Electricity leak in res/is it affecting nutes?

[KGBudman]

Guess I like to experience ALL the problems I can,in 1 grow. Not really,shits just happnin'. this time I dunno. Shock from nute burn or shock from SHOCK?

Mixxing nutes the other night while standing in a little water,stuck my hand in the res and WTF...got a bit of a shock. Discovered this only went away by unplugging my 300 watt heater thats in the res.. Is this f'n up my nutes?

Had probs at the beginning with ph issues due to UNWASHED Hydroton.FIXED that.

Then Cal-Mag def. with tap water. Cal-Mag at 2.5 ml/gal and upped my nutes to full strength (PBP @ 15 ml/gal fixed that. Holy shit girls were growing like freakin' crazy. PPM's 1080-1160. 12 gals/day and PPM's dropping around 50 a day.

At the flip,I thought I may still have a slight cal-mag issue so I increased to 3/4 strength. I also added roots excel @ 1 ml/gal AND Bud Ignightor @ (don't remember and my notes r not here w/me) whatever is on the bottle.I did lower PBP a little but with additives around 1300 PPM's.

For the next wk my girls stopped eating and mostly just takeing water.I would add water to knock the ppm's down but the next day,same thing.

I wasn't seein' the burn coming from the bottom cuz they're kinda big(6') and I wasn't getting "underneath" to look.When I did...SHIT, NUTE BURN like a mo fo. Tops looked GREAT but death is comeing from below,and movin fast. I'm thinkin' TOO MUCH N from Cal-Mag AND Roots Excel.

Did a 24 hr flush with Clearex and changed the res. This time PBP at 12.5 ml/gal and Cal-Mag @ 1/2 strength. For the last week they're just not eating,water only.MAYBE a little food. PPM's going up about 50 a day drinking 6 gals/day. Beginning ppm=953,day 2=914ppm,day 3=950. Added water to bring to 850 ppm. Next day=950 ppm AGAIN. Empty a bit of res fluid and water down to around 750 ppm. Been 1 wk since res change and still went up 50-60 ppm but,they drank 9 gals so I'd say they ate a little. We'll see what tonight brings. Just wondering if the electricic leak is zappin' my nutes.

Funny thing is,by looking at the ladies, I can't tell shit.They r BEA utiful. Stretch like crazy though first 2 wks of flip.

 

[KGBudman]

Pics are in this order, 1 day before flip, 1 wk after flip, 2wks, 3 wks.

 

[hiboy]

Your heater has a problem obviously, its not properly grnded inside or it has come loose or defective. Luckily its only 120v. You might want to install some GFCI outlets in there, they will trip if that happens, or should at least.
hiboy

 

[KGBudman]

As u can see, I added the upper screen after 1 week. Lower screen is 20 inches off pot as I was to flip sooner,but didn't cuz they weren't perfectly healthy in my eyes(Cal-Mag def).

 

[KGBudman]

Your heater has a problem obviously, its not properly grnded inside or it has come loose or defective. Luckily its only 120v. You might want to install some GFCI outlets in there, they will trip if that happens, or should at least.
hiboy

What I thought was f'n strange is it does NOT have a grounding plug. ONLY 2 blades on plug.

 

[hiboy]

What I thought was f'n strange is it does NOT have a grounding plug. ONLY 2 blades on plug.

Yeah that is wierd, normally only lighting devices skip the grnd prong. Sometimes if the device is fully enclosed in plastic the grnd prong is skipped,
hiboy

 

[KGBudman]

Yeah that is wierd, normally only lighting devices skip the grnd prong. Sometimes if the device is fully enclosed in plastic the grnd prong is skipped,
hiboy

So,any idea if that would affect my nutes?

 

[hiboy]

Thats a tough one to answer. THe reason you got shocked is because you touched a hot (electrical hot) water pool and your body was in contact with a true ground,, the ground. So knowing this,,, would 120v in your rez.. that seems so wierd to say.. affect yur nutes. I would not THINK so.. but for safety issues i would fix it anyways and kill two birds.. well u know the saying..
hiboy

 

[mastacheeser]

always wanted to try this with one plant and see what happened
any increase/decrease in growth, or if it would cause an uptake of any specific nutes
i cant imagine it would do anything to your nutes, as alot of the nicer ec meters use an electric signal to measue the current between two "transformers"

 

[gudkarma]

agreed.

the electricity "leak" from your thermo isn't gonna f*ck with your nutes... but as hiboy noted... it's a definite safety issue.

i'd completely ditch that thermo.

in fact, why do you even need a thermo in your rez inside your (beautiful) room?

my lab is away from the house & central heat ... & even in the dead of winter, i've never needed a thermo in my rezzies.

bet your nute issue and corresponding plant drama was caused from cal mag locking out other elements.

what's the ppm of your tap water before anything is added?

what is your ph?

