_high.JPG
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I originally bought the Sun System Trifecta kit, and the xxxl reflector.
904520.1.jpg
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It runs on either 120v or 240v, and I was planning on using the ballast from it plugged into my new GFI outlet. I'm a little confused as far as how to set it up. I think I need to buy the 240v cord for the ballast that wasn't included (seen here)
CRD240.1.jpg
. But my 240v receptacle doesn't have the same prong setup.:scratchinghead: So do I need one of these
400021.jpg
.

Also on the ballast itself there are two inputs for either hps or mh. The cord coming out of my Sun system xxxl reflector has the same prongs as the hps input on the ballast. Currently I'm using a mh bulb so I'm assuming I just plug the reflector into the hps input no matter which bulb I'm using right? I hope this makes sense. :thanks:
 
Hello again, sorry I've been gone for a few day's I work double shifts on the weekends. I had a little time to squeeze some work in on the GR. Now before you shit your pants when you see the exposed wire, just know that I was just mocking it up. Tonight I'm going to put the wire on the other side of the wall and run it through the studs. I installed a 40 amp 240v breaker and ran the wire from the box to the grow room. I secured it with plastic staples like you said and drilled a separate hole for it to go through instead of running it through that old air duct hole. I installed a 240v GFI in the middle of run and then a 240v 500w baseboard at the end.

I originally bought the Sun System Trifecta kit, and the xxxl reflector.

It runs on either 120v or 240v, and I was planning on using the ballast from it plugged into my new GFI outlet. I'm a little confused as far as how to set it up. I think I need to buy the 240v cord for the ballast that wasn't included. (seen here)


CRD240.1.jpg
. But my 240v receptacle doesn't have the same prong setup.:scratchinghead: So do I need one of these
400021.jpg
.

It depends on how you ran the 220V. If you ran 4 wires (Red, black (220), White (neutral), and ground) then you also have 120V available between each leg and neutral, for example between black and white. That's the most flexible. Then you can have a mix of 220V and 120 V outlets.

If you ran just 3 conductors, then you can only use 220V outlets. Don't be tempted to use the ground as a neutral.
There's a bunch of options in the US for 220/240V.

I used the L6-20P/L6-30R connectors for my band saw, for example. Wire in another box with a L6-30R outlet. Cut the standard 120V plug off a 120V cord and add the 220V twist lock. That's what I'd do. You should be able to get these at your local stores. Pick whatever 220V socket and plug pair is stocked. Someone adding a 220V table saw might have to do this.

Note the GFI is there to save your life. It won't do that if the mis-wired equipment is ahead of it. Hopefully you're using the "load" side of the GFI(s) to protect the baseboard and all outlets in the room. You can use GFI breakers too, FYI. The GFI outlets are mostly for retrofitting existing circuits. It sounds like you may want to run a 120V circuit for fans, etc too, if you haven;t already done so.

You are doing pretty good. Always double check your electrical work the next day. Look carefully for any loose connections. Always check to make sure there's no voltage between any equipment cases and the exposed copper plumbing or equipment on other circuits in the basement. Good luck.

Also on the ballast itself there are two inputs for either hps or mh. The cord coming out of my Sun system xxxl reflector has the same prongs as the hps input on the ballast. Currently I'm using a mh bulb so I'm assuming I just plug the reflector into the hps input no matter which bulb I'm using right? I hope this makes sense. :thanks:

I have no experience with these. Someone else will have to respond.

BTW: here's what my current grow looks like:
IMAG023922.jpg
 
It depends on how you ran the 220V. If you ran 4 wires (Red, black (220), White (neutral), and ground) then you also have 120V available between each leg and neutral, for example between black and white. That's the most flexible. Then you can have a mix of 220V and 120 V outlets.

If you ran just 3 conductors, then you can only use 220V outlets. Don't be tempted to use the ground as a neutral.
There's a bunch of options in the US for 220/240V.

I used 12/2 wire with 3 conductors. So you think I should buy the 220v twist lock and put it on my ballast power supply cord. Then install the matching outlet after the GFI. Right?



Hopefully you're using the "load" side of the GFI(s) to protect the baseboard and all outlets in the room. You can use GFI breakers too, FYI. The GFI outlets are mostly for retrofitting existing circuits. It sounds like you may want to run a 120V circuit for fans, etc too, if you haven;t already done so.

Yes I used the load side to protect the baseboard. The first line I ran was a 120v but currently my ballast is plugged into that. once I install the new twist lock outlet I can move my ballast to it and put all my other equipment on the 120v

Do you run co2? Ive got my equipment setup but Im waiting to get my environment controller to use it. I should have it in the next couple of weeks. Here's what it looks like.
20141124_042803.jpg


Also in regards to your cabinet: It looks sexxxy!!
 
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