My Self Contained Multi-Chamber Stealth Grow Cabinet Construction Thread

Greetings All.:hello:

This is my first demo/documentary thread as well as my first attempt at a grow cab or anything construction related that is this in-depth.

Questions/Comments are welcome.

The Objective is a single unit that is self contained (ballast & scrubber incl.) and stealth. I'll have veg and flower chambers, quiet, locked and odor free.

I will unfortunately be doing this in 2 stages, as :$: requires.

Stage one is beginning now/in progress.

It includes getting the cab and making the flower chamber functional. It will only need to be reasonably light proof and no additional odor consideration steps will be taken. Existing 400w MH will be used, existing muffin and desk fans etc...

Stage two will include...

Digital 400w ballast.
Panasonic Whisperline 240cfm inline fan.
Carbon Scrubber (DIY)
Darkroom Vents and other light proofing measures.
Tot-Locks.
Completion of Veg Chamber, second timer & fan, prob use 85w CFL I have already.



I have some plants that are almost ready to flower in a cardboard veg box that I made so they are my deadline, don't want to over grow.
I figure I've got maybe 1.5 wks.

I will try to include practical details and anything that would be helpful to others.

I had to begin by purchasing a drill and I got a hole saw kit as well.
I got them on overstock for $55 including shipping.
That's $55 I'm down that many of you may not have to spend.

I'm ordering 3 PC fans because I want to know the specs rather than go to a PC recycle shop (yes I know that means I'm gonna spend 3 or 4 times as much).

I'm planning to go to Lowes in the next couple of days to purchase the cab, a board for the back, weather stripping, drill bits.

Here's the cab. 70-3/8"H x 47-1/2"W x 20-1/2"D


Here's my rough plan.


Updates forthcoming.

 

If your exhaust is 6" you will need 9" for intake so your fan won't strain. thats going to be a nice cabinet good luck. Bud

 

Got the Cab...not quite as pictured...


Hey all:hello:


Got the cab, what an ordeal! It might not be so bad for those of you w/ wheels but I had to rent a truck to get this thing home!


Lowes has a truck that they rent for $20 for 75min. Not a bad deal if the truck is working...after a week and a half of "out for repair" and "no additional info", I went to Penske. It ended up costing me close to $40 for the truck ($7.50 per hour x2 + 18 for insurance + mileage). If it hadn't been for the backing I'd have looked harder for other options. I just couldn't figure out a way to transport a 4'x8' sheet of melamine. No I don't have any friends that have a pick-up, van or full sized wagon. Also, I was planning to have the sheet of melamine cut to size @ the store but was informed that the saw was broken...while in the checkout line I over heard a conversation between employees that indicated the saw was fine but the person working that position didn't know how to use it...the ppl that did help me were great but overall I'm not super impressed by this Lowes location.


So I get this thing home (I have to take it up the stairs a few pieces at a time, it's heavy as...something really heavy)


and I see that the inside surfaces are NOT WHITE! I'm pissed. I purchased this cab largely because I thought I'd have the white/reflective surface thing covered. You all saw the pic, it's clearly white inside! So what I have are doors that are white on both sides. A top piece that is white on one side. Side pieces that are white only on the out side. A center partition and shelves that are only white on the outer edge. The cardboard backing that came with the cab is white on the inside but I'm not planning to use that for my backing. The sheet of melamine is white of course so that leaves me with white front and back surfaces only.


I'm going to get some white spray paint for the other surfaces.


Sombud, I've exceeded that recommendation with 6x4" holes in the bottom. I would have used more 20x2" holes but I don't want to mess with making PVC elbow light traps. I'm going to get darkroom vents during the second phase of construction when I focus on stealth! (I've only been able to locate 4" darkroom vents)


Check me if I'm wrong. 6" hole = 3.14x(3x3) = 28.26"


9" hole = 3.14x(4.5x4.5) = 63.585"


4" hole = 3.14x(2x2) = 12.56"


6x12.56 = 75.36"


That is however EXACTLY the type of feedback I'm looking for!


Yes I'll take and be happy with random sunshine blown my way by ppl that just think it looks cool but... This is my first project! I'm not gonna get huffy Ask or suggest whatever you want, even if it makes me look stoned-stupid!


P.S. I'm excited and maybe I just finished a 20oz Screwdriver:happy6:


P.P.S. More to come...

 

I am looking forward to seeing what the final product comes out to be! Keep us updated!

 

pretty excited about this one to!..if you werent going for stealth Id suggest just swapping the sides around (left on the right/right on the left)so the white facing in, and just drill a few holes inside for the shelving,that melamine is a great surface!...cant wait to see it assembled..

 

Update!


Hey All :hello:


Update time! This time with Pics!





