4 Reservoirs… 1 Chiller

budleydoright said:

Consider yourself lucky. This not a myth it is chemistry. I'll try to dig up my conversation with a chemical engineer regarding this. He explained exactly what happens and why.

And while I do agree about the condensate water I will tell you I had condensate become toxic for some reason. I'm guessing it etched something off the evaporator that caused my ph to drop to sub 4 at times.

So how you been still verticle?

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jronnn said:

idc what anyone says they may not be 100% needed at 75 but over 75 and you definitely want a chiller to keep the water oxygenated and to keep the water as clearly from root issues as possible. you have a separate chiller for each res you have?

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ttystikk said:

I temp mine daily. No problems, even when water temps hit 78. The reason is that the water drains away and thus doesn't allow the pathogens to set in.

Don't aerate it, either. The plants don't see it for long enough to care so the only things you're benefiting are potential pathogens in the res.

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TWS said:

I use the air so I don't have settlement.. ?

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TWS said:

yea I probably wouldn't have any using what I use. So Im gonna try and save some electricity and noise and turn off my chiller pumps and air. Hope nothing happens.

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Carolina Dream'n said:

I run strictly flood and drain and have never needed a chiller. Like @ttystikk said, find a different real problem and fix that instead.

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two2brains said:

I ran a dyi chiller with 3 different areo rez's with a small cooler as the chillers rez and a really small pump that would fit in the palm of your hand feeding three stainless worts in the aero rez's.

You can prevent so many problems in aero and and dwc/rdwc etc with water temps around 60-65. I agree that with flood drain you shouldnt need it as long as the roots are gettng plenty of air by fan. If your using plastic pots i would drill alot of small holes in them but smart pots are made for flood drain imo for best results.

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TWS said:

LOL. that's basically why I bought all that stuff. Im liking the Ebb and grow though. Pretty much hands free.

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budleydoright said:

Oh yea it will work. Be hard to get them all the same temp running in series like that though. Might be better to run a manifold with a separate cooling line going to each reservoir so they each get cooling water at the same temp.

Copper is great with fresh water, it's the mineral salts that react and create a toxic soup in your Rez.

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ttystikk said:

MYTHBUSTER TO THE RESCUE!

I've been running copper heat exchange coils in my RDWC control buckets for YEARS, no problems.

If plant roots touch the copper they die, so don't put copper lines in buckets WITH the plants. Other than that, it's fine.

Another myth; condensate water is bad for plants. BULLSHIT- at 0.0 EC, condensate water is as soft as it gets. Just don't let it sit around too long or it will grow a funk. A few drops of bleach per 5 gallons will keep it clean if you need to let it sit for more than a day or two.

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two2brains said:

I ran a dyi chiller with 3 different areo rez's with a small cooler as the chillers rez and a really small pump that would fit in the palm of your hand feeding three stainless worts in the aero rez's.

You can prevent so many problems in aero and and dwc/rdwc etc with water temps around 60-65. I agree that with flood drain you shouldnt need it as long as the roots are gettng plenty of air by fan. If your using plastic pots i would drill alot of small holes in them but smart pots are made for flood drain imo for best results.

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Carolina Dream'n said:

I run strictly flood and drain and have never needed a chiller. Like @ttystikk said, find a different real problem and fix that instead.

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jronnn said:

so you basically did the same thing I'm talking about and it worked?

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two2brains said:

Yes worked good. You dont need a big pump either as long as the water is flowing.

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jronnn said:

so you do the same thing I'm talking about but with rdwc? also can you explain what you mean with the condensate water part? i don't even know what that is. are you saying airstones aren't needed?

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jronnn said:

1 - 1/2HP water chiller
2 - water pumps
1 - 75 gallon tote for chiller & water pumps
4 - 50 gallon totes for flood and drain tables
4 - copper immersion wort chillers (25’ of coiled copper, 1 in each 50gal tote)

hey guys, heres the plan… I’m going to have a 1/2 HP water chiller with its own reservoir&pump that is recirculating 24/7 so the 75gal tote is always cold as fuck… then i am going to have another pump in the chillers reservoir thats connected to the 4 copper coils (1 in each 50 gallon res) through hose so the cold water runs through each coil/res and then once it flows to the last coil/res it just gets pushed back to the chillers res and then recirculated over and over again…

but my question is, how powerful of a pump should i use to run through the (approx.) 110ft of tubing/hose? I’m not sure if i should keep a high pressure flow of water going through the coils or a low pressure, any thoughts? and also, what would be the best material for a coil.. stainless steel or copper? thanks for any advice!!


heres the immersion wort chiller copper coils I’m talking about in the link below...

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/immersion-wort-chiller-w-garden-hose-fittings.html

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Alaric said:

Suggestions:

1) Get those heat generating pumps out of the liquid you're cooling----inline pumps.

2) Eliminate medium, except for starting seed-----instead use mechanical plant support / trellis.

Question:

Ever used the same nute mix for veg and flower (after around 18" tall)?

A~~~

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jronnn said:

id have to look into the inline pumps i never seen those, i suspect they stay out of the water and have a hose in the water that sucks the water through it and sends it through the coils? also, could you explain what you mean my #2? and no i haven't but i plan on it with maxi bloom from clone to harvest, why do you ask?

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