 

[KGBudman]

agreed.

the electricity "leak" from your thermo isn't gonna f*ck with your nutes... but as hiboy noted... it's a definite safety issue.

i'd completely ditch that thermo.

in fact, why do you even need a thermo in your rez inside your (beautiful) room?

my lab is away from the house & central heat ... & even in the dead of winter, i've never needed a thermo in my rezzies.

bet your nute issue and corresponding plant drama was caused from cal mag locking out other elements.

what's the ppm of your tap water before anything is added?

what is your ph?

Room is in an out building with no heat etc... Started out with the res in the room but got too warm(70+). Had to move it outside the room and if left un-heated it would be around 50 degrees.

"Could" be the Cal-Mag I guess. Guess I should try to figure out my nute strength seperately. Like how much N,P,K and so on by how much of each product I added.

PPM's of water are 110-120

ph 5.5-6.0

 

[convex]

Unfortunately this is not uncommon with aquarium equiptment.
They do make aquarium ground probes to handle this.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/Fish_Hi-Tech-Department_Grounding-Probes.html

Cheers

 

[gudkarma]

Room is in an out building with no heat etc... Started out with the res in the room but got too warm(70+). Had to move it outside the room and if left un-heated it would be around 50 degrees.

"Could" be the Cal-Mag I guess. Guess I should try to figure out my nute strength seperately. Like how much N,P,K and so on by how much of each product I added.

PPM's of water are 110-120

that's an interesting difference between in/outside room temps.

wow.

i roll sterile rezzies (3) inside my room... would you believe i have NEVER EVER NEVER checked the water temp.

no need cause i run 29% h2o2 every four days.

& would you believe i change each rez on a three week schedule.

(grow journal in my sig)

too, i mix up 100 gals of nutes for three tables (at different times of flower) & my tap water (110 to 140 ppm) doesn't need cal mag.

given what you related, unless your plants are mag whores, you dont either.

as far as mixing up your nutes & testing after each single add === YES!

& so you know protekt is way more concentrated than other p.silicate products.

there is a good discussion on p.silicate in the archives.

no doubt, you're adding more cal mag than necessary.

maybe even adding too much p.silicate.

i'd love for you to test your adds next rez change & report back.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I read this yesterday. I can not tell you why but something in the back of my head tells me it could effect the plant´s health. Plant´s actions are working off chem charges. JK
Toasting the grower is a minor matter.

 

[desertsquirrel]

Why are you trying to guess about nutrient profiles? you could do the math...

actual available nutrient profile for PBP @ 15 ml/gal + 5 ml/gal cal mag...

N 120
p 60
k 189
ca 88
mg 39

What Ph are you running? and what strain? I run as much as 10 ml/gal cal-mag with chems and a lot of strains i do 7.5 with...

Gudkarma why would you ever advise someone to not measure something?

Anyway, this chart should help with the Ph (i like to swing from 5.2-6.2)

And im with JKid, what do we use to measure our rezz? EC. Plant uptake is all electricity.

 

[Seamaiden]

Unfortunately this is not uncommon with aquarium equiptment.
They do make aquarium ground probes to handle this.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/Fish_Hi-Tech-Department_Grounding-Probes.html

Cheers

This is quite true, but typically the source of stray electricity is from powerheads and pumps, not heaters. The one time I've had electricity leaking from a heater it was BIG electricity and it knocked me on my ass. Warehouse facility situation, but this was a household use type of heater.

KG, I strongly suggest that instead of going with probes, you get a waterbed heating mat. Around $50-$60 on eBay. I got the type that's used for the beds without sides.

I read this yesterday. I can not tell you why but something in the back of my head tells me it could effect the plant´s health. Plant´s actions are working off chem charges. JK
Toasting the grower is a minor matter.

Yep.

