I GOTTA LOSE THE AIR PUMPS! HOW?! Plus my awesome mini DWC :)
- Thread starter Airwalker16
- Start date
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Glad to see that system you threw together is still busting out round after round
2" is absolutely plenty... No need for 3" and I can't even come close to understanding the reason for 3" in a 4 site system. The pump should be about 10x the site volume of water per hr. That is plenty of turnover and 2" pipe will handle more than double that no problem. So if you have 4 5gal sites that's about 16 gal and a 200gph pump is more than enought once you factor in head pressure.
Not sure why you wanna waste money overkilling something for absolutely no benefit
Not sure why you wanna waste money overkilling something for absolutely no benefit
Sdh777
Well-Known Member
Great thread with some nice RDWC systems in here!
I figured I’d chime in because I use a similar RDWC waterfall system, but more compact for smaller grow tents. I use 3 or 4 different tents at a time for a perpetual grow set-up, so I’m harvesting every 4 weeks or so. Like some of these other guys, I got rid of the aerators & stones & also switched from a submersible pump to an external inline 1000gph pump with waterfalls in each bucket. Those 2 modifications have dropped my water temps below 68°F without a chiller, but I’m also growing in a basement...in Colorado, so it’s not like I’m battling the heat. I also use a layer of Mylar canvas over the buckets & have a larger reservoir outside the tents that auto fills the RDWC.
I use 1-1/2” pipes below & 1/2” above. I was a little worried at 1st about using under current pipes less than 2” diameter, but It runs at a nice flow, it’s well balanced & I’ve never had an issue with root clogging with the set-up I use. With topping & Scrogging techniques, I & get some pretty nice harvests out of a 3’ x 4’ tent.
Here’s a few pics...
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I figured I’d chime in because I use a similar RDWC waterfall system, but more compact for smaller grow tents. I use 3 or 4 different tents at a time for a perpetual grow set-up, so I’m harvesting every 4 weeks or so. Like some of these other guys, I got rid of the aerators & stones & also switched from a submersible pump to an external inline 1000gph pump with waterfalls in each bucket. Those 2 modifications have dropped my water temps below 68°F without a chiller, but I’m also growing in a basement...in Colorado, so it’s not like I’m battling the heat. I also use a layer of Mylar canvas over the buckets & have a larger reservoir outside the tents that auto fills the RDWC.
I use 1-1/2” pipes below & 1/2” above. I was a little worried at 1st about using under current pipes less than 2” diameter, but It runs at a nice flow, it’s well balanced & I’ve never had an issue with root clogging with the set-up I use. With topping & Scrogging techniques, I & get some pretty nice harvests out of a 3’ x 4’ tent.
Here’s a few pics...
.
Where did you get those buckets? Those lids are a little different from GHs and most I see that style.
Sdh777
Well-Known Member
I get them off Amazon. They’re 5 gallon EZ-Stor buckets that are available in white or black & cost anywhere from $10-$14 each, depending on how many you buy. They also have either plain or hinged lids. I use the hinged lids because they allow access to the root zone when the plants are too big to be lifted or they’re trapped under Scrog nets. I started building these RDWC systems for friends too here in Colorado over the last year & now I’m starting to get a bunch of requests, so I just recently put my own logo on them.
Only thing I noticed about the hinged general hydroponics lids I didn't like was they were designed for the big side of the lid to open. So the unhinged lids are completely flat with no seam? I did notice you were opening the smaller part of the lid , those lids you have may work better than GHs lids. They do look a little different. Do those lids have the tear off lip?
Ok I see the tear off strip after enlarging the pic.
