How to Properly clean your UC system

Musashi888 · Feb 21, 2011

@ Baker et al re: chiller cleaning:

Have y'all tried chill coils? I picked some up for $50 and they work like a charm... It leads to a much longer life for the chiller so THEY say ;) it's definitely easier to clean though because it's a closed system with water that never stops pumping... That's what she said ;)

I found rootrot on my biggest girl today. Luckily it is still manageable... I think... The rest look pearly to white-white so crossin fingers.

Cheers!

M

Kipper · Mar 2, 2011

jimmyhoffa59 said:
Well I used a dead blow and kept tapping around till it came off each bucket. If I was to do it again I would put a small scissor jack between two pieces of wood 2x4 with a c-type shape at each end at the bucket and seal and turn that jack till it extended and pushed the buckets apart. Once you separate the middle buckets its easy to put a tiny bit of fuck-lube on the pipe and twist them off from the epicenter and return manifold pipe. Took me like ten mins. :evilgrin0040:

But I only gotz me a 6... well below average on here! LOL

I found that "Wet Stuff" is a really good lube to use for assembling the UC system. And don't be afraid to use a lot - I put it on my fingers and lube the inside of the ring and the outside of the pipe... with one hand on the mitir cut end and the other holding the pipe in the middle, I have a second person wiggle the bucket over it and it'll slide on with ease.
Then with the next insertion, one person sits on the bucket that was just put in place - so that it doesn't move. Then lube the ring and next pipe, remember to use a lot, then you can just wiggle it in with ease, compared to the 1/2 water and 1/2 soap ratio that is als reccomended.
Remember to use "Wet Stuff" it's a water-based lubricant, so it rinses away easy with no residue, Good Luck!
-Oh yeah, make sure to tell your girlfriend what you're doing with the lube, mine got a lil concerned when I crawled out of the basement with my buddy and the bottle half full!

UCMENOW · Mar 2, 2011

"Oh yeah, make sure to tell your girlfriend what you're doing with the lube, mine got a lil concerned when I crawled out of the basement with my buddy and the bottle half full!"

Classic.

Lost · Mar 2, 2011

Kipper said:
-Oh yeah, make sure to tell your girlfriend what you're doing with the lube, mine got a lil concerned when I crawled out of the basement with my buddy and the bottle half full!

ahahhabuahahahahahahahah!!!!:confused0054:

*grunting* "Dammit, with all the lube it still won't go in!!!"

Girlfriend- ...????? :worried

DoobyScoo · Mar 21, 2011

MMJInsiders said:
For hydro systems that are running smoothly we use Bio Green Clean.

All this talk about cleaning pipes, lube, who sits on which bucket, wiggle in a 9-3 motion, tap with your mallet until you break the seal....
I'm giggling like a little girl.:makeup

I ran that shit in a EZCloner that was fucking diiirrty for 24 hours. Dumped, rinsed with water, and then got almost 100% success rate on clones.
Before with just scrubbing and bleach, 50% tops.
Works great on everything.
I put in a spray bottle fullstrength, give a light coating, wait ten minutes and everything on the container comes off easy.
In liquid, just follow the directions on the back.

Been using the shit for years, I love it. Come to think of it I am going to use it on my nasty toilet...I hope it works as well on piss, shit and scale as it does on hydro gear.

robz · Apr 6, 2011

Fuckin headache! Get some dirt & go organic like nature intended.

UNVME · Apr 6, 2011

Bud Spleefman said:
My biggest complaint about the Under Current is, the thing clogs... if you run it properly, it clogs. No two ways about it... and I thought I needed a bigger return, but seriously, 2 inch pvc... 12 buckets inline... when I took the plants down I was shocked at how little liquid was in the end buckets...... towards the end of my run I had the thing on a timer, 20 seconds on, 20 off... to allow the liquid to seep through all the roots and avoid burning out the pump... after 20 seconds that pump would be dry sucking ........

You can add an overflow from the buckets closest to the epic-center to the buckets further from the epic-center, this will help keep the levels more..level.

UCMENOW · Apr 6, 2011

BudSpleef.....you never thought to call CC and get advice on how to operate your "Ugly Current"......seems like a no brainer, but hey....I guess ignorance is bliss.

St3ve · Apr 8, 2011

leave it to you UCMENOW to come back a month and a half later to and out of nowhere say something like that. :(

UCMENOW · Apr 8, 2011

Bud Spleefman said:
I have a 24 site Ugly Current and I am NOT TAKING IT APART, last plants come out on Monday, and by Monday evening the thing will be filled with bleach, and by Tueday evening I wil have hit it with a toilet brush, and by Wednesday it will be drained and flushed a couple times, and on Thursday it will have plants in it........

9 yrs DWC, I know this works........ bleach kills everything.... and I'm not worried about some dead particles in there... what will they do, THEY'RE DEAD?

