28k/28plants RDWC Constuction of room and first grow....

[NorcalTom]

Hello Farmers,

I'm a complete newb to forums but I will give it a go. I'm constructing a new room and have just completed the walls and ceiling. I plan on putting 28 plants and 28 lights in this space. Here is the dimensions and details so far.

Dimesions:

19'8"x 38'6"x 10'1" ceiling

Walls:
r-30 insulation with panda film over face

Ceiling:
Blow in insulation approx r-90 or more with panda film
all joints were panda film is over lapped is a 1"x4" wood trim, that is caulked and the floor has the same. I want to make sure of no leaks.

Tubs: Home depot 27 gallon totes with a 2 gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bottom, the tubs will sit on a custom made stand 18" off the ground. The 4" drain will be ran underneath the tubs with a specially made bracket. It has a 1/4" fall in four feet.

A/c: A 100,000 btu Carrier a/c and a 24,000 btu split a/c, i hope this will be enough since I will not be venting any lights. All my ballasts will be outside the room and will be running CO2

Dehumidifiers:I have four 70 pint Dehumis from sears. I think there Kenmore?

Here are some pics of the room. Any advice would be helpful.


http://i1122.invalid.com/albums/l533/tommybell209/Romm11.jpg

http://i1122.invalid.com/albums/l533/tommybell209/Room10.jpg

http://i1122.invalid.com/albums/l533/tommybell209/Room9.jpg

http://i1122.invalid.com/albums/l533/tommybell209/Room8.jpg

http://i1122.invalid.com/albums/l533/tommybell209/Room7.jpg

http://i1122.invalid.com/albums/l533/tommybell209/Room6.jpg

http://i1122.invalid.com/albums/l533/tommybell209/Room5.jpg

http://i1122.invalid.com/albums/l533/tommybell209/Room4.jpg

http://i1122.invalid.com/albums/l533/tommybell209/Room3.jpg

http://i1122.invalid.com/albums/l533/tommybell209/Room2.jpg

http://i1122.invalid.com/albums/l533/tommybell209/Room1.jpg

 

[Yodas Master]

Favorite quote ive ever seen.. Your just my kinda guy bro.. Nick diaz has a gym down the road from me!!! Nice room... Go big or go home... I can see we are reading from the book bro-cha-cho!!

 

[organiclover]

those custom made stands are DOPE

 

[TrichromeFan]

Looking large and in charge there, NorcalTom. Very ambitious project you got there.
Have you run any tests on a small scale on the MPB's? Just so you have some run time with the system?
I have no experience with such a large room, but it would occur to me to split the feed into 2 systems of 14 a piece. That way, if you have some rot or what have you, it is not a total to both sides. Also, it would afford you some experimentation between right and left, to fine tune techniques with your setup.
Are you using a regenerative blower for the air? I have micropore dual diffusers, and they are air hogs. I have 3 on a Pondmaster AP100 and 2 on a AP60. Any less, and no rolling boil of air bubbles.
I am way jealous of your commercial rate electric. Residential billing really should come with a tiny tube of lube.


Best of luck there NorcalTom. I hope you have a kick ass first run.

-TF:evilgrin0013:

 

[Giddeon]

Damn im tuned in....

I also have the same Question as TF have you ran RDWC before or a small scale MPB before going balls out or no just going Balls out??? Either Way hell yeah!

 

[snkrhd23]

Great idea with the two systems from tricfan, and since the title says first grow Im guessing ur just going all out and good luck to you sir. this is the best place for learning and help when you run into problems. peace bro

 

[ibTheMan]

god dam bro, i aint never saw no shit like that. IMO you should have more sites for 28k.

 

[burnzalot]

Is it just me or does anybody else find those yellow lidded bins to be less than ideal in many ways? First they let in light....lame. Also I find that the groves in the top at least with net pots allow for leaks to the outside enviroment.

 

[Giddeon]

Is it just me or does anybody else find those yellow lidded bins to be less than ideal in many ways? First they let in light....lame. Also I find that the groves in the top at least with net pots allow for leaks to the outside enviroment.

I agree I have never like those since I have checked them out in person, I feel you have to use a bucket that is at least light proof. the yellow lid is just no good if it were black it would be another story.

Wrap the bucket with panda film or something to that effect to combat the light issue and you should be fine.

G

 

[Bobby Smith]

Subbed, looking sick so far.

Agree with what TF - break into two systems at a minimum, with four being even better if you could swing it - don't let a hot spot in one corner of the room take down your whole crop from rot.

Split into quadrants you would (hopefully) only lose 25% of your harvest if something bad happened.

Those stands are dope, but how do they work? Are they "squeezing" the buckets to hold them up, or are the bottoms of the buckets resting on them? If the former, I'd be worried about the plastic giving out.

 

[CelticEBE]

How did you make those stands?

