Yup, in North America, your neighbour to the north.. Great! I only got to page 16 last night in your guide....obviously not far enough for the lights and wiring. That pic you sent, would that be a series connection tho? If one light goes they all go? Starting to get a grasp on things I think (and hope). What I will do attach the fixtures in each corner with two y adapter in each to,get the bulbs more horizontal (CFL's emit more lumens on the sides I believe). Two bulbs in each corner. And I will do two bulbs in the middle as well...sound reasonable or would you advise a different route? Again man, I really appreciate all your help that you are giving me!!
If you have a small pic ( no rush) on wiring my idea up that would help tremendously too!!! I learn better with pictures...
no it's wired in parallel. It should be wired in parallel. Note how the white and black are separated... * in the attached pic I'm showing the backsides of the sockets, I've also flipped the 2 on the bottom around so that it's easier/cleaner to wire. note the color of the different dots=wire screws A basic 2 prong extension cord (or any spare cord) will have 2 wire in it...white/black or something like that. In the attached pic: The black wire (neg) is split into 2 more wires with a wire nut. The wire nut (red) actually has 3 wires in it...the original from the cord and 2 more short pieces that head off to the first 2 lights, then continue on to the other 2 lights. The white wire is also parallel but it shows how I wire the four sockets with a single piece of wire. I personally find it to be kind of a pain to secure 2 separate wires under a wire screw so what I do is remove a piece of the coating on the outside of the wire. I use a lighter to heat it up, often the coating will split. Once heated I pull the hot coating apart with my fingers to expose the bare wire. (my fingers can handle the heat, your results may vary) I never use a wire stripper or sharp object if I strip the wire in the middle like that because I don't want to accidentally cut in the wire and weaken it. With the bare piece of wire exposed I just kinda loop it around the wire screw clockwise and tighten it down. I'm kind of a weirdo though alot of ppl just use wire nuts or whatever. That's alot of instructions...but it's really simple. I just like to over explain things for people As I mentioned in that other post...black (neg) should go to the brass screws. In a nongrounded circuit like this though it doesn't matter as much because you can just flip the actual plug upside down when you plug it in. hope all that made sense. stay excellent.
That's exactly what I was looking for Bongsauce!! A how to and a diagram of what I would be setting up. That helped me tremendously!! Now to gather the materials...I can almost taste the deliciousness now.. Oh that's what I'm smoking, mine won't be long tho.
I was thinking of buying plywood with the sanded side to be painted flat white. Much smoother would be better for reflecting I thought. And I can buy spray paint that is flat white and water resistant I think..thoughts on paint as well?
smoother or semi gloss paint is easier to clean for sure...but flat white s the best to reflect. I usually use kilz low voc flat white. I think it's the green label stuff. I got it at walmart for like 15 a gallon but they sell little ones too. Flat white spray would be fine too....I just usually have some of that paint on hand for other projects. standard ply is fine..just get a good layer of paint over any area that will come in contact with water, otherwise they might swell a little. You can just reinforce with 2x2" or something too..you don't have to use superthink stuff. Plus it's nice to be able to move it easily later if you need too. I try not to build anything that's bigger then the door frames
Great!! I will be doing a 2x2 frame and then screw the painted plywood to that. I will also weatherstrip the front door as a light seal and caulk the other corners cracks. The kilz, is it the odourless one? Blocks mildew and is fire retardant too I think...going to use 1/2 standard plywood too
Disregard that last one about the kilz...that was the primer. You mean the interior flat wall and ceiling paint I assume in flat white...?
I think it was called clean start, it's got a green label. it's a primer but it's also stainblocker and sealer.
Thanks Bongsauce!! I found it on their website. I was thinking on paying a little extra and buying their premium primer, added mildew protection as well...or not really needed? One thing I know is I am doing this build right the first time, that's forsure!
Usually when I paint I just do the regular flat primer on the walls...If I have extra gloss or semi gloss laying around I use it for the floor to make it easier to clean. Like I said...part of the reason I use this stuff cuz I usually have some on hand from other projects....so if you want to use something a little better then go for it
If you can front the money, these surge protectors are very nice and higher quality then most out there. It has 8 sockets that are spaced nicely too. $50. This one in particular comes with a 12 amp limit which gives you that safe limit so as to not overload your room circuit which is most likely 15 amps (you'll have to check). http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000511U7/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I would plug everything into that including your light timer. Depending on what light timer you get (if it's big and bulky and takes up too much space on the power strip/surge protector), you could always get a 3-foot extension cord, plug the extension cord into the power strip, plug the light timer into the extension cord, and then plug the lights into the timer. You could go even further and create a "control panel" out of 1/2" plywood. Mount all your electronics to it for a nice/clean/safe setup. My setup has the powerstrip/surge protector, light timer, HID ballast, and fan controller mounted to it. Then you just mount the control panel somewhere for easy access. Everything gets it's power from the powerstrip/surge protector. If you want to get really fancy, you could even get an UPS battery unit for your air pump so if the power goes out for up to an hour, your buckets don't stop getting air. Most UPS units have a built-in surge protector for all the outlets. I would then run this on a separate wall outlet and just run the air pump straight off of the UPS. I wouldn't run too much off the UPS though, because if you were to run everything including your lights, you would probably get less than 10 minutes of emergency power.
I wish I could afford that!! Haha on a budget, but slowly will upgrade to bigger and better after a few grows under my belt. What about fan size? Like I mentioned earlier...2'x1.5'x 3' (3 sq ft, 9 cu ft). I will do one fan up top for ventilation which will have a carbon filter attached when flowering and one to two fans near the bottom blowing on the plant. What sizes of fans should I be looking at? I will be doing the molex adapter like mentioned earlier too for the fans...
you could probably exhaust that with a 4" fan. You can get an inline..which will have the most sucking power...but will also make some noise. You can go a cheeper route too...just keep in mind that your fan is gonna be your temp control. PC fans would be fine for circulation...maybe a couple 3" ones...
So by 4" would a 120mm CPU fan work for exhaust? It says 21 cfm for airflow...trying to keep things as quiet as possible...then 2 80mm CPU fans inside for circulation?
A PC fan will have trouble pushing or sucking through a filter...it will do it but it might decrease the airflow to much and create temp problems. Sometimes it's hard to figure exactly until you hook it up. If you want quiet make sure to put the fan inside some how...and it's quieter to have the fan before the filter...so that the filter muffles it a little. Try to get an oversized filter...it will restrict less air and last longer and do a better job. Stacking PC fans can increase static pressure a little. Static pressure is the force or strength of the fan, cfm is just the air flow rating. CFM can drop by quite a bit when you add filters and ducting, which decrease airflow. A fan with a high static pressure rating will stay at a steady cfm even if restricted.
* for the size of your area, the perfect fan (imo) would be a 4" panasonic whisper bathroom fan...they're dead quiet, and have great pressure...but they run around 100-150$. cheapest would be a 4" fan from walmart....they get the job done, but they don't last too long running 24/7. I've used them in a pinch.
Looking to get things rolling sooner than later to get a harvest before Christmas. So I may do the 4" fan from Walmart to get it rolling. What is the average cost for those fans? I can always upgrade to a better one for flowering and add the filter then too... But I understand the fan gets all the hot air out which is a necessity. How does the walmart fan hookup to power? Thanks again Bongsauce for the wisdom you are passing along!!
the walmart fans are 4" and can fit into a duct...I think I had 'massey' brand..but they might be different now. You really need to save for a good fan and filter...that's really important. If the walmart fan can't cut it your temps will be too high and ruin your grow. Quality equipment pays for itself on the first harvest...think of it as an investment.