Water Chilling Q & A

[Zatoichi]

That's a good idea...so wait you went to coco after using RDWC?

I started with flood and drain using river rock, then tried Snypes DIY undertow RDWC. One mistake and all plants can die or be screwed. Biggest issue was whether to run sanitized or heisenberg tea. Then an online friend who grows in warehouses told me to try coco. Results were as good if not better scrogging in tent. One nice thing about coco in airpots is being able to check runoff, to see how it matches feed. Can easily see if over or underfeeding.

With DWC instead of the expensive lids with net pot, used plain lid, cut hole that fit netpot so can start of flood and drain. Another nightmare of DWC is light getting at water/nutrients, which makes it go bad. Black buckets or panda film to wrap them and cut 18" sqaure and slit halfwat through one side to cover top of bucket so no light gets in.

Biggest problem when switched to coco was fungus gnats, but boiling water when expanding bricks, and making nutrients a day before needed and using BTI mosquito dunks get them. Was breathing them in there were so many first grow.

 

[Smokey0418]

Hey Smokey i haven't been able to find a single picture of a wort chiller immersed into a cooler.

My wort is pretty large and struggling to find a cooler box to house it in, can you share any pics?

My wort's inlet and and outlet are pretty high, and cooler box's aren't that high, so not sure what i can do so it's fully immersed in cold water..do people leave the lids open on their coolers, etc?

I just want to run the water from my system through the wort and back into the main res.

My set up is a bit different in that I use an air conditioner coil in my cooler.
I then pump the cooled mix through the wort which is in my reservoir.
It’s switch on and off by in inkbird with its probe in one of my planted pots.

 

[brotherfrombelgium]

My set up is a bit different in that I use an air conditioner coil in my cooler.
I then pump the cooled mix through the wort which is in my reservoir.
It’s switch on and off by in inkbird with its probe in one of my planted pots.

Oh nice.

I'm going to immerse my wort into a styrofoam cooler with chilled water, will try it out this week and hopefully will work out ok.

 

[Smokey0418]

I have had this unit sitting on garage floor for a while and the wife’s after me to clean this crap up.
Spent a bit of time this afternoon finishing it up.
This one’s a bit smaller than the other , using a whirlpool dehumidifier, heater of sorts.
Same idea , bend the cooling coil into cooler.
Use glycol water mixture pumped through a wort installed in pail controlled my an inkbird heating and cooling gauge.
Everything was supplied second hand.

 

[brotherfrombelgium]

I have had this unit sitting on garage floor for a while and the wife’s after me to clean this crap up.
Spent a bit of time this afternoon finishing it up.
This one’s a bit smaller than the other , using a whirlpool dehumidifier, heater of sorts.
Same idea , bend the cooling coil into cooler.
Use glycol water mixture pumped through a wort installed in pail controlled my an inkbird heating and cooling gauge.
Everything was supplied second hand.

View attachment 2062678

That's mad, the Inkbird is a great idea.

I sorted the wort chiller thingy today.

It dropped water temps by 5-6 deg which is great.

It has reduced the pressure somewhat, if anything it's much quieter, it used to really pump the water into the main res, but now not so much..but when the main res lid is on could hardly hear it anyway..but now whisper quiet.

Will have piece of mind with water temps now, just have to make sure it doesn't get too cold.

I'll need a water heater now to keep it at 18deg.

 

[brotherfrombelgium]

The wort is not going to cut the mustard...so I'll be picking up a chiller this weekend and be done with it, will be worth the investment anyway.

A foam cooler is no good for chilled water, they seep water through the walls and leak, would have needed an expensive esky/cooler box to fit the wort in and would have been wasting $$ on ice and juggling frozen water bottles, could have lined it with plastic but yeah to hell with it.

Was fun trying something different but ended up being a waste of $$.

Looking forward to having a set and forget method, and will save $$ on running the A/C.

 

[Smokey0418]

The wort is not going to cut the mustard...so I'll be picking up a chiller this weekend and be done with it, will be worth the investment anyway.

