The State of the Art Box. Water cooled, Sealed, Co2, Dimmable 3000 watts!

[LED-Freak]

Hey I know this would never work for you water jacket guys another question to ponder.

How come hydro innovations and other heat exchanger mfgs don't recommend mixing a coolant into your system being that it is a closed loop and never mixes with your actual nutrient resv?

I mean every other heat exchanger I have ever came in contact with is ran with some typer of coolant because coolant removes and transfer heat a lot more efficiently and effectively than just water alone. I mean thats why you just don't add water alone into your vehicles radiator and why chillers are ran with some type of freon. Its also a lubricant and protective for internal parts. I dont know, just a thought.

 

[budlydoright]

I agree, a glycol based coolant would be nice to run in a water cooled system like the icebox.

 

[budlydoright]

Alright then, Time to get to work on the clone side. not too much activity here yet. Going to install the cooltube and ice box. Still need to get another inline fan.

did buy a Turboklone 48 yesterday with the dome (rh in my neck o the woods is less than 20). I typically like to DIY as much as possible but after much more cost analysis than it deserves, I opted for the commercial solution. At anyrate, I set it up the othernight and loaded every site. They fit better than expected and based on my first impressions of it, it was well worth the $$.

so with that fuse lit, things will start to move onthe veg/clone lab.

 

[budlydoright]

Wow, rooted cuttings in 7 days! this thing does indeed work as advertised. About 20 clones are already shooting roots. Still need to buy a 6" inline before I can complete this side. It's going to need to happen real soon. Probably finish it up early next week.

 

[spiderpig1]

in in brother

 

[b0rab0ra]

 

[budlydoright]

thanks guys, remember the actual grow journal is here:

Budley's New Bud Box 3K, Watercooled, CO2, Sealed.

this thread is about the box construction.

Box is currently running a crop. A few things have been changed. There has been a bit of tweaking try to increase the effeciency of the AC unit.

Durring the heat of the summer, the ambiant air outside this box is rarely below 95 and usually 100-105. the heat penetrating the wood has been a real problem. the AC ran 24/7 to just keep the interior at 90. So we installed 1.5" styrofoam sheet insulation throughout. this appears to have corrected the problem, however I don't believe the AC will run enough now to dehumidify the room during dark cycles or this winter. So I am going to have to squeeze the dehumidifier into the box or sacrifice some of me veg box for utiltiy.

Other than that it is workin killer. I have barely moved the needle on my Co2 tank even after 2 months of use. This box is sealed up toght! Plants are loving it.

 

[Lemon Paradise]

I definately need to check that out.. love your setup , really great work

 

[greenvertical]

Ok, my water chilled air condtioner failed miserably. I guess the icebox needs a much greater temperature differential to work properly. So it's back to the drawing board on the AC. I hate to put a window unit in there, so i may take one apart and just drop the coils through the ceiling and put a fan on it. Much like my chiller, as a matter of fact my old chiller will work just fine. I'll post pictures whem I get it done. The icebox will likely end up on my cooltube and in the veg chamber.

Hey,

This is exactly the build up i am planning to do. Could you explain exactly what didnt work?
The Hydro innovations site claims that the water temperature need only be 10 degrees F lower then the room temp in order to remove all of the heat generated by a 1000 watt light.

Was your diy chiller not capable of keeping the water temperature 10 degrees below your target room temp or was the cool box not capable of cooling the air effectively?
Thanks!

 

[greenvertical]

I'm surprised nobody has commented on this yet...glad to see it hasn't stopped you from updating! Too much to take in all at once but dayum...very nice job! +reps for sure! I especially like your DIY air cooler..."piiiiiimp" lol

x2

Definitely a really cool set up and great flexibility of design!
Do you think that perhaps it is also possible to solder some copper tubing in to extent the distance from the ac to the actual cooling inside component? This would allow some growers to use their window mounted unit as a mim mini split in a smaller tent or closet grows. I might try that.

 

[budlydoright]

Was your diy chiller not capable of keeping the water temperature 10 degrees below your target room temp or was the cool box not capable of cooling the air effectively?
Thanks!

The chiller's not the problem. I can easily bring my h2o down to 55. I really don't think the problem was the hydrogen unit. It just couldn't keep up with the heat from the lamp or the heat seeping into the box from the 100+ temps outside the box. The AC had trouble keeping up as well until I insulated the box

x2

Definitely a really cool set up and great flexibility of design!
Do you think that perhaps it is also possible to solder some copper tubing in to extent the distance from the ac to the actual cooling inside component? This would allow some growers to use their window mounted unit as a mim mini split in a smaller tent or closet grows. I might try that.

