My Second Cabinet

[trigger-420]

Nice cabinet.

Things to consider, reflectors for you CFL when ever possible. The more wattage you put in the more heat. I doubt the one fan will even come close to getting it under full grow. Concentrate of creating and controlling an environment. It is the single most important thing you can do for success in your garden.

Lighting distance or penetration is not good with CFL, so plan carefully. Will you raise and lower the light or the plant? You will need to stay within 4" to be most effective.

I luv this DIY stuff

very good points. I appreciate the line of thoughts. First off, based off of the size and mounting positioning of my CFL's. I think i will probably make some reflectors outta pepsi cans.

Although the fan looks small in the pic, i do believe it will get the job done. Its a 115V fan and winds up like a jet engine lol (sound may be an issue though)

I agree with your point on creating the environment and understand that temperature, humidity, ph, air are all contributing factors in doing so.

As far as the penetration goes, I think i will probably raise the plants. although i do have the ability to keep the CFL's where they are, and making a drop down of a different type. would i get good penetration if i placed some mylar or other reflective material on the floor or the medicine cabinet?

thanks again SmokzAlot, i appreciate the input and thank you in advance for answering my questions.

 

[SmokzAlot]

In most cases you want to reflect when ever possible. Reach for maximum bang for the buck spent. You are paying for the electric get every bit out you can. When it comes to CFL its location, location, location. Get it close or it being wasted. It's radiant ability is limited by the technology of the light. Look at it as a weak radio signal. The further you get the less you receive. Side lighting is good with CFL. Watch out for the higher wattage bulbs they can get pretty warm. Plants touch them and die. Tube type as in 48" and such are not that way. The plant can lay on it and survive. Just things to think about.

As for your ventilation it can be calculated. CF of the box vs the fan's CFM rating. You must also allow for fresh air in. Do you know the CFM of your fan and the CF of your space?

I will point you here for most questions you will have.
how-grow-marijuana-everything-you-need-know

 

[Stoned4daze61]

Looks pretty good. I think I commented on another one of your threads but like smokzalot suggested you want the bulbs to be within 4" to get your maximum lumens available.

Also the 2700k is good for flowering but you might want to add a few daylight (6500k) bulbs during veg.

You can also get those hanging construction shop lights or the clamp reflector lights for like $7 and hang them close to the canopy. That way you can easily adjust the bulbs, and keep the ones you have mounted already on the walls for supplemental lighting.

You can get the actual 150w 2700k CFL's for $10-20 from Home depot or lowes. They are 300w equivalents and are considerably larger then the 23-27 watts and will help with penetrating the canopy.

 

[trigger-420]

SmokzAlot, Stoned4daze61 gotta hand it to you guys. I have posted in other areas to try and rouse an answer and get nothing. You guys have put it into simple terms for me to understand. the simplicity of the percentages is right on.

 

[nachomama]

Great cabinet , I like especially that you ground the procelan socket to make room for the wire . I had to go behind the wall to wire mine . ( no dremel )
My cabinet is the same size and your cfl 23 or 26 watt cfls will do fine . Use daylight type for vegging and soft light for flowering . I grow 4 plants in mine and they get to 18 " avg .

 

[nachomama]

I use the mylar for reflector in mine and I have various length spacers cut at 1" ecrement DIFFERENT lengths to put under the grow tray , in other words take the plants to the lights and go shorter towards the floor of the cabinet as the plants get taller . No need to adjust lights at all this way

 

[trigger-420]

Great cabinet , I like especially that you ground the procelan socket to make room for the wire . I had to go behind the wall to wire mine . ( no dremel )
My cabinet is the same size and your cfl 23 or 26 watt cfls will do fine . Use daylight type for vegging and soft light for flowering . I grow 4 plants in mine and they get to 18 " avg .

thanks for the vote of confidence. after reading hundreds of posts, you start to question yourself when it comes to the lights and all around design. I do appreciate all the feedback and I am sure i will grab me some 6500k bulbs and run them at 75% with the 2700k @ 25% through the Veg stage. after that, i think i that when i goto the 12/12 i will switch it around. or should i go all 100% 2700k for flowering? sorry for all the questions guys. I really do appreciate all the feedback. things are starting to get spendy, so i try and think everything out before i make a decision on spending for equipment on my medicine cabinet.

 

[NCDude]

Looks good...thanks for posting

 

[trigger-420]

Alright, so at this point construction came to a halt. My wife took me on a weekend get away. A well deserved one to say the least. Now that I am back and my back is feeling a bit better. I will get jumping on construction again. one quick question:

What kind of effect would mirrors have on the medicine cabinet? Mounted on the walls, ceilings and floor of the cabinet.

 

[Stoned4daze61]

Mirrors are not ideal. Use mylar or poly film, both aren't very expensive and are very reflective.

As for the bulbs, the 75% 2700k/ 25% 6500k will work good for flowering, nice mixed spectrum or you could go all 2700k

 

[trigger-420]

Great cabinet , I like especially that you ground the procelan socket to make room for the wire . I had to go behind the wall to wire mine . ( no dremel )
My cabinet is the same size and your cfl 23 or 26 watt cfls will do fine . Use daylight type for vegging and soft light for flowering . I grow 4 plants in mine and they get to 18 " avg .

cool cool. any pics? i would really like to see how you utilized the same amount of space that i have.

 

[trigger-420]

Alright, so I am back at it again. Been pretty busy this weekend so construction was pretty slow. Anyway, I did some re-figuring and decided to make my intake vent larger. The one I had was pretty small and i did not want to create a strong forceful wind due to the smaller hole.

Here is the new Intake

I placed a vent grill on it and as usual used a screen to keep out any pests that might wander.

An inside view of the intake vent. you can barely see the screen, but its there

Finally got the rest of the light fixtures Mounted. This will allow me to run 8 x 100W 5000k and 6 x 23W 2700k CFL's

I used 1/4" ready rod and drilled a couple holes in ceiling. This will also allow me to lower or raise the 100W CFL's

testing the fixtures and my wiring work. everything is warming up nicely

This thing is brighter than the ball on new years eve. lol

Another shot of the intake vent. I will be installing a hood so that when its dark, it is actually dark.

 

[trigger-420]

In this image you can see that I am running the two different color specs. Got the lower 2700k and the higher 5000k. as they sit, its a percentage of 80/60. something like that LMAO. im not good at math. I also have some extra 2700k so i can add more if needed. Or do you guys think i should pick up some extra 5000k? let me know what you guys think.

I will also be using longer ready rod of the same size to create a shelf that can be raised and lowered. Will place the ready rod in the four corners of the medicine cabinet with a shelf running the width and lenght of the cabinet.

 

[trigger-420]

The plan for manana is as follows:

1. wrap up all the wiring
2. Put a 2x3 in the middle for door support
3. Get the doors cut and mounted.
4. insulate the doors
5. Mount Door handles and locks
6. Mount Handles on bottom of frame so it can be picked up and moved.
7. start running tests with actual timers temps while dark, temps while lights on. residual temps just after lights out etc etc.......

 

[trigger-420]

rock on my feller farmers. Well started late last night on my medicine cabinet. I started about 11PM MST. didnt come in the house until about 1:30 AM. I really do love the way this medicine cabinet is coming together.

started the evening by drilling a small hole in my thumb.

I was not done there, I then ended up grinding some skin off my finger.

Got some support set for the door and wall.

Set the support using a piece of metal that i grinded in half using a cutting wheel.

another reason why i like using the R-Tech Insulation.

Actually had to set the insulation before the wall lol.

Got the wall put in and ready to start hanging and insulating the door.

Another view of the wall. Might build the door to hang or to swing out. have not decided yet.

got the door set in so that i can start and figure out how I will mount it. I want maximum seal. No gaps and no air or light to escape.
Also began running tests at this point. with the lights on, the cab sits at approx. 90' degrees. This is of course with the door not fully mounted or insulated. when the fan kicks on, it drops down to and carries consistently at 79' Degrees. My concern at this point is to test with lights out. to see how long the residual heat carries over.

 

[StonerJ]

You should be using electrical boxes (preferably steel) to mount those porcelain fixtures. You should never, ever, mount those porcelain fixtures directly to the wood. The boxes should't cost you more than $1 each or so. You mount the boxes onto the wood, then the porcelain fixtures onto the boxes. You could use "pancake" boxes which are round and are only 1/2" deep. They'll have knockouts to route wiring into the box to connect to the wiring lugs of the porcelain fixtures.

The back wiring of those sockets is extremely unsafe being directly up against bare wood. It is a definite fire hazard.

 

[trigger-420]

You should be using electrical boxes (preferably steel) to mount those porcelain fixtures. You should never, ever, mount those porcelain fixtures directly to the wood. The boxes should't cost you more than $1 each or so. You mount the boxes onto the wood, then the porcelain fixtures onto the boxes. You could use "pancake" boxes which are round and are only 1/2" deep. They'll have knockouts to route wiring into the box to connect to the wiring lugs of the porcelain fixtures.

The back wiring of those sockets is extremely unsafe being directly up against bare wood. It is a definite fire hazard.

I do understand the importance of electrical boxes. And, i do appreciate your concern. I hope that the precautions i took are good enough in preventing any type of pinch or press on the wires. they are sitting pretty free with no pressure. I dremmeled down the plastic fixture so that the wire had a place to run. As an extra precaution, i have the small pancake fixture boxes on the next purchase list. thanks for the heads up bro-jangles!

 

[StonerJ]

I do understand the importance of electrical boxes. And, i do appreciate your concern. I hope that the precautions i took are good enough in preventing any type of pinch or press on the wires. they are sitting pretty free with no pressure. I dremmeled down the plastic fixture so that the wire had a place to run. As an extra precaution, i have the small pancake fixture boxes on the next purchase list. thanks for the heads up bro-jangles!

The pinch or bend is not the concern. What you have are two dissimilar metals touching each when you attach the copper wiring to the brass lugs. It is completely possible over time for that connection to oxidize resulting in a high resistance connection. That high resistance connection then heats up with the current from the lighting flowing through. That heating can generate enough heat to ignite the wood that the porcelain fixture is mounted on. This is serious stuff & a pancake box to mount that porcelain fixture only costs $1 or so. That's pretty cheap insurance for some peace of mind in knowing that it's wired properly. I am an electrical engineer and in my 41 years since getting a degree in electrical engineering & working as both an industrial & residential electrician, I have seen some things that would make your hair stand on end. By mounting those back wired fixtures directly pin the wood, you are inviting a disaster. As I say, those $1 pancake boxes are pretty cheap insurance.

Better safe than sorry, especially when it comes to home & family.

 

[trigger-420]

that is very sound information and much appreciated. Stuff i did not know about. thanks tons for the information. I always thought it was just the pinch or pressing materials. definately gonna grab those boxes before i fire up the box for an extended period of time. raised your rep in appreciation. thanks again.

 

[StonerJ]

that is very sound information and much appreciated. Stuff i did not know about. thanks tons for the information. I always thought it was just the pinch or pressing materials. definately gonna grab those boxes before i fire up the box for an extended period of time. raised your rep in appreciation. thanks again.

You're weclome....glad to help.