Cabinet grow questions

Hey,

This is my first post here but I've been over at icmag.com for a while. My first grow was a couple of years back with a 150w hps in a closet. I'm now planning for my second and I need it to be super stealth. I'm not a heavy smoker so I don't need huge yields, but it would be nice if I could harvest an ounce every 3 months or so. I've been scouring the internet the last few days, looking for a cabinet that fits my needs (the cabinet is going to go in my closet - I have 61" of height to work with, and I'd like to keep the width to 30 or below and the depth to about 20). First, I looked at the pre-made boxes from the hydro companies, but those are just ridiculously expensive, and I don't trust those companies. Then I started looking for cabinets from places like home depot and lowes that I can modify to suit my needs. Building the cabinet completely from scratch is not an option, as I have absolutely zero handyman skills. Odor control, quiet operation, and a light-proof box are of the utmost concern. I would also like a cabinet that has either a built-in lock or a slot to place a padlock.

Anyway, I just wanted to get some opinions on what kind of box would be best for my situation - what dimensions, what material (wood, plastic, metal) etc. Smaller would be optimal, as it is more stealthy, but like I said I have 61" of height to play with and I wouldn't mind using something that big if it is stealthy. I found something that fit my dimensions - Amazon.com: Outstanding Solutions Compact Midi Shed: Home Improvement - but I contacted the company and it seems they are out of stock and the product has been discontinued. If anyone has any links to cabinets or ideas please share! Thanks.

go into our Grow Room Design & Setup, and look in there for all the different grow boxes people have made. the rubbermaid tub boxes seem to be getting popular, and are easy to make.........here i just found one for you https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/51417-diy-4oz-minimum-yield-grow.html, this one is pretty simple, and doesnt appear to need any real "handyman" skills.

Thanks, I'll check out that section. The rubbermaid thing won't work for me because it isn't stealthy enough for my situation. I ended up buying this one - Amazon.com: Outstanding Solutions Compact Midi Shed: Home Improvement - it is a good size for my closet. The only thing I'm worried about is I don't think it has a locking system. How hard would it be to add some kind of lock to something like that? Also, how difficult is it to control odor in a plastic box like that? And what about controlling light leaks - if I line the inside of it with mylar would that be enough to make it light proof? Well, if it doesn't work out I can always just use it for some extra storage, but it seemed to be the last one available from that company and it fits my closet perfectly, so I got it. Hopefully it will work out.

just go through the room design and the diy forums and youll figure it out...putting a locking clasp on a cabinet is about as hard as using a screw gun. put one of those with a padlock and your set.

or if your really worried about security, just put a locking doorknob on your closet(only as difficult as turning a screwdriver) if you make your closet lockable then you have no worries about what the box itself actually looks like too.

Cool, thanks. How difficult do you think it would be to light-proof that plastic cabinet I bought?

Also, do you think there is any danger in using an hps in a plastic box like the one i bought? Would it melt the plastic?

how many lamps ? pressumably you can close the closet door to block the light out ?

Try this site. The "soft" boxes look very nice and I am thinking of getting one myself.

Will probably have one hps, either 250w or 400w. I'll probably get a cooltube. The closet doors are not very secure, they are sliding doors and dont even slide all the way to the wall. I definitely will need to make the cabinet lightproof. Thanks for the link willygoat - those tents are nice but unfortunately not very stealthy - kind of obvious to have a tent up.

I dunno about the whole HPS in a rubber box idea. but you could probably keep a 250 cool enough with a tube, so long as you had a good sized fan on it, and a seperate fan drawing air through the rest of the box. Anything is possible with enough creativity. That link I posted seemed to have gotten good results from cfls. If you want to try the hps in something like that box you got, your only real concern is gonna be airflow(which shouldnt be to hard to do). To really light proof it( 'cause I bet its gonna glow like a spaceship, lol), Just line it with mylar, or just paint the inside of it. or even just hang a thick dark sheet across the closet in front of it.

...and you'd could even make your own cool tube for it, and save yourself a good chunk of cash.
https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/8502-build-my-own-cool-tube.html

https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/8503-build-my-own-cool-tube.html

Yeah, I remember in my first grow my 150w hps got so hot, I wouldn't want to put that thing in a plastic box. Hopefully with a cooltube and proper exhaust it will be ok this time to put a 250 or 400. Question about the cooltube - I would need a fan pulling air in and then another one to exhaust? Would computer fans do alright or would I need something bigger? And the cooltube should be airtight, right? So odors wouldn't leak in? Because if they did leak then I'd need 2 carbon scrubbers, one on the cooltube and another on the main cabinet exhaust? Let me know if I'm way off base here, I'm not completely clear on these cooltube things. I plan to have a big blower fan doing the main exhaust in the cabinet, as long as I can keep it quiet enough that it remains stealthy. Any recommendations on a quiet, but powerful blower (if that even exists) would be appreciated.

those links are a complete how-to.....explains it all. if you do a search youll find even more info.....
But IF you were to ask me, I'd figure out that cabinets total volume in cubic feet 1st.
Then I would install a fan that draws fresh air into said box, at a rates of 3 times it volume per minute.(20 cubic feet of space, 60cfm fan, or higher). Build your cooltube, and a DIY carbon scrubber(also from plans available here). Rig up in following order: 1.cooltube 2. duct 3.fan 4.scrubber(which will be on outside of box)
I'd use an adj. fan on cool tube, with about double the cfm of your intake, that way you can dial it in to match your intake rate and get your intake/outake balanced (you can actually sorta hear it when the fans get in sync with each other).

a good quiet fan I have heard about..its called the sun leaves(?)something or another..I'll find it and give you a link to it.