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Heisenberg's PC CFL Grow


Heisenberg
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Hey Guys

 

So I know I havent been here long enough, but the bug bit and i had to make another set up. I saw how creative and stealthy guys got with their PC Boxes and I had to do the same.

 

Grow Setup:

Strain: 1x Northern Lights Female Seed & 1x Blue Cheese Female Seed

Medium: Jamies Garden Shop Orgasoilux watering with Aquarium water

Lighting: 2x 11w (suppose to be equal to 60w) 4000k CFL for germination and vegitation & 2x 11w 2700k CFL for flowering. PC intake fan in the front and outake carbon-activated filter fan at the back.

Training: Will be switching to 12/12 after 1-2 weeks. Topping, LST and Scrog to get a good yeild.

 

So I cleant out an empty Micro-ATX Chassis I had laying around and went shopping today. Problem is, i havent the faintest Idea on how to connect 2 lights and 2 fans up to one plug without blowing things. Can someone please advice me on that?

 

IMG_20150831_141704.jpg

 

My idea of what my setup should look like:

diagram.jpg

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A stealth grow of this size, can't accommodate much in the way of environmental control. Thus, the room in which the PC box is, must be climate controlled. You need to consider temperature, humidity, and light leaks into that box. With winter passing, temps are going to be a problem.

With CFL's heat isn't such an issue, especially with the size bulbs that HB intends to use. A PC fan should keep any seriously high temps in check...but with that being said Skolley is right, you really don't wanna be stubborn and use bulbs any less than 20W and even 20W really is weak. Get 2x 20W 6400k's and 2 x 18W 2700k's. Exchange those one's you bought there if you kept the slip... So many growers(including myself) start off with the small cheap CFL mentality and soon realise the error of their noob ways

 

Now that the bug has bit you'll soon see how that bite wound will grow and what a costly bug bite it was ;)

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Thanx Skolley. I don't think temperature will be that much of a problem.

 

420SA - these bulbs say 11w=60w. Are they not actually 60w or not actually 11w? They OSRAM energy savers.. Does that mean they take 11w to produce the 600 lm a 60w would have?

 

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

 

 

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420SA - these bulbs say 11w=60w. Are they not actually 60w or not actually 11w? They OSRAM energy savers.. Does that mean they take 11w to produce the 600 lm a 60w would have?

 

What that figure indicates is that a fluorescent(CFL) bulb that uses 11W of power emits the same amount of light(lumens) as a 60W incandescent bulb(at least perceived that is). Hence the name energy saving bulbs. That information is irrelevant though seeing as incandescent bulbs are useless for growing.  So what we're talking about here is strictly CFL's and you need to use a CFL bulb that uses a minimum of 20W. CFL bulbs have very poor penetration and once you go below 20W the penetration gets really bad.... You also wanna be looking at the lumen rating. The more lumens, the better!

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420SA - these bulbs say 11w=60w. Are they not actually 60w or not actually 11w? They OSRAM energy savers.. Does that mean they take 11w to produce the 600 lm a 60w would have?

 

What that figure indicates is that a fluorescent(CFL) bulb that uses 11W of power emits the same amount of light(lumens) as a 60W incandescent bulb(at least perceived that is). Hence the name energy saving bulbs. That information is irrelevant though seeing as incandescent bulbs are useless for growing.  So what we're talking about here is strictly CFL's and you need to use a CFL bulb that uses a minimum of 20W. CFL bulbs have very poor penetration and once you go below 20W the penetration gets really bad.... You also wanna be looking at the lumen rating. The more lumens, the better!

Thanx for that info. I'll return those bulbs and get bigger ones. Any hardware stores you'd recommend in cpt? Eagle lighting or Brights?

 

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

 

 

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Just on CFL options to consider. 

 

CFL physical size changes as the watt output gets higher. Looking at your design and what you intend to do.

Calculate the maximum length allowed (including socket) should you put them together as per your configuration. I hope Im making sense? :-2cents

 

I bought some Chinese CFLs (40w) 6500k for R40, using about a 6 months no issues. China Town

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:-gthumb

I was at 2 here in Cape Town. Sable Sqaure's one they have changed LEDs so no CFLs there. I found a small China Town at N1 City Value centre next to Virgin Active. They had.

 

My current setup. Extremely basic but effective.

Shot man. I'll go there now. Got 30min left before I go back to office.

 

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

 

 

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@Heisenberg, I bought 3x 85W spiral cfl's (flash brand) at eagle lighting for R120 each. 6400K daylight bulbs, 2000 lm a pop, so my one plant should have enough light for veg. Maybe check them out in future, when you upgrade :)

 

Thanx @CerealKilla. I'll check out Eagle Lighting during the weekend when I need to get my 2700k lights.

For now i've just got two 23W 6500k CFL's from Brights and get a 3rd one later. 69W should be enough for one plant, right?

 

I plan to keep the 3x 23W 6500k's in for 1-2 Weeks of veg and then swap them out for the 3x 2700k's for flowering. Any ideas on how to connect up the 90mm PC fans?

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Nice Heisenberg,

 

Can you remove the internal partitioning to give more horizontal space. Will you be growing Scrog in that space due to height limitations?

@Toby - I tried removing them with a pair of cutters but they're tougher than they appear. Will need some type of mini grinder or drill to remove the rivets. Regardless though, the pot holding the meduim is long enough to house two seeds in the space as is. Do you think its safe to plant two seeds in one big pot? It takes up the entire length of the bottom of the chassis before the hardrive bays start.

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Baby North is up and alive! Let's get things going! Lights and fans are up and hooked to timer, JGS soil is slightly moist housing the new plant.

 

Will grow for 2 weeks then switch two 12/12 and swap to 2700k bulbs. And start LST and SCROG. This is going to be very tight, I must admit, I'm nervous!

 

5de61eca487913858db561d5f7ee22eb.jpg

 

68b16f00ea4ce8c863d4eff8e6ebe90b.jpg

 

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Good luck Heisenberg! If she's not too big after 2 weeks, let her veg a little more. Apparently NL doubles during flower, so maybe use that as a guide?

 

I excited to see this go down!

I'll do some research CerealKilla. I had a strange dream Last night that someone sent me a pdf on Northern Lights here on the forum, so il definitely look into it. LOLz. But most people switch to 12/12 after 1 week already.

 

Day 2 - Baby North

First true leaves are showing.

4e0afc8dac35e84ead6aae7accae6223.jpg

 

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