DWC or RDWC questions......bring em here!?!?!!!

cool. I understand that part. But do I need 2 water pumps? One pumping water out to the buckets on the outgoing line, and then another pump to pump the water back to the main res tote?

 

One pump out. Gravity is your return pump.


Are you gonna go for it Scotty? You're in the perfect spot. Should have NO probs keeping temps in line.


Hope things are still going well for ya.


Retiree

 

I am VERY VERY seriously thinking about it doing it with 6 buckets. I fucking love the way the water just rolls through there. I have the room. Have temp control. Know how...well...that's another story. But I'd try to make one before I buy one. No way I'm buying one.
Yeah man things are going good bro. Thanks man!


I'll prolly be copying this here:

 

I dunno bout shipping up to there but the 4 pot system is fuckin PLENTY believe me....and by the time you buy the CORRECT parts and esppecially in your area, find the CORRECT uniseals and CORRECT pipeing, regular PVC IS NOT recommended either......get the correct style tubs and buckets....then not to mention how insane your guna go and how much time our guna save as well........I swear on my nuts BUYING one is the way to go man, they have it all figured out for you.....trust me on that, ive seen so many DIYs that nitpick the piss out of the builders cuz of NONunifority of parts.......cuz its NOT made for what its supposed to be used for.....any other sytle you can build but IMO not htis

 

Pretty good thread Ch. I learned something. :flyy:

 

I will disagree with CC here.


The system is fucking basic to build.


In the next few weeks, I will be building 2 different RDWC systems, both identical except one will be a UC system, one will be a typical RDWC. The only difference will be the direction of the solution flow. UC pulls, the RDWC will push. If one does better than the other, it will be simple to turn the pump around and change the direction of flow.


I estimate my cost per 8 plant system, including the inline solution pump (1500 gph, $220) to be less than $500. This does not include lights or the airpump which I already have. All the parts are available at Home Depot, except the uni seals, which IMO are crap. Use bulkhead fittings for pipe that size IMO. At least that is what I plan on doing. Besides the materials, you really only need a hole saw and jigsaw.


So, if you want I will throw up a B.O.M. and some pictures so you can see how I go about building one.


Ain't no way in hell I am going to pay $2000 for a system I can build for about 25% of that.


Just my two copper pieces.


Cheers

 

Ebb n Grow buckets. That is what you are thinking of for the EnF bucket system. Feeds from the bottom, drains back from the bottom as well.


I'll throw up the pics when I build the system. Be about 2 weeks before I start on it. I'll make a rough diagram to show the how the system works when I get some time.


Cheers

 

Given equal veg time, I'd be willing to bet the RDWC plant would be twice the size , at minimum, to a soil plant of the same age/strain/pheno. As long as everything is dialed in (water temps, ph,... Ect).


I didn't honestly notice any quality/size difference in buds, but when you consider that using a RDWC cuts your time by at least 2-4 weeks PER CYCLE, that's an extra harvest or 2 in a years time. THAT is where you can really see the advantages IMHO

 

All great points that I prolly wouldn't have realized until it was too late and I was balls deep in the wrong fittings etc. I totally trust your judgment and I definitely see your point. Better now than after I'm pulling my hair out trying to do some shit like fit a square peg into a round hole. Thanks again CC! I'm not necessarily gonna buy one just yet, but I'll start pricing them. My biggest problem is the cost of shipping stuff up here. Sometimes it's just a nice, flat rate. Other times people/companies/stores wont even send packages to here or Hawaii. And if they do ship up here, all too often the cost of the shipping is more than the price of the actual product I'm ordering.


I need to just get what I got all dialed in before I start running off chasing after other systems. I just got all the makings for a 6 bucket DWC. So far I've just been running 3 DWC and like 5 nice hempys. But I wanna convert all the way over from hempy to DWC. Each bucket will have it's own dual-output air pump with 2 nice displacement stones. It looks similar to a rolling boil when they're plugged in. I have several single output pumps and I've been thinking about drilling another hole in the buckets for a 3rd airpump and stone. Whattaya think?


If I could sincerely and realistically try something, it would be to build an rdwc system, but that shit looks like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing to me. I'd need like, hand-over-hand instruction.

 

RDWC- Im pretty sure I understand how the pump works to circulate the water from the tub out to the buckets, but how does the water get back to the tub from the buckets so so it can recirculate?


This seem like a pretty straight forward model, I just need to know how to get the water back from the buckets to the tub.

 

That's neat, that's very similar to the system I'm building for my room now except no airstones... with the constant water flow over the hydroton the airpump/airstones seem unnecessary. The water goes from the white pvc drain pipes to the res tub in that video btw.

 

Scotty, water always finds it level. Gravity does all the work returning the solution back the ressy.


Not a bad DIY, but could be much better.


What saw wrong wrong in the system -


1) The two buckets farthest from the ressy need to be connected to equalize the system.


2) Return PVC pipe is awful dam small. Not much flow happening there.


3) MORE AIR REQUIRED!!! He's got a pitiful amount of O2 flowing in those buckets.


4) Obvious - more light. a few cfl's and a 400 ain't enough for that space. 2 600's would be great though.


OK, that's my nit picking.


Kaiser, you gonna want air dude. Trust a man on this. You need the stones in each module. D.O. and Temp are critical in this kind of system.


Just my copper input man.

 

Basic to build yes, but for a joe schmoe? Most folks would needs atleast $300 in tools alone just to get started, lol


I know what you mean tho.....I see the 4 pot system for $765, free shipping to your local shop....from what I priced out, the parts were guna be around $400+, that was following DDleds design from the farm and a few other guys that DIYd em...


I dunno man....IF i would go that route....Id buy but Id also not go bigger than a 4 pot for my space

 

That guy is a partial retard.....wow

 

:roffl:


I was trying to be nice about it. Thanks for saying what I wanted to. :thumbs-up:


CC, watch and learn bro. I'll throw the entire B.O.M with prices up for an 8 pot system.


Only tools you need are a drill and hole saw set, and jig saw. A Table saw would be nice but not required. Just saying dude. It's not rocket science, it's a simple ass system. I've built aero systems 20x more complicated than this. Just saying it's not that difficult, and way cheaper to build yourself.

 

I agree that DO and temps are important, they are also directly related. I contend that the waterfall effect of water passing thru media like hydroton is enough to maintain DO levels. It seems waterfarms work similarly and effectively, also my 5 gal DWC bucket is doing great sans airpump...

 

I think the biggest hurdle in growing this wonderful plant is overthinking things that should be, and are, simple.

 

newton + apple = gravity


Does RDWC rely on that top-drip mechanism? Do you do it that way CC?


Do you have to have it that way or can you get nute-water in the buckets another way? I'm missing something huge here, I know I am. Gravity?


Per bucket, does there have to be the return line, a hole or two for airstone hoses and 2 or 3 holes to deliver nutes? And then it all just flows back to the big tub?

 

Ya but the 1 single mod. that folks ALWAYS add is an airstone and the results speak for themselves