8 Site High Performance Under Current For $300 Or Less

[str8smokn]

Glad I could help without knowing. :badboy:
No though , that is good to know . I’m sure once you get the kinks out it will be popping nugs left and right.
STR8

 

[DGP]

Glad I could help without knowing. :badboy:
No though , that is good to know . I’m sure once you get the kinks out it will be popping nugs left and right.
STR8

Str8,

I have my second prototype running so already have some fairly big girls in the second week of flower and they have been in the prototype system for a few weeks so its all good there.

Well as all things do, it went to shit. The supplier of this batch of bulkhead fittings was selling knock offs. I guess you can get counterfeit products from Amazon just as well as Ebay but the ones from Amazon don't leak and the ones from Ebay do. The seals are different and the threads don't fit right and some of them wont even fit sched 40 standard pipe but hey some do, so much for quality control. So I have to reorder from Amazon and deal with the greasy guy from ebay. Cant really return them once a few were installed. Just be careful who you order from if you make one of these systems, the BH fittings just have to be good. Half of em were good and all the ones that worked were Amazon. I have little doubt this system will work if I had the right BH fittings. My other prototype is ticking along for the last 3-4 weeks and works great, I just thought it would be better with Aquarium fittings because the conduit fittings I used were not really designed for this purpose.

Will reassemble when I get new fittings from Amazon. Fuuuuu###K

 

[DGP]

Dont buy these or from this guy:



Buy these if you build:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IVCS4A6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I am going to go take some bong rips of high grade hash and watch the Trailer Park Boys now.

Dee

 

[DGP]

Ok, system is functioning. Turns out the gaskets on the "knock off" bulkhead fittings were the cause of all the profanity in the test room last night. Made some of my own gaskets out of red silicone material and that along with a very small quantity of pure silicone high vacuum grease (as insurance) made it work. The system will run in the test area for a couple days just to be sure no leak issues pop up.

BTW, I think Bubbles is the smartest one of the group.

Dee

 

[DGP]

Ok, system still working good no leaks in bulkhead fittings. One ultra tiny leak in a glued joint of all places but an easy fix. Feeling pretty confident in the testing so I am going to deploy it in the flower room. Plants are only one week into flip so during the lights on phase I will pump some of the nutes out into DWC buckets in the other room, raise the scrog net up and transfer the plants out for a couple of hours while I swap out the system.

Then the old system will grow food crops for the household in the adjacent room. My family likes to grow food crops year round indoors for 3 seasons and outdoors for one season. I keep a slight positive pressure in my grow room to keep any bugs from the food crops out of my grow and so far this has worked well. I spray (preventive) in the food crop area (trifecta natural oil spray) to keep it safe.

So, today I will install it and go from there.

The way I solved the bulkhead fitting issue is this: Primary seal does need to be on the inside of the tank and a secondary on the outside. I bought a sheet of 1/8" red silicone sheet from the hardware store for about $12 and cut a bunch of inner seals and with a very small amount of silicone (food grade) high vacuum grease that did the trick. The grease is mainly so when the nut is tightened it doesn't bunch up the inner seal and lets it rotate slowly while the pressure is applied. I used a little grease on the outside seal as well just as added insurance.

Is it a hassle to DIY this project, make seals and dick around with all this: Well yes. However, is it worth it to save $2k or more? Well, for me absolutely yes.

I would encourage folks who want to go to a UC system to give it a go especially if a commercial UC system is way out of range for your grow.

Thanks for tuning in to my DIY crazyness,

Dee

System in the test area:

 

[DGP]

Well its installed and running nicely, made a new batch of nutes/water and got it all conditioned exactly before filling the system. Took only about 2 hours to move the girls, disassembly the old prototype and reinstall the new design. Once one is tested it doesn't take long to disassemble partially, move it and install.

