UG's Paradise

[UrbanGrower]

Xlr8


First, congrats on the new gear!!

I have those hydrofarm reflectors - just like those, and I'm very pleased with them. Like most reflectors, the gasketing isn't super high quality, and I've replaced mine with better quality gasket material so that there is no smell leak through the reflectors. You may not have this issue, but it's something to be aware of. I'd try running them as is for now, and keep in mind this fact if you're having problems keeping the smell in check. I don't know which size mine are anymore, but the 2 I have are the same...

On the size discrepancy, I don't know, I'd probably just work with them as is and not worry about it, but I can see the other side, too. Unless you've planned things so that there isn't much overlap, you should be fine I'd think. Just my own 2 cents...

Looks like you've got some great stuff that should provide plenty of motivation when working on getting that basement pulled together.

Hope you had a great weekend! X

i keep hearing about the "shitty" gasket lining so id prefer to make it better. may i ask what kind of material you used? i see there's an EcoPlus gasket liner for hoods but id have to order it. smell isn't an issue but i want to keep the hoods as sealed as possible for cooling efficiency. I think ill keep the hoods and when i make another order ill ask for the ones i like better i hope you have a great weekend too buddy, props for the advice!

 

[SpaceGhost]

i feel like such an asshole bro, i went to my local hydro store last week and spent over an hour with the owner just planning out my room...only problem was when I started doing research, i found out that almost everything was 2x cheaper from the u.s!!!

best example ever,....C.A.P MLC-8X cost me $210 on website....the owner at the local place wanted to charge me $489.95 pre tax!!!

8" vortex cost me $213 on the site...local buddy wants $349.95.......and he has the fucking balls to tell me that all the prices he listed is from the manufacture themselves so he doesnt make a big profit?!?! it would have cost me over 5gs going to them, and i got everything for half that

You did what you had to do to get the most out of your dollar. I would have done the same. Look for another store in your area. Find the one that will price match, but then again your $$$ is worth more in the U.S, prices better, you might not be able too.

There is a huge mark up in the biz. my Spin Pro lists from the manufacture for over 600.00, but if they order enough or have a deal (?) with the manufacture they get a better whole sale price. I payed 330 for it and was using it that weekend.

You got some nice parts there. I bet it feels like Xmas. I'm not sure the difference in hoods but this is what I'd look for as if its a keeper. size (size maters), hammered reflective metal inside, does cover the hole inside, all areas? construction, ease of glass cleaning

 

[UrbanGrower]

yeah bro I really tried all I could to find the best deal locally, we have 5 hydro stores in the city and not a single one carries anything Hydrofarm, and anything made in the u.s has a ridiculous price on it (ie. C.A.P products, Can-Fan/Filter etc). I saved over $2000 from ordering online and the shipping was 3 days, everything turned out good in the end. I just got off the phone with buddy from m***ter **rdens and he said they were out of the regular Radiant 8 but decided to give me 2 of the brand new ones!!! They aren't on the market till October 31st so I'm pretty stoked about that. Looks like i'm stuck with the 600w though, until I make another order then he said theyll throw one in for free! I am almost done cleaning the basement too! , I will call a restoration service company tomorrow to get an estimate on mould remediation. Now for the electrician shit....I want to sort of have an idea before buddy comes here on how much all this will cost. Lets say I get a new 120a box with individual breakers, with 50' of 10/3 wiring or whatever it is and all the fittings/accessories/wires, how much am I looking at before the installation/labor??



$80-for 10m of 10-3 Wire
$100-120A sub panel breaker box w/ 12 circuits
$300-Four 2 Pole 40A circuit breaker
$70-2 Pole 20A circuit breaker
$50-couple of receptacles

anything else im missing? where my prices off? or did I screw something up? im just trying to plan this out so i dont get hit with a $2000 bill for the electrical/construction stuff and not know what im paying for

 

[Xlr8]

i keep hearing about the "shitty" gasket lining so id prefer to make it better. may i ask what kind of material you used? i see there's an EcoPlus gasket liner for hoods but id have to order it. smell isn't an issue but i want to keep the hoods as sealed as possible for cooling efficiency. I think ill keep the hoods and when i make another order ill ask for the ones i like better i hope you have a great weekend too buddy, props for the advice!

