LED RDWC grow

Discussion in 'LED Growing' started by toshin, Jul 9, 2017.

  1. toshin

    toshin Active Member

  2. toshin

    toshin Active Member

    Took me a while to get a good scale and weigh things. Total yield was about 8 ounces. Currently cleaning things out and prepping for the next round. Only thing growing currently is the mother plant until I get the other room cleaned.
     
  3. Green Goblin

    Green Goblin Cannabis Connoisseur

    Did you end up getting your temps under control? I remember you mentioned it was silly hot???
     
  4. CREATIVE GARDENER

    CREATIVE GARDENER Cured Fat Sticky Bud

    The Goblin's question is very important. High temps can cause stringy buds and lots of water dissipation. Cool it down a few degrees and those buds will be much bigger and denser too. Personally I would have trimmed some of the upper fan leaves to let the light penetrate to the lower bud sites and reduce the water uptake. Keeping the water temps cooler is helpful too. I've never ran RDWC, only tables and DWC in 5 gal buckets and would freeze water in soda bottles, 20 0z and 2 liter and periodically change them out in the res to help keep the temps down a little. Hydro is a lot of work but when everything is working right it can be very productive.
    Good luck dude, it's a learning process. We're all still learning!!!
    Be Cool, CG
     
  5. toshin

    toshin Active Member

    Water temps generally came back under control after the strange fall heat wave. With the large reservoir and cold night temps it usually kept cool enough. Never ran into any root issues, slime, or algae just high temps that affect plant growth. I still need add some sort of active cooling solution to this.

    I did trim the larger fan leaves regularly, but I feel there could still be more light. This strain tended to grow very dense plants and as they grew taller the development stayed in the upper part of the plant. I've bought some raw LED modules that I am assembling into a larger array. Adding another 400 watts of LED power when that is completed. Additionally I am going to veg for a much shorter time, opting for more frequent harvests rather than longer duration.

    Towards the end as the fall/winter temps came on the problem was the opposite. The room was too cold and the mold issues started coming back. I lost one large cola to mold. With my location on the mountain, this time of year I have zero direct sunlight all day long.

    Working on the following changes before the next grow
    - popping some new seeds of a different strain
    - adding a heater/ac to the room to maintain better temps
    - water chiller or other solution (looking at geothermal)
    - more lights
    - drywalling and flooring the room. Currently I just stapled the mylar over the insulation, with open beams in the rest of the room

    No change to the RDWC buckets or circulation system. It performed well through the duration. I've cleaned and sterilized the system, using a mixture of bleach while running the pumps to ensure everything is sterile. If anything I may add another bulkhead fitting to the reservoir and permanently install the pump I've been using to empty the system.
     
  6. Green Goblin

    Green Goblin Cannabis Connoisseur

    So, I'm a retired refrigeration mechanic, I can help design effective cooling systems. Mechanical Geothermal is a nice idea but fails in extremes especially in small systems(DuPont/EPA love child). Passive geothermal is definitely worth investigating. What part of the flat earth do you occupy? You live on a north face somewhere I take it?
     
  7. CREATIVE GARDENER

    CREATIVE GARDENER Cured Fat Sticky Bud

    It gets pretty damn cold in the old house I grow in too. I run CO2 in my flowering rooms. Use tanks in the warmer weather and propane CO2 generators in the cooler weather. They really help to heat the area and give the plants the extra boost they love, and don't have to circulate fresh cold air that has to be heated. Don't know how large of a sealed off area you have, but it might be worth entertaining the thought.
    Be Cool, CG
     
  8. toshin

    toshin Active Member

    Yup, north-northwest face of a mountain, coastal region. Surrounded by 80+' tall redwoods and oaks. I was thinking along the lines of passive geothermal. Fairly nearby if I dig a 6' deep hole I can hit cold water in the right place. I was going to get my gas auger, some copper pipe, and a circulation pump. Average temps outside this time of year are 35-65 with 60-90% humidity. Can't even grow a veggie garden

    Propane heaters sounds like a good investment. The room is fairly small, maybe 8' x 10' at the most. 4 buckets and the reservoir easily take up about 1/3rd of the space. Currently I have some small room oil heaters sitting unused to try.
     