 

[NorcalTom]

TF,
I have not ran any MPB buckets at all, this will be my first. I will give this my best shot. I will be splitting my feeds into three res. I have three 100 gall res outside the room, i will post pics when I'm done making them and get the pumps. I have ordered three pondmaster Ap 100 one for ten plants and the other two will be for nine. i was planning on running 8" air stones in each bucket. I read some info on these difusers but have not tested any out. I know DD ran the air stones and didin't put much thought into changing it. I'm very fornutate to have comm power, my other grows were soil and had 12 lights and three a/c and my bill was 310 dollars. Thanks for your info on those diffusers.
NCT

 

[NorcalTom]

Giddeon and Burnzalot,

I agree with the lids but i'm trying to get a neopreme gasket made to fit around the hole and close up the leaks.thanks for the support

NCT

 

[TrichromeFan]

It might not be to late to change up the air. I think the regenerative blower is worth it. I had the AP100 on 5 dual micropores and it was not enough to really get them pumping. There are a few grows on this site that are using them.

-TF

 

[NorcalTom]

Subbed, looking sick so far.

Agree with what TF - break into two systems at a minimum, with four being even better if you could swing it - don't let a hot spot in one corner of the room take down your whole crop from rot.

Split into quadrants you would (hopefully) only lose 25% of your harvest if something bad happened.

Those stands are dope, but how do they work? Are they "squeezing" the buckets to hold them up, or are the bottoms of the buckets resting on them? If the former, I'd be worried about the plastic giving out.

How did you make those stands?

The stands are build with an X in the bottom so the tubs sit on the stand and the side are justed added protection in case i bumb into them. They are made out of 5/8" square steel and I painted them white. I wanted to make them so I could run the drain and feed underneath. It will give me more room to work and I won't have to step over drain to get around. I take a pics with out the tub so you can see.

It might not be to late to change up the air. I think the regenerative blower is worth it. I had the AP100 on 5 dual micropores and it was not enough to really get them pumping. There are a few grows on this site that are using them.

-TF

I just cancelled my order for the ap 100. I'm goinf to do some more research on the regenerative pumps. I found some Whitewater WW60 50 cfm for 100 dollars each. How do I figure out how many airstones one of these will run or should I look into the air diffusers?I was under the impression they used a lot more air?

Again thanks for the help.

NCT

 

[organiclover]

i do not grow in hydro but have been doing a lot of reading recently

you should consider an alternate to air diffussers - they add hot air to root zone
dissolved oxygen can be added in other ways without the need for diffusers

just my 2cents

 

[Giddeon]

Stands are Sick clean as hell looking my question is where is the cage going to go?? From experience I find anything smaller than having the cage wrapped around the whole outside of the mini res to be a restricter rather than a helper. Have you planned how to attach the cages yet??

Regenerative blowers are awesome since they don't blow hot air in your water they just blow room temperature air. I know RMCG picked up a sweetwater regen blower maybe he'll chime in about how he feels about his. He also posts a video of one in action, IMO Badass!

organiclover with your no actual hydro experience, please enlighten us on the techniques use to replace an airstone in the mini res portion of the MPB RDWC system. Personally I'm going to add a second micro pore diffuser to my buckets next grow and see how that effects yield. More DO the better right

 

[organiclover]

from what i have been reading DO can be added by top feeding through hydroton/lava rocks in conjunction with a bypass in each mini res with a T- like in the epicenter of UC

obviously more plumbing work
basically one pipe to each mini res top feeds and T into individual res to provide waterfall affect and add DO with no heat
people were also saying that when the roots fill up the container the airstones are even less effective

again no experience just been doing a lot of reading - but makes sense to me

 

[Giddeon]

IMO you would need too much pressure or height for a waterfall to create the amount of DO that a diffuser placed directly in the mini res can create for the root sone. Plus airstones supply air from the bottom of the res so the air passes through all the water and root zone, as my roots grow it actually spreads out the bubbles more evenly. The waterfall effect will only create Bubbles on the top and when your roots fill that zone the waterfall wont create the same amount of DO as it did originally since it cannot penetrate to the same depth as before. With the MPB feed line being at the bottom of the bucket the flow of the water is up and out, so the DO created on the top of the mini res wouldn't be utilized until next time that bit of water was pumped in from the bottom. The waterfall could even damage and break off delicate feeder roots since it has to create so much turbulence in the water to make DO.

Then there is the fact of if you are going to use a waterfall type application to create DO you might as well try to build an Areo Flow system instead of an MPB setup.

I feel people are way too concerned about the hot air that comes out of these air pumps. People thats why we have products like chillers that come in different sizes to accommodate our needs appropriately. If the air being pumped through the airstones are creating too much heat in the water you obviously have undersized your chiller for you application and thats where the true problem is. Setting a chiller at 65 doesn't mean your root base is at 65 it usually is a couple degrees higher so if your chiller cant keep your main res a couple of degrees colder than you want your roots it is undersized.

 

[Dais]

:)
Beautiful man, just beautiful.