The State of the Art Box. Water cooled, Sealed, Co2, Dimmable 3000 watts!

budlydoright

Well-Known Member
Ok, Here's my latest creation. It's a 12' x 4' x 5' sealed box, broken into a 4 x 4 veg and a 4 x 8 flower chamber. I would like to say I spared no expense putting this together, but really I built as much myself and put the scratch into the lighting.

It is built out of 2 x 3's and 1/4" 0sb. Every seam and joint is completely sealed and the doors will be weatherstripped as well.



This is the heart of any water cooled system. This is a 60+ gallon insulated rez, with a homebuilt 6000btu chiller on top. It is built specifically for this space. The room this box is in is large enough to absorb the heat this thing generates. It will be filled with RO water ph'd to 8.0. For more info on the chiller ck my sig.

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This is the water filter and plumbing that feed the Fresca Sol fixtures as well as the water chilled air conditioner. It is 3/4" send and 1" return. Each fixture has a valve that can regulate the flow from the 1200GPH pump. The pump also utilizes a UV sterilization lamp that should keep this a chlorine free rez.

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All three doors off. Each door is 4' wide 5" tall and is completely removed to gain access.

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The 2 doors on the flower chamber.

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The Fresca Sols are plumbed up and ready ro roll.

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both Frescas will have the magnum reflectors on them. They will both be running 1000 watt sodiums. I have an Eye in one and just received a ushio for the other. Total lighting power is close to 65 watts per square foot.

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some of the goodies that have come in. I have decided to go with the galaxy select a watt. I can fire a 400, 600 or 1000 watt bulb with it. Or I can dim a 1000 watt down.

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Here's the water chiller air conditioner I am hoping will keep things cool in there. If it doesn't cut it I'll throw a window unit in there. It is a 6" icebox, 8" vortex fan and soon a carbon scrubber. If it works, I'll do an 8" icebox for the flower and use the 6" for the veg side. This in theory will give me 2 completely seperate environments. I plan on using those thermostats with a fan speen control on them.

I have yet to get the wiring in. I utilize an electrical distribution system that will be moved from my old system soon. It is 50amp 220 plug, 6 guage 4 conductor cable going to a prototype automation system i purchased last year. It basically gives me 8 relay switched 15 amp outlets that can be switched by time, temp, humidity, co2 or any of 8 external on off switches.
The temp and humidity sensors weren't accurate enough and it was really hard to program so I asked for my money back, got a refund and got to keep the unit as well. Makes a great distro and an awsome timer. I have a water cooled Co2 generator but will be going with bottled this round. Wanted to try it, seems like this small of a space, completley sealed shouldn't have fire in it! So each chamber will have it's own co2 controller and bottle.

Next step is to test the air conditioner. I'm filling the chiller over the next couple of days. I'm going to fire a bare 1k in there which should bring the temps over 100 fairly quickly, then fire up the AC and see if it can contain it. If all works as planned, I should be up and running next week. I have 20 blueberry clones that just went under a 600 watt solarmax MH.
 
Ok, my water chilled air condtioner failed miserably. I guess the icebox needs a much greater temperature differential to work properly. So it's back to the drawing board on the AC. I hate to put a window unit in there, so i may take one apart and just drop the coils through the ceiling and put a fan on it. Much like my chiller, as a matter of fact my old chiller will work just fine. I'll post pictures whem I get it done. The icebox will likely end up on my cooltube and in the veg chamber.
 
After much head scracthing, I have devised a new air conditioning system. I took my old chiller made from a widow AC and setup a semi-minisplit AC.

I cut a slot large enough for the coil from the AC unit to slip through. The compressor sits on the top of the box and the coil hangs down into the box.

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Heres the coil dressed in pipe insulation

I wanted to to utilize my carbon scrubber/fan as the air source for my AC so I needed to come up with a fan shroud that terminated in a 6" duct. I fabricated this out of a 4 dollar storage box from wal mart.



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The coil/heat exchanger fits nicely in this storage box.

This design allows me to keep the box sealed up easier plus it cost me almost nothing to do. The air wil be drawn through a 6" x 20" carbon filter with an 8" vortex fan and exhausted through the coil. the thermal coupler still functions normally and there's a 1/2" water line to drain the condensation.

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Here's the coil in the box

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not too shabby looking! once the silicone glue is dry, I'll pull the tape.

things are tight in the box. Every bit of space savings is worth the effort. i still have a dehumidifier to mount in here!

These blueberry clones are veging under a 600 watt solarmax MH waiting for their new home to be completed.

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I should have the electrical done this week and be moved in by early next.

