3 Waterfarm Modifications

Discussion in 'DIY' started by mytwhyt, Jan 4, 2015.

  1. mytwhyt

    mytwhyt Established Healthy Roots

    It only took one grow to sell me on hydro, and Waterfarms in particular.. Unmodifided they can be a pia.... I found that out my first go round, and my second, and my third... It was like meeting that almost perfect woman, but with a couple flaws that are almost deal breakers.... Well, it not being a woman, I had to take a shot at trying to fix'em.... Something I'd never try with a woman.....This is the first of three wf mods ... I've always used a scrog screen, but if you want/need to move the farm you can't.... so i added this to my waterfarm.... It's simple, easy to make, and you can move the farm at any time..... This is the attached 24"x32" 1/2 pvc scrog screen I've added... I think you could make the screen a little bigger if you wanted... The screen is dry fitted, no glue... The black piece is abs plastic to reinforce the molded handles... The handles will break when the clamps are tightened if not reinforced... Ask me how I know..

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    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 4, 2015
  2. nippie

    nippie preachin' and pimpin'

    nice modifications and great first post.


    welcome to GK
     
  3. mytwhyt

    mytwhyt Established Healthy Roots

    Second mod...I wanted to add a reservoir and circulate it.. The the Waterfarm recirculating kit pumps water from the grow bucket to the reservoir..... This mod pumps from the reservoir to the grow bucket.. A standing 3/4" column of water is added to the grow bucket... The old sight/drain hole now becomes the return line to the reservoir... The drip ring pumping column now drops in the standing water column, and pumps from there..... In a multiple wf setup each pumping column does it's part to move water back to the reservoir... gravity does it's part of course..You'll need a 13/16" spade bit for the hole for the water column... The parts all came from my local Chinese outlet store... Home Depot.... One 2.5" cut off riser.. One 1/2" threaded barb, one 1/2" threaded to 3/4" slip reducing ell.. The 3/4" column should be thin wall pvc... More room for the pumping column.... Flat washers are best... Since the threaded fittings act as nuts to hold it together there's little room for more washers.... Teflon tape all threads... If the bottom ever comes off the pumping column... It's easy to fish out of the water column... There is one thing that some may consider a drawback... The top bucket can't be removed during the grow.. The hydroton will fall through the hole in the basket.... Not a problem for me, I don't feel the need to check under my girls skirts just to see what's going on... :5obsessed: Couple more pics next post

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    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 5, 2015
  4. mytwhyt

    mytwhyt Established Healthy Roots

    couple more

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  5. CCrete

    CCrete Mr. Poopyfacepeepeehead

    I had awesome results in my old WF, might have to try another for old times sake....I believe my best run was with a PPP plant from nirvana that yielded like 8-10 Oz
     
  6. friendlyfarmer

    friendlyfarmer Rollin' Coal

    :coool:


    :-welcome-:
     
  7. Mrgreengenes

    Mrgreengenes Administrator

    Very nice mytwhyt. :good job: Nice to have you here at gk
     
  8. mytwhyt

    mytwhyt Established Healthy Roots

    Third mod.... my Waterloo...I'm calling this a waterfarm modification, even though the only thing i saved from the waterfarm was the pumping column... This is my summer time farm... It gets really hot where I live.... :roffl: Some would call that an under statement... This setup cost a less than $100, $50 for the Igloos plus the same stuff used on the WF for the screen and water column... I really like the idea of not using a water pump to move the water.... No heat added to the reservoir..... The 8or10" bucket basket lid fit the Igloo cooler... All the lines are covered with foam 1/2" pipe insulation... The plant and drip ring sets a little lower in the basket so a 1/2" foam collar can get a good fit in the basket... Everything done with the Waterloo is aimed at insulation.... The spout hole in the igloo is a perfect fit for the 1/2" cutoff riser, with 2 sets of threads cut off... It's also in the perfect location for the water column.... One of the pictures show a water column in the reservoir.... After it dawned on me that I only needed one in the grow side to do the job, that one came out...You'll need a 13/16 spade to drill a hole in each Igloo for the return line to reservoir... Note, those holes need to be drilled at a very slight upward angle to compensate for the slight outward angle of the inside wall of the igloo...If the 1/2" to 3/4 ell needs to be sanded to fit the curve of the wall for a good seal... Hold a piece of sand paper on the wall for a perfect fit... I use a 1/2" threaded connector as a nut for the return line cutoff riser... You fit this to the wall by sanding..... This riser is used full length.... If the riser is a little long, a washer can be used on the outside wall to compensate.. The outside of the igloos are not very hard.. Over tightening the connector will draw the the riser into the wall.. The seal comes from the inside washer.... One washer will do the job....

