I plan to fabricate a root chamber using anodized aluminium. Does anyone here know of any reason why I shouldn't use this metal for my chamber?

Why are you using anodized aluminium?

Hi oni. I'm using anodized because aluminium oxidizes if exposed to air and moisture.

Apparently, Aluminium Oxide (Alumina) is minimally soluble in water, so as long as you aren't going to be using any caustic or acidic compounds in it, you should be OK on that front.

I've seen aluminium when it oxidizes and it goes kinda rough and pimply. It would tend to harbor bacteria and be difficult to clean. That's why I thought of using the anodized form of it.

Aluminum is fairly inert, anodized will look better after 6 months though
how do you plan to waterproof the joints?

One of my friends made one out of ally but had probs with condensation on the outside of the tank and was forever wiping water off the floor.

Encase it in celotex to prevent warm humid room air from reaching the cold surface.

U could cover it in celotex.iv done are grow room in celotex and it ain't cheap then take the price of ally and u would be better off buying a platic purpose made unit.

Yep, it could definitely get expensive.
Assuming its just for the aero chamber (atomised mist and almost no standing water) you could get away with using just the celotex. The foil face would do almost the same job as sheet aluminium. Sealing all the joints shouldn`t be too difficult.

I plan to TIG weld all the joints.

Hi vince. I hadn't thought about condensation being a problem. My existing chamber is plastic and I've had no problems with it. The vent system is pretty good and that may have a lot to do with it.

Hi Geo. I don't know celotex; what is it?

Where would you get a purpose made plastic unit from? The atomix chamber was excellent but the company has gone under.

Celotex is insulation just ebay it you'll see, it's great stuff I too used on my GR and temps have never been a prob again.

I was considering something similar if you do make one defo post results and pics (need to buy a tig first) never ali welded could it be done with a mig?

Where where you going to get nozzles? or where you just going to amazon it?

celotex is rigid foil faced insulation board (PIR or polyisocyanate) with about twice the insulation value of polystyrene.
Its not waterproof though so you`d need to seal the edges well. Extruded polystyrene (XPS) is waterproof but afaik isn`t available in a foil faced version.
Why not cut a black 1000L IBC in half and make a couple of lids? Two 500L aero chambers

I've got a mate who has a tig set. It's a little frequency inverter and it runs off a 240v supply. it's ok for stick welding as well. Welding ali can be a bit of a bugger, especially if you've no experience with it. I strongly suggest making friends with a welder.

Thanks Geo, I'll definitely check that out. The lid is the platform for the growing plants so it has to be strong and fairly rigid. I could make it out of ali though.

Alrite tutu.u can weld ally with a mig welder but u have too have the right gas and wire.tig is the favoured way to weld ally.I can let u know what gas and wire u need later when I go upto the workshop dude.

I have 2 Atomix units I don't use if you're interested. Tried to PM you , but it wouldn't let me.

Here u go dude.just got up the workshop and to mig ally u need argon gas and hard aluminum mig wire .I would get someone who can weld properly to do it.welding is harder than most people think.

Hiya cordwangle. If the question is for me then yes I would definitely be interested. If it was me you tried to pm you wouldn't be able to just yet as I'm about 5 posts short of 50 but I will probably pass that in an hour or so. Please let me know asap.

I haven't posted 50 times but used to pm g-love regularly, perhaps the rules have changed. I'll try adding you as a friend and see if that makes a difference.

I passed 50 posts myself last night so I can now send and receive pms.

Try sending me a pm, it still wont let me do it

isnt offering stuff like this a security risk??
you cant sendd or i think recieve pms without 50 posts

you are absolutely correct there monsta. but I assume the pm system is a safe way to communicate.

I already tried last night mate. no go till you've got 50 posts.

questions for cordwangle. how did you get on with the atomix system? did you have any successful grows with it? which system is it eg pro 9? what sort of problems did you have?

I have 2 of the original units, which have 13 sites each on a M2
The problems I had were with the atomisers only working properly for a while before the spray would start to deteriorate. This caused much consternation for a good while before I discovered that soaking in a descaling solution every few weeks sorted it out.
The environment needs to be perfect as well ( especially temp ). If you get it right the results are astonishing.


I used to send PM's all the time, can't do it now. Must be a new rule.

the actual thing about it is thus.......

1..you do not know this person
2..how do you know you can trust this person
3..you will be giving them your address
4 ..this person my be a police officer.... you never know

no offence meant to cordwangle

just think about your security

I would agree with you, but I'm not talking about anything illegal, nor would I. Merely a piece of equipment bought quite legally.

