building an undercurrent system. how high should i drill the holes for the pvc?

budherder

budherder

Active Member
hey guys. im building out a new set up. copying the uc system pretty much, just using 5 gallon buckets with 1.5inch pvc. using uniseals

i cant decide where to place the the tubes...

obviously below the fill line.
if its too low a leak can fuck me.

would you guys agree to place the pvc so the top of it is at the fill line?

the uc website shows a cross section, and they place the pvc pretty close to the bottom. at least thats what the diagram shows. but like i said, id like a safe guard from a leak.

thanks for any input.
peace
 
Metasynth

Metasynth

Well-Known Member
Close to the bottom as possible. You want the fresh nute solution to be carried to the top of the buckets with the bubbles in the airstones, effectively circulating the solution individually in each bucket, as well as recirculating throguh the entire system. If you place the holes near the water fill line, there is a chance the current will just flow in one hole, and out the other, without really mixing well inside the bucket. Yes, airstones are agitating the water, but you want the roots to be fed with that fresh solution once they grow down into the bottom half of the buckets.

Also, you need to remember that to a certain extent, UC is gravity fed to the pump. If the holes are too high, the pump can suck air into the return manifold and cause issues there, weakening the flow. Also it can probably cause uneven water level issues as well.

Why is there a bigger leak issue having the holes toward the bottom of the buckets as opposed to the top? Are you worrying about a catastropgic failure and dumping your entire nute solution?
 
REALSTYLES

REALSTYLES

Well-Known Member
Follow the diagram. They spent time designing it so there is no guess work. You'll also need the grommets they use in the system so you won't have leaks.
 
Metasynth

Metasynth

Well-Known Member
REALSTYLES said:
Follow the diagram. They spent time designing it so there is no guess work. You'll also need the grommets they use in the system so you won't have leaks.
Click to expand...
If he's using uniseals, they are the right ones. Though why did you choose 1.5", how many pots on this system? Might be better off with 2" to avoid any flow issues, depending on how many gph your pump is. The pots towards the end of the line, that connect to the manifold, can often have a lower water level as the system struggles to replace water fast enough as the pump is drawing from them
 
budherder

budherder

Active Member
Metasynth said:
Close to the bottom as possible. You want the fresh nute solution to be carried to the top of the buckets with the bubbles in the airstones, effectively circulating the solution individually in each bucket, as well as recirculating throguh the entire system. If you place the holes near the water fill line, there is a chance the current will just flow in one hole, and out the other, without really mixing well inside the bucket. Yes, airstones are agitating the water, but you want the roots to be fed with that fresh solution once they grow down into the bottom half of the buckets.

Also, you need to remember that to a certain extent, UC is gravity fed to the pump. If the holes are too high, the pump can suck air into the return manifold and cause issues there, weakening the flow. Also it can probably cause uneven water level issues as well.

Why is there a bigger leak issue having the holes toward the bottom of the buckets as opposed to the top? Are you worrying about a catastropgic failure and dumping your entire nute solution?
Click to expand...
yeah that was pretty much my only concern. this hybrid system im running now is a catastrophic failure waiting to happen. i just want to make my next system as worry free as possible. especially concerning leaks.

thanks for the advice. makes sense.
 
budherder

budherder

Active Member
Metasynth said:
If he's using uniseals, they are the right ones. Though why did you choose 1.5", how many pots on this system? Might be better off with 2" to avoid any flow issues, depending on how many gph your pump is. The pots towards the end of the line, that connect to the manifold, can often have a lower water level as the system struggles to replace water fast enough as the pump is drawing from them
Click to expand...

i was worried about the curve of the bucket.
 
Metasynth

Metasynth

Well-Known Member
budherder said:
yeah that was pretty much my only concern. this hybrid system im running now is a catastrophic failure waiting to happen. i just want to make my next system as worry free as possible. especially concerning leaks.

thanks for the advice. makes sense.
Click to expand...
You'll see when you try to shove those pieces of PVC through the uniseals...No worries of catastrophic failure there because it's like trying to fist a virgin midget, a tight squeeze to say the least. You might get a slow leak, but if you're using 5 gallon buckets I wouldn't worry about dumping your entire solution.
 
budherder

budherder

Active Member
im running a 48 site system, 12x4 set up. with a 1800 gph pump. the return line is 3/4 so i figures 2x that would be good for the feed pipe.
 
Metasynth

Metasynth

Well-Known Member
budherder said:
i was worried about the curve of the bucket.
Click to expand...
I do believe uniseals are the bulkhead alternative for curved surfaces...Though I see your concern. Just try to flatten out that section of the bucket when you drill the hole, so you end up with a circle and not an oblong...lol...Easy to do by putting a piece of 4X4 into the bucket that is slightly less in length than the diameter of the bucket....Then put a little wweight on the drill till it flattens out against the end of the 4x4 and drill away.
 
budherder

budherder

Active Member
Metasynth said:
I do believe uniseals are the bulkhead alternative for curved surfaces...Though I see your concern. Just try to flatten out that section of the bucket when you drill the hole, so you end up with a circle and not an oblong...lol...Easy to do by putting a piece of 4X4 into the bucket that is slightly less in length than the diameter of the bucket....Then put a little wweight on the drill till it flattens out against the end of the 4x4 and drill away.
Click to expand...
the 1.5 inch uniseals require a 2.5inch hole so thats already pushing it as far as keeping that much surface area flat. great advice tho thank you.
 
Metasynth

Metasynth

Well-Known Member
budherder said:
im running a 48 site system. with a 1800 gph pump. the return line is 3/4 so i figures 2x that would be good for the feed pipe.
Click to expand...
No no no no no no no no no no no no.

I think you would need 3" PVC to avoid issues in a 48 site system, that 1.5" is definately not going to cut the mustard. Are you modeling it after the DOuble Barrel system? You are definately gonna have water flow issues with 1.5" PVC...There is a reason tthey use 2" for even the 4 pot systems, and they ramp it up to 3" on the larger ones. Did you already buy the buckets, too? You might wanna go with a flat surface if you're using 3" uniseals, but I'm not sure.
 
REALSTYLES

REALSTYLES

Well-Known Member
Like I stated before follow the diagram they use square buckets. I thought that's what you were using. Uniseals don't work so hot on round buckets.
 
budherder

budherder

Active Member
Metasynth said:
No no no no no no no no no no no no.

I think you would need 3" PVC to avoid issues in a 48 site system, that 1.5" is definately not going to cut the mustard. Are you modeling it after the DOuble Barrel system? You are definately gonna have water flow issues with 1.5" PVC...There is a reason tthey use 2" for even the 4 pot systems, and they ramp it up to 3" on the larger ones. Did you already buy the buckets, too? You might wanna go with a flat surface if you're using 3" uniseals, but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

cant do 3" on buckets thats for sure. any ideas how to make this work with what i got? maybe breaking it down in to smaller systems and running some kind of manifold for the return?
 
Metasynth

Metasynth

Well-Known Member
budherder said:
cant do 3" on buckets thats for sure. any ideas how to make this work with what i got? maybe breaking it down in to smaller systems and running some kind of manifold for the return?
Click to expand...
I would break it down into 4 individual 12 bucket systems, if you are dead set on the 1.5" PVC...Even then you will most likely have flow issues. I don't know what to tell ya. I mean, that pump might be pulling water through the return manifold before the system can keep up, meaning the water level in the buckets closest to the control will contain considerably more than the buckets attached to the return manifold.
 
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