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  9. Bigbud214

    Bigbud214 Ganja Guru Extreme

    Quite handy.... Great mods fir the DIY type. Welcome to GK.
     
  10. ResinRubber

    ResinRubber Civilly disobedient/Mod

    Thoroughly confused. You're creating a gravity pump for DWC?
     
  11. mytwhyt

    mytwhyt Established Healthy Roots

    The drip ring pumps water from the water column, the water column is refilled from the reservoir by gravity... The water in the grow bucket is separate from the water in the column.... Once pumped out of the water column and through the drip ring, it has no other place to go than the reservoir..
     
  12. ResinRubber

    ResinRubber Civilly disobedient/Mod

    So there is a pump?
     
  13. mytwhyt

    mytwhyt Established Healthy Roots

    The drip ring is in fact the pump, and is moving the water from reservoir... There is no other pump.... Once in the grow igloo/wf, it returns by way of the return line to the reservoir....


    Forgot to mention the spout hole in the reservoir igloo will take a 1/2" wf grommet and 1/2" barb fitting for the feed line to the grow igloo water column...
     
  14. Herb

    Herb Mountain Man

    I love ingenuity. Welcome to GK and nice work. :thumbsup:


    BTW...what's the story behind the screen name?
     
  15. mytwhyt

    mytwhyt Established Healthy Roots

    @ CCrete Yield and simplicity sold me on WFs... I feed Flora Nova Bloom only, start to finish, and never go much over 1100 ppm, flush for a week..... I never have a problem as long as I keep my temps in the low 60s *f.. This is a pretty ragged plant... I never got around to cleaning out under the screen.... ak48Herb..In the army my black friends called me whyt, I added the myt by deed along..

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  16. ResinRubber

    ResinRubber Civilly disobedient/Mod

    Totally lost....which ain't new for me. I get the drip, but how does the water get back up to the reservoir to drip down? Am I just being really really stupid?
     
  17. mytwhyt

    mytwhyt Established Healthy Roots

    There is no up, the reservoir water and the grow bucket water and the water column water are all the same level..... When the water is pumped out of the column it lowers the water level there, more flows in from the reservoir to to replace it.... as the grow bucket gains more water, it flows back to the reservoir.... The water will circulate as fast as the pumping column can move it.... Two water farms running on the same reservoir, set up this way, will move water twice as fast.... The pumping column now does two jobs.. It doesn't care where it pumps its water from..Here's a pic I took last July of a 5gal bucket.. When you're hot you're hot..

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  18. friendlyfarmer

    friendlyfarmer Rollin' Coal

    I'm lost too. So there is a pump in the water column? Yes?


    I even googled waterfarm and tried to figure it out :roffl:


    "When the water is pumped out of the column it lowers the water level there"


    Sounds like a pump to me.
     
  19. mytwhyt

    mytwhyt Established Healthy Roots

    Try rereading #13 again..... I don't know how else I can explain how it works...... Is there anyone who understands what I'm trying to say?, jump in because I seem to be failing big time....
     
  20. nippie

    nippie preachin' and pimpin'

    CC will explain it im sure.


    I think what he's trying to say (correct me if I'm wrong) is the same as rdwc or something like that.


    you have a ressy with a pump in it, when it pumps water out of the ressy and to the plant it pulls water from the plant via the return lines because water always tries to keep the same level.


    the bigger the pump, the faster the circulation because as the pump is sucking out of the ressy, the ressy is being refilled via the return lines.
     

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