That power could conceivably cause some things to precipitate out (think: electrolysis), but I'm no chemist and so couldn't say. But, I have had a LOT of experience mixing electricity with water and living organisms, and it's the organisms that I would first concern myself with, moreso than what's happening in the water, with specific regard to stray electricity. If the plants are grounded at all, then they're constantly being zapped. I know that this can cause ill effects with fish and inverts, don't see why it wouldn't with plants.

 

[KGBudman]

that's an interesting difference between in/outside room temps.

wow.

i roll sterile rezzies (3) inside my room... would you believe i have NEVER EVER NEVER checked the water temp.

no need cause i run 29% h2o2 every four days.

& would you believe i change each rez on a three week schedule.

(grow journal in my sig)

too, i mix up 100 gals of nutes for three tables (at different times of flower) & my tap water (110 to 140 ppm) doesn't need cal mag.

given what you related, unless your plants are mag whores, you dont either.

as far as mixing up your nutes & testing after each single add === YES!

& so you know protekt is way more concentrated than other p.silicate products.

there is a good discussion on p.silicate in the archives.

no doubt, you're adding more cal mag than necessary.

maybe even adding too much p.silicate.

i'd love for you to test your adds next rez change & report back.

Temp dif is because it's in the 30's at night/40's or 50's day.(no heat or insulation in building EXCEPT grow room). Room is mid-high 70's.

I keep my res at 67 degrees to avoid problems with bacteria problems.Generally I change the res every 2 wks.

If there is cal or mag in my tap water, it's either not enough or not in an available form for my girls. They really showed this in veg and as soon as they got the cal-mag at 2.5ml/gal they immediatly started KICKIN' ASS. At around 1150 ppm they would take 12 gals/day plus knock my ppm's down by around 50... leading me to believe they could take more.

 

[KGBudman]

This is quite true, but typically the source of stray electricity is from powerheads and pumps, not heaters. The one time I've had electricity leaking from a heater it was BIG electricity and it knocked me on my ass. Warehouse facility situation, but this was a household use type of heater.

KG, I strongly suggest that instead of going with probes, you get a waterbed heating mat. Around $50-$60 on eBay. I got the type that's used for the beds without sides.


Yep.

That power could conceivably cause some things to precipitate out (think: electrolysis), but I'm no chemist and so couldn't say. But, I have had a LOT of experience mixing electricity with water and living organisms, and it's the organisms that I would first concern myself with, moreso than what's happening in the water, with specific regard to stray electricity. If the plants are grounded at all, then they're constantly being zapped. I know that this can cause ill effects with fish and inverts, don't see why it wouldn't with plants.

Elec leak is definately coming from the heater. Stops when I unplug it.

Waterbed heater won't work for me, res is a 55 gal drum.

Stray juice should not be getting to the girls as o the res pumps to the control bucket and gravity feeds from there.

 

[Seamaiden]

You'll know through touch whether or not there's more stray power, if it's the heater it's the heater. But, I use a 45gal trash can as my storage container and the mat goes underneath. I have it fitted under two trash cans, not such an efficient use of the mat itself, but it is what it is and it works very well (everything is enclosed in a box made of rigid insulation). My basement gets very cold in winter, even in summer it's as though it's air conditioned down there.

 

[KGBudman]

Why are you trying to guess about nutrient profiles? you could do the math...

actual available nutrient profile for PBP @ 15 ml/gal + 5 ml/gal cal mag...

N 120
p 60
k 189
ca 88
mg 39

What Ph are you running? and what strain? I run as much as 10 ml/gal cal-mag with chems and a lot of strains i do 7.5 with...

Gudkarma why would you ever advise someone to not measure something?

Anyway, this chart should help with the Ph (i like to swing from 5.2-6.2)

And im with JKid, what do we use to measure our rezz? EC. Plant uptake is all electricity.

DS, if these numbers are supposed to be ppm's,I believe they are wrong. JUST PBP alone(grow, haven't checked the bloom but sure it's close) @ 5ml/gal adds about 320 ppm's to my water. That's near the NPK you're giving me at 15ml/gal. If If you remove the N that's in the cal-mag, I think your #'s would be correct for 5ml/gal of PBP. I WILL check the PBP bloom #'s today.

I gotta find the formula for figuring out the nute profile. I'm pretty good with #'s so shouldn't be a problem once I figure it out.

PH is sticking around 5.5-5.7 right now. Strain is Grand Daddy Purp.