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RDWC 3" Drains 3/4" feeds in 5 Gal Buckets

greenwithenvy

greenwithenvy

Active member
Veteran
Hey everyone I've been a little busy lately on the new website but I haven't forgot about ya. I've also been building this amazing new system. Here's some pics. Today the pump gave out before I could even put the elbows into the buckets. I have aerators from faucets on the end of elbows to be put on the end of the feed lines. The drain lines are 3" PVC with these kick ass UNISEALS. Soon to be available from our website. PM me for that. Any way my question today is "What size pump should I use for my feed lines now. I was thinking something outside the res to reduce heat and make my chiller work a little less. Thanks for your input guys. GWE


 
S

St3ve

Member
Looks like a nice setup. Are you having any issues with the uniseals leaking with those 5 gal buckets? I've hear that its near impossible to get it leak free.

Anyway.. if thats an 8 site then I would shoot forsomething at 750gph or over.
 
greenwithenvy

greenwithenvy

Active member
Veteran
Thanks for showing up St3ve. I did have a issue with the uniseals sealing so i just siliconed the inside and out of the buckets real good. I had one leak after the silicone but all fixed up now. Do you think that the 750 gph is big enough?
 
hazydreams

hazydreams

Active member
Personally i would shoot for something in the 1200gph range. I have a 750 running my small rdwc and honestly i would like more gph for more flow going to each bucket. just MHO.
 
greenwithenvy

greenwithenvy

Active member
Veteran
Yea my whole reason for makeing the 3" drains was to get extreme water pressure to aerate it. I would like to see some other systems with large pumps so I can get the right one.
 
Hydrosun

Hydrosun

I love my life
Veteran
I am not sure about the size of the pump that you should use. It looks like you have a nice 8 zone set up. I think it is going to be important to get the water pressure even through out the 8 sites. With a large enough pump and unequal distribution you could have a flooding problem, but those 3" drains look awesome and it would be really hard to flood with that kind of drainage / water level equalization.

I think your system could benefit from using a double bucket.




The advantage of using the double bucket is that it is very easy to move plants into and out of the system. Also the bucket with holes keeps any hydroton from falling into your system, though you should still use a filter for the pump to get rid of broken down hydroton and other solids that accidentally find their way into the mix.

I can't wait to see this grow.

:joint:
 
cyat

cyat

Well-known member
Veteran
Looks nice! at least 250 gph per bucket. I like the sink aerators
My 2cents. put a tee on the res pump for aeration, valves on all buckets to equalize the pressure as hydrosun said. I would also use sqaure bottom tubs for no leaks and put the buckets in those, and have return pipes instead of bucket to bucket.
 
hazydreams

hazydreams

Active member
Ok so you have (8) five gallon buckets. for a total of 40 gallons. at 10x turnover per hour assuming no pumping losses thru the piping (there will be a ton) your going to need a 400 GPH pump. But with the elbows in the feed, long lengths of piping, valves to equalize the buckets and the aerators, your looking at a major pumping loss. I would shoot for close to 30x turnover per hour with the pump and theoretical figures and you might get around 15x per hour in the real world. that equals out to a 1200gph pump.

In my instance, I have two square buckets with bottom feeds and bio bucket style returns 2 1/2" below the top of the buckets. I used a 750gph pump and was worried it might over run the outlet. Silly me i forgot that the head pressure created by the bottom feeds would cause significant pumping losses. I should have a theoretical 75X turnover in my system. But with the manifold, check valve, equalizing valve and the head pressure im probably closer to around 25-30x.

just my .02

keep em green.
 
DutchBoy

DutchBoy

Member
hazydreams said:
Ok so you have (8) five gallon buckets. for a total of 40 gallons. at 10x turnover per hour assuming no pumping losses thru the piping (there will be a ton) your going to need a 400 GPH pump. But with the elbows in the feed, long lengths of piping, valves to equalize the buckets and the aerators, your looking at a major pumping loss. I would shoot for close to 30x turnover per hour with the pump and theoretical figures and you might get around 15x per hour in the real world. that equals out to a 1200gph pump.

In my instance, I have two square buckets with bottom feeds and bio bucket style returns 2 1/2" below the top of the buckets. I used a 750gph pump and was worried it might over run the outlet. Silly me i forgot that the head pressure created by the bottom feeds would cause significant pumping losses. I should have a theoretical 75X turnover in my system. But with the manifold, check valve, equalizing valve and the head pressure im probably closer to around 25-30x.

just my .02

keep em green.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree.
 
greenwithenvy

greenwithenvy

Active member
Veteran
Thanks guys for all the input. I have another system I will be using for veg. Its my flower room now. I have 1" drains and 1/2" feeds and if I T the feed line before they go down each side it seems to equal out the pressure and all feed lines enter each bucket at the same time for the most part. I had a Little Giant submersible pump that was hooked up and its rated at 1450 gph. It was working ok with all lines flowing evenly into each bucket untill it died on me. Thanks again for all the input and I look forward to more of it. GWE
 
greenwithenvy

greenwithenvy

Active member
Veteran
Hydrosun nice to here from ya. I like the double bucket idea I just wonder if the inside bucket would hit on the elbow feedline. Thanks

Dutchboy I went with a 1500gph pump ill try to get pics up soon. But now I think the 3" seals are leaking, at least there leaking when the pump is on and when theres a flow through them. maybe its condensation? lol I may have to go square buckets?
 
hazydreams

hazydreams

Active member
i did bio buckets for a long time and i have to tell you that there was no answer to the leaking using the circular bucket. i used silicone and hot glue and epoxy. i finally settled on permatex which is used for engines and could not confirm if it was safe to use. either way; when i did get them sealed it was a couple month fix at best. If you knocked it or twisted it at all during cleaning or regular maintenance it would start leaking.

Permanent fixes are not necessarily cheap fixes.

Square buckets and DIY PVC bulkhead fitting are the answer.

Just say NO to Drips. D.A.R.E - Dripping apparatus resistance education.
 
greenwithenvy

greenwithenvy

Active member
Veteran
Thanks Alot for showing up gettogro it would be very easy to just switch to the square buckets. Ill be doing that for sure. Will I need to silicone also or will the flat surface be good to go?

Hazy thanks for that. Square buckets it is.

Hey Stussy nice to see ya.
 
CannaBunkerMan

CannaBunkerMan

Enormous Member
Veteran
I had a setup like this, but the uniseals leaked with the buckets. I bought heavy duty bulkhead fittings from usplastic, and they worked like a charm. A little expensive, but reusable and won't ever break.

Edit - Oh. Look above, someone beat me to it. I used the heavier duty version of those, and they work great.
 
CannaBunkerMan

CannaBunkerMan

Enormous Member
Veteran
greenwithenvy said:
Thanks Alot for showing up gettogro it would be very easy to just switch to the square buckets. Ill be doing that for sure. Will I need to silicone also or will the flat surface be good to go?

Hazy thanks for that. Square buckets it is.

Hey Stussy nice to see ya.
Click to expand...

Square buckets vs round buckets don't make a difference with the uniseals. Been there, tried that.
 
greenwithenvy

greenwithenvy

Active member
Veteran
canna r u saying that even with the square buckets they will still leak?

budshot those fittings from us plastics are way to expensive. If I were to buy 16 of them it would be $1024 bucks and thats for the $64 dollar ones. The pvc ones are $110 a piece. Where do you get the cheap ones that seal.
 
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