Dee

Girls in waiting while I swap the systems (sitting in DWC buckets with their existing nutes pumped in before disassembly:

Back in the new system:

The control bucket :

 

[DGP]

Letica makes hinged lids for these black buckets I used and so I got one for the control bucket and cut a slot in it for the returning chilled water line. Now the bucket is protected from all light and I can swing the lid up for nute adjustments etc.....

The system is running great so far, real happy with it and the buckets are just plain full with roots. Some of the main tap roots are as big as my index finger now and are still breaking the netpots. If the roots are an indication of potential yield (which I think they are) I should have a great run (assuming I don't screw it all up:))

Dee

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074BG499Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Dtae]

U gunna have some good shit

 

[Sonnyhad]

Well its installed and running nicely, made a new batch of nutes/water and got it all conditioned exactly before filling the system. Took only about 2 hours to move the girls, disassembly the old prototype and reinstall the new design. Once one is tested it doesn't take long to disassemble partially, move it and install.

Dee

Girls in waiting while I swap the systems (sitting in DWC buckets with their existing nutes pumped in before disassembly:
View attachment 784231
Back in the new system:
View attachment 784232

The control bucket :
View attachment 784233

Looks awesome, I'm just getting started with an uc system. Looking forward to some results like yours.

 

[DGP]

Updated pictures, The girls are growing really nicely in the new UC system. No leaks, no big issues.....

 

[DGP]

The system is still purring along nicely, stable ph and with the top off reservoir I barely have to do anything. I just check ph and ppm every morning and check water temperatures and smell the reservoir to catch any bad stuff happening but it just doesn't seem to ever go sideways. It's almost boring watching the system cause it almost doesn't need me. Also, the water quality seems to stay high for well over a week and I am wondering if I even need to change water very often.

I am going to order a DO test kit and just get an idea of where the system is at with regards to dissolved O2.

Roots don't stink but are still slightly amber/brown but I think they got stained from the GH nutes which have dyes in them (never again). Switched to Jack's professional over a week ago but I think the roots are just going to be stained from now on. So far the plants responded well to the Jack's and do look a little stronger now.

 

[H2OPharmer]

Gotta love RDWC. I tried many different systems but RDWC rocks. Massive root systems and thick stalks. Your system is very similar to mine. I separated mine into 4 bucket systems and harvest every 4 to 5 weeks.

 

[DGP]

Gotta love RDWC. I tried many different systems but RDWC rocks. Massive root systems and thick stalks. Your system is very similar to mine. I separated mine into 4 bucket systems and harvest every 4 to 5 weeks.

So, you cycle in 4 new plants to flip every month or so? I want to do some thing similar too....Do you ever stop to clean the system? Or do you move the plants for a few hours to scrub out the buckets/lines etc?

Thanks,

Dee

 

[H2OPharmer]

Once harvest is complete, everything is scrubbed clean before the new plants go in the tent. It's best to start fresh for every cycle.

 

[DGP]

Pictures from tonight. About the end of week 5 (since flip):

All appear to be expressing Indica dominant traits except for one pheno in the back:

Sativa dominant one, taller, lanky with rounder flower shape (this one is a week and a half behind the others but is already just as tall:

 

[heisen]

These BH connectors are actually supposed to go in this way. I watched several instructonal videos from the aquarium folks who use these regularly. I tried it the other way and it was a total fail and they only come with one gasket. The gasket has concentric ring raised areas on one side and smooth on the other. the smooth side is supposed to go against the inside of the container with the flange on the concentric bumps and no gasket on the outside. Anyway thats the way it looks like they are typically used. they leak if I put them with the flange out and threads and nut inside. Also, it is about impossible to tighten the nut when its on the inside since there isn't enough clearance for a very large wrench (if one even has one that big in the toolbox). I made a wrench that would fit and no matter how tight they leaked.

Actually I wish there were two gaskets and I may add one on the outside as well just to be sure. I hate leaks in the grow room!

