I guess this is what Iām going to end up doing.
Pump in the res, pushing water through chiller, water exits chiller and goes into bucket 1. And gravity/water balance will force it through the next three buckets and back to the res.
I guess this is what Iām going to end up doing.
Pump in the res, pushing water through chiller, water exits chiller and goes into bucket 1. And gravity/water balance will force it through the next three buckets and back to the res.
Any special reason you donāt want to do a straight thru on the piping between buckets? Iām imagining all those elbow joins and shuddering.
My only qualm is itās my personal opinion there should be a āfifth bucketā where the pump lives to force water thru the chiller and into the res. You could do it the other way with the pump in the res and forcing thru the chiller - I donāt like that as much because itās harder to get a visual of my water levels if I did it that way, but that doesnāt make it wrong.
I would love to do straight connections and remove the elbows.
I donāt think there is enough space between the buckets
I also already have holes cut in the front or back of each bucket.
I am not sure I understand the purpose of a 5th bucket, I was just going to have the pump in the res and when I need to check water level just look in the res?
If you rotate them, arenāt they just side by side? I only have between 4 and 8 inches between my buckets, but even then you could do it like this-
The only reason I have a ālast bucketā that is empty is because I wanted the pump to lower my water level directly from the plants and push back into the res (thru the chiller) so my entire reservoir is chilled rather than chilling as the water passes through to the plants. Iām not sure that makes a practical difference, I just assume itās less energy consumption over all (not sure why I think that). My water level in the res is the water level that matches all of my āplantā buckets and the only one that is lower is the final bucket, and tbh I donāt care what that level is. If my pump was in my res, Iād have a gallon or five missing from my water level (as the pump is always actively pumping) and it would be slightly harder to eyeball. Again, not enough to really matter.
They literally wonāt fit the other way lol
I know doing 4 in a2x4 tent is going to be tight thoughā¦ Maybe I should just do three and turn them the other wayā¦
Oh I highly recommend doing 3 instead of 4. Youāre gonna be amazed how fast you run out of room with an RDWC going.
I ran coco coir for a long time. I put this one together in September, just after my last harvest in August. Gonna try my own design. Itās 2 1/2" pvc fed with a 700 gph Danner external pump, that goes through a 1/10th chiller first. I havenāt done a thing with it, since it was completed. Having lumbar back surgery on 11-4 so I really wonāt be in any condition to grow. Iāll be down hard for six weeks. Itās finished, but needs a leak test. I got 12+ ounces from my Banana Kush grow in August. That should hold me over for a while. BUTā¦ after Christmas, Iām running my first series of test runs, then itās time to grow.!
This is the chiller, 8 gallon res (same as inside tent) air pump hanging under chiller with a cooling fan, and the timer section.
Looks like a great set up.
It will be great. My only strong recommendation is to make sure you got hose clamps on everywhere there are attachments.
@Graysin
Thatās all part of the first run. Bulkheads are Current Culture with thick gaskets, so they will be no issue. All of the 1/2" vinyl feed line is heated first with a heat gun, then applied to fittings so they form & fit better.
setup looks great,
it also looks like how i was going to do mine, with the new water going to each bucket and each bucket being connected together to the single drain pipe.
But I was to worried about being able to split the water evenly 4 ways
So now I am just going to do series
I wonder if my 1/4 hp chiller is to much for what I am doing.
I wonder how large of a res I should have outside the tent. I picked up a 27gall yellow top tote but I think it is bigger than I want.
Good luck with you back surgery, I just had a l4/5 fusion done in April, it was a big factor in my desire to have/grow my own. It was almost 2 months later before I felt capable of taking care of plants. But I was also in a car accident on the way home which extended my recovery.
Very nice looking setup, hope it works as good as it looks
also what insulation material do you have around your buckets?
@Syndrix ā¦
Hope your L4/5 works out well for you. For me, each disk between L1-L5 is bad, and L5 is crushing down on S1 at the bottom, pinching off the nerves that run down each leg. This is the main concern.
As far as the material goes, this is what I bought from Amazon. Just cut it to fit.
BP24010 Series Foil Insulation, 24 in. x 10 ft .24 in. x 10 ft. (Pack of 1) - - Amazon.com
Okay well I think all my parts are here nowā¦
So I am probably going to start the build process soon
The only thing I havenāt figured out is my 3/4 inch line leaving the chiller I need to attach it to the first bucket in the seriesā¦ I am thinking just a 3/4inch bulkhead type thingā¦
I guess I will just do 3 buckets/plants, sad to not be doing the legal limit of 4 but I donāt think my 2x4 tent will fit 4 in rdwcā¦ not even sure about 3 tbhā¦ but some serious training and limiting how many branches there will be should help out.
I think i need to get a 17gallon tote for my res and take back this 27gallon tote, seems a bit bigger than I wanted.
I decide to go with bulkheads, Iāve had to much water damage to homes in my adult life to feel comfortable sleeping at night with uniseals lmao
I guess if I am starting build soon, I could go ahead and pop 3 seeds in water and let them sprout and then put them in my root starter things and put them in the 4inch nets pots under light to get them started
I ended up with a 27 gal for my 2 5gal reservoirs. Iām glad because after you figure in the actual water level, I really only have 30-35 gallons in my whole system spread between the 27 gal tote, 3 5gal buckets, and all the piping.
Do it
Well Iāve decided to delay my start about a week.
With the chiller and air compressor creating so much noise I decided I want my grow setup in the other room in our house. Itās currently located in the living room.
Spare room needs to be painted and new floor needs to be finished so we are going to try and get most of that done this weekend and coming up week.
Iāve decided to go with bulkheads, the 2-7/8 hole saw I need is supposed to be here nov 6th so I have time to work on the room.
Iām thinking about getting this bad boi for a reservoir. Already has place for power wires and has a seal on the lidā¦
Gorgeous. Would be a shame to cut a hole in but weāve all been there. I wouldnāt think twice if it were mine.
Cut it! Cut it! Cut it!!
That things built for the long haul and Iām sure theyād love it if you introduced them to a wider audience to sell their product! LOL!
I really need to move the clone tent, but not before theyāre done.
I want mine closer to me and the excuse to upgrade to a ACInfinity exhaust.
HGE!!!