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Grow shelf basic and upgraded

  • #21
very nice looking....

I do have a small concern...
I would recommend your humidifier be below the outlet to the rack with runs that are on a constant slope. That way, any condensation that accumulates in the hose can gravity flow back into the humidifier and be recycled. You dont want it "puddling" in the hose for several reasons.... it may leak, it may cause restriction to flow, it may cause bacterial/fungal/funk issues..... etc.

Butch
 
  • #22
very nice looking....

I do have a small concern...
I would recommend your humidifier be below the outlet to the rack with runs that are on a constant slope. That way, any condensation that accumulates in the hose can gravity flow back into the humidifier and be recycled. You dont want it "puddling" in the hose for several reasons.... it may leak, it may cause restriction to flow, it may cause bacterial/fungal/funk issues..... etc.

Butch

Oh, I didn't even think of that ... Thank you for the tip!!
I have an ultrasonic humidifier on its way to my cave and as soon as it arrives I'll need to redo the tubing.

The current humidifier is evaporative and blows so much air through that it works like a fan and humidifier in one (thus I removed the fans currently). And yet it did not solve humidity issue during the day it seems...

Once I turn on the lights and the fixtures start generating heat, humidity drops from 70% to 40%. I really hope ultrasonic humidifier will resolve this issue. I'll have to experiment with run times as well to determine the on and off periods (save on DI water and electricity).
 
  • #23
evaporative humidifiers are nearly worthless for our application....
 
  • #24
Oh forgot to mention, I had to put in fans on top of the aquariums / terrariums to circulate some air in through the holes in the cover. They started to stink after a week with moss in it. Anyone has advices on how to avoid the problem?
 
  • #25
A little update:

Purchased one humidifier (Crane cool mist) and it turned out that the output from the unit was too weak. Upon inspection the culprits were discovered: Puny squirrel cage fan, small intake and restricted exhaust.
20111118_003b.jpg


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But luckily I had this awesome bucket lying around that can house the top of the humidifier almost perfectly.
The board on the humidifier outputs slightly more than 12V and 0.15A which is enough to run a single 80mm PC fan (0.14A) and leave a bit of an overhead. Angles of a fan were shaved off and fitted into a sour cream cup :)
20111119_003b.jpg



The housing for the fan is shortened and fitted snugly into a hole close to the bottom of the bucket (it is held security with adhesive sealant):
20111120_002b.jpg


Easy to replace if fan breaks.


The fan is connected to the board using a spare cable I had lying around from one of the disassembled computers and connected to the fan plug using two cut sparklers sticks:
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20111120_003b.jpg



Another hole was cut to house the power switch
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Humidifier is assembled and that is pretty much it:

Before:
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After:
20111120_007b.jpg


20111120_008b.jpg


20111120_009b.jpg


Not so weak anymore. Sorry the last picture is rather blurry. The hardest and most tedious part was cutting the edges off of the fan. The plastic it is made of when heated or ground smells pretty bad.
Now I just need to replace my current evaporative humidifier and set the timer :)

P.S. I have glued with epoxy a waver on the top edges of the bucket made out from the top of bucket to hold the humidifier more stably and right now it is drying. Oh yeah, the cone top is removable.
 
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  • #26
Impressive modification!
 
  • #27
Thank you :)
 
  • #28
This is a "proof of concept" setup and needs re-tubing. This is not the most feng shui setupi but it works!

The flow of water droplets is split via a "mixer" into to two streams and directed into a top and middle shelves.
On the middle shelfe excess fog is pushed down into the terrarium via PC fan.

With lights off: RH ~ 90%, T ~ 72-75C
With lights on: RH - 75-80%, T~ 80-82C


Again, I am going to all this extent only because of the significant heat buildup in the enclosed Grow shelf and air stagnation.


20111121_002b.jpg


20111121_003b.jpg


Top (first) Shelf
20111121_004b.jpg


Second Shelf
20111121_005b.jpg


Fan blows into terrarium below
20111121_006b.jpg


Third Shelf
20111121_008b.jpg


Problems to be addressed:
1) water buildup in the mixer when it is tilted.
2) water buildup in the hose that leads to the second shelf
3) the vacuum hoses are too rigid
4) Need to remove evaporative humidifier and replace with PC fans (new adjustable power supply)
5) Need clear PVC sheet and weather strips in front to keep humidity in
 
  • #29
Great looking LFS. Is it homegrown?
 
  • #30
Yes, but not by me. This LFS was kindly sent to me by a TF member here. He was very generous and sent me a truckload of his moss for free :)
 
  • #31
is it a tropical moss or what? spike moss? all the moss i try to grow in my vivariums dies over time not matter how hard i keep it moist
 
  • #32
This is Sphagnum moss. I just got it two weeks ago. So there is plenty of time for me to kill it yet.

He also kindly sent me directions on how to set up a self watering terrarium for moss and utrics which i will try soon
 
  • #33
Some minor changes and clean up. Sorry Pics are a bit blurry.

To avoid liquid buildup in the hoses.

20111202_001b.jpg


20111202_002b.jpg


Top Shelf

20111202_004b.jpg


Middle Shelf
20111202_003b.jpg
 
  • #34
Gill, I forgot to ask this earlier but how did you get the blinds on the rack? I've been considering doing a very similar enclosure for my grow rack and the blinds seem like a great idea.
 
  • #35
Cable ties in 4 places to the top most shelf :) very simple.
 
  • #37
Very clean, neat, and simple. I approve! :lol:
 
  • #38
Holy serious-business setup, batman! Wow! My plants sure wouldn't look so crappy if I treated them this nice :hail:
 
  • #39
Very impressive set-up!

I like your cat!
 
  • #40
Holy serious-business setup, batman! Wow! My plants sure wouldn't look so crappy if I treated them this nice :hail:

I still have a looooooong way to go to even start catching up with your collection and level of success :)

Thank you all for kind words. This setup unfortunately needs overhaul.

Because the front is open it does not retain humidity for long. I am currently considering taking the blinds off completely, lining the front with weather strips and mounting two 18"x24" clear acrylic sheets in the J channels (top and bottom) on the strips to easily slide them apart for access. Or something similar :)


Blinds need to go because they are mounted like so :(

20111204_002b.jpg


20111204_001b.jpg
 
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