My biggest complaint about the Under Current is, the thing clogs... if you run it properly, it clogs. No two ways about it... and I thought I needed a bigger return, but seriously, 2 inch pvc... 12 buckets inline... when I took the plants down I was shocked at how little liquid was in the end buckets...... towards the end of my run I had the thing on a timer, 20 seconds on, 20 off... to allow the liquid to seep through all the roots and avoid burning out the pump... after 20 seconds that pump would be dry sucking ........

This is the provocation for that snide'ish post.....my take is if you dish out the dirty don't be surprised when the dirties headed back your way ;)

crossouttheiis · Apr 10, 2011

UCMENOW said:
This is the provocation for that snide'ish post.....my take is if you dish out the dirty don't be surprised when the dirties headed back your way ;)

that is weird though spleefman... ive run different number buckets and havent seen a drastic difference in the water level in all the buckets.

deacon1503 · Apr 10, 2011

A decrease in overall nutrient flow does happen with the 2" pvc. Thats why CCH2O switched to 3" for the 13s, originally, they were still 2". Installing a gravity feed from one end to the other is the best way to eleviate the nute level stepping down in late flower.

MediMary · Apr 10, 2011

crossouttheiis said:
that is weird though spleefman... ive run different number buckets and havent seen a drastic difference in the water level in all the buckets.

how jack did it..

Mtncolas · May 18, 2011

One of these days I'll have one.

GrowBro · May 26, 2011

How much bleach per gallon of water do you guys use when cleaning your UCs?

QuarterbackMo · Jun 6, 2011

Assuming your last crop was problem free and you didn't use any thick kelp products in your system... Bio green clean is the answer... Suck all your remaining water out of your uc with a shop vac, mix a spray bottle with bio green clean and water get a wet rag and a toothbrush, scrub all the corners and grooves in your buckets with the toothbrush and clean the big shit with a rag, suck all that shit back out and fill uc with water, pour 1/4 of the big bio green bottle in the uc and let it run for about a day or 2, suck out all remaining water somehow and keep refilling and draining till you see no soap bubbles left, drain one last time and wipe everything down with a clean wet rag and let the uc completely dry... Start your next crop :)

97739 · Jun 6, 2011

Bleach bleach bleach

Innov8tr · Jun 11, 2011

I just had a badass idea....

When I clean my UC in a few weeks I'm going to cut all of the PVC in between the buckets and install PVC union halves. In case anyone isn't familiar with them they glue to 2 pvc pipes and then they can screw together. This way I can break the entire system down to just single buckets very quickly and easily and then once clean I can simply screw the pieces back together. Since I'm not messing with the uni seals they would be much less likely to leak vs taking the PVC completely out.

Hell I might even break it down and take the pieces to my carwash to clean them properly.

BTW CDC (centers for disease control) says 10% bleach solution will kill most anything.

Casper · Jun 28, 2011

Good idea

Innov8tr said:
I just had a badass idea....

When I clean my UC in a few weeks I'm going to cut all of the PVC in between the buckets and install PVC union halves. In case anyone isn't familiar with them they glue to 2 pvc pipes and then they can screw together. This way I can break the entire system down to just single buckets very quickly and easily and then once clean I can simply screw the pieces back together. Since I'm not messing with the uni seals they would be much less likely to leak vs taking the PVC completely out.

Hell I might even break it down and take the pieces to my carwash to clean them properly.

BTW CDC (centers for disease control) says 10% bleach solution will kill most anything.

I think that is a good idea!

What do you guys think about using some type of bucket liner like a heavy duty trash bag in each bucket? I know the PVC would still have to be cleaned but this might lessen the overall labor?

QuarterbackMo · Jun 28, 2011

Innov8tr said:
I just had a badass idea....

When I clean my UC in a few weeks I'm going to cut all of the PVC in between the buckets and install PVC union halves. In case anyone isn't familiar with them they glue to 2 pvc pipes and then they can screw together. This way I can break the entire system down to just single buckets very quickly and easily and then once clean I can simply screw the pieces back together. Since I'm not messing with the uni seals they would be much less likely to leak vs taking the PVC completely out.

Hell I might even break it down and take the pieces to my carwash to clean them properly.

BTW CDC (centers for disease control) says 10% bleach solution will kill most anything.

Lol I thought about this when I made my thread on the uc I say go for it... It's a good idea for sure. I'm gonna be trying to do the same thing I think.

How to Properly clean your UC system

How to Properly clean your UC system

Musashi888

Kipper

UCMENOW

Lost

DoobyScoo

robz

UNVME

UCMENOW

St3ve

UCMENOW

crossouttheiis

deacon1503

MediMary

Mtncolas

GrowBro

QuarterbackMo

97739

Innov8tr

Casper

QuarterbackMo

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