Nice setup
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Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Ya, I only have that ez store on the res so I used the big side of the lid. But I guess you could do the small side too
Sdh777
Well-Known Member
I’ll definitely have to go back & check out your set-up COB. I also use the big side of the lid for full access to my control station & the reverse side for the grow buckets, but there’s still plenty of room to reach into the bucket through the small end to check the roots, filters & airstones (which I no longer use)
Sdh777
Well-Known Member
Same with my buckets...there’s a tear strip on the large end of the hinged lids, but not on the smaller end. It just takes a few minutes to partially shave down the lip of the bucket on one end with an orbital sander, then It opens up much easier. I had to use a damn chisel to pry it open before I finally figured that one out.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
If you hav the time, I'd love to see a pic or two showing what you sanded for future information. I'd appreciate it and it could come in handy.
That's a good idea, I think I'll try that. Thanks
Sdh777
Well-Known Member
Hey Airwalker. Sorry, I just noticed your last message.
I sand the down the side of the lip at the very top of the bucket...just where the small side of the hinged lid locks into place (see photos). The other end has the tear strip, so it already comes off pretty easy, plus I rarely have to open that larger end.
With an orbital sander or dremmel, it’s quick & easy. I shave off at least half the thickness and the lid pops loose so much easier. I still use a screwdriver to wedge under the lid to pop it open because there’s no where to grab on to that side of the lid with any leverage because of the second, larger lip on the bucket.
I also included a pic of the inner bucket plumbing. I added a feature I haven’t seen anywhere else. I add slip-fitted elbows to the inlet bulkheads so the suction is redirected in each bucket...for 2 reasons. (1) It’s directing the suction downward away from the roots & (2) when I drain the system, I can quickly adjust the elbows to where they’re almost flush against the bottom of the bucket, so I can drain the system to roughly 1/2” depth using the built-in RDWC pump. I just shut-off the pump & ball valve, attach a garden hose to the outlet fitting, turn the pump back on & I can drain the entire system in less than 3 minutes (plus another 5 minutes to attach the garden hose & adjust the elbows in each bucket for maximum drainage).
I travel a lot for work so I had to make my system & set-up as low-maintenance & as automated as possible. I even bought Apple Smart-plugs, timers & cameras so I can check on my plants & run my entire set-up from my iPhone when I’m 2000 miles from home.
Keesje
Well-Known Member
That's nice!
I have a question:
Let's say you have DWC with several airpumps running. Or E&F with several pumps.
How could one check from 2000 miles away from home, if every single pump is still running?
I mean: with a camera you don't see it.
Perhaps you can hear it if pumps are running, but if 1 has broken down, it is hard to tell the difference.
Your timers can still work, but that doesn't mean that the pump that is plugged-in, does still function.
Is there a way to check that, without personally or physical checking in your tent?
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Pressure gauge or pressure switch of some kind.
Sdh777
Well-Known Member
Good question. I don’t use aerators in My DWC’s except for back-up. I also have one airpump in a E & F system I use for seedlings. It’s set to the same timer as the water pump which floods the tray severel times a day. On my last grow, I realized that my timer was set wrong on just one of the feedings. It was set to flood the tray at 9am, but I accidentally set it to turn off at 9:10pm instead of 9:10am, so when the flood tray was full at 9:45 am I knew I had screwed something up & quickly made the correction.
I can also hear the waterfalls running in my DWC’s, so if one of my DWC water pumps fail while I’m out of town, I have back-up airpumps & stones in place I can turn on to aerate the plants until I get home. I use to just turn on the aerators every time I left town for back up, but they seem to throw off my pH levels much quicker & I don’t want to come home to nute lock either.
It may sound like overkill, but I had a water pump fail earlier this year while I was out of town & my crop was at 8 weeks into flower...they all freakin died after nearly 4 months of hard work & that sucked really bad! I really love my bitches & growing MJ, so I put extra measures in place because I travel so much & don’t want to stop growing.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Not sure I understand the slip elbows. My system pumps from the res, to a manifold, to a waterfall in each of 8 5gal bucket sites. So I don't see how that works?
Also is the sanding work done on that lid or the bucket itself? I can't really see what's been done....
P.S. my username isn't "COB", lol...