ShirkGoldbrick
Active Member
Hi,
So I'm running an aero setup off of a 120V pump. The issue I'm looking to deal with is some sort of backup in a power outage. Since I'm just dealing with one large table (78 100psi sprayers), the most logical backup to me would be NFT or operate off of the hempy principle.
I know I could use just any switch technically, but using a 120V switch I think I'd have to use a flyback diode? To prevent arcing across the contacts. I just need to know what switch I can use so that when I lose 120 it completes a 12V circuit for a couple amps reliably. Something that's 120/12V normally closed.
Using the pseudo hempy would be the same kind of deal, needing a switch to turn on a gpm pump.
A little background: I have eight five gallon buckets currently 100% filled with perlite except one which has an autopot valve in it housing my gg #4 mother plants. I just built a 2'2"x4'2" box about 6" tall and lined it with a pond liner fed by a 55gallon drum I keep my nutes in, they're happy as hell and I'm sure the valve isn't functioning right because I've never seen it dry and lately it's been over flooding (more than the 1" it's supposed to fill to...fucking silicon stopper). So the hempy idea that as long as the water is shallow that the roots will not get root rot seems to be true. I'm not running sterile but I did put some myco into the buckets themselves when I put the plants in.
My main aero table is the same wood/pond liner but it's 6' x 12' and 12" at it's shallowest with a 2 degree slope towards the drain. The drain is a bulkhead fitting and I could screw something in to "raise" a couple inches to keep a shallow level of nutes in the table at all times. Top is plywood too with some holes and I just coated the water exposed side/edges/inside of holes with fiberglass. Also put the rubber door draft stoppers between gaps in between sheets of the top. In future I would make it one solid piece and use some sort of scissor lift to access under.
The 12v pump would just provide a feed from the top of the slope like nft or make sure my couple inches don't disappear. The point is, it will only turn on when I lose 120.
My mistake: I suck. I really.really.really suck. I tried to go all 12V. Despite using multiple 12v pumps at less than rated capacity for flow for number of mist heads at desired psi I am only getting 50psi and decent mist with a 200 mesh prefilter that leads to frequent clogs. Once I put a 5 micron filter in after the pump to normalize pump pressure and protect the mist heads from clogging the pressure dropped to 35psi. FML.
I can still clone with it LOL, but yeah..mist heads keep getting clogged, but I did get roots in 4-5 days. Luckily I've just ran a couple test clippings and haven't lost anything. A small ultrasonic cleaner with just a couple drops of dish soap cleans the mist heads out nice, just blow in them reverse after.
Hence why I'm going with a much bigger pump now, one rated at a fuckload more flow at fuck higher psi but still below bursting psi of all my ish. ftw. 4k watts LED yo. NWO. Except it wont work off 12V...too...much....powerrrrrrrrr
I just hope 5 micron is enough to not fuck around with clogs. It'd take about 30 or so particles that fit through the filter to clog one mist head..albeit I'm sure the rejection rate isn't 100% probably like 80% so fuck those manufacturer specs too I might need to do a triple filter setup like on RO except maybe 25 5 1 microns.
An easy change out of one "arm" of your misting setup is just a quick connect fitting..keep a couple extra arms with fittings already in and just swap out when need be then clean rinse and repeat.
Pics or it didn't happen? It didn't, just ask the feds/detroit cops, I made all this up. But for real...what kind of switch can I use? Just a general description, links are okay, I just don't want one I have to buy from x supplier that can be traced to me.
Edit:
There, I dated myself.
So I'm running an aero setup off of a 120V pump. The issue I'm looking to deal with is some sort of backup in a power outage. Since I'm just dealing with one large table (78 100psi sprayers), the most logical backup to me would be NFT or operate off of the hempy principle.
I know I could use just any switch technically, but using a 120V switch I think I'd have to use a flyback diode? To prevent arcing across the contacts. I just need to know what switch I can use so that when I lose 120 it completes a 12V circuit for a couple amps reliably. Something that's 120/12V normally closed.
Using the pseudo hempy would be the same kind of deal, needing a switch to turn on a gpm pump.
A little background: I have eight five gallon buckets currently 100% filled with perlite except one which has an autopot valve in it housing my gg #4 mother plants. I just built a 2'2"x4'2" box about 6" tall and lined it with a pond liner fed by a 55gallon drum I keep my nutes in, they're happy as hell and I'm sure the valve isn't functioning right because I've never seen it dry and lately it's been over flooding (more than the 1" it's supposed to fill to...fucking silicon stopper). So the hempy idea that as long as the water is shallow that the roots will not get root rot seems to be true. I'm not running sterile but I did put some myco into the buckets themselves when I put the plants in.
My main aero table is the same wood/pond liner but it's 6' x 12' and 12" at it's shallowest with a 2 degree slope towards the drain. The drain is a bulkhead fitting and I could screw something in to "raise" a couple inches to keep a shallow level of nutes in the table at all times. Top is plywood too with some holes and I just coated the water exposed side/edges/inside of holes with fiberglass. Also put the rubber door draft stoppers between gaps in between sheets of the top. In future I would make it one solid piece and use some sort of scissor lift to access under.
The 12v pump would just provide a feed from the top of the slope like nft or make sure my couple inches don't disappear. The point is, it will only turn on when I lose 120.
My mistake: I suck. I really.really.really suck. I tried to go all 12V. Despite using multiple 12v pumps at less than rated capacity for flow for number of mist heads at desired psi I am only getting 50psi and decent mist with a 200 mesh prefilter that leads to frequent clogs. Once I put a 5 micron filter in after the pump to normalize pump pressure and protect the mist heads from clogging the pressure dropped to 35psi. FML.
I can still clone with it LOL, but yeah..mist heads keep getting clogged, but I did get roots in 4-5 days. Luckily I've just ran a couple test clippings and haven't lost anything. A small ultrasonic cleaner with just a couple drops of dish soap cleans the mist heads out nice, just blow in them reverse after.
Hence why I'm going with a much bigger pump now, one rated at a fuckload more flow at fuck higher psi but still below bursting psi of all my ish. ftw. 4k watts LED yo. NWO. Except it wont work off 12V...too...much....powerrrrrrrrr
I just hope 5 micron is enough to not fuck around with clogs. It'd take about 30 or so particles that fit through the filter to clog one mist head..albeit I'm sure the rejection rate isn't 100% probably like 80% so fuck those manufacturer specs too I might need to do a triple filter setup like on RO except maybe 25 5 1 microns.
An easy change out of one "arm" of your misting setup is just a quick connect fitting..keep a couple extra arms with fittings already in and just swap out when need be then clean rinse and repeat.
Pics or it didn't happen? It didn't, just ask the feds/detroit cops, I made all this up. But for real...what kind of switch can I use? Just a general description, links are okay, I just don't want one I have to buy from x supplier that can be traced to me.
Edit:
There, I dated myself.
Last edited:
