Building single-plant growbox, I want your opinions!

[Fractus]

"Why is styrofoam recycling important? Polystyrene or styrofoam is manufactured from petroleum. As such, it is highly flammable and may not be safe to use as improvised wall insulation. It is illegal to burn styrofoam because this would release harmful chemicals to the atmosphere, notably benzene, a known human carcinogen used in the manufacturing process of polystyrene."

bigjesse, with all due respect, CFL's contain mercury, which is much more harmful than benzene or any other chemical that burning styrofoam would produce. I'm also not planning on lighting it on fire, just like I'm not planning on breaking any bulbs. I know "accidents can happen" but they all have a cause. If you use products safely then they do what they are supposed to. And as far as combustibility, I mentionned several times earlier the properties of styrofoam and how it ignites and at what temperatures. I bet I can find an equally hazardous aspect of whatever you use to grow as well. CFL's are designed to not get hot. And even if there was a malfunctioning bulb, that is equally as hazardous to anyone using whatever material because it's hot enough to ignite styrofoam at 350 degrees celcius then it's hot enough to set any other wood or plastic on fire as well. You just need to understand this and realize that my box is safe and it isn't just going to catch fire no matter how much you argue the flammability of styrofoam. Science is in fact in my favor which is why after a month my apartment is still intact. - my box is for growing a plant using light, it doesn't get hot no matter how you look at it. And an electrical spark won't even set fire to it. You need to have a direct flame on it for several seconds in one place for it to ignite. You know, polystyrene is actually an approved building material for it's resistance to heat, and actually has a significantly less flame spread than any wood. Only under optimum burning conditions is it hazardous. I made most of these points before though so I'm kinda repeating myself, I don't mean to be rude or anything. I just thought we were past this subject already. Also, most plastics are made out of petroleum, even the tires on your car. I'm trying to convert you, in case you haven't noticed It's good shit, that's why it's so widely used.

 

[bigjesse1922]

With all due respect...you have a lot to learn...

Too much theory...not enough practical application...ahh, to be young again...

Fractus, good luck. You have a lot to learn.

 

[pabloesqobar]

Nice bush Fractus. Just out of curiosity, anyone ever heard of a styrofoam cooler spontaneously combusting because of its proximity to a CFL?

In any event, nice job.

 

[bigjesse1922]

Nice bush Fractus. Just out of curiosity, anyone ever heard of a styrofoam cooler spontaneously combusting because of its proximity to a CFL?

In any event, nice job.

Have you ever heard of an electrical fire? Did I say anything about the proximity to a CFL?

I am not trying to be a hater...

But ONE MONTH is not a long term period of time to say the data shows its safe.

 

[Fractus]

But common sense and electrical skills sure do come in handy. The reason I know it won't set fire is that there is no possible & sufficient source for heat. I would like to hear your theory as to what scenario would have to take place to make it set fire and also explain what makes using other materials any safer. Instead of just shooting down my reasoning with a statement like:

With all due respect...you have a lot to learn...

Too much theory...not enough practical application...ahh, to be young again...

Fractus, good luck. You have a lot to learn.

 

[bigjesse1922]

But common sense and electrical skills sure do come in handy. The reason I know it won't set fire is that there is no possible & sufficient source for heat. I would like to hear your theory as to what scenario would have to take place to make it set fire and also explain what makes using other materials any safer

No problem.

First: how are your CFL'S connected to the cooler and how are they wired to receive power to light up?

I know you are repeating this...but humor me.

 

[Fractus]

I drew a picture using the great "Paint" application to help show what I've done. Show me the hazard.

 

[GypsyBush]

Ask a fireman.... he'll tell you..

 

[KaleoXxX]

there tryin to ruffle you feathers again fractus

im behind you till this lights on fire, then ill be right there beside you with a fire extinguisher to put it out
JK

good luck man and your wireing is sound as far as im concerned. you ever see that thread it says something like "im an experenced electrition here to answer questions"? ask him how secure your set up is

 

[KaleoXxX]

hey gypsy, off topic and i hate to thread jack but... i had that activity award yesterday and now its gone, my activity has been at 100% why did i lose it?

 

[bigjesse1922]

Ok so say there is a short in the electrical cord. How thick is it?

If it is just a STANDARD extention cord, then a short could VERY WELL create enough heat to melt through the wire and start dropping melting plastic on the styrofoam. How long do you think it would take it to burn? Eventually the fire would contact the styrofoam directly....

AND ITS PETROLUEM BASED. It WILL ignite and burn like the 4th o' July.

Is it GONNA happen? Probably not...is a baby gonna choke on a french fry? Not usually...BUT THEY STILL DON'T GET THEM TILL THEY GET THEIR MOLERS!

