Ahh, I forgot about those, I always think of the booster pumps when they say Aquatec.
True HP Aero For 2011
- Thread starter Trichy Bastard
- Start date
Mechanibus
Member
My Aquatec brand switch works fine, and the same guts are built into my demand pump from them. Both do wander a tiny bit but it doesn't matter, they are adjustable to above your regulator pressure and that's all that matters.
I'm going back to Bubble Buckets for a while, to get some relief from the relentless struggle and expenditure of Aero. It definitely works, I'll be the first to say, but it is very time consuming and labor intensive, and requires constant vigilance.
I mean, all growing does really. Anyway I'm going to grow some Rump-style plants here for a while, because when I did, I got huge fat colas that blew away any of this aero stuff.
Do not take this as a denouncement of aero- I know it works. But for the effort, the return hasn't been there for me yet. So I'm taking a break, using a more proven method to get my room and nute profiles ironed out. I have yet to find any satisfactory nutes and I think I'm going to try Fox Farms stuff this time, perhaps Canna next.
I even though of listing some of my aero stuff for you guys, but every time I think about selling the pumps, I realize that keeping those pumps along with timers and solenoids gives me a toybox from which I can easily assemble several automatic-watering rigs out of, and Christmas travel time is coming up.
Aero or not, I'll be using solenoids and those timers for as long as I grow.
Anyway, for now, I'm going to sit back and watch one of you gents grow a bunch of baseball bats- And once you do I'm going to copy you exactly to see if I can get the fabled Aero results!
Peace folks.
I'm going back to Bubble Buckets for a while, to get some relief from the relentless struggle and expenditure of Aero. It definitely works, I'll be the first to say, but it is very time consuming and labor intensive, and requires constant vigilance.
I mean, all growing does really. Anyway I'm going to grow some Rump-style plants here for a while, because when I did, I got huge fat colas that blew away any of this aero stuff.
Do not take this as a denouncement of aero- I know it works. But for the effort, the return hasn't been there for me yet. So I'm taking a break, using a more proven method to get my room and nute profiles ironed out. I have yet to find any satisfactory nutes and I think I'm going to try Fox Farms stuff this time, perhaps Canna next.
I even though of listing some of my aero stuff for you guys, but every time I think about selling the pumps, I realize that keeping those pumps along with timers and solenoids gives me a toybox from which I can easily assemble several automatic-watering rigs out of, and Christmas travel time is coming up.
Aero or not, I'll be using solenoids and those timers for as long as I grow.
Anyway, for now, I'm going to sit back and watch one of you gents grow a bunch of baseball bats- And once you do I'm going to copy you exactly to see if I can get the fabled Aero results!
Peace folks.
thanks man!, there dig nozzles same one mike uses.nice setup man... -thanks for sharing! Are those cloudtops nozzles? Looks like a good spray from here...
nice, im gna try the one that came with the pump for now.
yea I just backed it off by 2 sec so hopefully it will make a diff.
Id have to agree with you even though im new to this shit myself getting it going was a pain, but I feel like its smooth sailing from here. Im running cannas bioterra soil and bio nutes, I have 2 girls vegging right now then Im gna throw them in 10 gal airpots to see the diff between the HP aero and soil. Ive read and seen threads where the airpots are growing faster then DWC but well see....anyways back to HP aero
Mike Young
Well-Known Member
Yeah, this is certainly alot more work than I fathomed. Especially when I think back to my first run in the green tubes. Went exceptionally well. Probably a curse now that I think about it. Made me a little too cocky, and this time around I've been experiencing all sorts of probs. I still have alot of learning to do, that's for damn sure, but I'm not gonna give up just yet. 
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
No where in my journals did I ever use 1 minute wet. Always < 3 seconds, and even that is too much, would like to get it to 2, but as you are suggesting, you need more pressure to compensate for a shorter burst.
