# my grow box plan 400 watts! give me advice !!



## TokeWithHope (Aug 21, 2008)

hey guys so im getting ready to start my first grow! im really excited and ive decided to do a box grow. i have made a rough sketch of my plans after doing a shitload of research even reading two books! which is huge for me considering i dont read lol. anyway its going to be a somewhat stealth box in my closet. H- 7'    W- 2'4   D- 2'4. im going to make a sealed box out of 3/4 wood. im going to use a 400 watt digital ballast and put it on top of the box and make another box around it and vent out one side of the box by cutting slots in the wood. and run a 400 watt mh bulb during veg stage and a 400 watt hps during flowering. the bulb will sit inside a 6'' inline air cooled reflector. a 115 cfm reflector cooling fan also attached to ducting for exhaust which i will run into a carbon filter into my attic. im also going to run a fan intake into the box and mount a 6'' oscillating fan blowing on the plants from above the light. i will have a 6 inch section used for storage and wiring. and a 4'6 section used for growing four mature plants in 12'' by 12'' pots. underneath that im going to have a 2 foot section used for seedlings and to start clones so i dont have to wait as long for my next crop in this section i will run a 2 foot flourescent grow light and a 75 watt cfl. i will have about 38 cubic feet of room if i calculated correctly.

i have a few questions tho 1. is enclosing the ballast in another box safe or is it a fire hazard?
2. is the 115 cfm outtake fan strong enough to ventilate the box will enough through a carbon filter then up about another 6 inches to the attic?
3. for the clone chamber is it sufficient for me to run just the 2 foot flourescent it holds two one foot grow bulbs each at 24 watts or should i also run the cfl?

thank you im really excited for my grow
im going to attach the sketch i made tell me what u think!
and pleace i want criticism if u think there is anything i could improve on or shouldnt do plz tell me i want my first grow to be a successful one!!


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## Exarmy (Aug 21, 2008)

If I were you I would buy a 6 in vortex and an elf filter......the 6 is the same  db as the 4 with a lot more air......then you can turn it down. I bought the 4in and it will cool it but i would have gone with the six if I knew at the time it was just as loud as the 4.


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## That crazy vancouver guy (Aug 21, 2008)

DO NOT enclose the ballast... it NEEDS to be "open to the air" to cool properly on a hard surface.


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## TokeWithHope (Aug 22, 2008)

k and how loud would u say the fan is exarmy?
and another question.. crazy vancouver guy. does the ballast make any noise? or does it just produce heat? because i could simply run it on top of the box if it didnt make noise the problem is stealth because if it is making any noise and or attracting any attention then its not good. what if i put a small 32 cfm cpu fan inside of the vented box? if not do u have any other ideas?


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## Exarmy (Aug 22, 2008)

its bareable.....mine is outside of my box and I really think if i could some how get it in there w/o comprizeing space it would be very stealthy.......I am also groing in alot less space than yours....thats how i know it will work......my box is basically 2ft cubed of growing space w/ a 400w hps

I would compare it to a bathroom fan at about 4ft


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## TokeWithHope (Aug 22, 2008)

kk and where would u suggest i purchase one? thats great and the fan can keep the box cool with the 400? and is there a difference between an elf filter and a carbon filter?


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## Exarmy (Aug 22, 2008)

htgsupply.com

http://www.htgsupply.com/products.asp?categoryID=9&subcategoryID=29


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## Puffin Afatty (Aug 22, 2008)

* :farm: nice design :aok:  I'd put the oscilating fan below the plants blowing UP  *


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## The Hemp Goddess (Aug 22, 2008)

TokeWithHope said:
			
		

> k and how loud would u say the fan is exarmy?
> and another question.. crazy vancouver guy. does the ballast make any noise? or does it just produce heat? because i could simply run it on top of the box if it didnt make noise the problem is stealth because if it is making any noise and or attracting any attention then its not good. what if i put a small 32 cfm cpu fan inside of the vented box? if not do u have any other ideas?



Your fans will create far more noise than your ballast.  Are you hoping to create a box that makes NO noise?  If you are trying to hide this from roommates, I think that that is a near impossibility...


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## That crazy vancouver guy (Aug 22, 2008)

TokeWithHope said:
			
		

> does the ballast make any noise? or does it just produce heat? because i could simply run it on top of the box if it didnt make noise the problem is stealth because if it is making any noise and or attracting any attention then its not good. what if i put a small 32 cfm cpu fan inside of the vented box? if not do u have any other ideas?


 
about all the ballast is going to do is produce a minor "hummm"... and produce a lot of heat... I wouldn't put it within an enclosure... you don't want to take the change of creating a fire hazard... and... any fan you put on/within an enclosure would make more noise and be more noticable than leaving the ballast out on top of yer box... just stack some stuff in front of the ballast to hide it  (not too close to the ballast, btw)


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## TokeWithHope (Aug 22, 2008)

no i realize it will make some noise my goal is to have it make the least bit of noice possible.alright thank you very much crazy! anything else u guys would suggest i change or improve on? im open to anything


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## Exarmy (Aug 22, 2008)

heres my honest oppionion at my box design and vent system..

If my box was a little bigger. I would put my inline fan with comfadence inside the box blowing air out and into a insulated duct piece a couple feet long and into my elf filter.


I honestly think this setup could be cleverly discised as an "hepa" airfilter to roommates!


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## TokeWithHope (Aug 23, 2008)

k so should i also use it to cool the light? or just mount the fan in the box and shoot air up through the carbon filter into the attic? which is right above my room. only a foot above the box


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## Exarmy (Aug 23, 2008)

if you have room,

mount it like this
carbon filter
fan
reflector
out box


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## TokeWithHope (Aug 23, 2008)

idk if i completely understand could u possibly show me a picture? so i ut the carbon filter on one side of the vent fan where it draws in air from the box? the have the fan shoot into the right side of the reflector? and out the left side then up one foot of ducting into the attic is this correct? and the 6 in vortex fan is powerful enough to do all of this?


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## Exarmy (Aug 23, 2008)

I wish i had a picture for you let me try to explain.

carbon filters do better drawing air in. So you would want to have it go through the filter into the fan. Out the fan into the reflector. Around the bulb out the reflector and out of the box/grow tent. Now some people go even further as to add a "muffler" to the exhaust comeing out of the box. Ive seen these made out of a couple fo Alm. ducting peices. But im useing 4in insulated ducting on my intake of my box and it quited down alot.


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## TokeWithHope (Aug 25, 2008)

and the 4 in vortex is strong enough to do all of this? and when the air is pushed around the bulb it easily flows back through the ducting?


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## PUFF MONKEY (Aug 25, 2008)

what kind of light setup are you using????you bought it yet ?
i got a good link for ya if you havent..


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## TokeWithHope (Aug 25, 2008)

no i havent bought one yet i was planning on buying this package link underneath. but im interested in the link the system is a 400w digital ballast so i could run hps and mh bulb.

http://s178454875.onlinehome.us/complete_kits.htm


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## PUFF MONKEY (Aug 26, 2008)

does it have to be digital ??? or just switchable


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## TokeWithHope (Aug 28, 2008)

just switchable i want to purchase a light system that can run both mh and hps bulbs


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