4000W Sealed room

[Crysmatic]

Hey all!

I'm putting together a room for a foaf. Basically he wanted 3x 1000w and left the rest up to me. I've been researching for a long time, and think I've got a good setup for him. I've tried to size it for 4000w in case he wants to add another light. It's being done on the cheap, but we're not cutting corners or being unsafe.

the room is 9' x 13' x 8', fully insulated with roxul, bubble paper, nasa paper, and panda paper. the floor will be painted with mold proof bathroom paint, and possibly pond liner.

lights are magnetic ballast 1000w 240V HPS. I plan to replace the 120V plugs on the lights with NEMA 6-15P plugs. I'm also getting a quote for a high efficiency ballast autotransformer. I'm hoping to drop power usage from 1096W - not substantially, but there are other benefits. Magnetic ballasts are dead simple, reliable, relatively cheap, and cheap to fix.

first run bulbs are used, and looking to ushio or sunmaster super HPS for next run. reflectors are PL lighting Alpha. it's not brake formed by hobbyists - it's computer designed and deep draw formed. it gives the deepest penetration and most even lighting. i plan to map the light pattern to determine light spacing, and an IR meter to determine height.

I plan to control the lights with an intermatic t104. I'll have a couple of 240V receptacles in their own box.

I've spec'd an 18,000 btu window A/C. temps will be about 26-27°C with CO2.

i picked up an advanced nutrient's cool flame CO2 generator, and soon to have a controller (either CAP or TITAN). 1200 ppm +/-.

I was planning on a getting a 75 pint dehumidifier - SOGreenthumb recommended a 175 pint. it'll be on 24/7 to keep humidity 60-70%.

I just picked up a Mountain Air 900 cfm filter and 8" blower. the room is 936 cu.ft. should be about right...depending on strains :) I can wire a pot to see how low we can actually go.

3 gal pots with promix hp (high porosity) at 16x per light - about a 4' x 4' footprint. again, a quick and dirty (no pun intended) first run. there may not be a need to change - i'll see what kind of results we get after a couple of runs.

I'll be making nutes. others have had great results with my 2-5-6, but I want to try something new. It'll be low phosphorus, which makes for cleaner smoke, but surprisingly a lot cheaper than my 2-5-6. i hold no illusions - it'll take a lot of work to tune it in...hopefully in a run or two. Of course we have pH and EC meters by Hanna. We'll also pick up a RO system soon.

I have a bunch of varieties available to me. I have AK47, White Russian, Sensi Star and the White S1 seeds - and buy anything else. I can get extrema, jack the ripper, agent orange, and other clones. At least initially, we'll be using one or two varieties to sort out the setup.

I think I've got everything. Any comments/suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Crysmatic]

am i on the right track? any tips?

 

[SweetTooth]

Fuck the pots and do soil beds minimum 25 per light, or if your stuck on pots run a 4 tier 6'6" wide x 10' long stadium with bare bulbs down the middle. Beds are the ticket though.

 

[Crysmatic]

thanks for your input. we're not going to have everything optimised first run. i wanna get through one or two cycles, then we'll assess.

we're a week or two away from having the a/c and dehumidifiers, and 600w reflectors were shipped instead of the 1000w.

i gave a call to hydroempire and they stopped selling the 600w PL light. i was told that the light is very intense, but too tight to light a 3x3 area. PL says that the new reflectors have better penetration AND coverage...should I be concerned that I won't be able to light a 4x4 area? They came without the back of the junction box, which makes mounting a socket impossible - and we're having trouble explaining this to the PL supplier. The lack of information is a little frustrating. Maybe a state of the art reflector for $95 is tgtbt? If this fails, there's the adjust-a-wing for $230...

 

[epicseeds]

everything sounds top notch and i really hope you will be doing a journal.

would you mind sharing your thoughts on your homemade nutes? will you be changing the nutrient profiles throughout bloom? what about during veg?

 

[Crysmatic]

everything sounds top notch and i really hope you will be doing a journal.

would you mind sharing your thoughts on your homemade nutes? will you be changing the nutrient profiles throughout bloom? what about during veg?

thanks for dropping in. I'll be helping and guiding my friend, but have to distance myself. When he gets his med license, I'll definitely post a journal.

Homemade nutes are great if you take the time to learn what you're doing. If something doesn't work as well as it should you can tweak it on the fly.

I'm planning on using a 2-1-2, plus PK boost for flower. I'll tweak it as I see fit. Clones will be fine for a week or two in veg.

On a side note, it's standard practice to take a tolerance as plus or minus one half of the left most digit. i.e. if nitrogen says 2%, it can be 1.5% to 2.5%. if it were 2.0%, then it's 1.95% to 2.05%. does that make sense? I'm saying my 2-1-2 isn't 2-1-2 :)

reflector update: the people at PL are retarded. They can't tell the difference between a 600w hps and a 1000w hps (they sent us a 600w). Either the saleswoman was just a bitch or she didn't want to deal with the hobby hydroponics industry. no Alpha reflector for me :( the next best option is the adjust a wing at $230 a pop :O

 

[ttystikk]

I don't think that adjust-a-wing reflectors are second rate, and it sounds like you have a pretty good handle on the rest of your setup. One thing I see on a regular basis in the growrooms I consult for is that people don't pay enough attention to training and shaping their plants. I think that can be the biggest variable in the whole system, and can account for low yields in otherwise well designed rooms. My two cents...

 

[dorjewright]

A caution on the adjustawing. The spreaders are a complete waste. Second: most of the light will be under the trailing edges; there is a large cool spot under the bulb, the light increases in intensity toward the edges. So if yo are using reflectors placed side to side yo will have to adjust for the cool spot at the center. Move the plants around....
Marin Hydro had 1000w adj for 145.

 

[Crysmatic]

ttys: i'm always open to improving my technique. if all goes to plan, they'll be several colas per plant, and fairly short and even canopy.

i'll definitely want to play with an adjust-a-wing and a light meter to get a nice pattern. can you just eyeball it adjust the focal point?

I want to stay away from cross border shopping. I hate to let customs see what I'm ordering. The US has all the toys :(

A buddy of mine paid extra for UPS 'overnight' shipping. He had to *drive* out to the airport the following evening, and pay *additional* fees. It wasn't over night, and it wasn't delivered...how useless is that?

update on my magnetic ballast: preliminary design is at 94% efficiency and half the weight of an EI xfmr. The transformer runs below body temperature :) I'm getting a new quote - hopefully cheaper and slightly more efficient. I want to drop power usage from 1100w to ~1040w. It amounts to $2.31/mo savings per light at $0.107/kWh.

 

[Crysmatic]

I just put the order in on a ballast. 94% efficiency, 1065W, and weighs 4.2 lb. it runs at 29C...well below body temp. I'm so excited! I can't wait to run it.

I was disappointed to discover that manufacturers repackage parts made by a handful of suppliers, and there's no real differentiation. Regular EI transformers are typically 82% efficient, and are very heavy.

 

[Crysmatic]

picked up bell labs LR1000 reflectors yesterday...inching closer.

trying to get a small group buy for ballasts locally...save a few bucks. they're a few weeks away still as they're built to order.