You guys seem to be under the impression that I have something to prove to you. That is not the case. I couldn't give a fuck if you believe me or not. And no photo is going to prove one way or another how care-free my grows are. My post is just so people who want to give it a try don't get discouraged by your negativity.
I built my system from scratch, pressure switched at 80 -- 140psi with 22 tefin heads an aquatec 8852-2po2-t424 pump (this is important, and I could only find them at Custom Installations in CA) and 3/8th John Guest tubing with 50micron filtering in a ten gallon res and 20 micron inline before the pump, a 150 psi blow out valve and a 4 gallon WellXtrol accumulator rated to 200psi with a 150psi working pressure, all John Guest fittings and Austrian solenoids ($70 each as opposed to less than $10 for the Chinese valves and worth it) also from Custom Installations. I built my own spray head assemblies but I think you may be able to find them from the factory if you are lucky.
I use the typical black and yellow heavy totes for chambers: the largest ones, I think they are 75 gallons but could be wrong about that. I have put up photos of it last summer when I first built it. If you want to see it so bad look them up. The only difference is that now I have three chambers instead of one, everything else, except for some extra plumbing and two more solenoids is the same.
If I were to start over again I would do it exactly the same way with this type of system. I do believe that set up properly one pump could run six or more chambers with one pump, as long as the valves fire at different times. I keep two spare pumps on hand but have never needed them.
My next move will be to use compressed air and the appropriate spray heads. But unlike some other aero users that I have talked to, I will still use an accumulator because using a pressure tank acidifies the water, and I like not having to screw with the ph. I have checked my ph once in six weeks and didn't need to.
I run one second on and seven minutes off, staggered across three chambers so that no two solenoids fire at the same time, though I do alter these setting during a grow cycle to keep things properly moist. When I move to compressed air I will need to buy timers that can do hundreds of a second which I have been putting off.
I use a GeekBeast pro with FIR and UVA set at 35-40% power for veg and about 65% for flowering, also use UVb in the last two weeks. The Beasts would be better placed in a 5X10 space, but I only have 4x8. My entire tent is set inside a 14" deep poly pond liner, which was unnecessary but I am upstairs and it gave me peace of mind.
If anyone is actually interested in building this type of system, I may be able to make life easier for you. For instance I bought fifty spray heads because I was under the impression from the typical know-it-all know-nothings that I would be continuously plagued with clogs and malfunctions. I have not had one clogged head in three grows and haven't even taken any of them apart to flush out the poly filters inside.
I use Dutch Masters hydro pro formula suite of nutes, but am considering switching to Jacks. I use RO water run through two separate deionizers charged with atomic reactor level media. The water has 0 ppm. I also add Dripfree to the nutes .04ml per gallon. That's the basic hardware. It works great, is very quiet once the roots of a grow put on some mass to stop the chambers from sounding when a solenoid opens. The pump turns on for about 3 minutes twice a day, but you can't hear it unless you are in the room. I typically use a gallon of water a day, with a 10gal flat res for all the chambers that is tucked under the chamber so the return water just flows into it without any pump.