Dee

there backwards.I built this system last year and posted the parts on an older thread somewhere.those are uline buckets and the bulkheads come from marine depot.The water can leak through the threads on the outside of the bucket.You can put 20 gaskets on it but it wont matter.The threads go on the inside of the bucket,the gasket goes on the outside of the bucket with the flange.You cannot seal the threads with a gasket that goes around bulkhead end of story.And you only need 1 gasket to seal it.The double slip is the way to go.Also use a miter saw to cut off the threads.You only need an inch of thread inside the bucket.Makes screwing the locking nut on way easier and less clutter in the buckets.
heres a 12 bucket built,You can see only the flange is on the outside with the washer under it.These WILL NOT leak.

 

[DGP]

there backwards.I built this system last year and posted the parts on an older thread somewhere.those are uline buckets and the bulkheads come from marine depot.The water can leak through the threads on the outside of the bucket.You can put 20 gaskets on it but it wont matter.The threads go on the inside of the bucket,the gasket goes on the outside of the bucket with the flange.You cannot seal the threads with a gasket that goes around bulkhead end of story.And you only need 1 gasket to seal it.The double slip is the way to go.Also use a miter saw to cut off the threads.You only need an inch of thread inside the bucket.Makes screwing the locking nut on way easier and less clutter in the buckets.
heres a 12 bucket built,You can see only the flange is on the outside with the washer under it.These WILL NOT leak.
View attachment 792344

Yeah, I agree I ended up with the flanges on the outside but I did use a gasket (which is opposite what the aquarium folks say) on the inside as well as the outside because mine seemed to have small leaks on a couple of them. However, you can put a gasket on the inside if you use pure silicone high vacuum grease and it only take a very little bit. This lubes the gaskets and makes a better seal but on the inside it helps to keep the gasket from spinning and wadding up when you tighten the nut. Anyway, like I said in earlier posts there are several different brands of bulkhead fittings out there and many are crap. I had the best luck with the CPR brand. Trimming of that long threaded section is a good suggestion. I should have done that. Maybe i'll trim them off when I break the system down for cleaning between cycles.

My buckets are just packed out with roots now and I have a couple weeks left til harvest. These systems seem to really make for an optimum growth environment for the plants.

Thanks,

Dee

 

[heisen]

One other suggestion is to use the 2 inch pipe all the way through but where you connect your 3/4 inch line that goes to the pump,Make that 2 inch pipe further down.Roots tend to travel far and will stop up the 3/4 line if its to close to the buckets.I use 1 1/2 inch pipe and use a 1 1/2 T where it goes to the pump.About 3 feet than i put the 3/4 adapter on.That T HAS to be dead nuts center or the pump will pull more harder on one side and less on the other.
I also put my pump on the outside of the buckets in front of a shutoff valve in case i have any drama with a rock or pump goes out.Makes switching it out very easy.I found that putting the Pipes up a little so i can run a hose underneath them works good.I also learned to have the return line go into the control bucket from the top.I run my water high and its better to just have the line go into the top of the lid.

You can see in my pic the 90 degree elbow that goes in the control bucket.is air and light proof.

Looks like your setup is working.Just a couple of suggestions.

 

[DGP]

Yep, I wondered about the long pump line. I used 1" for the pump return but I see your point in running 2" farther up the line. My pump is outside and directly feeds the chiller and then the chiller dumps it in the control high up the side and it waterfalls down to the water level.

I added a shut off valve to my one inch hose just for the same reasons you mentioned. Also, it makes it possible to change and clean the rainbird inline filter if you use one. I found the filter to be somewhat troublesome in that it clogs quickly. I wonder if even when it is clean it doesn't really restrict the performance of the pump.

Thanks,

Dee

 

[DGP]

I also have to say now that it has been running a while, I am really enjoying it. My water quality has been very easy to control. I don't see much ph drift and with a chiller I am really seeing a much more consistent environment. It just seems like the UC system is quite easy to control and it seems just by nature to be quite stable.

As long as I dilute my nutrients and dilute ph adjustment chemicals then inject them slowly I don't have issues with tuning the system from time to time.

Dee