Check out our new Journal
 
thanks mang! check out the journal in the sig. it will have the actual grow, this thread will have the tek updates to the box.
 
High Bud!
Just droppin' in to offer some input on your Ice Box AC. Your theory on set up is sound but it may just need tweaking.
My set up is very similar and took alot of trial and error to get it to work the way I needed it to.
You may be able to drop the temps it produces by simply trying different lengths of duct work between the blower and Ice Box. Hydro Innovations recommends a min of 250cfm but for using the Ice Box as an ac you can take it down to 150cfm and get the air cooler at the point of exchange.
For water flow rate at the Ice Box inlet I've found that a gph of around 150-250gph offers excellent heat exchange. Right now mine is set at 180gph entering the first Ice Box. I'm using two Ice Boxes daisy chained together and I have not yet measured what the flow rate is on the second Ice Box.
If the Ice Box is going to function correctly at all it of course mainly depends on water temps. As long as your water temps do not exceed 75 degrees it should cool the air. You also have to find the point when you are creating more cool air than the hot air the lights/system creates to tip the scales in your favor to beat the heat.
Just for reference my reservoir starts off at 55 degrees and injects air at 64 degrees at the beginning of the lights on period. By lights off the water is 72 degrees and the injected air is never above 76 degrees. My grow room has yet to climb over 84 degrees.
:nicethread:
 
Yea, I figured with some tweaking, but I run my water at 65 for the lamps. dont want to go down any lower as it may start to condense. I will try it again on my veg side. Sure would like to keep them completely seperate.
 
An engineering marvel Bud.. Are you driving your lights and co2 with just a 1200 gph pump? Is it a drop in? What make is it and did your grow from last year have any issues with the pump? The Fresca people sold me on a 1/2" little giant external pump but it is very loud and hot..
 
thanks darube. actually, I'm using bottled co2 this time round. when i did do water cooled I used a big utility grade pump with a 24 ft head. Just an 60 harbor freight deal. the 1200 gph is from lowes, it's their fountain pump line and has a UV lamp in it. If it craps out I can go exchange it that day!
Depending on how long a bottle lasts, i may go with a minigen and drive that off the 1200. the hydrogen required a hugh pump.

I have had no pump issues at all except the foam filter dissentigrating and making a mess of my rez. I'm currently running my 4th go round with the fresca setup and diy chiller.

check out the journal, i'm trying some cool stuff. It's currently growing.....
 
Bud.. Too cool that it is just a lowes pump.. Is it their "smartpond" submersible with UV? (I'm following your grow thread.. I enjoy your creativity..) Thanks again..

R
 
Bud.. Too cool that it is just a lowes pump.. Is it their "smartpond" submersible with UV? (I'm following your grow thread.. I enjoy your creativity..) Thanks again..

R

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's it.

I always try to factor in the failure potential of a piece of gear in my kit, what is the effect of the failure, how you deal with it and how much time do you have until that failure creates another?
With water cooled lighting the fuse is really short. If any one of your components goes down, your whole system is dark until it's replaced. There are no shops in my area that carry 3/4hp chillers or large pumps. They can order it and so can I but I likely need it that second. I may only have an hour in my day to take care of a problem, so I try to find items I can repurpose and that are plentiful and close.

Plus my karma has no problem exchanging something I have pounded the shit out of and used outside of its design parameters for a year at a big box like lowes or wal mart. Lowes replaced the pump after 1 year. Nothing wrong with it, just sleep better with a fresh one!
 
Perfect Grow Space, I think sooooooo, thats sweet, I need a down sized version of that.
Cant wait to see it functioning.
Peace
PS. Do you actually have a job? Cause I do and I would never have the time for that, lol
 
Perfect Grow Space, I think sooooooo, thats sweet, I need a down sized version of that.
Cant wait to see it functioning.
Peace
PS. Do you actually have a job? Cause I do and I would never have the time for that, lol

thanks man, lots of effort went into it thats for sure. I actually have 2 jobs and only spend a few minutes a day tending it. It is not in my home, so I only visit once a day, other than that it's completley unattended.

It is is use now, ck out the link in my sig. I'll be flipping in a few days.
 
Wow this is cool.

Im drawing the plans for a new water cooled grow room and I am brain storming ways to chill my resv for free using some geothermel techniques.

I have a year round cool basement. 60-66 degree depending on the season. I want to take three or four 55gallon steal drums, place them on the concrete slab amd run 60ft copper coils threw each 55 gallon drum. All four will will cool my single 55 gallon resv. In theory it is a sound idea. I too want to use the hydro innovations and the 8" icebox. If I keep my room at 85 degree with co2 I think my free water cooling method will work 100%.

