[drpressure600]

i recently had a problem with with the drippers for my plants, they were 2ltr ones but i found that i had to go and empty jugs of water into certain plants everyday because the coco was dry like sand, so i switched the drippers to full running drippers but i find that when the water pump which is a maxi jet 500 is finished it's 30 second running time, it still sucks up water, this is causing a flood, i have the pump rigged to a t.m.u unit an envirolite timer, can anyone tell me what will cause the pump to keep sucking water & i need advice on how much time i should be letting the pump run on, thanks ''the water has to run 8 meters ok . .

[ukcheesehead]

Originally Posted by drpressure600

i recently had a problem with with the drippers for my plants, they were 2ltr ones but i found that i had to go and empty jugs of water into certain plants everyday because the coco was dry like sand, so i switched the drippers to full running drippers but i find that when the water pump which is a maxi jet 500 is finished it's 30 second running time, it still sucks up water, this is causing a flood, i have the pump rigged to a t.m.u unit an envirolite timer, can anyone tell me what will cause the pump to keep sucking water & i need advice on how much time i should be letting the pump run on, thanks ''the water has to run 8 meters ok . .

i would like to know more about drippers too as my next grow will be drip to waste

are the drippers the 2lt a hour dripper? what size pots are you useing? 8 meters away cant you have the res closer?

[FastForward]

Drip to waste for coco is the way forward, or at least that's the conclusion I came to as well.

The only thing I can think of that will keep the pump going is gravity and any fluid in the tube when you turn off the pump.....8m of tube water is a lot of water to fall out when the pump goes off...

You can get adjustable rate pumps - that's what I was looking into to build my own drip to waste. Between that and a decent timer I reckoned I could get the drip timings sussed. FWIW I haven't seen anything less than a 2l/hr dripper...only 4l/hr and up. Alternatively put a less powerful pump on there?

[ukcheesehead]

Originally Posted by FastForward

Drip to waste for coco is the way forward, or at least that's the conclusion I came to as well.

The only thing I can think of that will keep the pump going is gravity and any fluid in the tube when you turn off the pump.....8m of tube water is a lot of water to fall out when the pump goes off...

You can get adjustable rate pumps - that's what I was looking into to build my own drip to waste. Between that and a decent timer I reckoned I could get the drip timings sussed. FWIW I haven't seen anything less than a 2l/hr dripper...only 4l/hr and up. Alternatively put a less powerful pump on there?

2lt a hour set timer 3 or 4 times aday for 15mins ???

[drpressure600]

Originally Posted by ukcheesehead

i would like to know more about drippers too as my next grow will be drip to waste

are the drippers the 2lt a hour dripper? what size pots are you useing? 8 meters away cant you have the res closer?

they were 2ltrs an hour ones, but the new ones are arrow head, the water runs directly true them, i have 9 ak 47 plants to each square meter, and the pots are 6.5ltr ones, the pipe running true them is 16mm and 8 meters long, the res is right up againist the first meter, thanks . .

[drpressure600]

Originally Posted by ukcheesehead

2lt a hour set timer 3 or 4 times aday for 15mins ???

no, there not 2ltr an hour, they were, i took off them ones and put arrow heads that the water runs straight true, i need to know what seconds to put it running true and what to do about the pump still sucking water even when the timer has turned it off, thanks kid

[FastForward]

Originally Posted by ukcheesehead

2lt a hour set timer 3 or 4 times aday for 15mins ???

I've no idea - not done it yet...but I'm getting a dripper head tomorrow with any luck. I'm thinking about drilling a hole in the EF120's tank and hot glueing in a grommet and tap - then run drippers into the plants, they drip out into the top tray, down the flood hole into the tank, and then out of the tank into a barrel. Then all I need is 2 barrels, and in and an out. No recirc, and the barrel can be kept in a cool corner (i.e. no major pH grief) away from hot lights. Plus all the benefit of run to waste without the actual waste of 10-20% runoff from handwatering (which is SO wasteful imho - at least with drip you're getting constant air and nutes to the roots as opposed to a 1x or 2x a day flood).

Sorry to get off topic OP. Like I said, I think by dropping the level of the pump to below the plants the contents of the 8m pipe should fall back into the res. If you can't do that, maybe try raising up your plants? As for timings, I had to experiment a bit with the flood and drain....try out a few different timings to see what works. 15 on, 15 off.....15 on, 45 off...that kind of thing.

[FastForward]

Okey..done some research. Even cheaper and easier way to do it is to use an in-line tap, and then use that to regulate the flow. People do recommend 2l/hr drippers for coco, but maybe that's for bigger pots? Anyhow, put one of these in the line between the pump and dripper head and turn it until you get a drip rate that works for you... they cost £3-4 ($6-8ish)..

[Cannalingus]

To prevent the line-pressure from sucking dry your tank you need a back-flow/flow breaker valve or similar to avoid all the fluid to get sucked out of the tubing, or just have the reservoir placed lower than the pots/drip-points so the gravity won't empty your whole res after a single watering.

[drpressure600]

all you have to do to stop the water been sucked back up the tube is to put a 5mm hole in the tube above the water, that way it breaks the pressure and will not suck up any more water, i tried and tested it the last few weeks, every things perfect now, i need to send in some photos for all you to look at . .