A foam cooler is no good for chilled water, they seep water through the walls and leak, would have needed an expensive esky/cooler box to fit the wort in and would have been wasting $$ on ice and juggling frozen water bottles, could have lined it with plastic but yeah to hell with it.

Was fun trying something different but ended up being a waste of $$.

Looking forward to having a set and forget method, and will save $$ on running the A/C.

You did quite well.
Good luck with your next idea.

 

[Zatoichi]

The wort is not going to cut the mustard...so I'll be picking up a chiller this weekend and be done with it, will be worth the investment anyway.

A foam cooler is no good for chilled water, they seep water through the walls and leak, would have needed an expensive esky/cooler box to fit the wort in and would have been wasting $$ on ice and juggling frozen water bottles, could have lined it with plastic but yeah to hell with it.

Was fun trying something different but ended up being a waste of $$.

Looking forward to having a set and forget method, and will save $$ on running the A/C.

One of my best runs ever, was 4 X 8 tent, 2 600 watt HPS cooltubes with biggest reflector, in coco using smartpots and watching input and output PH and PPM at least once a week and adjusting. Cooltubes might help AC issues. Also ran flower from 6PM to 6AM to keep cool as possible.

Good Luck!!!

 

[brotherfrombelgium]

You did quite well.
Good luck with your next idea.

Thanks Smokey.

One of my best runs ever, was 4 X 8 tent, 2 600 watt HPS cooltubes with biggest reflector, in coco using smartpots and watching input and output PH and PPM at least once a week and adjusting. Cooltubes might help AC issues. Also ran flower from 6PM to 6AM to keep cool as possible.

Good Luck!!!

Thanks amigo that's a good idea, will change the light schedule also.

 

[3cats]

Thanks Smokey.


Thanks amigo that's a good idea, will change the light schedule also.

Look around for something used, A lot of folks get into growing spend a whack of cash then realize its work and not as easy as they thought it would be so they unload their equipment. I found a brand new chiller for sale on Facebook market place, still in the box $300 Cdn = $200 Usa. We have a used stuff site called Kijiji up here Craigs list type and there's a lot of equipment. all you have to do is make an offer a low ball if they accept great if not fkem and onward

 

[Deadstill]

Look around for something used, A lot of folks get into growing spend a whack of cash then realize its work and not as easy as they thought it would be so they unload their equipment. I found a brand new chiller for sale on Facebook market place, still in the box $300 Cdn = $200 Usa. We have a used stuff site called Kijiji up here Craigs list type and there's a lot of equipment. all you have to do is make an offer a low ball if they accept great if not fkem and onward

If you spend enough time driving around back country roads in Colorado, you'll find all the equipment you need to succeed. For real. People just dump perfectly good grow shit out here all the time. Most of the time when this happens it's because they got busted and are awaiting charges/sentencing, so they just dump the equipment to get rid of it and then leave the state. Still a shit ton of illegal grows out here, believe it or not. The cartels out of Mexico have guys growing all over our state. They figure they "blend in" with all the legal grows, except they don't, and they usually get busted eventually.

 

[Smokey0418]

Finally this morning I got this involved.
Works like a champ , just the plants are a bit droopy from the rapid change.

It was 26.6 and they stood like on viagra.
Give them a bit of time and all should be well.

 

[Zatoichi]

Finally this morning I got this involved.
Works like a champ , just the plants are a bit droopy from the rapid change.

It was 26.6 and they stood like on viagra.
Give them a bit of time and all should be well.


View attachment 2065368View attachment 2065367

I used to cut pieces of panda film square a little bigger than net pot, and cut half way through one side, to cover the netpot, guaranteeing no light gets to water.

 

[Smokey0418]

I used to cut pieces of panda film square a little bigger than net pot, and cut half way through one side, to cover the netpot, guaranteeing no light gets to water.

That would be a great idea for those net pots with the ribbing to the top.

Current Culture’s on the other hand have a good 2” of solid before any netting , so if you fill up the cup with clay pebbles its good.