 

[KaleoXxX]

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/181708-experienced-electrician-here-answer-any-54.html

the thread i was talking about. ask him how safe your set up is

 

[Fractus]

Bigjesse, do you realize that the insulation of your wire is also "PETROLEUM BASED"???? Melting plastic would ignite wood faster than styrofoam, because the melting point of the plastic is higher than the flash point of wood. But the melting point of plastic is nearly identical to that of styrofoam because IT'S THE SAME THING. Styrofoam will melt away for a long time, but isn't physically able to ignite from melting plastic, it would have to be flaming plastic. If my extension cord spontaneously bursts into flames then there is something wrong with the world. You've turned this from criticizing styrofoam as a building material to the probability of an electrical phenomenon that would affect anybody equally. The question at hand isn't if my setup is electrically stable, we were debating the safeness of using styrofoam as opposed to other materials. And I've explained in every possible way that I can think of that styrofoam isn't any more susceptible to an electrical malfunction than any other build. They would all suffer equally unless it is made out of fire retardant material so that you could light napalm in it and have it not burn down. Of course the plant probably wouldn't survive :/ I've done my homework guys, have a little faith..

 

[bigjesse1922]

LOL

Gypsy is smarter than me... I am wasting my time...

Good LuCk.

 

[Fractus]

You're wasting your time arguing facts you didn't know before telling me it's not safe. I'm sure an electrician could point out a potential hazard with using my inexpensive 14 gauge extension cords or something but it would be a 1 in a million "it could happen" kinda thing. I'm not running a heavy load for a normal extension cord - maybe a tenth of its max capacity. I'm just sticking up for my box dude, you don't need to take it personally. But I'm not going to alter my setup based on pessimism alone, without a legitimate and factual hazard backing it up. I'm not going to start living in fear that extension cords that everyone uses every day of life are going to be take flame while I sleep because of a freak-accident. If I'm not exceeding ratings for products then if it burns it's not my fault, and the company who manufactured the faulty part is liable.

 

[bigjesse1922]

Like I said, good luck!

I don't take it personally....

I just know people like you...who know everything...

Your "facts" are mostly not facts at all. 1 in a million is a number you pulled out of your....well...you know.

My grandfather was a master electrician. My father is in trades. I have been around the stuff ALL my life, which, I would wager, has been quite longer in the making than yours...

I have seen a regular extension cord malfunction with nothing plugged into it at all....

Shit happens...like I said...I am done wasting my time about your box. You are married to it.

If you have other stuff you need help with, I will be hesitant to post as well, seems how THAT information is all based on my experiences and research, just as the same as everything else I just told you....and you have little use for that so....

Good LuCk!

 

[KaleoXxX]

do you think theres a fire hazard in my room? i have a tv, cable box, ps3, a dvd player and a lamp all pluged into the same power strip, and atleast 2 of these are on at any point in the day, some times all of them. ive had them set up like this for 2 years. no problems yet

seriously, i think hes pissed because he keeps telling you its unsafe and you act stuborn abd have something to say to his every sugestion. dude if your happy with your box then keep on growing man, its obvious no one can change your mind. my only problem is that you could grow it to flower and then find out its a male. i would sugest, again, putting another seed in a small cup on top of the soil bed and starting growing a second/emergency plant. but you dont need to any one, not me or gypsy or big j. just you and your plant matters

 

[Fractus]

Bigjesse, do you know why the Indian raindance always works? Because they don't stop dancing until it rains. We all know the dancing didn't make it rain. Sometimes knowledge is better than experience.

One in a million is the only figure I've made up and it was an exaggeration to make a point, not to be taken literally. But all the other facts were. And somebody could have sued and got a lot of money because of that extension cord that malfunctioned (if not being misused). I'm not questioning your experience either dude, it's just that if I follow the rules written on labels, I don't see how anything can go wrong, and if it does how would it be my fault? And it seems to me like you're telling me that your experience is worth more than the word of the company who puts the ratings on their products that tell me it's safe. I just learned a lot about the products I'm using and I feel secure with them because of it. Not because I'm in love with the box. I'm in love with it's contents, at least I was until today when I saw that it is showing what appears to be the early stages of male genitalia :S

Speaking of which, KaleoXxX that's the best advice I heard all day. Because if what I'm doing works then I'm most likely going to keep doing it regardless of what people say, and I think I'll start vegging a couple more in there as soon as I figure out what to do with this male. Let a few grow up until flower and then keep the best female (assuming there is one lol). I was told that you can extract oil from a male so I'm going to look into that for sure before throwing it away. How many do you suppose I should raise in there?

 

[KaleoXxX]

sux about the suspicious balls that may be forming, i hope i didnt jinx you. i might put 1 plant in the soil like you have it already and another 1 on each side in small cups. or a total of 3 in cups if tou can get the right sized pots/cups to grow in. to fit in that box i think you could start like 5 in solo cups or fit 2-3 1 gal pots. in fact if you feel like taking advise, id start a few seeds germing tonight

 

[Fractus]

Probably won't start anything tonight, I'll look after it tomorrow. I have a couple seedlings already started in beer cups, I may just transplant them. Do I need them in separate pots or could I just plant them all right in the box in my soil and eliminate the males later on if I need to?