ehole makes the "below current"

Lost · Dec 10, 2009

They are some general hydroponics seals I found at a hydro store.I think they are for a cloner or something..

bdawgburner · Dec 11, 2009

This may be a silly question but how do you drain the system to refill with fresh nutes?

Rolln J · Dec 11, 2009

I have a "utility" pump - I just drop it in my res and fill up my 40 gal brute garbage can (on wheels) - I use the same setup to mix my nutes and fill the res...

Lost · Dec 11, 2009

bdawgburner said:
This may be a silly question but how do you drain the system to refill with fresh nutes?

Speaking for only myself, i have a 1200 gph pump attached to a hose. I shove the hose down the sewer and drain everything. Then I take a water hose and blast the tub with it real quick, ill hit the roots a little gently. All the while the pump is in the bucket i am cleaning so after a min, then water is clean and the pump sucks almost all of it out.

After thats all done and the tubs are empty, airstones cleaned, i refill the water.. then add the nutes...

ehole · Dec 11, 2009

for my setup i just run the house outside that is connected to my pump, right out a window actually it's quite convenient. when i move i'm sure i'll have to get a longer piece of hose to make it outside. for the remaining 1/4-1/2 inch in the bottom i have a small 80-120 gph pump i just fill my 6 gallon "gas"/ utility water can. there maybe a small amount of water left in each tote but not enough to fill a cup.

nughit · Jan 8, 2010

That looks sweet. Where did you get the silicone orings from?

ehole · Jan 8, 2010

i ordered them online, some store i found on amazon dot com. truth be told i think the regular black kind would work fine, but i splurged and spent 5 bucks instead of 2. i think it was a 25 pack for that price. shipping was like 7-8 bucks though, but it beat calling stores all day trying to track down a random size.

squarepusher · Jan 22, 2010

+rep really good, may try myself

you dont have any leaks on your 2" connections ever?

I'm looking for an alternate way to connect these, I may use your idea, I was looking at uniseals, but not too happy about those either. THink im gunna visit my Home Depot tomorrow and see what I can think of.

RDWC with undercurrent definitely is the path I am looking at taking. I want to make a system that will rival DD's

Lost · Jan 22, 2010

squarepusher said:
+rep really good, may try myself

you dont have any leaks on your 2" connections ever?

I'm looking for an alternate way to connect these, I may use your idea, I was looking at uniseals, but not too happy about those either. THink im gunna visit my Home Depot tomorrow and see what I can think of.

RDWC with undercurrent definitely is the path I am looking at taking. I want to make a system that will rival DD's

From someone that came from that direction and moved to MPD's, I can say you won't. You may come close but I doubt it. Im not knocking ehole's system, or even my previous system, but from a practicle standpoint, his system is waaay better engineered and provides a more stable environment. I have a thread called Tub Girls which is a 4 tub rcdwc system I build off of inspiration fro DD's work.

While it worked ok, it had high tubs, low tubs, controller tubs, etc. With dds system there is alot more flood control as well. I ended up with 30 gallons on the floor when a drain clogged and they system over topped.. DD's properly set up will not do that.

squarepusher · Jan 22, 2010

Lost said:
From someone that came from that direction and moved to MPD's, I can say you won't. You may come close but I doubt it. Im not knocking ehole's system, or even my previous system, but from a practicle standpoint, his system is waaay better engineered and provides a more stable environment. I have a thread called Tub Girls which is a 4 tub rcdwc system I build off of inspiration fro DD's work.

While it worked ok, it had high tubs, low tubs, controller tubs, etc. With dds system there is alot more flood control as well. I ended up with 30 gallons on the floor when a drain clogged and they system over topped.. DD's properly set up will not do that.

ok, gunna spend the next 15 minutes looking at your Tub Girlz now.

So, specifically DD's system works better as you mentioned because it is more foolproof and stable and less error prone.

Do you also think his system has an edge with better water circulation than undercurrent/rdwc? Or better aeration? Or larger total water supply?

Just out of your experience I guess, trying to narrow down to details what makes D's so bombastic, so I know what to incorporate for any modifications I were to make...

ok, check out tub girls now...

EDIT: Ok, checked out da girlz, and was impressed. You say you lost a bunch of root mass I believe, was that due to not enough airstones, or clogged airstones?

Also, you said your tubes got clogged, were they 1 1/2" size?

Lost · Jan 22, 2010

I will try to be brief.. lol..

One MAJOR thing that dd's system had over mine is that each bucket it individually filled and drained if that makes sense. One bucket is not dependant on another bucket functioning with dd's where with rcdwc the nutes flow from one bucket to the next. If one bucket fucks up, they every bucket after that is fucked up. Not with dd's system. Also a big thing about dd's system is airation.

If you look at my MPB thread as opposed to my Tub girls thread, you will see that each tub has 2 waterfalls from the drain tubing into the drain, then the drain waterfalls into the res and right back to either the chiller or to the plants. Both systems use airstones, so thats not an issue..