Unaware that I can crank up the PSI on my 8800. Can you direct me?
yeah i got mine going thanks to the fine peeps of this thread.I wanna see- but it says "private"
glad all is well for you amigo. that's good to know because the bio nozzles give a very fine fog like mist and i like them. maybe i'll send them any bad ones i get.
my system is up and running smooth now. the only problem i seem to be having is my intake line from res to pump, i found out the hard way JG fitting don't work on the suction side so i'm going to use a threaded bulkhead fitting on the tank and hose barb it with 3/8 hose bard and tubing. i have 3 tomato plants which i started as cutting on the 12/5 and two of them have roots coming out past the rockwool already. i'm excited to see how fast i get ripe tomato's as apposed to soil. i have 2 plants i started from seed in September which have several tomatoes on them, but none ripe yet so i have some sort of gauging mechanism. i'm enjoying the hell out of this even if i'm only growing veggies for now.
btw what's the safest way to put pics up?
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
I have read somewhere that the pressure can be adjusted on an Aquatec 8800. I don't see anything that looks like an adjustment. There is a small triangle cover with 3 screws, but I figured before just opening that up.
Also, in repositioning the tubing, I wonder whether having the pump as close a possible to the mist head(s) will increase pressure. Currently it is about 15" away
Thanks
Also, in repositioning the tubing, I wonder whether having the pump as close a possible to the mist head(s) will increase pressure. Currently it is about 15" away
Thanks
Mechanibus
Member
I'm starting to realize that growth speed is the product of an interaction between grower, conditions, and method. Basically, I don't think any one "method" is the fastest, it's a combination of several factors that all must work together. HP aero is certainly a contender for the fastest growth, given that the other things are in place. I freely admit that I don't have the nutes, timing, or mister placement all sorted- almost too many variables for me to cope with, thus I'll watch you guys get it right and then crib from it!
Right, I know what you mean about initial success sort of causing some later failures. That effect happens to me all the time, heh heh. I'm not giving up by any means, in fact some of my aero pods are still in my tent, brooding. I might change my mind at any time and run a few aero girls. I sure have a lot to learn too.Yeah, this is certainly alot more work than I fathomed. Especially when I think back to my first run in the green tubes. Went exceptionally well. Probably a curse now that I think about it. Made me a little too cocky, and this time around I've been experiencing all sorts of probs. I still have alot of learning to do, that's for damn sure, but I'm not gonna give up just yet.
Your pump has a tiny worm screw in the front center of the pump head, inside that small protrusion. The size is 7/64. It's in the lower left of this pic:
You can turn that screw in for higher pressure. BE CAREFUL! It will take some force to move it the first time, and only adjust it like 1/4 turn at a time, forcing it too far in will damage the pump. What you are doing here is setting the internal bypass pressure. Do it in small increments until the pressure stops rising, then you have reached the max and I'd back off a bit from that, but you can raise the output PSI quite a bit by adjusting it.
Good luck!
u need a small alan wrench
I have read somewhere that the pressure can be adjusted on an Aquatec 8800. I don't see anything that looks like an adjustment. There is a small triangle cover with 3 screws, but I figured before just opening that up.
your looking right at it ontop of the triangle
Also, in repositioning the tubing, I wonder whether having the pump as close a possible to the mist head(s) will increase pressure. Currently it is about 15" away
yea its prob best to have it close. do you have back check valves built into your misters? i think i need to put some in at my aero sites, the digs im running dont have them and my pump is prob 36'' away from the first site:/
Thanks
Mike Young
Well-Known Member
Yup, that was the first thing I did when I got my pump. Cranked that bitch up! I think they come factory preset to 80 psi.
