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Post by renesis on May 13, 2009 14:24:18 GMT -5
Awesome info. I will investigate, and then post pics when I fail to figure it out, and hopefully you can point me in the right direction doug!
Thanks
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Post by renesis on May 18, 2009 19:36:15 GMT -5
Got to a decent start on the frame today, I managed to pick out some good pieces of wood before leaving work on Friday. I had to stop as I ran out of screws, so will continue this week sometime. Here's the progress so far:
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Post by lloyd on May 18, 2009 20:55:13 GMT -5
Keep up the posting, I'd like to build one of these soon.
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Post by renesis on May 21, 2009 21:13:04 GMT -5
Alright- got the blower in the mail a couple days ago. Can anyone (doug?) tell me if its okay to block the inlet to control the flow? From the looks of it, the air is taken in past the motor and perhaps this is how it is cooled? Also does anyone know why the wiring would be split two ways? My guess was to attach another motor or device in line? Would it be alright to wire the extra side to an electrical outlet built into the flowhood? In order to plug in a light maybe, so that when the fan is turned on, so is the light? Any other advice is welcome too! I made some progress on the frame as well, but haven't taken any updated pics, will do so tomorrow! Hoping to have a good portion of it done this weekend.
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Post by lloyd on May 21, 2009 22:00:53 GMT -5
As long as you power the light from the 115VAC power supply wires, you're fine. That fan looks BIG.
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Post by renesis on May 23, 2009 20:40:15 GMT -5
New update, Got quite a bit done today- After trying to paint the wood and having it look so bad since the quality of the wood isn't the greatest, I decided to go with shelf liner- it should work better as well as it will be easier to clean and work on. Anyways, onto the pics: Let me know what you think so far! Go easy, I don't work with wood all that much, more of a steel guy.
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Post by hackerberry on May 23, 2009 21:06:40 GMT -5
Looking good man!
hb
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Post by lloyd on May 23, 2009 21:53:37 GMT -5
Looks good. Let's see the details of the fan and filter installation too.
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Post by renesis on May 24, 2009 20:35:18 GMT -5
Looks good. Let's see the details of the fan and filter installation too. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics of the fan installation- but it wasnt really too complex, just a sheet of wood with 2 squares cut out for the blower and then screwed in where you see it, and the blower screwed into that. Hopefully this picture will explain the filter install a bit better- I placed shims below and to the sides of the filter to place it where I wanted it, and then wedged wooden blocks from behind to push the filter into the wooden frame you see in the previous pics. The wooden blocks are then screwed in from the side.
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Post by renesis on May 24, 2009 20:47:43 GMT -5
And, onto the home stretch! I added some pieces of wood, one across, and one on the back wall to fit the pre-filters the way I wanted them. Then, wired in the fans- didn't end up doing anything fancy with it, just straight to a plug. I suppose I could have wired in a switch or added an outlet but decided to keep it simple (for now at least). Then, the first pre-filter went into place, and then duct taped in. I was going to use silicone, but then figured if I did want to change them out, duct tape would be much easier to work with. And the second pre-filter (exact same) Then, I needed a way to control the air speed as these fans are wayyy too powerful for my hepa, and to achieve the correct air speed (~200cfm). So, I made a very very crude butterfly valve. Its just a wooden plank, screwed in from both sides near the top. I then welded a thin steel rod to the screw head to function as a lever. Its never fully closed due to the slight gaps it leaves, which is probably a good thing - I'm sure the motors do need some air to keep cool. Here it is fully open. The extra pieces of wood are to keep it from splitting as you see... In place....with the CP terrarium proudly on top of it all- I learned from various mushroom growing sites that a crude test for correct air-speed is to be able to blow a lit flame to the side (90 degrees) without blowing it out. Blower off: Blower on: Maybe still a bit too powerful, I'll recalibrate once the plexiglass is on and then set the valve to allow hopefully the ideal amount of air. So, now all thats left is to get a piece of plexiglass for the top, cover up the exposed wood - likely with some cloth material stapled on. And to find a bigger base, its just sitting on a small drawer unit right now - not exactly the best thing. So far so good! As usual, comments are welcome!
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Post by lloyd on May 24, 2009 21:00:49 GMT -5
Looks like a good job. Thanks for all the details, it gives me lots of ideas. Now I have to buy a fan and HEPA and head off to Home Depot. Keep the thread and pictures up if you can.
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Post by renesis on May 27, 2009 10:01:40 GMT -5
No problem lloyd, the pics will stay up as long as I can remember to renew this domain name.
Ordered the plexiglass yesterday- will arrive Friday.
So a final tally on costs:
Pre-filter (pkg of 2) - 5.99 + tax HEPA Filter- $90 + tax Blower - $104 + $37.41 brokerage Screws (pkg of 100) - 2.99 + tax Plexiglass - $15 Wood - Free! (see first post)
Total taxes paid - $13.37
Grand total out of pocket expenses: $268.76
Only if my car parts were this cheap!
edit- forgot to add in the shipping cost of the blower, still a good total price though!
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Post by hackerberry on May 27, 2009 10:29:19 GMT -5
That is a cheap Flow Hood! Very nice.
hb
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Post by renesis on May 29, 2009 19:13:41 GMT -5
Got the plexiglass today, really nice thick piece - 1/4"
Unfortunately, due to a sloppy cut (I told you guys I'm not a wood guy!), it won't fit in too nicely on one side. So, I'm going to try to modify the wood by filing it down a bit on that side and hopefully I'll have the plexiglass installed tomorrow! Will post pics when its done.
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Post by renesis on May 30, 2009 14:07:23 GMT -5
Finished the plexiglass install! Managed to shave off a bit of the wood without dis assembly to fit the plexiglass in. Then I siliconed it in, and the textbooks are there to keep the glass pushed down while the silicone cures. Here it is: Thanks for playing!
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