3KW Liquid Cooled and Sealed Coco Grow

[Tesseract]

So the other day I found out that my 3-1 milwaukee meter was reading inaccurate ph measurements. I calibrated with 7.0 and it read fine. I noticed that something was off when I had to add a lot more ph down then I though was necessary. and no, I already checked the battery :)
So I brought out my nutradrip tri meter and poured a new 7.0ph test solution into a new glass with both the meters. They agreed on 7.0 no problem. Then I grabbed a packet of 4.0, cleaning off and quickly drying the probes off to sanitize and dunked them. The Nutradip read 4.0 perfect and the Milwaukee read 5.4
My meter has been giving my babies 4.6 ph for 2 days. Bummer.

Lesson learned... Calibrate always with 2 solutions!!!

I have sent my Milwaukee back 4 times. I always take care of my equipment and know how to handle sensitive measurement devices. My BlueLab however, never gives me a problem. Either does the nutradip.

Flushed with clearex @ 7.5ml/gal and 6.2 ph.

Started fresh and the girls are looking better over the last few days which makes me happy. :)

 

[Ohiofarmer]

Hahaha really nice grow man, i too used to grow in a 4x8 grow box except i grew all organic and blueberry or god bud strains, so they were quite stinky, i too use to rent so i used the box for the same reasons, haha i just moved into a new house, so i'm deciding how i want to do my new setup. I really like how you literally did everything for your grows yourself, haha really like the DIY Reflectors too lol. Was woundering how many bills you threw at that new setup, and also what was your average yield for your 4x8 unit, anyways take it easy man, keep postin lol i'll tag along for sure btw what strain you got ruinin in there right now?

Don't Panic! Grow Organic!

 

[Tesseract]

Hahaha really nice grow man, i too used to grow in a 4x8 grow box except i grew all organic and blueberry or god bud strains, so they were quite stinky, i too use to rent so i used the box for the same reasons, haha i just moved into a new house, so i'm deciding how i want to do my new setup. I really like how you literally did everything for your grows yourself, haha really like the DIY Reflectors too lol. Was woundering how many bills you threw at that new setup, and also what was your average yield for your 4x8 unit, anyways take it easy man, keep postin lol i'll tag along for sure btw what strain you got ruinin in there right now?

Don't Panic! Grow Organic!

Thanks for stopping by!

I have spent around 4k in construction material and around 7k in equipment. I made sure to do the fabrication (framing, electrical, ect..) right and paid extra for r30 insulation, firecore sheetrock, all proper electrical material ect. My house is also older and needs a lot more love when you get down to it. The past 4 owners neglected it, but its all cosmetic and needs updating.

Not everything is DIY, for instance, a c.a.p. ebb and grow + 2 expansion packs = buckets, drain to waste controller, pumps for the drain to waste controller, reservoir, and misc fitting for the room.

The honest truth of the matter.... I love DIY and working with new equipment. Its just a rewarding for myself to engineer and built as it is to grow. This is why, beyond for the use of efficiency, I went liquid cooled. It fulfills my technical needs. Just wait until I make a UC system!!!:party0044:

The reflector thought was... since I ran out of money for the moment, and I don't have to worry about the reflector heat issues since I am using a water jacket, why not use foam and stretch the mylar flat. Why not make the spread 4 feet, the same as the table. We will see how well these do, and honestly I might by 2 and with 4 lights, create a side by side comparison and measure lumen reflection.:animbong:

I have already seen a lower power bill from this setup then my friends using ac or cooltubes to help.

I am not sure what I will yield because this is the first run with this setup, using coco coir, in drain to waste, using great white, and with 3000w hung horizontally.


The two strains are Afgooey and a Blue Apollo. Both are clones gifted through the grape vine. Not the best taken clones, but from a decent mother.:sun

T

 

[Ohiofarmer]

hahaha ya man that's a really nice setup you got, lol you ever ship any buds around ohio, swear i might be smokin on um right now lol. anyways ya i mean you can't get that nit picky and diy everything, but you diy'ed everything i probally would lol, and i guess the mylar reflectors work better then the regular ones(so i've heard), gonna hafta gimme an update when you test the lumens.i got magnum xl's. and those are gonna be some killer buds no doubt about that. i use to run a ebb and grow 12 or 18 site back in my 4x8, sniff sniff o i miss my 4 by 8. lol. how big are you gonna let um strech out too are you shootin from the double decker trellis or just the single? lol anyways i gotta get sealin some windows and insulating for winter sahahaha ;P I'll be stickin around your posts man lol Take it easy Brotha, i'm possibly thinkin about doin my setup kinda like your haha, but not spend that much! much love and respect man i'll burn a fatty for ya!:passingjoint::sun

..and keep up with the D.I.Y. I think your killin it!

