I have a 4ft l x 3.5ft h x 2.5ft w grow box in my closet. I just inherited a 400watt MH light from a friend, but i'm going to have to wire it myself to either 1) My household outlet, or 2) wire a high voltage outlet in my closet... I was thinkin about venting with a squirrel cage fan. In summary, i have a few questions... a) What improvements could i make? b) What material could i use to make this 'box' light sealed? c) How do i wire the 400w MH light to an outlet? Thanks in advance guys... =) ><-TiNo-><
With the height restrictions you have at 3.5 feet. You are gonna run into some big time heat problems putting a HID light in there. You may come out better going with a flouresent system and wiring the ballasts on the outside
tino, i am almost done with my first box (just waiting for the hps and fans to arrive in the mail) and i based it on the stealth cabinet plans here: http://www.overgrow.com/article/10/2 of course mine is much more basic, 2x2x4 with just one room, but the stealth cabinet covers just about every option. as for improvements, you will need more height most likely, so if possible turn that box on its side so it is 4 feet tall. to make mine light and air tight i used plain silicon sealant from lowe's (about $7 w/ gun). like i said, i'm still waiting on my hps to arrive so i can't help you with wiring, but the stealth box covers that in great detail too.
tino, are you experianced with electrical schematics and wiring? If not I wouldn't play around with that light, thats a nice sized light and if you hook that into a regular socket it will blow either your bulb or your outlet fuse. You need to wire it to a ballast. Go to your hydro store and ask about them there,they will be happy to help you out. And you could get a piece of temperted glass and place under your bulb so your plants wont get fucked from the heat. If you dont want to do that then go and buy as many 4' floro tubes and housings that can fit in there.. probably.. around 6 or 8 tubes will fit in there.. at about 40 watts a tube you will have enough watts. Make sure to get cool white tubes aswell. What I use for making my box light tight is this flat white plastic sheets that comes in rolls and on the other side is black so if you have that over lapping it works pretty good. If you get some weather stripping or foam padding and run that along the inside of your box that also helps keeping the light in and out (dont forget you need that box light tight when you are in flowering stage at 12/12). If you have hinges that show space or gaps, get rid of them and get some folding hinges and use them instead. You can get all this at Home Depot. If you want to keep your temp below 80 you GOTTA have plenty of air flow. Have air coming in, then oscillating fans inside then have an exhaust... That way the air just passes right through, and leaving a window open helps out a lot too that way you get lots of fresh air and the C02 you need for your plants to thrive!! Hope it goes well for you.
Hey guys, thanks for your quick responses! The light i aquired is a commercial light used in parking lots, that comes with a ballast already inside. TheI will provide numbers later on that are printed on the light. Newfire- I am experienced in electricals to an extent, im sure ill be able to do this with some advice. The light already comes with a plastic-like cover, should i go for glass instead? Im thinking about making my own light, with the supplies that the one i have came with, putting it on top of the box that way it gives me an extra foot+. Thank you all for the great suggestion and ideas, hope you all have great yields to come!
hi, i would have to agree with not putting the metal halide in as there is a great amount of heat with those lights and is better for larger crops. i have a closet setup and a 400 hps which works well for me and if you would like to have a look at it please feel free and use it for ideas. i will tell you that my fan is on the outside of my setup blowing in and i also have some black plastic to hide the light coming out. temp in this setup is a constant 25 degrees C and 20 when the light is off so i think thats is about 78 F i could be mistaken the link is here so pls help yourself http://forum.growkind.com/forum/topic.cgi?forum=2&topic=4515
