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Nesta’s DWC Attempt

Aqua Man said:
Was the intake at the bottom of the rez?
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Yeah it's got a pipe the runs to the bottom of the rez. I did that so I could dump the plant sites when/if necessary.

Aqua Man said:
1/2 output means it has to push more water against gravity. If you reduce the size you should get a better flow and pressure
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Word. I don't think I'll re-plumb it so the bigger pump should do the trick. It'll be here Thursday. I have a couple/few days before the seedlings need to go into the system.

Edit: writing this up allowed me to envision a sweet little upgrade. I'm gonna loop together the two outlets in each plant site and drill holes in the loop. Bing-bang-boom got my jets back.
 
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GrumpAzz said:
Sorry Nesta.

Pretty much what Aqua said above. 10 turnovers an hour. If you're roughly at 15 gallons, 150gph pump would suit you.
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Thats correct but go by the volume of water not container size.

When i said 50gph its because the total site volume is what we use for calculations. The res is considered a separate volume
 
Day 28 today. I finally got around to making this a one plant RDWC. Not sure I like the caterpillar tubing to exit the text. I think when I expand to 4 sites, I will elevate the buckets and have a straight shot out of the tent. Im surprised how low I need to keep the water in the control reservoir.

In any event, the Gary Payton had a big haircut last week and I only left maybe the top 8 or so sites. Shes looking good as far as I can tell. Keeping 400ppms/.8ec/5.8ph.

Any ideas on how I can increase the water level in my control res without raising the level in the plant bucket?

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Nesta said:
Any ideas on how I can increase the water level in my control res without raising the level in the plant bucket?
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I've done my runs keeping the water level around an inch or 2 below the netpot. Is there a reason you don't want to raise the level in the plant site?

If this were my setup, I would at least raise it up to where the entire return line is submerged.

Plants are looking good regardless.

Edit: I also had no issues cutting my own hole in the tent. Fixed any light leaks with duct tape. I'm a bit reckless
 
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I like to keep the waterline about 1” below the net pot.

Is there a reason you want it lower?

Some say it makes roots grow to look for water but in actuality it can cause air pruning and damage that can lead to infection
 
Sorry, I wasn’t very clear. The water level in the plant bucket is up to the bottom of the net pot. The control res is very low. It barely covers the top of the 3” return line. When I increase the water level in the control res the water level in the plant site goes too high. I can get a better video tonight.
 
Nesta said:
Last night, the water in the bucket went higher than the res.
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Aqua Man said:
So either the pump is too big or the return is restricted or to small.
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I agree with Aqua.
The pump is running too fast or the drain lines can not keep up.
Could there be roots blocking the return lines?
You can safely install a ball/ gate valve after your pump inline to control the pump if needed.
 
Nesta said:
Do you think air is blocking the caterpillar drain line?
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This could be it if the pump isn't restricted. They water will have to make it passed the hump in the return line. In your video, it appears as though your water level only comes halfway up your return line. Your control res won't get any return until the water level breaks the lower plane of the caterpillar hump.
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GrumpAzz said:
This could be it if the pump isn't restricted. They water will have to make it passed the hump in the return line. In your video, it appears as though your water level only comes halfway up your return line. Your control res won't get any return until the water level breaks the lower plane of the caterpillar hump.
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I’ll send another video tonight. I took that video while I was filling the system. The water is all the way up to the Netcup. I have 3 inch drain line and the roots are not clogging it. I think I’m down to either air in the caterpillar or the pump is too strong.
 
You could get out a tape measure and check the distance from the floor to the bottom of the hump and then measure the bottom of the netpot from the bottom of the bucket. With ideal flow, your water will stay level so if your netpot is lower than the bottom of that hump, the hump is your issue.

I wouldn't be afraid to cut that out, pipe it straight and make a custom hole in your tent. I just cut a cross that was smaller than my pipe and forced it through. That kept the tent tight to the pipe.
 
GrumpAzz said:
I wouldn't be afraid to cut that out, pipe it straight and make a custom hole in your tent. I just cut a cross that was smaller than my pipe and forced it through. That kept the tent tight to the pipe.
Click to expand...

Nesta, if you are concerned about tearing your tent you could always put a small square of duct tape on each side of the tent wall then cut the X like Grump is describing. it would keep the tent from tearing more, kind of just like how a paper punch hole reinforcer works. if you ever need to seal it up again just slid out the pipe and cover with a square of tape!
 
ok. Tried to post a video but its too big of a file. Working from my phone. What is the secret?
 
Nesta said:
ok. Tried to post a video but its too big of a file. Working from my phone. What is the secret?
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What's MY secret? A video less than 6 seconds long 🤣

For real though.. videos eat up a ton of server space so there's a cap on file sizes. Unless you're shooting video on a potato, videos are out for now. I don't know if there's an immediate plan for a fix in the future or not. I've tried several things from lowering the resolution to to cropping the video intona 1x1 format. But for now, it's like G$ said. There are a few people posting on imgur and then linking that post in their thread.
 
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I decided to chop at 65 days. All in all this was a great learning experience and I really appreciate all the help and support I got from all of you. Obviously a lot of room for improvement but at the end of the day, this was successful. I’m pumped to get the four site RDWC set up.
 
Frosty 👍

How'd you finish, as far as nutes? That girl is DARK green.
 
Nesta said:
I followed the ratios all the way up until the last two weeks. Do you think I should’ve cut the nutes back sooner?
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Your taste will tell you IMO.
I stop 2-3 weeks ahead if I am in control.
Less is more with a willing plant.
Fire there man 🔥 and love hearing the low ppms~! 👊
 
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