 

[Tesseract]

hahaha ya man that's a really nice setup you got, lol you ever ship any buds around ohio, swear i might be smokin on um right now lol. anyways ya i mean you can't get that nit picky and diy everything, but you diy'ed everything i probally would lol, and i guess the mylar reflectors work better then the regular ones(so i've heard), gonna hafta gimme an update when you test the lumens.i got magnum xl's. and those are gonna be some killer buds no doubt about that. i use to run a ebb and grow 12 or 18 site back in my 4x8, sniff sniff o i miss my 4 by 8. lol. how big are you gonna let um strech out too are you shootin from the double decker trellis or just the single? lol anyways i gotta get sealin some windows and insulating for winter sahahaha ;P I'll be stickin around your posts man lol Take it easy Brotha, i'm possibly thinkin about doin my setup kinda like your haha, but not spend that much! much love and respect man i'll burn a fatty for ya!:passingjoint::sun

..and keep up with the D.I.Y. I think your killin it!

Thanks for the kind words friend!

I think we all miss our old boxes:icon_spin:

Since my ph meter was giving me bullshit answers, They really didn't stretch that much do to the fact that they were experiencing a lockout. I have also been foliar feeding a Bushmaster/penetrator/LK mix as a shape shifter and node compressor to the ones that have grown past the screen allowing the others to catch up.:bubblez:

I have always gotten better results when using Bushmaster and have learned not to grow without introducing it somehow either via roots of foliar feeds.
I was told that a product called Hammer from Future Harvest Developments, is the same thing, but better quality (as in food safe quality)

I am thinking 1 screen will be enough for this grow seeing as my plants are not at optimal conditions to grow massive, but should yield some great buds!

I am thinking that it wont be until the 3rd run before I have things dialed in.:party0022:

T

 

[Ohiofarmer]

haha ya man right on i use bushmaster and super thrive in foliar and root nd feed teas no matter what, i feel like the kelp extract in small quantities helps alot with overall plant health, especially for organic soil grows, the boys in humbolt do really good work always lol. I also use foxfarms oceanforest and happyfrog blend with my own blend all mixed for my starting soil. In my opinion i've always seen really good results with the added microbes and humic acid in the soil. i'll try and post some pics soon i just got a new light from a friend today to try it's an older sunsystem with the dual ballast and dual 1k mh and hps in 1 unit! i'm pretty excited to try it out with some super reflectors in there to diffuse the hot spots(lol i'm running it in my old 4x8 till i decide what i wanna do with my new space!haha) :clapping anyways i'm noddin off as i type this lol a phat dank J makes me hit the hay saha. i'll talk to you soon, take it easy brotha. now if i could just light this 2nd J ("flick""flick").:indifferent0023:

 

[Tesseract]

Went to the store

Picked up a few things I needed the other day and was gifted a free sample of the sunshine mix #4. I think I will use it for some window herbs this winter.

Calibration solution. Since my meter was showing a bad ph reading in the lower range and stunted my girls, I will be testing my meters every other week. Before that it was every 4 months which both meters usually were spot on still.

Titanium Nitrate bladed trimming scissors. These are some sharp trimmers!!! I will never use regular scissors or a razor blade (except for cloning) again. Easy to handle, fits well, spring loaded, and cuts like butter.:hunter:

Last but not least, Sweet Raw. No more berry or citrus for me, and this was $1 cheaper then both of the before mentioned. I have no idea why considering they are the same thing.

Ill post some more pics later this weekend when I get time

T

 

[raphen_ilweed]

I really like the craftsmanship in your sweet setup. Gotta do it right ya know!?