Enjoy

 

[brotherfrombelgium]

Finally this morning I got this involved.
Works like a champ , just the plants are a bit droopy from the rapid change.

It was 26.6 and they stood like on viagra.
Give them a bit of time and all should be well.


View attachment 2065368View attachment 2065367

They look great.

Hooked up a chiller yesterday, i set it to 18deg and noticed condensation on the buckets and on the white iceline hoses...i thought i had a leak.

I did some work in the tent yesterday and forgot to turn the exhaust fan on, so this morning when i walked in it was a little warm and yeah condensation everywhere.

I set it to 20deg instead of 18deg..what would have been the cause of the condensation?

Lol just googled condensation...was too warm in the tent!

First time ever using a chiller.

 

[Smokey0418]

They look great.

Hooked up a chiller yesterday, i set it to 18deg and noticed condensation on the buckets and on the white iceline hoses...i thought i had a leak.

I did some work in the tent yesterday and forgot to turn the exhaust fan on, so this morning when i walked in it was a little warm and yeah condensation everywhere.

I set it to 20deg instead of 18deg..what would have been the cause of the condensation?

Lol just googled condensation...was too warm in the tent!

First time ever using a chiller.

Great looking chiller. Yes the heat that puts out must have been the humid issue.

Good thing I have mine isolated.

Have some snot like substance on my roots and other crap floating about causing a calmag deficiency look.

Would not want to pump that chit through something like that.

Enjoy and good luck with your grow.

 

[brotherfrombelgium]

Great looking chiller. Yes the heat that puts out must have been the humid issue.

Good thing I have mine isolated.

Have some snot like substance on my roots and other crap floating about causing a calmag deficiency look.

Would not want to pump that chit through something like that.

Enjoy and good luck with your grow.

Thanks Smokey, can rest easy now knowing my water temps will be fine.

But i might isolate the chiller if the condensation happens again, I'll put it outside the tent instead, but i have the rear vent of the chiller pushing the heat to an outlet in the tent, with the scrubber on it should be ok.

 

[Smokey0418]

Thanks Smokey, can rest easy now knowing my water temps will be fine.

But i might isolate the chiller if the condensation happens again, I'll put it outside the tent instead, but i have the rear vent of the chiller pushing the heat to an outlet in the tent, with the scrubber on it should be ok.

Isolation i am referring to is with a coil . Not pumping my nutrient mix through a stand alone chiller like yours.

 

[brotherfrombelgium]

Isolation i am referring to is with a coil . Not pumping my nutrient mix through a stand alone chiller like yours.

Ah gotcha.

 

[ILgrower]

Thanks for starting this up TTY! I just picked up a 1/4 HP Active Aqua chiller, got 2 Hydro innovation ice boxes, and 1 cool coil.

Gonna use these in veg. Room is 2x 250 watt hid air cooled, 1 T-5 200 watt, ballasts are in the room too. 4 x 40watt oscillating fans, 1x 6" inline fan in there as well. wattroom is 10'x10' Temp right now is 82-85 degrees F day and night.

I've only used a water chiller for a aero cloner, so this is definitely a step up for myself. I'm not even sure what type of water to run(r.o./tap/distilled.

Can I daisy chain all three pieces(coil, 2x ice boxes) in 1 run? I'd imagine i'd run the cold water through the cool coil first, then through the ice boxes. I'm thinking the complete tubing run will be about 20-25'

What's the minimum res size I should use? (I have plenty 27 gallon tuff boxes) I've got 185gph and 396gph water pumps that can run inline as a booster or submerged. I'm not sure how to get the right flow.

There are the details, any advice, tips, tricks, or pitfalls I should look out for? no detail is too small.
Thanks for the persistence on water chilling, I wouldn't have made this move without your insight.

what's the point of it, to chill the water so the seeds or plant to go dormant? a good way to do it, I have been growing for almost 40 years and never had to use them, and 1 of the reasons I got off of this b//c of trying to sell things that are not necessary