Guest roxy002 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 If anyone can improve on this system, or has any comments/suggestions, then please post them. I'm sure there is things I have over looked or not though of, so I look forward to any feed back. I will keep this thread updated throughout the grow. :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderwebb Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I know its a late reply but just wanted to know if you ever needed to stop light getting to the runoff as you are recirculating ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cf Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) Top DIY roxy! I love the home made set ups mostly coz you can tailor them to the space you have to grow rather than having to work round factory made set ups that are never quite the right size. Did you get your electrics sorted? I've built a few boards with small consumer units and rcds on as well as all the gear to run the lights , fans etc ....I'm still using this board clique , its so much easier having all your electrics in one place out of the way I dont mind giving you a bit of advice building a board if you like I can see you have good skills and you could manage it easily Edited January 31, 2012 by cf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roxy002 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Update! Went to check on things 2 days ago, and decided to swap the straight coupling that connects the PVC to the hose for an isolation valve. The reason for this, is to control the pressure into the manifold, so I can turn the isolation valve until I have reduced the pressure to a "drip" from the drip rings. I want to feed the plants slowly over a longer period of time, rather than saturate them in 1 minute. I fitted it, turned the pump on, then noticed that none of the rings where working correctly. Some holes where squirting out, some where slowly dripping and some weren't releasing anything at all. I wasn't surprised to be honest, as I've been warned about this by members on the forum. Obviously fine particles of coco must be entering the system and blocking the holes I made. (The holes were only pierced, so not very big at all) Also I noticed that, in 2 areas of the table, the nutes weren't draining properly into the guttering. I watched, and discovered that at the very edge of the corrigated sheet, the nutes were building up and running underneath the plastic and soaking the wooden frame, then dripping onto the floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roxy002 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) So, off come all 20 drip rings! Next job was to drill a hole into every piercing I had made, only slightly bigger than the piercing itself. I also made sure that the drill bit had a blunt tip, as to not pierce the drip ring on the other side. It didn't take too long, and now all the holes are nice and clean! A good idea would of been to take a small round file and gently take the burr away from the edge of the holes, but I didn't have one...never mind, hopefully this will work. Edited February 5, 2012 by roxy002 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roxy002 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roxy002 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 To solve the leak problem, I simply rubbed the edge of the plastic with some sand paper until the plastic was a lot thinner. It might also be a good idea to score a line on the underside of the plastic, to stop the water running into the wood. I haven't tried this yet but will do, if plan A fails. When I've got the time, I'm going to rub silicone all along the edge of the sterling board as a precautionary measure. So, if there is any more leaks it wont blow the sterling board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roxy002 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Here's a shot of where I've located ballasts and electrical sockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roxy002 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Temps have dropped slightly over the last week. RH has raised slightly. PH increased to 6.1 from 5.8 EC the same, at 2.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roxy002 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Next job is to fit all the drip rings again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roxy002 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roxy002 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Fitted all the drip rings again today after drilling them all. It was actually harder than what I thought it would be. Now that the plants are starting to fill out, it was way to bushy to see what I was doing properly. It was a really awkward job, and I ended up breaking 2 tees in the process. I'm not sure what brand these tees are, but a word of caution to anyone when dismantling the drip ring, is that they are very delicate and easily break. Obviously they don't cost a lot to replace, but I have to order mine online, so its just inconvenient for me when I don't have any spare. Anyway, it was a time consuming job, but now they are flowing much better! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukblazer Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Fair play man looks amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SexiSarh Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Could you put a section of mesh or something to filter the returning water to stop the coco particles going through? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Where Angels Play Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 You could build a sand filter cheap enough to catch any washout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now