Is it necessary to have seperate feed and drain lines? I was at the hydro store and I told them I wanted top feed lines and lowerer return lines and they said it was just a waste because it does the same exact thing just wasting money and time installing them seperately. I ran it through last night to test for leaks and it seems to work very well. All the buckets fill up to where I want them, they sit for 15-20 minutes, then the pump in the control bucket kicks on returning all the water to the res. That's where I'm doing all the real heavy aeriation and circulating. So, basically, will this system work as is? What would be the benifit of actually installing top feed lines? Seems like it would work the same way to be. I couldn't find a way of getting around not having two pumps. I use the 450GPH in the big res, then a 250GPH in the control bucket to push back to the res. Both pumps will be on timers, thats what I need to figure out next, which cycles to put them on. Any ideas? Edit: If I hook the pump up to the feed lines, how will I return the water to the res? That is what that pump is currently doing. Confused.
2 pumps?, gravity does the returning, if your taking the water from the control bucket, the gravity pushes it back to the control, a 250gph pump will recirculate very slowly, just cuz its working doesnt mean its working "well" and those giant lids are not needed, they use a ton of media and make the plant less stable, ive used them and had falling plants at week 3 of flower
Chaz, check out my set-up. I think I posted it before but can't find it. One pump. http://forum.growkind.com/showthread.php?p=503727#post503727
http://www.weedwatch.com/forums/diy-techniques/668-blazeoneups-recirculating-dwc-construction-tutorial-professional-very-detailed.html Dont be lazy and read and look thru this article, itll show everything u need to know or want to know on a RDWC setup
How would gravity take all the water out of the buckets and the control bucket and push it back to the resiviour? I use one big pump in the res to push in through the float valve and a pump in the control bucket to pump back to the res. I guess I'm just not understanding how the water would drain back into the res by itself. You have a old blue prints or pics of any of your setups? Maybe a better explaination? Thanks CC.
if you have two buckets of equal height connect by hose in the bottom and pour water in just one bucket, both buckets will fill at the same pace and to the same height because water always levels itself out. When you pump out of the ressy from the top, the return lines out the bottom suck water into the ressy to level itself out. Thus the recirculation. You can't go with crazy huge pump though or the water will not have enough time to level itself out and then it floods the buckets....that's not going to happen but always check water levels after water change imho from personal experience
Well there you go.... Seriously tho, read that link and stare at it for a while, then look up the UNDER CURRENT systems if you want to really understand how to make a serious system work wonders, RDWC is a tree making machine, beware of nute costs..lol :danger: Most I ever did was 11.5oz from 1 plant in a 5 gallon system, it was 2 plants under a 1k light.....ive also seen and read of 5+ LBS from 1 plant too so anythings possible Good luck man, post some more pics
I have a sorta big pump. It will pump the res to fill the buckets in about 10 minutes. I have it on a timer so it shuts off for 30 minutes (gives the buckets the time to empty and plenty of water to recirculate) and turns back on for 15 minutes. I also have an emergency return line at the top of the buckets just in case it ever gets that high.
HOLD ON THREAD JACK SORRY... fucking 11 ounces from a plant and 5+ why in the hell am i growing in dirt again. CC how long did it take to grow those out>?
you shoulda cut your lines longer and put the control tub OUTSIDE the room, now itll sit under the light and cook and HEAT is the worst thing for hydro and especially RDWC Where are the leaks?
Well i got a shit ton of tubing, so i will prob do that. Is there someway I can use my res for the control bucket? Leaks are coming from the grommets and tube connection at the bottom of the plant buckets. I was going to try to use that GE silicion shit tonight to see if it will stop the leak. I bought 3/4 grommets and barbs to fit my 3/4 ID tubing, so it's sooo hard to get the tubing over the barbs at the bottom of the buckets. Edit: Come over and help me xD You only live like 15 minutes from my house. We'll burn my new white rhino, super killer, and some super killer bubble hash. xD
Def listen to CC on moving the control tub. Water temp is extremely critical in hydro, other than that, looks really good!!!:bravo:
You can use your res as a control bucket in RDWC but not as easily in E&F. RDWC the water stays at the same level across the system usually so you just keep the control topped up to the level you want. It's an easy way to cut costs when building a RDWC setup if you don't mind the extra work. Obviously that wouldn't work for E&F since the res can't pump more water to raise or lower levels into itself. You don't have to have that to work, but compensating for that extra control tub means you need more powerful pumps and a very careful design, and even then your system is easier to mess up than one with a control tub would be. You could work something out by messing with pump pressure into the bottom of the tubs on a timer and runoff drained out the top, but I experimented with a system like that once and it was a total nightmare. I needed a much wider reservoir than I would have otherwise to hold all the water but make sure it all stayed below the runoff level, and I kept having the roots try and grow into the runoff holes (which is a quick way to get major flooding). The most practical application of this sort of system I've seen is in E&F tables where the res is held under the table. It doesn't work very well in single buckets, and I don't think I've ever seen that type of table setup used in a E&F/RDWC hybrid like what you're discussing. Hope that helps!
Are you using tub fittings/connectors OR did you just make a hole and put a barbed fitting thru it?? I never had a leak of any sort with my systems
Nevermind........i just looked the pics Toss them grometts in the trash and get tub fittings, they have a screw on ring with a gasket that allows them to seal to the buckets and control tub walls, they have a sharper barb on them as well to aid in "grabbing" the hose Try shopping here.......http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/ Theyre outside of Cleveland,Oh and anything will be on your doorstep in 1 day if not 2, thats if you cannot find certain things locally And im sure you didnt read that other link i gave you.........you must read and look at that link man, its a RDWC bible........it even has great pictures, look at his parts and how its constructed, if you want your system to function...problem free, you gotta follow some general rules............remember, this thing has already been invented, so dont try and reinvent something cuz "YOU" think it'll work better
I did read the link It's just the hydro store guy told me to do it this way. I'm gonna go back and do it just like the link. Can I follow those instructions but use the res for the.control bucket?
Okay, I just read over the link you provided again. I still don't understand how I just need one pump. So at the bottom of the Res I need a ebb/flow valve connected to the top of the control bucket? So the bottom hole in the res is so the water can return? And the hole in the control bucket needs to be up high so it drains down the line into the res? Then on page 3 he talks about installing another fitting. What is that for? Where should my one pump be located? Does the return line hook to the float valve or is that where the water comes in at? I have the water coming into the float valve as of now and a pump that pumps the water to a hole toward the top of the res. Please let me know what I need to change.
Chaz try this and maybe you'll understand why you need one pump. You have your buckets connected already at the bottom to the control bucket. Fill all your buckets up 2/3 of the way. Place your pump in control bucket and run the line to a drain/toilet/outside whereever just out of your system. Turn on the pump You'll notice as the pump sucks out of water of the control bucket, it pulls water from the other buckets as well. This has no usefulness in growing, but may help you understand the concept....it does help drain your system for water changes though