DD's system is modular.. That alone is huge. its not a pain in the ass to hook up a few more tubs if you have the light. Its easy to clean..

The bottom line is refinement and ingenuity.

Both will yield. DD's for the effort will yield more. :anim_19:

Lost · Jan 22, 2010

It was clogged airstones, yes.. I also contaminated the rootmass when it was going into flower with another girl that had root issues from before I had chillers running.

Basically I made a bunch of stupid mistakes that I should have known better. Instead of a 2 pound 98bubba kush i got just over 1 from that one plant. 2 pounds from a horizontal lighted plant with 1 verticle would have been sweet, but of course I fucked it up. And really, would 2 lbs be anything to sneeze at? Its just all being said, you can for similar effort build DDs setup. :) Both of these system yield, period :)

nughit · Jan 22, 2010

I really like the MPBs but I don't have the like the fact that it 1) requires the plants to raised, I use a tent and every inch counts. 2) There is a lot of different piping/pump going on with the system.

I plan on doing a modified 6 plant UC system using airstones and a drip system like the water farms. I hope that 1 pondmaster ap100 or the ecoplus commercial 7 air pump will power everything. Since I see you had a problem with flooding Lost I'm going to use 2" for the bottom with 1" over flow lines at top. I will document here at the farm.

squarepusher · Jan 22, 2010

Lost said:
It was clogged airstones, yes.. I also contaminated the rootmass when it was going into flower with another girl that had root issues from before I had chillers running.

Basically I made a bunch of stupid mistakes that I should have known better. Instead of a 2 pound 98bubba kush i got just over 1 from that one plant. 2 pounds from a horizontal lighted plant with 1 verticle would have been sweet, but of course I fucked it up. And really, would 2 lbs be anything to sneeze at? Its just all being said, you can for similar effort build DDs setup. :) Both of these system yield, period :)

yes, DD system is great, I am trying to sidestep the huge pump requirements though. His system I believe uses 3 x 1500 gph pumps which can be a bit pricey for beginner or novice user. Also, electricity/noise/heat addition.

I like the idea of series, since it uses water flow and gravity, however the natural flow isn't able to keep up with input pumps as you mentioned in the other thread. I am considering using 2" tubing to work with this issue, though I can't find any so it might have to be PVC, and I do not specifically like working with rigid PVC, makes it difficult to move around or change configuration (like you mentioned).

nughit · Jan 22, 2010

HEY SP look for flexible/SPA PVC. Its not super flexible but at least its not rigid.

squarepusher · Jan 22, 2010

nughit said:
HEY SP look for flexible/SPA PVC. Its not super flexible but at least its not rigid.

sweet, looks a bit pricey but worth it if it does what it says.

Do you know if these fit with normal Sch 40 PVC fittings? Having them compatible with standard PVC fittings would be a pig plus and deal sealer perhaps.

nughit · Jan 22, 2010

Yes it uses standard pvc fitings and standard pvc glue.

squarepusher · Jan 22, 2010

HI again ehole.

1 more question for you, I am looking to a do a system like yours. I plan on using 2" PVC of Flex pipe also. I hope it will be enough to keep the roots not clogged, but it should be. DD's uses 2 1" tubes I believe for drainage, and 2" is bigger than 2x1".

If you do get cloggage, it is because your drains are at the bottom of your bucket. Notice DD's has his on the top of the water line, roots are more likely to sink and ignore top outflows, so raise up your connects if you do have problem.

Also, I wanted to ask you a question as I stated above, on your system, you have the 2" Male Slip NPT OVC connector, does that screw in to your totes? Or just slide snugly? How did you cut the hole, and if you used a hole saw, what size did you use?

thanks! I have some possible improvements on your system but its not certain yet, I wanted to ask a few questions first.

regards,
-Squarepusher

OK, Ill give a hint on what I am thinking of to improve on this.

brookstown · Jan 24, 2010

Lost said:
I will try to be brief.. lol..

One MAJOR thing that dd's system had over mine is that each bucket it individually filled and drained if that makes sense. One bucket is not dependant on another bucket functioning with dd's where with rcdwc the nutes flow from one bucket to the next. If one bucket fucks up, they every bucket after that is fucked up. Not with dd's system. Also a big thing about dd's system is airation :anim_19:

I could be wrong... But I think your wrong homie. Dub's system is modular in the sense it can be pulled out quickly but each mini res is "fed" from a central res. So... if one gets sick....

I think. Correct me if I am.

squarepusher · Jan 24, 2010

brookstown said:
I could be wrong... But I think your wrong homie. Dub's system is modular in the sense it can be pulled out quickly but each mini res is "fed" from a central res. So... if one gets sick....

I think. Correct me if I am.

yes, DD has central reservoir, but I think he was referring to flooding issues with water spilling. DD has a check valve on the feed line, so if something went wrong the buckets would still hold like 8 gallons of water each and basically turn into DWC.

with RDWC, the water goes in a circle, so if you get root clog or something it could get ugly:party0033:

ehole makes the "below current"

ehole makes the "below current"

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