Greetings from UC HQ
Thought I'd thread jack / Avatar jack(UCMENOW) for a moment and address noone88's comments myself..
First off I'd (Daniel) like to thank everyone who's purchased and or DIY'd our systems....it's good to see so many growers having success with something we've worked long and hard to develop....very proud to be contributing to the MJ movement.
"950 gph pump for 10+ tubs. I would definitely increase that, especially with the new piping layout with the epicenter"
We've experimented for close to 8 years with the Sub Current technique and have found there to be certain parameters for flow rates that tend to work best.....with our new configurations we've located the return pump directly next to the epicenter which reduces head pressure to a minimum....our UC Evolution 12XXL is sized with a 950 pump due to observations made in house.....with the reduced head we found the 1200 gph to cause excessive over splash in the return module.
Most pump applications on other systems lead into tubing with many feet of head which lends to greatly diminished flow....our application looks to maximize efficiency and reduce the need for larger, more energy consumptive pumps.
"Plumbing for people that run chillers can be hard/confusing for new people. I know that they want you to run the chiller inline with the pump that they send you. I would remove the airstone from the epicenter and let people drop in their own pump for their chiller"
Depending on the application it may be necessary to implement an in-line booster pump if the proximity of the chiller is more than a few feet away....in this case an alternate pump does not need to be rested in the solution but can be run externally which has many obvious advantages....it's also possible to just upgrade our pump upon purchse if you know it to be needed for your app.....with that said I feel the best chiller apps to be using a stainless steel heat exchanging coil dropped in the Epi, this app requires no exchange of nutrient solution from the system, to the chiller and back to the system....for more info on heat exchanging coils check with Hydro Innovations, these guys are the pros when it comes to dealing with heat in your grow spaces.
"Design a XOXOX layout with 40" center. Shouldn't be a hard thing for you guys to do."
It's on the way brother....we see a need for it and will be officially releasing that series very soon.....with sooo many configurations we offer already I'm challenged to be sure we're not offering something that's not dialed in yet, looking forward to dropping that design soon for those of you that need it....thanks for bringing that up.
"The new epicenter uses one 3" uniseal which then is piped to a 4 way pvc connecter to feed the 3 rows. Only issue is that the center row will receive more water flow than the side rows because you're not using a manifold to evenly divide the water flow"
We scrutinized over this issue and I can say with confidence there is equal flow in all 3 rows. The movement of the nutrient solution is dictated by simple physics......because the return manifold is negatively pressurized all 3 rows receive equal draw, once returned to the Epi the nutes are drawn back into the system via negative displacement which continually equalizes the flow. If the flow coming from the Epi to the delivery manifold was positive there would likely be more flow in the center row, but thanks to the vacuum caused by negative pressure the flow equalizes due to the equal draw in each row....so when the solution hits the four way it actually is drawn laterally first before being drawn into the center row....this is all dictated by the fact that nutes are drawn equally from each row through the end manifold.....what a long winded explanation :)
Basically we used dyes to track the flow and made observations that allowed us to dial in what we know to be a reliable way to circulate nutrients and create a homogeneous solution.
"Lastly, they use a Y connector to connect the return feeds to the inline pump."
The 3/4" y allows for equal draw from the 2 valves in the return manifold....if this was a T fitting we would feel less confident in the application...again we get OCD on these things so you don't have to ;)
"If you guys can make a 20 gallon modules (that's wider), i'll definitely pick one up for myself."
Give the 13's a try....the added depth of the 13 gallon module allows for plenty of prolific growth....I'm not saying we won't be going larger in the future, but I contend you'd be pleased with the performance of the 13's.....just look at what Jack's doin with the 8's.
"Overall, a great system. I was very impressed."
Thank you very much brother, we take pride in what we build.....and we will continue to improve on our designs to make them more user friendly and higher yielding.
Feel free to give me a call with any criticisms, questions, suggestions or complements
(I like those too)....and thanks again for the support of our company, we plan on being a part of the Herb community for decades to come.
I'd like to send a shout out to DD....I really dig your MPB's, keep on rocking it brother.
Daniel