Tools, gotta have a square! - Already had it but - $15


Cordless Drill 18v - $35 (overstock.com)


Drill bits - $10 (lowes)


Hole Saw Kit - $20 (overstock.com)


Pencil:laughing5: (Free courtesy ROTC recruiter 14yrs ago)


A standard Phillips screwdriver was needed as well as a few other tools for the wiring modifications.


Oh yeah a utility knife, tape measure & hammer too.


The PC fans are:


2 Thermaltake SilentCat 120mm 63CFM 16db. - $ 9.99ea (tigerdirect.com)


2 SilverStone FM121 with speed control 120mm 40-100CFM 17-40db. - $14.99ea (tigerdirect.com)





I started with the pieces that were to be modified. I used the spare bedroom because I needed enough space to lay it flat. I used the cordless drill/hole saw. I measured, remeasured, then cut:laughing5:


BTW, I did get spray paint, but not enough:BangHead: I got the top side of the bottom piece, the bottom side of the shelf and the side of the partition that faces the flower side. I decided that I'd find other ways to address reflectivity because I really didn't want to make another trip and I am not that thrilled with the results that I got. I have some other ideas but we will get to that...


Bottom - 10 x 4" holes, 6 in the flower chamber, 4 in the veg - Passive Intake


Note: I almost wrecked the whole thing by cutting too close to the corners. This is illustrated in the weather-stripping photo.


The 2 tiny holes in the center are the original holes to install the partition, the 2 holes to the right are the ones I drilled.





Shelf: 4 x 5" holes, 2 on right end for flower chamber exhaust, 2 more a bit to the left for light chamber ventilation. 1 x 4" hole in the veg side.


In phase 1 all 4 PC fans will be used in the flower side, hoping that with no scrubber these will get it done.





Top: 3 x 5" holes & 4 x 2.5" holes - passive exhaust





After getting the pieces cut and painted, I put 1/4" weather-stripping around all of the edges that were to connect.








Attached - lightproof





A few more pics of the 3 modified pieces attached to the unmodified sides and the relocated partition.














P.S. More to come!

 

This looks pretty cool. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

I was at menards today(home store if yall dont know) and found some laminant like the out of malimine, it went on similar to wallpaper with an iron, stuff looked pretty sweet, might wanna take a peek, inside would look exactliy like the out!....looking good by the way!!!

 

Yah man, that particle board will soak up paint like nothing....best thing to do if you still want to pain it is use a sealant first, and then the paint....but, going another route will be just as expensive, I imagine, and probably less time consuming. looking good!

 

Thanks guys!


Thanks for the feedback and encouragement!


chudsosoft - Thanks for stopping by!


WhiskyKid - I wish I'd known about that stuff a few weeks ago, but then again, I thought the cab would be white inside...I really would have had to have applied it before assembly for best results and it's too late for that now. I'm glad to have that info on this thread for the benefit of others, thanks!


Lion - I did use a primer before the top coats but it still just kept right on soaking it up...1 can of primer, 2 cans of flat white...now that it's assembled and inside I'll not be spraying anything else.


It did occur to me that I have the back piece that came with the cab that could be trimmed and used to line the remaining sides, turns out, there is only enough to cover 2 of the 3 side walls that the paint didn't cover but I have a mylar emergency blanket that I will probably use for the third wall.


Thanks again all :hello:


Gratitude

 

I love the design. I was thinking of using the same closet, but I never would have thought-out the holes as well; you did some thinking! I'd like to see it in it's entirety, as it'd be nice not having to worry about boxing everything up in a hurry! You're putting the ballasts up top, right?

 

3rd update attempt!


Hey All :hello:


This is my third update attempt. I was nearly finished with it 2 days ago when my PC froze and the work was lost. I tried again yesterday, got 2/3 of the way through, had to help with dinner and when I returned, frozen PC. for the delays.


Mrastro - Thanks for the props, I did spend weeks planning this and yes the ballast will be in the upper left corner.


...and resume...


The next thing I did was install the PC fans.


When I was researching online I found a site that had Inch equivalents for the MM specs that are standard. This particular site called 120mm fans 5" fans. I should have done the math myself and/or looked for metric hole saws, 5" = 127mm. No biggie really, I was going to cut cardboard gaskets anyway to dampen vibration/noise so I just had to make them a little bigger to cover the gaps.





Silverstone (main chamber) fans installed, Thermaltake (light chamber) fans on deck. If you look closely you can see the pre-drilled holes, always pre-drill when working with particle board!





Although I was not yet aware at this point in the construction process, I'd just made my second error. Hindsight kicks in... I should have installed the fans on the top side of the shelf (3 of them anyway, the necessity of which will be clearly illustrated when we come to the light chamber construction). The first mistake was not attaching the fans before assembling the cab frame.