Mike Young
Well-Known Member
I bought it at home depot for $150 & tax. I must tell you that like many other things in my setup, this tank is not exactly rated for what most would consider, safe operating limits. It's stamped "tested to 100 psi" and the figures it lists for drawdown stop at 80. I'm not really one to fret over numbers, but you should be forewarned. I don't take it over 100, and I honestly believe that it would take a helluva lot more pressure to burst the tank itself. The bladder is a dif story. But so far so good. I haven't had a nozzle clog yet, but have a surplus of em & plan to just swap out the tips as necessary. Soaking them in alcohol doesn't sound like a bad plan. If you have build up, that's one thing. If your filtration isn't up to par and you have debris wedged in the orifice, I doubt it'll help. Salt will eventually errode the small orifice out & give you a deformed, less than outstanding droplet. I have no idea how long that takes. I got my nozzles at HD as well, and a 5 pack was $5. At that price, I picked up enough to last awhile. If I remember right, you had to get yours online. Still, the cheapest nozzles that I know about, and not too shabby on droplet/coverage. I think I'll try to send my bio's back though like trichy & get some proper ones.
I haven't had a nozzle clog yet, but have a surplus of em & plan to just swap out the tips as necessary. Soaking them in alcohol doesn't sound like a bad plan. If you have build up, that's one thing. If your filtration isn't up to par and you have debris wedged in the orifice, I doubt it'll help. Salt will eventually errode the small orifice out & give you a deformed, less than outstanding droplet. I have no idea how long that takes. I got my nozzles at HD as well, and a 5 pack was $5. At that price, I picked up enough to last awhile. If I remember right, you had to get yours online. Still, the cheapest nozzles that I know about, and not too shabby on droplet/coverage. I think I'll try to send my bio's back though like trichy & get some proper ones.
Trichy Bastard
Well-Known Member
Well, take a break then... I know you'll come back to aero though, you're just the kind of guy who will come back to it... I think the devil is in the details from how I've been mentored by Atomizer. (For instance, the pressure switch drift can actually have implications as you'll be getting different watering volume per misting depending on the pressure, which causes you to lose some control over how wet the roots will get- of course it's negligable whether it has actual real world implications or not). So far I almost forget to take care of my aero rig it's so rediculously maintenance free. I mean I fill the res once a week and that's it. Now the temps have cooled off I can stop worrying about extra insulation, etc. So I'm going to start a full chamber of seedlings... Wish me luck! I really hope I can report back that I have the right recipe for good results, but we will soon find out.
Trichy Bastard
Well-Known Member
Thanks ranger! I have JG fittings on my suction side, and they seem to be working like a charm- what issues are you encountering? Safe way for pics- as in what? not having the fbi intervene, or having them not get lost in upload? hehe... I just click the lil picture icon on top of the reply box and it asks me what files I wanna upload. I have issues often trying to upload any other way with I.E. and riu...yeah i got mine going thanks to the fine peeps of this thread.
glad all is well for you amigo. that's good to know because the bio nozzles give a very fine fog like mist and i like them. maybe i'll send them any bad ones i get.
my system is up and running smooth now. the only problem i seem to be having is my intake line from res to pump, i found out the hard way JG fitting don't work on the suction side so i'm going to use a threaded bulkhead fitting on the tank and hose barb it with 3/8 hose bard and tubing. i have 3 tomato plants which i started as cutting on the 12/5 and two of them have roots coming out past the rockwool already. i'm excited to see how fast i get ripe tomato's as apposed to soil. i have 2 plants i started from seed in September which have several tomatoes on them, but none ripe yet so i have some sort of gauging mechanism. i'm enjoying the hell out of this even if i'm only growing veggies for now.
btw what's the safest way to put pics up?
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
I just adjusted my Aquatec 8800 (fyi a 1.5 allen type tool for mine + zero resistance, it turned easily) and wow do I have pressure. Nutes are finally filling the chamber, and floating. I think I have just overcome a huge obstacle to getting repeatable results sans accum, leading to the oft elusive (to me) root hairs. So a big shout out to Mechanibus for showing me how. Funny but Reptile Basics did not know either
Mechanibus
Member
You are welcome, glad it helps.