I have noticed that there is foam in the reservoir of both my tanks. It is not a bacteria problem due to the fact that everything has been scrubbed with iso alcohol.

I think it is Foam Fractionation due to the use of a commercial air pump in my standing reservoir. Too much agitation with organics can cause a breakdown and froth.

From my understanding the foam is good! The breakdown is not in quality of nutrient but breakdown of thick blobs of nutrients. You want these thick blobs to break down into many many small blobs which bind to the oxygenated water. The more oxygen in the water the smaller the water molecules are. Smaller water molecules love oxygen molecules which then make even more love to the smaller nutrient blobs. The smell is good too! There is a "ripe" organic smell, strong on the nose but a sweet tone. If it smalls vinegary or like urine then it is bad. I mix all my organics 24 hours before feeding. 36 would be even better IMO 48 would be my limit though.

 

[Tesseract]

I really like the craftsmanship in your sweet setup. Gotta do it right ya know!?



From my understanding the foam is good! The breakdown is not in quality of nutrient but breakdown of thick blobs of nutrients. You want these thick blobs to break down into many many small blobs which bind to the oxygenated water. The more oxygen in the water the smaller the water molecules are. Smaller water molecules love oxygen molecules which then make even more love to the smaller nutrient blobs. The smell is good too! There is a "ripe" organic smell, strong on the nose but a sweet tone. If it smalls vinegary or like urine then it is bad. I mix all my organics 24 hours before feeding. 36 would be even better IMO 48 would be my limit though.

Thanks for the help bro! The foam is good I know, but the smell after 2 days was that of old pond water. It most likely came from the air stones that I did not clean properly. Since my plants are in 100% coco, I am watering once every 2 days so I have been mixing my organics fresh. They go on the drip when I go out of town or have shit to do.

T

 

[ookiimata]

Meter problem is pretty scary. I'm always paranoid about that, so hearing your story just makes me worse.

Did you order the water cooling units from their website, or did you go to one of their physical locations? They don't have a location in my state, and I'm wondering how safe it is to order from them online.

 

[Tesseract]

Meter problem is pretty scary. I'm always paranoid about that, so hearing your story just makes me worse.

Did you order the water cooling units from their website, or did you go to one of their physical locations? They don't have a location in my state, and I'm wondering how safe it is to order from them online.

Yeah, the meter problem sucked ass! My babies will be hurt by it, but they will still produce.

As in the chiller or the jacket fixtures? I ordered the fixtures from Bestcoastgrowers.com and I went with the Platinum design due to its superior quality and spread.
The platinums don't come with a socket so that must be ordered separately.

The chiller is just an eco plus purchased from plantlightinghydroponics.com but I will be buying the ChillKing in spring.

T

 

[ookiimata]

Yeah, I was talking about the fixtures from BestCoast. I don't like ordering stuff on the internet that LEO could easily be tracking or keeping records of. Are you legal in your state? If not, I'm guessing you had no problems receiving the package. I no longer have a safe address to send to.

Are you using the same pump for your nute res that you're using for the cooling res? As far as GPH? I'm assuming the water cooling plumbing operates at low pressure and not like 100+PSI?

 

[Tesseract]

Yeah, I was talking about the fixtures from BestCoast. I don't like ordering stuff on the internet that LEO could easily be tracking or keeping records of. Are you legal in your state? If not, I'm guessing you had no problems receiving the package. I no longer have a safe address to send to.

Are you using the same pump for your nute res that you're using for the cooling res? As far as GPH? I'm assuming the water cooling plumbing operates at low pressure and not like 100+PSI?

Yes I am legal in my state and have my card. I do have friends that are in states growing for themselves that are not and order all the time. Maybe get a PO box # if your worried. All companies sell with the intent of being legal and many people buy horticulture equipment that are not growing cannabis. People also use HID lights and equipment for aquarium growth and usage. Most websites off encryption at levels that would take even a supercomputer years to crack for just 1 persons info so I doubt they would want to waste that time on a cannabis grower. Those machines are way too $$$ to run and other, more pressing affairs take precedence over what your talking about.
Just make sure they ship your things in brown box and you will be fine.


Right now I am hand feeding my ladies so they are not on the drip system. The cooling reservoir is just for my lights so the pumps in there are different and seperate from the nutrient reservoir.