The ultimate goal in planning your cab construction is to measure, cut and drill EVERYTHING before you assemble ANYTHING! I have of course failed in this respect. I'm not really sweating it just feeling dumb every time I realize another thing I should have done a few steps back.


The other complicating factor was the phone call that I received while installing the fans informing me that a babysitter would be in our house that evening while I was at work and that the cab needed to be out of the way.


I had about 2.5hrs before leaving for work.


I had to get the back on and move the cab into the closet, ready or not, and in this case, not.


I used the cardboard backing that I was replacing as the pattern, laid it on the sheet of melamine and traced it. Then I used my square as a straight-edge and deeply scored the white side of the melamine with the utility knife. Then I creased it and cut it just like you would a piece of dry wall. As it turns out since the cab is 47 1/2" wide and the sheet of melamine is 48" wide I just split the difference allowing a 1/4" overlap on each side rather than trying to repeat the process described above for a 70" long 1/2" wide strip, I just knew I was gonna end up cutting myself if I tried to do that.


I measured and marked the locations of the partition and shelf on the back side of the melamine so that I knew where to nail. I then applied weather-stripping to to every back edge of the cab, set the melamine on top.


Before nailing I would recommend that you use the backing to verify the "squareness" of your cab, once the back is nailed on, it's not gonna change.


I nailed the the backing on to the top and side edges and to the shelf & partition in the middle but left the bottom for last.


The reason? No Toe Kick-plate. I intentionally omitted the use of the Toe Kick-plate for ventilation reasons. All of those holes in the bottom won't help if the air is blocked by the board in front and the wall in back. What I missed was the fact that it serves a function rather than just being an aesthetic piece. It keeps the bottom of the cab from sagging! Which it is prone to do even without any weight because of the way the partition attaches. It's those little wooden pegs that you put half way into the holes on the ends of the partition and half way into the holes in the shelves. Especially after you add the weather-stripping this means that the shelf and the bottom pieces will bow in opposite directions. I cut the Toe Kick-plate in a couple of pieces, one to brace the top shelf against the "Back Rail" (Toe Kick-plate equivalent on the top back) and the other to install on the bottom just beneath the partition.





I applied as much pressure as I was able to the bottom as I sunk that first nail to ensure a good fit. The result of the weather-stripping is that you need more nails to keep it from bulging between the nails. I found that about every 4" does the trick, the result of which was that I had to go to the hardware store for more nails.


Back installed, note the brace above the partition.





At this point, I had to move the cab into the closet. It was absolutely not the best time to do this but was possible now that the back was installed.


I had to have my Lady help me move the cab into the closet, damn that thing is heavy! In the process we managed to bend the bracket holding the bottom brace that I made, rendering it useless and impossible to fix without taking the cab back out and laying it down again...


Then it occurred to me to use those circles that had been drilled out, stacked on top of each other and slid underneath the shelf! Kinda ghetto but with 3 stacks of 7 circles it's very well supported, better than the first solution I'd devised! I only had one circle left over, talk about lucky!


More to come!

 

Starting to shape up it won't be long now. That's going to be one nice cabinet. Keep us posted-Bud

 

Looking great!....decide what you are going to do for reflection inside yet?

 

Sweet


Grad,,,impressive indeed and I am sure you will work out all the bugs as you have been. Kudos to you for all the planning as it looks as tho you put much thought into all this and did a GREAT job.


SWEET bro>>> Love the cabinet......hey...your almost there!!!


Pretty soon we will see some GREEN growing in there!!:angel8:


Peace ~Mermaid

 

American Express


Cabinet-85$


Tools- $15


Cordless Drill 18v - $35


Drill bits - $10


Hole Saw Kit - $20


pencil-.25 cents.


Building ur own grow cabinet to get stoned out of ur mind......Priceless.


:notworthy:


:redbong:


assit:

 

Run some unfinished oak or another hardwood along bottom or sides that are likely to shift, many many screws and glue it down aswell. That will make that baby rock-solid, kinda like German/Dutch siding and exterior finishes on houses (the 2" x 1/2" slats for "siding" I guess). That, or you could have gotten crazy and glassed the inside corners


Good idea, I wanted to do a similar thing but make a workbench style grow chamber for flowering up to say 20-24" (Lowryder crosses anyone?).

 

Save a few bucks with white interior, Id leave it that way instead of mylar.


Great looking box.:icon_bounce:

 

Thanks everybody!


Wow, quite a bit of traffic!


I'll try to respond to all.


Then I'll post an update (yes, tonight)


sombud & whiskykid - thanks for staying tuned!


whisky - I did decide.


