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Hey folks,
I wanted to share with you all the results of me testing some Bell Siphons and Venturi aerators for small scale hydro systems.
My inspiration came from watching this guy Rob's aquaponics youtube channel. Figure I will give him a shout out. Made for an entertaining and educational binge watch.
So my goal here was to see how practical bell siphons could be in the style of ebb and flow I do which uses under the bed totes. And also to see what was the deal with Venturi aerators and if they could be used practically.
This was all just using stuff I had on hand. I didn't want to run to the store to get anything, and I don't have much stuff. I also have some "extra" clones leftover that I have no other purpose for right now besides running experiments on.
I am also interested to see how their growth compares to their more tenderly treated sister clones in the 4 tote setup pictured further below.
Normally I would fill these totes up with grow media, attach a 1/2 and a 3/4 ID hose, throw the pump on a timer, and away I go. Standard ebb and flow stuff.
Now with this setup, I have 6 plants in net pots, sitting in cut out holes in the lid DWC style. I still have 2 holes in the bottom, but 1 is 3/4 ID hose with a Venturi going from the pump to inlet. And an approx 2-inch outlet made of Twd 15g weed containers, open-ended on top, many drilled holes on the bottom. It has a cut-out bottom of a large salsa container, with teeth cut out around the base, acting as the bell-siphon over top of that. The tote lid holds it in place.
So while messing around with this general design, I encountered difficulty in getting the bell-siphon to "burp" all the way down.
As you will see in the time-lapse video, what most often would occur is there would be some burping, enough the allow some air into the bell. But then the pressure would stabilize and it would just siphon out exactly as much water as was going in. Keeping the level unmoving in the low position.
I don't know why this is exactly. As shown in the time-lapse video, even when I lower the power from 100% to 10%, the lower flow rate is not enough to make it "burp" down and reset.
The only thing that reliably makes it quickly cycle from flood to drain is using the "wave" setting on the pump, which makes it turn on and off at a set rhythm. This makes enough wave action in the tote to trigger the final burp and cycle the system.
So the question becomes, what variable most needs to be tweaked in order to successfully run the pump at 100% without wave setting, and have the system successfully cycle up and down.
Should I make the teeth at the base of the bell-siphon bigger? Different shape?
Does the bell-siphon need to be wider? Taller or shorter?
Is the relatively low "height" of the outlet too low to make it work with that wide of an opening?
Something else?
I will keep experimenting with it.
If I end up keeping the system going I will block out the light somehow so I don't have an algae farm on my hands.
I wanted to share with you all the results of me testing some Bell Siphons and Venturi aerators for small scale hydro systems.
My inspiration came from watching this guy Rob's aquaponics youtube channel. Figure I will give him a shout out. Made for an entertaining and educational binge watch.
Rob Bob's Aquaponics & Backyard Farm
Hi folks. On our backyard farming channel we post clips on aquaponics, water saving wicking beds, raising chickens, composting & other urban faring practices...
www.youtube.com
So my goal here was to see how practical bell siphons could be in the style of ebb and flow I do which uses under the bed totes. And also to see what was the deal with Venturi aerators and if they could be used practically.
This was all just using stuff I had on hand. I didn't want to run to the store to get anything, and I don't have much stuff. I also have some "extra" clones leftover that I have no other purpose for right now besides running experiments on.
I am also interested to see how their growth compares to their more tenderly treated sister clones in the 4 tote setup pictured further below.
Normally I would fill these totes up with grow media, attach a 1/2 and a 3/4 ID hose, throw the pump on a timer, and away I go. Standard ebb and flow stuff.
Now with this setup, I have 6 plants in net pots, sitting in cut out holes in the lid DWC style. I still have 2 holes in the bottom, but 1 is 3/4 ID hose with a Venturi going from the pump to inlet. And an approx 2-inch outlet made of Twd 15g weed containers, open-ended on top, many drilled holes on the bottom. It has a cut-out bottom of a large salsa container, with teeth cut out around the base, acting as the bell-siphon over top of that. The tote lid holds it in place.
So while messing around with this general design, I encountered difficulty in getting the bell-siphon to "burp" all the way down.
As you will see in the time-lapse video, what most often would occur is there would be some burping, enough the allow some air into the bell. But then the pressure would stabilize and it would just siphon out exactly as much water as was going in. Keeping the level unmoving in the low position.
I don't know why this is exactly. As shown in the time-lapse video, even when I lower the power from 100% to 10%, the lower flow rate is not enough to make it "burp" down and reset.
The only thing that reliably makes it quickly cycle from flood to drain is using the "wave" setting on the pump, which makes it turn on and off at a set rhythm. This makes enough wave action in the tote to trigger the final burp and cycle the system.
So the question becomes, what variable most needs to be tweaked in order to successfully run the pump at 100% without wave setting, and have the system successfully cycle up and down.
Should I make the teeth at the base of the bell-siphon bigger? Different shape?
Does the bell-siphon need to be wider? Taller or shorter?
Is the relatively low "height" of the outlet too low to make it work with that wide of an opening?
Something else?
I will keep experimenting with it.
If I end up keeping the system going I will block out the light somehow so I don't have an algae farm on my hands.