Recirculating DWC - to chill or not to chill?

[FastForward]

To all you DWCers -

Do you have a chiller to keep your res temps down? The only thing that is stopping me from recirculating DWC is nute temp management.

I don't think it'll be too much of a prob with a 100l tank in the winter, but the rest of the year ambient temps are at least 20c in here - a maximum temp for nute temps (18-20c being ideal I'm told).

Chillers are expensive....about £500 for a decent one...or £150 for a cheap chinese ebay one - which am loathed to use because when it breaks you're screwed....

Cheers...

FF

 

[Jalisco Kid]

They will do wonders for your grow. It changed my aero grows big time back in the day. JK

 

[MIZZ ELVIS]

I implore you to use a chiller. Maintaining proper water temperature is essential for maximizing levels of dissolved oxygen in your system. As I see it there are only a couple reasons to go hydro, 1. would be for the fastest growth rates possible, thus maximizing crop rotation and yield potential. 2 Would be cost effectiveness, and 3 would be a garden free of the back pains of growing in dirt(IMO). By not using a water chiller, you are not maximizing one of the key benefits of hydroculture{Large amounts of oxygen}.This is just my 2 cents though, and a chiller is not always a must given you live in the proper Geographical climate. JK is right, a chiller can work wonders for your dwc system; not to mention your nutrient solution will be able maintain stability longer with a chiller. Good luck bruv!!!!

 

[dr.roots]

I tried avoiding a chillier thing that my concrete floor with act as a heatsink for the res. It didn't work. Room temps were 74F* and so was my water.

Had to get a chiller to bring it down to 65F*. A chiller is worth every penny when it comes to DWC.

That extra cash you will spend for the chiller will come back to you with yield and better product.

 

[true grit]

Uh oh FF, moving away from coco? I'm trying to figure out set-up for the new vert room and am torn between the 5 gal recirc. DWC or 5 gal hempy coco. Time to research...

How much water do these chillers cool? Are they rated by volume they cool and thermostatically regulated or what?

 

[FastForward]

TG - check out AquaMedic and other aquarium chillers (probably different brands where you are). They're basically mini fridges with an input and an output tap, and you plumb it into your res (i.e. out of the res, into the chiller, out of chiller, back into res). You can set the temperature via a digital input and walk away. Most decent ones use a titanium heat exchanger and so I think there's no probs using them for nutes.

You can get all kinds of models based on volume of water/nutes chiller (in litres per hour over here) - you just look for a model based on your res size (aka tank size in aquarium terms).

I know for sure I need one if I'm to do anything hydro/aeroponic ever again, especially from the answers in this thread. It's just about the money...I'm not a commercial grower and £500 for a personal grow is just too much money else I'd be on the DWC wagon right now....or at least having more success with my aeroponic shenanigans :)

 

[true grit]

Gotcha, I started looking into pricing last night, but you're right- definitely need to be doing some work to be able to pick up a nice one per resevoir. So you were diggin the DWC/hydro before switching it up to coco? I plan on using coco mix hempy buckets, but damn DD's and his med buckets always get me thinking and of a simpler 5 gal bucket recirc run with smaller resevoir as I wouldn't plan on running more than 6- 5gal buckets.

I ran single aerated DWC 5 gal buckets when I started but being noob and having shitty beans and no ph/ppm testing equipment I had some issues and went soil. But I'll be building a 4k vertical room for the 5-6 plants and want something that can keep up with the growth.

I saw T.O. meds was still pulling 2lbs per 5 gal coco bucket with vertical and more with his DWC bucket room. Honestly if I can pull 1.5-2lbs per from a vertical set-up, hempy will be much more simplistic than a recirc system, and no flood tray needed for the veg room.

How did your aero set-ups yield?

 

[brookstown]

T.O. Who is this and where is the 2pounder thread.

 

[Casper13]

TG - check out AquaMedic and other aquarium chillers (probably different brands where you are). They're basically mini fridges with an input and an output tap, and you plumb it into your res (i.e. out of the res, into the chiller, out of chiller, back into res). You can set the temperature via a digital input and walk away. Most decent ones use a titanium heat exchanger and so I think there's no probs using them for nutes.

You can get all kinds of models based on volume of water/nutes chiller (in litres per hour over here) - you just look for a model based on your res size (aka tank size in aquarium terms).

I know for sure I need one if I'm to do anything hydro/aeroponic ever again, especially from the answers in this thread. It's just about the money...I'm not a commercial grower and £500 for a personal grow is just too much money else I'd be on the DWC wagon right now....or at least having more success with my aeroponic shenanigans :)

hi there.I just wanted to add to your post about res chiller sizing.You need to take into consideration #of candles as well as location of res and using the correct re-circulating pump. cheers