Audrey II's drobe

Audrey II

New member
Thought I'd share my drobe construction with the lovely members of MrNice :) Hope it may be of help to some of you. This is a UK construction, 240v AC

This is my distribution board build for my stealth drobe and hope that this thread may be of some use to anyone attempting the same sort of thing.

Disclaimer: I am no electrician (unless you count the 2 years of a failed apprenticeship) . Please only use this as a reference guide. I cannot take responsibility if you burn down the house or electrocute the cat.

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The problem: Poor ventilation and substandard electrical safety:

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The solution: Build a thermostatically controlled and timed ventilation system and install HPS lighting

Firstly the wiring diagram:

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Here is a pile of components:

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And the first fix:

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Starting the wiring:

Junction Box

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Contactor

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Variac controller enclosure (not fully wired up, there was more work undertaken to install the thermostat which I didn't photograph)

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Variacs (If you know your onions you will notice that they are not wired as per the wiring diagram. This has been rectified)

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Front of variac enclosure. I have mounted them high up as this is where the thermostat sits now it is installed (see below)

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Initial fitting:

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Full frontal before the filter was added

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and with filter

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Heater and intake vents and ducts (2 cowled passive and 4 PC fan powered active intakes) and the new HPS light

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Now with added thermostat goodness

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Acoustic ducting out of the airbrick

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And finally in full stealth mode. Could be any old wardrobe on casual inspection :)

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I did encounter some issues with the build, namely not following my wiring diagram correctly and having the neutrals to the variac switched as well as the lives, but all is now sorted and I am confident that I have a very safe growing area. All 240V items (bar the light) are located in the top of the drobe away from moisture. The PC fans are fed from a 12v manually variable supply.

May this prove to be a help and inspiration to some of you :)

peas n luv

A II
 
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Hi Audrey,

wow that has to be the most professional set up ive seen. thanks for sharing

is that a soler and palau extractor? i always thought they had to be set up horizontal rather than vertical

whats the noise like?
 
Hi Audrey,

wow that has to be the most professional set up ive seen. thanks for sharing

is that a soler and palau extractor? i always thought they had to be set up horizontal rather than vertical

whats the noise like?

Yes it is the S&P mixvent 250. I'm not sure that orientation is an issue, there is nothing I can see in the specs but I may have missed it. Bit late now anyhow ;). As for noise... well it is essentially inside a big box without padding so the drobe itself amplifies the sound a little. The drobe is a bit noisier than a PC when it is on 100% extract, but it is in the spare room now (different location to the photos) and noise isn't an issue. If I had to build again I'd probably go for the 350 and use reducers from 125mm to 100mm as I have some issues with temps in the summer. Now it is in the spare room though, I can have the aircon on if it gets too hot.

peas n luv

A II
 
you echo my thoughts lordwinter, builds of this caliber only tend to intimidate me and leave me in awe. and it isn't all electrical as these often require a fairly high degree of skill in the carpentry field. this one appears to be made by a manufacturer of sorts but often one is required to disassemble and then reassemble leaving zero flaws. this is not me but thumbs up to audrey. peace-biteme
 
Audrey...you should know that somebody who fully understands the brilliance of using variacs and din-rail devices fully appreciates your work.

I am humbled.

Peace.
 
Audrey II...

Your work is amazing. I dont know how I missed this.

Very professional and tight.

Looking forward to see how your system does with the plant inside...lol!

Welcome to Mr. Nice!

CM
 
Quick update. I have now installed supplimentary side lighting and changed back to CFL for the main grow light as I had serious issues with the temperatures in there. However, when I did a routine inspection of the exhaust vent I found it to be partially blocked, so I may not have been getting the best out of the extraction. I may well swap the HPS back in there if I feel I can now keep the environment more under control.

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