It will be expandable. Even if the 4 steel 55g drums dont cool my resv I can run 150ft coil across the floor with box fans cooling the copper.

What do you think? I almost just want to dig a 25 ft hole with a 3ft radius and run a 150-200ft copper coil threw the ground and fill it with concrete. Then I can fully use the seasons to my advantage.
 
Wow this is cool.

Im drawing the plans for a new water cooled grow room and I am brain storming ways to chill my resv for free using some geothermel techniques.

I have a year round cool basement. 60-66 degree depending on the season. I want to take three or four 55gallon steal drums, place them on the concrete slab amd run 60ft copper coils threw each 55 gallon drum. All four will will cool my single 55 gallon resv. In theory it is a sound idea. I too want to use the hydro innovations and the 8" icebox. If I keep my room at 85 degree with co2 I think my free water cooling method will work 100%.

It will be expandable. Even if the 4 steel 55g drums dont cool my resv I can run 150ft coil across the floor with box fans cooling the copper.

What do you think? I almost just want to dig a 25 ft hole with a 3ft radius and run a 150-200ft copper coil threw the ground and fill it with concrete. Then I can fully use the seasons to my advantage.

I think that could work depending on the load you put on it.
I would consider the cost/savings. My chiller uses about 600 watts. In the winter when my ambient temps are in the high 50s low 60s it runs about 25% of the time. In the summer about 60-70% of the time.

Now what I get for my few bucks a month is a much more managable water system. When things start getting hot, I can crank the water down to 55-60, or if I want to add a little more heat to the room I can dial the water up to 85 which makes my AC run more which in turn acts as a dehumidifier.

I personally can't imagine not having this part of my environment controllable. I have no buffer space in my box. The flower chamber is only 160 cubic feet total of which up to 2/3 can be packed with foliage. For me, it's a very tricky balancing act. If you have more volume to work with you may not need as much control.

so tell me more about your lighting rig.
 
I think that could work depending on the load you put on it.
I would consider the cost/savings. My chiller uses about 600 watts. In the winter when my ambient temps are in the high 50s low 60s it runs about 25% of the time. In the summer about 60-70% of the time.

Now what I get for my few bucks a month is a much more managable water system. When things start getting hot, I can crank the water down to 55-60, or if I want to add a little more heat to the room I can dial the water up to 85 which makes my AC run more which in turn acts as a dehumidifier.

I personally can't imagine not having this part of my environment controllable. I have no buffer space in my box. The flower chamber is only 160 cubic feet total of which up to 2/3 can be packed with foliage. For me, it's a very tricky balancing act. If you have more volume to work with you may not need as much control.

so tell me more about your lighting rig.

Thanks for getting back with me +rep man!

I will be running 540w a growlewhydro LED lights for weeks 1-2, then the following weeks will be covered by two quantum 1000w dimmible ballast. I am thinking of running weeks 3-5 at 500w and weeks 6-9 at 750w.

I am doing a weekly perpetual harvest thats why I am referring to weeks 1-2, 3-5, 6-9 because it operates like a assembly line in theory. Adding 4 plants every 7 days starting at the LED side, passing under the 500wHPS and ending under the 750HPS.

So the two HID lights will be in magnum XXXL reflectors with two ice boxes between each light.

Since I will be running Co2 my temps will need to be around 85 degrees and I think with my ambient basement temps being in the 60s year round, I should have no problem not running a chiller and using geothermal heat transfer to my advantage.

I dont know though, I have never ran a liquid cooled system. I mean I can always had more drums if I need more heat dissipation or I can rig an A/C unit like you did and keep it on stand by. I mean it wont ever turn on unless my water temps pass a set point I suppose?

I will have a total of 1810w running for flower. I think 220 gallons of water should be enough to remove and transfer all the heat out of the 60ft copper coils and into the concrete slap. I hope.......we all like to dream green..lol. At least I could get away with 9-10 months out of the year that I can cool for free.
 
Budley - looks good man. I have been thinking about building a nice big grow/veg box in my attic once i find a new house (im living in a small apartment now) and have been debating about co2 supplementation. I am debating on using a hydrogen or a tank. I was thinking, the hydrogen, with the flame would eliminate the excess oxygen the plants give off. Is oxygen toxicity ever a problem?
 
I think you need lots of cubic feet for a hydrogen. I ran the same basic usit as the hydrogoen and it was unmanagable in my small space. If the tank doesn't last long enough, I'm going to look into the minigen.
 
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