If smell isn't an issue, you may not want/need to bother with it. They won't leak enough to affect cooling efficiency I'm sure. It's just that any little leak will make smell an issue, as cannabis is some STANKY STINKY stuff! I wouldn't mess with it if not for smell issues myself. As far as what I used, it was some stuff I got at the local hardware store. It came on a roll like tape, and was like two-sided tape with about a 1/2" of foam in the middle. I wish I could think of more specifics, but I don't have any left or the packaging and it slips my mind what you called the stuff. I believe it's for weatherstripping?

 

[UrbanGrower]

props for the input brother, smell isn't an issue so I won't touch it unless it starts to crap out on me. i will use a good type of weatherstripping like you said if need be.

 

[donpaul.p]

you know this shitty gasket your on about, well to get round this just go into any car repair shop and buy some instant gasket stuff, its heat proof so wont cause any problems, its smells a bit when you first use it so let it dry for a few hours and the smell goes away once its dry, when it dries it dries like rubber, so you could use that or buy some of that black heat proof silicon, i only know about these products as im a car mechanic so have used them plenty of times, just make sure you read that its heat proof up to a certain temp, then you should have no issues,

these reflectors that have a cover are they really that good, i know it means you can have the plants closer but all i did to get my plants really close is use some small 12v computer fans, then i just lower the light to withing 2 or 3 inches on the plants and have these 12v fans blowing across the tops of the plants, this stops any burning what so ever, plus what would happen if the inline fan failed, would their be some fire risk due to the heat building up, i was looking at buying a new 400 watt hps and running 2 in my grow space, but temps would be an issue so i looked into the air cooled hoods but wasnt sure how safe they are if the fan stopped working,

 

[UrbanGrower]

ill prolly end up doing something like that. I actually got this hood in particular for a more focused footprint (3x3 instead of 5x5) for deep penetration and I've heard some good things about em. You raise a good point about fan temps but I've never heard of a powerful inline failing within 3-5 years from purchase date, plus I will have a dust shroom on it to prevent bugs,dust,dirt to prolong the life of the fan. I just purchased a 6kg "Flame Defender" temperature sensitive Fire Extinguisher that covers a 6x6 area when temps get above 150F. It's a very high pressurized unit that covers all electrical, lights, fans, pumps etc. unfortunately though, it leaves a residue for the fire not to re-ignite but that residue can damage computers/electronics so I'll mount my controllers,ballasts, and stats outside the room

 

[donpaul.p]

thats what i could do with, some kind of fire protection,

 

[UrbanGrower]

this cost me $129.99 and makes me feel a lot more relieved lol

 

[donpaul.p]

exactly what i need, ill see what they got in my country, its like the stuff they use in petrol stations, when theirs a fire they press this button and i think its co2 that comes out to put the fire out, i think its co2 or it might be carbon dioxide, i know its one of the 2 that smother the air and remove oxygen and this puts the fire out

 

[UrbanGrower]

most fire extinguishers use co2 but this one actually uses monoammonium phosphate (yellow powder that leaves sticky residue). The reason for this is that co2 is flammable, and a fire can possibly re-ignite if it has the chance too (some fire/heat source needed of course). MAP leaves a non-flammable substance on the extinguished material, reducing the chances of a re-ignition. Best thing about these, is they're automatic temperature sensitive!! I will never have a worry when I leave my house

 

[Xlr8]

Hi UG!

Flame defenders are an awesome idea to protect yourself, family and home. One note here though - the only scare I've personally had with fire was a ballast that shorted out*. I'm concerned if your flame defender is out of reach of your ballasts and controllers, as I think truly that's where some of your biggest risks are. If it comes down to an actual fire, screw the ballasts and controllers, ya know? Your life is SO much more valuable.

Also, I just saw someone else post something about a CAP controller that had the ground wire installed incorrectly inside the controller (Spaceghost) and he was lucky to have caught it as he just happened to look "under the hood" so to speak. Just looking out for you my friend.

