H20 Flow Question For the RDWC Peeps

I'm having trouble making a decision.

I'm currently running a 9 Bucket RDWC system with 5 Gallon Buckets.

Here is a Picture:






I'm currently running a 1000 GPH pump in the controller that feeds a 1/2" line with 3 rows for each row of buckets. There is a 1/4" line that taps into the 1/2" line to feed the top of each bucket as per an RDWC tutorial I found here on ICMAG.



MY QUESTION:

Can I take the 1/4" feed lines out and instead put in 1/2" inch elbows and tee's and feed all the buckets with the 1/2" line the whole way???

Will my 1000 GPH be enough, it's a regular hydrofarm type pump... I was considering getting a 1500 GPH higher quality bottom sucking pump.. but I don't really want to spend the money if it isn't necessary.

I just want to make sure there will be enough pressure to properly feed the buckets, and enough flow out the bottom of the buckets through the 3/4" tube not to overflow.

Anyone have experience here?




Today I found one of the 1/4 inch tubes slightly clogged... the bucket was barely getting a drip into it and the roots in the bucket were much darker.... fixed it, but don't want a reoccurring problem.... thus, this 1/2" idea.

If you put 1\2" for the feed line, in the buckets will arrive more water.
More water could leads to a easier overflow I think, so let the feed line smaller than the return line.
For clogging...there are several products to clean the lines etc.... like ata clean from bcuzz.You could run it alone once a month or even less.
I don't use anything in my rdwc setup, but I control the feed lines every week or so, to insure everything work as it should.

Good luck and what a nice setup bro

edit: For my first rdwc run, I bought a product called bud factor x from AN.Well....it clogged my feed line because it's not only liquid but contains several stuff bigger in it.So I think you should consider this,I had not....and clogged the line...so I hope it helps.

the way you have it plumbed now is correct in that you have a manifold of sorts, that is the1/2" line,and that should create even flow in each 1/4" feed to the bucket. if you run the same size from pump to buckets the closest buckets should get more flow/overflow?

perhaps larger all around on feed and drain is easier? certainly more expensive.
looks like a great start. i love the T5 hid combo.

I want to try RDWC but i'm scared and sticking to DWC for now. good luck and I hope you show us if this works well. I enjoyed your t5 thread.

hi there, you should put inline filters on your 1/2" line, to stop any rubbish getting through to the emitters, only a few $, they work great. cheers oz

w2008 said:

hi there, you should put inline filters on your 1/2" line, to stop any rubbish getting through to the emitters, only a few $, they work great. cheers oz

Click to expand...

The water pump I use already has a filter in it, so all the water going to be filtered.However you should check it once a while to ensure is not clogged.

Take a look at "bigtokes" tutorial....he's running the larger lines that you wish to use.

just my experience, but something gunking up your lines is the issue, not the size of the lines to be gunked. 1/4" gunking means something isn't right

at 1/2", you're more likely to end up w/ your manifold not pressurizing right, and not sending an even mix to all outlets

i run 1/4" in, 3/4" out, with a mag 9.5 pump plumbed to 12 outlets - that setup will fill a 5 gallon bucket with one 1/4" line in about a minute - looks like you've got airlines to each bucket, so it's not like you're depending on flow for aeration...just for making sure the nute-soup is evenly mixed thru the buckets. in other words, if you're turning over a bucket's volume in a minute with your pump, and you only run your pump 15 minutes every 4 hours...you've not only got more than enough flow to ensure your buckets all have the same EC even after a nute addback, you've added 3 hours and 45 minutes less heat to your water from the pump running.

kind of a long rambling way of saying 'high flow' is great and all, but 'enough flow' has been the right compromise for me. gunk is badness, slay that. your flow looks perfect from where i'm standing.

It is harder to balance the flow into each bucket if you go larger, but it is indeed better if your drains are up to it. A 1/2" valve on each bucket will do the job well though.

Less back pressure on the water pump also means it will run cooler, and your water won't heat up as much from the pumping action.

Do it if you can.

I'm at work, so I'll keep it quick.

Thanks for all the advice.... everyone gave me something to think about.

Here's what started everything...

I need to get a third air pump to evenly power all the airstones I'm running...

One of the airstones is getting really bad airflow and was getting brown on the roots because of this, I fixed the airflow problem and H202'd that shit.... looking solid now.

So, then I started thinking about removing the airstones by adding more water circulation...

Hmmm, sounds like a half ass Under Current setup, I think I'll run my system the way it is, get another air pump for the airstones and check all the lines daily.

The clog could have been some build up from the last run that wasn't cleaned properly.

I was considering getting the bottom sucking 1500 gallon pump anyways so that I could actually get all the water out of the system when I do a res change, right now, the pump I have leaves a few inches of water.....

Lot's of shit to consider, but adding a higher probability of Flooding is not on my list.

I'll wait, read more, learn more and go from there.

Thanks!

I have extra top drains on my system build to be sure I don't get flooding when the roots fill the buckets.....read "Heath Robinson's latest tree grow" ...and "bigtokes" tutorial.
The top drains allow almost any size pump at any time during the grow!

The only reason I'm retaining the bottom drains is that there is much debate on what water levels should be.

Good luck with what ever you decide in the future and let us know how it goes!

Opinions are like assholes right.... but mine says that in general the higher the flow the fewer problems I experience. The target of changing out each bucket every minute is what I shoot for usually, although that is only really practical on smaller systems, a swap every two minutes though is still a nice rate. Figure 3.5 gallons per bucket you would need about 2000 gph to change them once a minute or 1000gph for once every two minutes. At those flow rates I would think that 1/4" feed lines are on the small side and probably could be larger (1/2"). I feed with 3/4" feed lines going into each bucket, but could probably get by with 1/2" going to the bucket with 3/4" mains.

You are using 3/4" drains so it might be better to stay close to the 1000gph mark. I run 1" drains when I go for 1 minute swaps.