House & Garden Nutes., Under Current Systems, 30,000 Watts, 10 Tons of A/C, Co2

[Ben Derdundat]

Sweet setup, very clean. 1 question how quiet is that 5ton excel air stealth unit?

Thanks!
With the compressor being inside the sound deadened box instead of outdoors with the condensing unit there is no noise outside. This way if you are in a residential area your neighbors wont be hearing an A/C running 24/7. This would be especially helpful during winter months for obvious reasons. However, there will be some slight noise where ever you place the compressor box. i.e garage, attic, basement, etc.:cool

Ben it’s obvious you are a man with great taste and its apparent with the UC/H&G combo for starters.
About running the H&G verbatim I have done so for years in coco and had exceptional results. IME it does run a little hot but with trees they can take almost all I throw at it. With that said I am really wondering if the UC will be able to take it in stride at the calculated #’s from the H&G site. During the last several weeks you will be at about 2.0 Ec and I not sure they will take that dosage. I’m sure you will talk to the ladies and they will know best. One way to find out right, can’t wait to see those monster bushes in about 4 weeks

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep an eye out for that. The Plants are loving it so far! Each system is using 10+ gallons and 20ppm a day. I have them at 1.2 -1.3 EC now.:happy

Hey ben,

I'm interested in your light setup. What exactly are the brown pulleys in the pics? Also, how do you secure the cages to the containers? Do you use something to reduce the pressure between the large inductor tanks and the UC epicenters? Thanks for sharing the op with us, I'll be following.

No problem!
There is no need to reduce the pressure from the tanks. The float valves that came with the Under Current handle it just fine. To secure the cages to the buckets I used tape that is designed to be used with flex duct. It sticks well to the material I used to insulate my buckets with. You asked about "Pulleys" but what I think you meant to say was winches. Here is a link to the winches that I used http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;ft1_chain_rope_cable-ft1_winches_accessories_1;2de1eb74.html. You can get the pulleys from a hardware store. :character0050:

Very nice Ben....what are your thoughts on brass. Will the brass fittings leach as well?

Water treated by a reverse osmosis system is corrosive to copper tubing and brass connectors, unless there is a unit in place to add dissolved minerals back into the
treated water known as a re-hardener ( You Do Not Want One Of Theses). Manufacturers design reverse osmosis systems to use plastic tubing and stainless steel faucets to avoid contaminating the treated water with copper and lead (brass has lead in it).
ASK IF IN DOUBT
If you have questions about installation and maintenance, be sure to ask a professional. If the reverse osmosis unit is improperly installed, it may provide water that is of worse quality than the water you are trying to treat.;)

 

[GanjaAL]

Hahahaha.... I love farmtek.

 

[HeLLMuTT]

Not too shabby! Gunna love watching this one.

This thread is a good reminder to how much work, research and experience goes into setting up quality larger grow ops. I commend you for that Ben. We're finishing up up three 12' x 24' rooms in a warehouse... I lied we're nowhere near finished now that I think about it. lol!

Going Under Current too, every journal I have read has been very successful. Time I get my bud off his coco craze.

I enjoy how you articulate your post and bolden words you want remembered to help us not ask what has been written.


Bolden... I don't think that is a word lol Yet I'm ripped off of Chemdog #4 with durban poison full melt on top.:sad0086:

 

[FLB]

"Water treated by a reverse osmosis system is corrosive to copper tubing and brass connectors, unless there is a unit in place to add dissolved minerals back into the
treated water known as a re-hardener ( You Do Not Want One Of Theses). Manufacturers design reverse osmosis systems to use plastic tubing and stainless steel faucets to avoid contaminating the treated water with copper and lead (brass has lead in it).
ASK IF IN DOUBT
If you have questions about installation and maintenance, be sure to ask a professional. If the reverse osmosis unit is improperly installed, it may provide water that is of worse quality than the water you are trying to treat."




What if the water has been loaded back up with nutes...is this enough the harden the water to stop any leaching? I have some brass fittings in my feed line off my res. Thanks for the last response

 

[REGISTRD]

Haha nice setup yo.. Cali connect here lurking on your thread.. whats the link to those cages? Sent u a Pm boss..

 

[Satica]

Although your grow room is like another league for me but I cant stop enjoying your extensive knowledge and eagerness to share,BRAVO,Really Bravo

 

[max_well]

air cooling spec?

Nice work Ben Der
lots of attention to detail, and lots of detailed shared, thanks for your documentation.
Could you give some details about your air cooling design? Looks like you made a plenum for intake air and have rows of 3 lights being cooled in line. Do you have a fan for each row, or is there a plenum on the exhaust end as well? Where are you pulling from / exhausting? Are those 8" ducted hoods?
Keep rocking
Max

 

[Greenthumbnewb]

sorry im late, tagd

 

[space101]

Thanks!
With the compressor being inside the sound deadened box instead of outdoors with the condensing unit there is no noise outside. This way if you are in a residential area your neighbors wont be hearing an A/C running 24/7. This would be especially helpful during winter months for obvious reasons. However, there will be some slight noise where ever you place the compressor box. i.e garage, attic, basement, etc.:cool

Your the first person I've seen run the Stealth units so was really curious to hear where they worth the investment. I'm in a tight residential area, so close I could spit on my neighbors house. So having a A/C go off in the middle of December when it's 10 degrees outside won't work. Thx bro

 

[Sense I. Milla]

Wow! This thread is FULL SCALE!

