Seed Spotlight

More
Positronics Seeds - Purple Haze #1

Purple Haze #1

Constructed from Mexican, South Indian and Thai variety up until the '70, this plant posseses an incredible resin development. Deliver a clear and energetic high.

Seed Spotlight

More
Positronics Seeds - Blue Rhino

Blue Rhino Seeds

Blue Rhino is the outcome of careful selection among numerous plants from a classical breeding procedure that makes positive that simply one of the most powerful and exquisite hybrids more knowledgeable growers were demanding.

Breeder Spotlight

More
Positronics Seeds

Positronics

One of the first of the Holland seed breeders, Positronics has earned a solid and respected reputation. Positronics set out with the mission of ensuring that home growing supplies were available to everyone.

Questions about water chillers, please help...

Discussion in 'Hydroponics' started by vortexnebula, Mar 14, 2011.

  1. Offline

    vortexnebula Seedling

    Well I'm using DWC and my reservoirs need to be chilled. For the last 3 weeks my reservoirs have been running anywhere from 70-77*. They are changed once a week and i disinfect the air stones, equipment and reservoir with alcohol and h2o2 before I place them back in.

    I plan on making my own water chiller because of the price tag of commercial products. I was thinking of making a mini fridge chiller, i just have a few things I need cleared up.

    1) About how many gallons will it be able to cool down? (Possibly 25 gallons?)

    2) Is there a way to connect a single reservoir to multiple DWC systems to help make it easier to cool down, feed nutrients and take maintain? (I've seen some system that had a SINGLE 30 gallon or so reservoir but had multiple 5 gallon pots attached. They said it was DWC, i just don't know how it was made.)

    I appreciate the help from everyone here, you all have been awesome so far thanks!
    1 people like this.
  2. Offline

    j78z

    it was sound kinda hack but i use the iceprobe thermoelectric chiller and i insulated the crap out of the reservoir with that stuff thats like a sheet of plastic paking bubbles covered in foil.
  3. Offline

    j78z

    the name of the insulation escapes me but you can get it at the Depot in the insulation section.
  4. Offline

    Hash O'Kief Senior Moderator

    I happen to use 4 @ 5 gallon DWC [bubble buckets]
    with an external 10 gallon res

    pictures in my Fruit of the Loom thread [look in my signature]

    I keep mine cool by keeping my air temps at 70
    The flower room gets warmer up at plant level

    but since the buckets are at the bottom of the room
    where the light don't shine
    and the incoming air is 70
    They stay cool enough

    My buckets have 2 airstones each
    each coming from a different air pump
    in case 1 fails

    There is also an air pump for the res
    The res has a 160gph waterpump with a 1/2 lineout
    that line is split 4 ways
    each bucket has a 'drip-ring' on the inside
    each drip ring has 4 @ 1/8 inch 90s
    the ring is mounted to the bucket, not the lid
    that makes removing the lid and plant possible

    When the pump comes on
    the drip rings, [all aimed toward the middle] squirt at the net pot
    this is a godsend before your roots have hit the water

    The water level is maintained by drains mounted below the bottom of the net pots
    I use big 8" net pots
    My drains are mounted almost exactly halfway up the 5 gallon buckets

    I use the same drain fitting I use on my ebb n flo tables
    1/2" drain lines are the minimum

    these drains are physically higher than the res
    [if only by 4 or 5 inches}

    every 6 hours
    my pump circulates the water for 15 minutes

    I add water and nutes to the res
    I never see inside the buckets during a grow

    This method cranked out 5 zips per bucket with 200 watts per plant
    19 zips under 800 watts last harvest
    9 week flower

    and I never change the res during a grow :p
    2 people like this.
  5. Offline

    airedog

    Here's a DWC layout, from a hydro shop:

    [IMG]

    It will give you an idea of how the buckets are connected to the res. You can scale the system up or down, to suit your needs.Reading James Gang's grow diaries will give you all the in-depth details for a successful DWC system.

    In my system I use 1" hose (Greenline) with fittings from Lowes or Home Depot for my drain lines and thru-hull connectors on the buckets. Feed line is 1/2" poly tubing run in a loop, to equalise pressure and flow; 1/4" lines run to the individual drippers. My res is a heavy duty 120L tote, rather than the 70 gallon beast in the illustration. Danner pumps will cost more than EcoPlus, but they last longer. In my opinion, air stones in the res and each bucket will help immensely.


    FWIW, I use a 1/10 HP aquarium chiller to cool my res. With (2) 1kW HPS lamps I'm pushing it, even with air cooled reflectors. Give yourself a good fudge factor when designing your system.

Share This Page

Users found this page by searching for:

  1. how to hook up one chiller to two dwc systems