"It did occur to me that I have the back piece that came with the cab that could be trimmed and used to line the remaining sides, turns out, there is only enough to cover 2 of the 3 side walls that the paint didn't cover but I have a mylar emergency blanket that I will probably use for the third wall."


Mermaid - :notworthy: - Thank You! - It's an honor to have your kind words here - do you have any idea how much a +rep from you is worth? - Thanks again! Also, I must admit, that I am already seeing green in there, it's not long till you will be as well:eusa_dance:


Demented03 - The cab was $119 not $85 as in your post but you brought a BIG smile to my face! Thanks!


JohnH - Thanks for stopping by. Good call on the reenforcement tips, the melamine backing does wonders for stability and is the foremost reason for it's use. One thing that I didn't mention earlier in the thread is that since I live in an apt I am staying away from any type of adhesive, no glue, no caulk, I'm gonna have to dismantle someday and I'd prefer not to have that mean demolition. I did use nails to attach the backing but they are basically 3/4" paneling nails so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to tap them back out when the time comes. When you say "glassed the corners" do you mean fiber-glass? I'm also limited (severely) by space and tools. That's why all of my holes are done with the drill! I have no table, jig, circular or reciprocating saws.


BUT, thank you and I welcome all suggestions, even if they just serve as ideas for other readers!


I would love to see your workbench design! If you build it, do a thread! I'd love to see the GK DIY section get deeper/better!


Chiefblood - Thanks to you as well, I will, it seems have one mylar surface but the other 11 will be white! I'm thinking that if I see increased growth on that side I will mylar the rest, TBH, I don't expect to see that. If it's the opposite, I will cut a piece of melamine for that wall, for now, the mylar blanket that I have is easier to use (see above response for limited tools). As I said, I expected every interior surface of the cab to be white (like on the first pic which was taken from the Lowes website), so the plan was to do like you said. I spent $10 on spray paint that didn't go far enough so I don't know what the most cost effective solution would be assuming you didn't have any thing with which to improvise.


Thanks again to all, I'll do my best to give a proper progress report later tonight.


Don't think outside the box, Think inside the cabinet!

 

Next!


Alright, so the cab is in the closet and things are tight (literally not a slang usage)!


Can anyone guess what comes before hanging the doors?


More weather-stripping! Every edge. Also the end of one of the doors.





As previously mentioned, I decided to cut the cardboard backing and use it to line the walls that the paint didn't cover.








At this point I couldn't take it any longer and I put up the light on a bamboo pole using the included hardware and stuck the thermometer inside.


The next step is the light chamber with the glass shelf. I'm still working out the final details. Specifically, the front edge, not sure on the best route yet.


I got some "L" brackets and cut one of the shelves that were included with the cab that are of no use to me now that the center partition is not centered. It's 20"d x 6"w. Next thing to do is trim that cardboard backing I just put on the right side and get those fans mounted on the top side of the shelf. I figure if I remove the fans and then using a very small drill bit, drill through the existing holes so that I'll have pilot holes on the top side (no extra measuring, woo hoo!). At that point when the fans are off I'll place the 6" piece underneath and use my trusty pencil:qbluewacko: to trace the holes to further avoid extra measureing . To avoid completely ruining the next update, I'll stop describing what's coming and finish up with what's done.


The temps are very similar to what they were in the closet with a 400w MH before the cab was in the picture. But here's the cool thing, inside the cab is the temps are staying about 3 degrees(F) above ambient. This means that if the closet stays closed for an extended period of time the temps will get up to about 85 inside the cab and 82 outside (but still inside the closet). When the door is open the temps are staying right around 73! (dipping to 68 at night).


Time to move the plants!


My little veg box was very crowded. In the days that I was working on the cab as much as possible between everything else that life entails...I went a couple extra days w/out checking on my plants. When I opened the lid my heart sank and I almost cried. Never before had I let my plants go like this.


My initial thought was not to tell this part of the story, it's embarrassing, it feels like I didn't hold up my end of the relationship with my plants.


I decided to tell this part of the story as well because it is real, and others will have similar experiences at some point as well... Just wanna keep it real.


(Also, it gets better) These pics were taken about an hour after watering.








The knot in my stomach has gone away completely in 6hrs. They perked up really well and after about 30hrs I re potted.


The next pics were taken 2.5 days after the wilted ones.





This was the most severely wilted plant.





The burned tips are from the light in the veg box. An 85w CLF WILL burn your plants!














I have 3 - 12" pots (3gal) 1 - 10" pot and 1 - 8" (2gal)


I placed one pint yogurt containers upside down under each pot to allow air flow.


There is no circulation fan in the cab at the moment but when the door is closed the leaves are flapping in the breeze!


Thanks again all!