I run a 700gph magdrive pump through my 3 bulbs (maximum you should have in tandem) and a 900 gph magdrive through the chiller. It is lower pressure, yes. You need to have the water not pump fast enough through the fixtures in order to "swallow" the heat from the bulb.

My nutrient reservoirs both have a 395gph ecoplus pump in them for the drip lines but you can increase that if your lines are longer or you want a tad more pressure.

T

 

[Bobby Smith]

Tesseract, nice setup - I feel like I've seen that square trash can before (lol, pic attached) - did you also use a hot water heater jacket to wrap it with like I did?

As far as the lights, I commend your DIY skills, but have you ever measured them with a light meter? With flat mylar like that you're gonna have some serious hot spots - if you could instead use some "pebbled" inserts, you'd diffuse the hot spots much better and get much more even coverage.

Just my $.02, but I'm certainly subbed.

 

[Tesseract]

Tesseract, nice setup - I feel like I've seen that square trash can before (lol, pic attached) - did you also use a hot water heater jacket to wrap it with like I did?

As far as the lights, I commend your DIY skills, but have you ever measured them with a light meter? With flat mylar like that you're gonna have some serious hot spots - if you could instead use some "pebbled" inserts, you'd diffuse the hot spots much better and get much more even coverage.

Just my $.02, but I'm certainly subbed.

Haha! I like the can! i used the reflectx isolation from lowes. I think its the same thing as the c.a.p. thermal wrap which is 2 sheets of mylar and bubble wrap between. I think its 45 for a 4x50 roll. I will ditch that 96 gal in favor of a 50 gal. and a proper chiller in the spring.

Thanks for the info on the mylar. I know it's not the best thing to use, but did not want to spend $$$ for hoods right now. I will get some magnum reflectors later with the german aluminum you speak of. I am lucky in the fact that there are no leaves burnt from hotspots, but with wear and tear on those homemade reflectors, I know I will at some point. My DIY skills just bought me time until the next grow and then the reflectors will be on their way.

In the spring I will need to get:
Chillking chiller, another light or two, reflectors, liquid cooled co2 generator and probe...oh my!

T

 

[ookiimata]

It's a sweet setup. Did you use that weatherstrip tape around the rim of the light cooling res to cut down on water loss? Do you have to top off the lights' water regularly?

What if you put a reflector inside the water cooling tube, above the bulb. Like the cooltubes that have the reflector built in on the top. It seems that way the light coming off the top of the bulb would just go up a couple inches, then reflect back down, rather than having to go up through two layers of glass and a layer of water before being reflected back down. Could save some lumens if it's all feasible. Just an idea.

 

[ookiimata]

I also think you should lower your lights if the plants have hardened off enough. The termination line on the wall looks 10" to a foot above the plants. You should really have the termination line be about level with the plants. In my opinion, at least.

 

[Tesseract]

It's a sweet setup. Did you use that weatherstrip tape around the rim of the light cooling res to cut down on water loss? Do you have to top off the lights' water regularly?

What if you put a reflector inside the water cooling tube, above the bulb. Like the cooltubes that have the reflector built in on the top. It seems that way the light coming off the top of the bulb would just go up a couple inches, then reflect back down, rather than having to go up through two layers of glass and a layer of water before being reflected back down. Could save some lumens if it's all feasible. Just an idea.

I only change the water out every 2 months. I add 2 cups of h2o2 every 3 days so the water stays sterile. In 2 months, the water line in the reservoir only drops 2 inches or a few gallons so little maintenance is required.

If the reflector went inside the glass, the top of the jacket could not extract heat from the bulb correctly making the system work harder or the room being warmer then you want. There may be some lumen loss, but I can't see it in my overall yield.

T

 

[Tesseract]

I also think you should lower your lights if the plants have hardened off enough. The termination line on the wall looks 10" to a foot above the plants. You should really have the termination line be about level with the plants. In my opinion, at least.

The lights are about 18 inches from the tops of the plants. I could go lower, but I stopped slamming my lights onto plants a long time ago. I usually see better quality this way and no sacrifice of yield. Most growers today want to feed their plants heavy and slam the lights down on them. Its just not necessary.

T

 

[TheGreenHand]

I agree tess