I have had the same problem with the spray nozzles. The needle mechanism is pretty useless and I plan to remove the ones on mine and plug off the hole. I take the nozzles out and clean em as best as I can. What descaling solution did you use? I asked the nozzle manufacturers about the best way to clean them and they suggested ultra sonics so I've been looking on ebay for a suitable machine. So far I've been using DM nutes and they seem to cause a build up of salt. What nutes did you use and did they cause a salt build up?
Hint. if you get involved in the current affairs type of forums and not just the grow and equipment forums you will quickly build up your posts.

I agree on all counts, but this site is intended for the mutual benefit of its members and I don't think the security rules and issues are designed to disallow all transactions between members. I already have a pro 9 system and I was planning to make the next one myself, but if cordwangle has one he no longer uses, surely we should be able to manage some sort of arrangement without upsetting any one elses applecart. However, if it is a serious breech of UK420 etiquette I will make no further attempt to deal with cordwangle and revert to my original plan. I think that would be a shame though.

im not saying its against forum rules..... cos this would have been deleted by now....

i was thinking of your personal security

Thats much appreciated mate. security is obviously a concern. for my part I can tell from what cordwangle says that he has been growing with an atomix system and I'm pretty sure he can tell the same thing about me. Not exactly what you'd expect from the fuzz is it?

you never know anyone can sign up and say anything m8

e2a: not necessarily police...

[quote name='weedmonsta' date='Sep 14 2009, 04:24 PM' post='1919604']
you never know anyone can sign up and say anything m8

e2a: not necessarily police...
[/quote
I have a hard enough time trying not to get paranoid about the helicopters. who else should I be worrying about?

Just use normal kettle de scaler from the supermarket, they come in sachets and will sort it out. Don't bother with ultra sonics, I spent ages looking for a solution before finding this.
I used Canna substra and aqua with and without reverse osmosis.

I tried the 'needle broaches' that are normally used for oxy propane cutting torches, but they were too abrasive and I actually made the hole bigger, which buggered up the nozzle. by then atomix had gone to the wall so I had to do a search to find the nozzle manufacturers so I could get some new ones. I just bought the inners though, the main body was ok. As this is obviously going to be a continuing issue I plan to invest in stainless steel inners as I think that the plated brass ones will wear out before long. Any further advise you can offer on the atomix system would be very welcome.

Do you have the plastic or the copper washers?

If you mean the ones with the ring of small holes that connects the nozzle to the body, yes I do. the manufacturers call these seals, not washers.

Sorry, I might have misunderstood your question. I have the copper ones. I couldn't make out what all the little holes were for at first, but I figured it out eventually.

I can weld, played with a tig last night not that hard, pretty certain an evening or 2 I'd have it licked.

Nozzles, that's the question, I need nozzles otherwise how can I get that fine micron spray, how do I go from aquaponics/hydroponics of an amazon to true fine micron spray of an atomix.

Air compressor obviously is not an issue.

You`ll need air assisted nozzles, solenoids and a cycle timer for the rolls royce of aero..expect a price to match though

Hiya Geo. You're up late mate. My existing system is the atomix pro 9 and as far as I'm concerned that is the rolls royce of aero. I still have issues with it though. Nozzles clogging up with salt build up etc. Gonna try the descaler sachets as per your suggestion but may still look out for a cheap ultrasonic tank. Why have you given up on the atomix kit?

Sorry Geo. error in my last post. I remember now that you haven't tried the atomix kit. I'm interested to know what you mean by a cycle timer and what it does.

Hi Alf
A cycle timer just controls the solenoid for the misting pulse/pause duration. The atomix controller is a lot more advanced though as it also varies the the air pressure. I looked into air assisted nozzles but the price frightened me off.
Cordwangle suggested the kettle descaler
The atomix was well out of my price range otherwise i`d would have bought one. In the end i went for the cheaper option of a hp pump/accumulator/solenoid combo which allows for very short cycles. A basic switched pump system cant manage a 1 second pulse

Hi Geo. As far as I know the atomix timer only controls the on and off periods of the solenoid. The compressor has a regulator that allows you to set the air pressure so it's true to say that the atomix SYSTEM allows you to control both the duration and pressure delivered at the nozzle. I have seen the pictures of your homebrew timer and it appears to have two sets of controls. One for the pulse, ie on and of periods of the solenoid, and one for the 'cycle.' I'm guessing that the cycle timer acts as a master controller allowing you to have 'rest periods' where the plants are not being fed. The guys at atomix suggested that an off period of a few hours per day is beneficial and they advised me to plug the atomix timer into a grasslin to set up a regular off period. I'd be interested to know what your cycle timer does.

Ahh, i assumed both were integrated into the same controller, no biggy though as it still gives you ultimate control over everything.
The timer i posted is part of an experimental vertical aero system for the greenhouse. Its in the construction stages but as its more of a hobby than a race it`ll probably be a while before its finished