 

[TrailerTrash]

super pro.

I do ac/heating for a lic contractor..U sir are a pro!!

was that an air handler back on page 2 or??

also love that light duct/ plenum work!

now..what strains u gonna make? and crosses?

 

[BlueRhino]

Hey Ben,

Any updates as to how the ladies are doing?

BR

 

[bdakind]

Very Very nice, Can't wait to see the results

 

[Ben Derdundat]

I just wanted to start off by saying, thank you for all the compliments! I really do appreciate the fact that you have taken the time to leave them here.:blush.

Unfortunately though my busy schedule doesn't allow me the time to respond to each compliment individually, I will do my best. I will also do my best do answer what ever questions you might have to the best of my knowledge. If I don't answer your question right away it is because I am busy at that moment but, I will do so as soon as time permits.:rasta2:
THANKS!!!

What if the water has been loaded back up with nutes...is this enough the harden the water to stop any leaching? I have some brass fittings in my feed line off my res. Thanks for the last response

It's my understanding nutrients alone are not enough to harden R/O water to stop any leaching. As for your brass fittings, if your nutrient solution is in contact with your brass fittings for long periods of time it is possible for leaching to occur. It is always best to use plastic or stainless steal when moving and/or storing R/O water and for that mater your nutrient solution as well.:nod

Haha nice setup yo.. Cali connect here lurking on your thread.. whats the link to those cages? Sent u a Pm boss..

Hey, What's up!
Got the PM... Heres the link to the cages...

Nice work Ben Der
lots of attention to detail, and lots of detailed shared, thanks for your documentation.
Could you give some details about your air cooling design? Looks like you made a plenum for intake air and have rows of 3 lights being cooled in line. Do you have a fan for each row, or is there a plenum on the exhaust end as well? Where are you pulling from / exhausting? Are those 8" ducted hoods?
Keep rocking
Max

Sure! No problem.
The plenums you see in the pictures are at the exhaust ends of the ducting runs. Each row of ducting has three 1k watt lights with sealed reflectors and 8" flanges. All runs are independent of each other until they reach the plenums. The air that is moved across the lights is anywhere from 55-65 degrees. once it passes across all three lights and reaches the plenum it has reached about 75-80 degrees (I can hold my hand against the glass on the reflectors with out any discomfort). The air then exits the plenum via a 14" duct and passes through a 14" Dayton direct drive blower with a 2 HP electric motor. These particular units are rated at about 2400-2500 cfm with the amount of static pressure I have on them in this application. i.e. size of ducting, branch lines and amount of angles. They are also rated to move air up to 180 degrees. How this is achieved is that with the units being direct drive the motor does not come in contact with the air being moved unlike a inline fan.

I do ac/heating for a lic contractor..U sir are a pro!!

was that an air handler back on page 2 or??

also love that light duct/ plenum work!

now..what strains u gonna make? and crosses?

Right on thanks!
Yes, that is an air handler on page 2...
As for strains and crosses... I am not working on any as of the moment.:itwasntme

 

[Ben Derdundat]

Hey Ben,

Any updates as to how the ladies are doing?

BR

They're doing great! The growth in these Current Culture systems is amazing! :rastadancing:

Here are some pics...

Day 7 of flower

Day 8 of flower

Day 10 of flower

Day 11 of flower
Before and after pics of plants being stripped

Day 13 of flower

 

[Shady]

Amazing setup and update Ben... Looks like there's gonna be more piles of trimmed leaves in the next few weeks. BTW, I'm diggin' those cages... :cool

 

[mrdizzle]

its like if your real quiet, you can hear them grow

 

[Lone Wolf]

man you undercurrenters are geniuses...

where does the hydroponic system world go after the UC system??? it seems as if the climax has been reached!

i will be watching this one for sure...

nothing like watching outdoor sized plants grow indoors!

this thcfarmer weed forum has some monstrous sized grows compared to the grows on the forum I started out on! i wonder why that is??

 

[max_well]

Hey Ben
Thanks for the great update and answer to my ducting question. I'm trying to design something similar, but am still debating about some considerations. It has been my understanding that it's most efficient to pull air through the hoods (at least with conventional inline fans).. but I've recently read that it's not good for such a fan to be dealing with high temperature air, and therefore it's better to orient fans to push through reflectors. Also for sealed room considerations, I've read that pushing instead of pulling will better preserve co2 levels, and therefore lessen the amount of burner time, a/c requirement, odor pulling through hoods, etc.
You seem to have a really well thought out and impressive design-- have you experimented with both fan configurations? Do you take precaution to double seal hoods, ducts, etc. to prevent the room air being pulled out?
thanks for your help!
Max

 

[Greenthumbnewb]

sweet update plants are thriving..