*Fortunately I was home. I heard a loud "POP!" that sounded like a gunshot or something. Right away, I thought about the growspace, and headed toward the grow room. There was a horrible, acrid smell and a lot of "blue smoke". A circuit breaker had tripped on the ballast, but not completely, so it sat there continuing to spark like crazy and billow nasty smelling smoke. Pretty damned scary situation truth be told. For what it's worth, it was a Lumatek digital ballast. They were really great about replacing it and I had a new one in only about 3 days. BUT... yikes!!!

 

[UrbanGrower]

holy shit man I didn't even think about that lol, especially if I wasn't home omg!!

I know these C.A.P controllers claim to be real easy to install but I'm going to leave every little spec of wiring to the masters, it just sucks I didn't learn any of this shit in school or from my dad(not a hands on guy lol).

id like to have all my elec stuff outside the room (i have a fire extinguisher out there too) but I just don't think i can make it happen. Ill have to find a good place to mount a board with everything on it. hopefully the ballasts wont heat the room up to much

 

[donpaul.p]

id say my only concern is with the ballast, they got so hot and it would be very easy for them to catch fire if something failed, the ballast is what i worry about the most, the rest of the stuff should not cause a fire, the only thing that could cause me a fire is the ballast really,

 

[Xlr8]

id say my only concern is with the ballast, they got so hot and it would be very easy for them to catch fire if something failed, the ballast is what i worry about the most, the rest of the stuff should not cause a fire, the only thing that could cause me a fire is the ballast really,

Ballasts are my biggest concern too, but then you saw what I went through already!!

 

[donpaul.p]

you aint wrong their mate, i was surprised at how hot the ballasts get, when i set my room up i had about a 6 inch gap at the bottom so i slid my ballast under their and switched it on, it was only by me checking it that i noticed it was getting hotter and hotter, so now its outside the room where it can get air and not put more heat in the hps room, i didnt know how hot they got as i never used a ballast before, now i know and i wont be doing that again, i dread to think what would of happened if i went out and left it where it was,

 

[UrbanGrower]

has anyone ever seen the videos of Jason Wilcox from Cannabis in Canada? hes had a youtube channel for years, check him out if you don't know him. anyways i was looking on craigslist for anything useful and sure enough I see a medical grow room ad for $5000, I look and the list is insane, like 15 lights w/ ballasts, hoods, reflectors, fans, filters, dehumidifier and everything you could imagine, I continued to look down and it said "i am selling due to medical conditions" (he unfortunately is in real bad shape ). he really is an idol of mine and I have the opportunity to meet him this weekend when i go to van to look at some things. I am real excited

 

[Xlr8]

Not heard of him, but that sounds like quite a value, huh!? Cool that you get to meet someone you look up to, bummer to hear he's not doing well health-wise. I'll have to check out his youtube channel - thanks for the tip!

 

[UrbanGrower]

Not heard of him, but that sounds like quite a value, huh!? Cool that you get to meet someone you look up to, bummer to hear he's not doing well health-wise. I'll have to check out his youtube channel - thanks for the tip!

I know right?? I didn't know it was him until I saw the "i have had a youtube channel for many years" and had a link to go with it as well. I started watching his videos a couple years ago and he was in real good shape but sadly he has to take steroids now just to survive. He has gone through numerous lawsuits just for his youtube channel!! he's a wise, but not over the top activist(marc emery lol). Jason wilcox, urban grower(remo), browndirtwarrior and marc emery have been on my to-meet list for a while, I look up to people standing up for what the believe in. lol sorry about the preach but jason really has some awesome, informative videos!!

 

[UrbanGrower]

so i might be doing all the construction stuff myself even though i've never built anything special in my life lol. I just don't want to pay a labour fee, plus marked up materials. hoping i can get all the building shit i need for around $400

big day today.

alarm being installed (paid-takes 2-3 days for adt)
mould remediation guy coming to estimate(hoping it won't be more than $1000 lol)
electrician coming to estimate (he charges $75 hr but is very experienced w/ this)