  9. Green Goblin

    Green Goblin Cannabis Connoisseur

    You'll want to use HE-PEX or similar, copper kills beneficial microbes you want in your res...Must have oxygen barrier, and use a heat exchanger if you're cooling res water. Don't run your res water underground, and don't run groundwater into your place...if that makes sense

    If using it for cooling air you'll want to use copper for your manifolds and pump connections, but HE-PEX or similar for everything else. This because it can freeze without bursting and costs so much less. You can get a 300' roll for less than 40' of copper pipe sometimes.

    sounds like a great spot for some mostly free cooling. I'd go pellets or propane for heat, pellets cause they're super cheap here, like $1/therm...but propane cause I'm so freaking tired of lifting bags of pellets, and co2 would be a plus too :pimp:
     
  10. toshin

    toshin Active Member

    Sounds good, looks like I can get that at the local hardware store. I've got a bunch of this black 1/2" vinyl, but I'm not sure how well that'd do outdoors. All the connections I'm 3d printing as needed. Makes sense on the separation, using heat exchangers to keep the water in the right places.

    Does aluminum have the same issues as copper? I was working on a peltier cooling system and have some aluminum water blocks. It would solve both the heating and cooling while using a ton of power. I ended up taking it apart to fix my desktop's cooling system but I still have the water blocks. Another thought is just a bunch of coils of tubing in a bucket instead of copper.
     
  11. Green Goblin

    Green Goblin Cannabis Connoisseur

    Oh my gosh...do you still have the peltier cells? I'm making a thermal power generator I've been using high temp cells but turns out I don't need that level of safety.

    Definitely do not use vinyl tubing for underground, many a goblin have lost their hats due to vinyl tubing...it has its place, in drip systems.

    There's issues with all metals in plumbing system. It's best to stick with brass and quality plastic tubing made for whatever the scope is in my opinion. Unless we're talking high temp (140+)heating systems then I'm a copper fanatic

    Any time you connect plastic to metal and then plastic again, and put water through it you've created a battery which will eventually cause electrolysis and corrosion as well as gaseous oxygen and hydrogen which is not cool for closed loops. I'm not saying it'll fall apart, people...excuse me....fucktards that designed the heating system for one of my bank buildings made the whole thing out of black iron pipe and plastic...and my company paid almost a million dollars for it, at my dismay, but still, it's common practice. But I always point out what that means anytime someone mentions mixing metals, plastic and flowing water. In odd circumstances huge static charges can buildup....I've done this as an experiment....rather fun.

    Re coils of tubing in a bucket, would need many buckets...id prolly just coil the plastic tubing up in the res. Would need a bigger res. How big is your res? Could fit a 275 gal IBC tote?
     
  12. toshin

    toshin Active Member

    I've only got one I was testing with, but it is stuck to the block with thermal epoxy. I was using a TEC1-12715, can get them pretty cheap on amazon.

    Currently it only runs 4 plants and a tough tote (30-35gal or so). Getting an IBC tote near there would be difficult due to the weight, but I do have a dozen or so 50 gal plastic food grade barrels sitting around that I may be able to use.
     
  13. Green Goblin

    Green Goblin Cannabis Connoisseur

    a barrel should work fine, I'd just coil the PEX tubing on the inside like you said.

    How are you removing the heat generated by the LEDs? Do you have an exhaust outlet from the top of the space in summer to remove hot air, and can exhaust be closed down or throttled in winter?
     
  14. toshin

    toshin Active Member

    Currently I have a bathroom type vent fan on a switch. Other than the occasional heat wave, air temps have generally been too low rather than too high. The room itself is fairly small so it is difficult to find things that are not overkill for the space. The res temps usually cool off enough at night except during heat waves. I'm hoping once I better seal and insulate things I can keep everything more tightly controlled.
     
  15. CREATIVE GARDENER

    CREATIVE GARDENER Cured Fat Sticky Bud

    Several companies, like CAP, make reasonably affordable thermostats that will work on heat or cool. Yeah, getting the area more air tight and insulated will help will help a lot!!!
    Be Cool, CG
     

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