It is my understanding that this is quite possible. It could get rather difficult to manage if you needed to move it. Plus, ALL of my design criteria had to include the ability to replace ANY of the refridgeration components with cheap, readily available parts. If my ac goes down, I can get a new 100 unit open it up and be running in a matter of hours. No soldering or wiring involved.

 

[ClimateControl]

Try Mini Split Install In Your Grow Room

If anyone is in the market, Let me know.

Best Priced Mini Splits

18 Seer, Hitachi Compressor, DC Inverter,With Free Install Kits
P/U in Gardena, CA Available:
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We also have less expensive units, as well as more expensive units- But the growers seem to prefer Shinco, Superior prices, Superior quality!

 

[TorturedSoul]

Hey I know this would never work for you water jacket guys another question to ponder.

How come hydro innovations and other heat exchanger mfgs don't recommend mixing a coolant into your system being that it is a closed loop and never mixes with your actual nutrient resv?

I mean every other heat exchanger I have ever came in contact with is ran with some typer of coolant because coolant removes and transfer heat a lot more efficiently and effectively than just water alone. I mean thats why you just don't add water alone into your vehicles radiator and why chillers are ran with some type of freon. Its also a lubricant and protective for internal parts. I dont know, just a thought.

Old post but I just saw it.

It's my understanding that adding an anti-freeze such as ethylene glycol (etc.) to an automotive type system (at the properly-mixed range) provides lubrication to the water pump, some anti-corrosives, and causes the freezing-point to decrease a bunch and the boiling-point to increase a bit more than just pressurizing the system does. And that it does NOT aid in thermal transfer (water is actually really good).

I used to do a little bit of racing "¼-mile at a time" with intercooled turbo v-6 setups and things like Water Wetter and - my personal favorite - RMI-25 were used more than antifreeze. They are surfactants and do a lot of good in racing applications where you've got to deal with incredible heat in relatively small areas. Say the coolant passing through the system... Its job is to remove heat... Well, it can flash-boil, producing bubbles at the surface. Bubbles don't transfer heat well at all, lol. The two products I mentioned help the bubbles be really small which are better than big ones in the system - more surface-area per volume of the bubble means it gets cooled back to liquid faster by the surrounding coolant and they're also dispersed away from the areas where they're formed (sort of) faster/easier.

RMI-25 has other benefits: If you pop a head gasket - or <COUGH> both of them (20+psi on pump gas with small injectors and no alcohol injection, anyone? It pulled like a freight train... at the beginning of the run) - on a run and antifreeze gets in the crankcase, well... might as well order new bearings. With distilled water/RMI-25, much less so. It's non-toxic. Lubricates water pump seals and heater control valves. Retards electrolysis and cavitation erosion. Will actually CLEAN a corroded system while in use (flushing just removes the loose crap). Includes a fluorescent dye for leak-tracing.

But even that product would seem to be of little use in our type of application. Unless you expect your temperatures to reach extremes where the water(sic) will actually freeze or boil, don't bother. MAYBE add a surfactant such as RMI-25, but I can't see any benefit. It just seems like water that's as pure as you can get it (perhaps adjusting the pH or adding a mild anti-algae ingredient) will give you the best realistic heat-transfer ability.

 

[budlydoright]

Major changes underway. I have opened up the entire space by removing wall. Switched out funky internal Air conditioner to a standard 5200btu window unit mounted on end. 3rd fresca sol to be added this weekend. Dehumidifier mounted as high as possible. Changing from 2 x 1000 to 3 x 600.

currently in the 8th week with a pull date in 4 days. Last run was .70 gpw. Always striving for 1gpw.

 

[chosen]

Stud... Nice build

 

[budlydoright]

+Rep on the UV LIGHT

...sidenote, foodsafe glycol would be much better alternative to water. The thermal transfer rate is much larger compared to water. I talked to the beer guy that installed the system & chiller for the beer line ---btw that would be perfect, didn't create very much heat and cooled the line to 34-38 degrees fairly quietly as well.

I'm sure that there are more effecient fluids, but water is readily available!

Here's the box now:

I am now running a 4 x 12' space with 3 x 600 ushios on lumatek ballasts. I had to keep the 1ks pinned to the roof, the 600's are more managable and can be kept at a distance that likely provides more lumens to the plants in a more gentle way.

 

[budlydoright]

The 600's are simply a better fit for this space. Fresca sols have hot spots, with the 1k I couldn't get the lamp far enough away once they were mature. I'm getting pretty much the same output 2 x 145,000 vs 3 x 97,000 although I think these are prob both exaggerated. Difference is I can get the 600's way closer and it's spread out over the space more evenly. they also seen to work better in the original fresca line. the 1ks were just too big which is prob why they have the platinum series out which is longer.

So again, the inverse square law can work in your favor.