Blazeoneup's Recirculating Dwc Construction Tutorial!

[Technique]

i tried using full strength at first, but i lost a plant dew to other reasons so i was only left with two..

i've just flushed now and i mixed up full strength, let it all go into the controller and i was left with about 1/4 volume left in the res.. i'm going to leave it 1/4 full for now and watch the ppm/ec over the next week or so..

 

[theblack]

i tried using full strength at first, but i lost a plant dew to other reasons so i was only left with two..

i've just flushed now and i mixed up full strength, let it all go into the controller and i was left with about 1/4 volume left in the res.. i'm going to leave it 1/4 full for now and watch the ppm/ec over the next week or so..

Technique is this your first grow with a rec. DWC?

 

[Technique]

This is my first solo one, but i have been helping a friend for a few years with his. converted him from soil ughh!! haha

also i've done just straight dwc a few times also..

My friends system is a little different from this, i tried to convince him to do it with buckets. but he couldnt find any in time.. so he is using huge tubs with 2 plants in each.. however he mixes full strength in his res all the time..

 

[wannagethigh]

If my starting water is 200ppm and I want 1000ppm of fert. would my final reading be 1200ppm to adjust for the water or would it be a final reading of 1000ppm? Thanks for all the fert. guidelines for DWC!

 

[Technique]

1200ppm..

on canna it says to add the values ontop of your water value

 

[ynot-llat]

Simple question, does the pump in the controller for the feed lines run 24/7?

 

[robertmarley]

yes

 

[ynot-llat]

I'm having a very hard time drilling the return hole in the buckets.

I keep getting a small leak from the hole.

I've ruined about 4 buckets now, does anybody have any advice for me?

Its hard to hold the bucket still while drilling the hole, as the drill kind of goes all over the place until you get a nice groove into the bucket for the drill to sit on.

Any advice please help icmag community.

 

[plumpm0nkey]

hole saw & water glue

 

[ynot-llat]

hole saw & water glue

What is water glue?

any examples on ebay?

 

[Raphael]

What is water glue?

any examples on ebay?

I got a male and female adapter, put the male on the inside of the bucket with home made rubber seal from osh, you can buy rubber in sheets 1/4" thick.

 

[thirst4knwledge]

tryingit

tryingit

I am going to build this system in a couple months but I'm banging out the details until then so I get this thing built properly. Anyone trying increasing the feedline to the buckets to 1/2'' (instead of using the 1/4'' barbed fittings and 1/4'' line to the buckets) all the way and increasing the size of the drain line to 1'' with a stronger pump like 350gph or so? Also I plan on using rooted clones, but I might use seeds. Is there any other DIY system I can use to get the seeds grown to the point where I can put them in the RDWC system? First time grower but I have an insatiable thirst for knowledge that I trust will get me to a positive end result. Any experienced growers out there willing to take me under their wing for a sec, thanks for the help.

 

[Raphael]

I'm using a 750gal/hr 1/2" feedline from the bottom, as you can see in the pic above.

 

[theblack]

I'm using a 750gal/hr 1/2" feedline from the bottom, as you can see in the pic above.

Raphael the 1/2 inch line on the bottom of the bucket is your feed line? If so, how do you drain your system every week or so in order to get fresh nutes in there? When you turn off your feed pump, do all the nutes start flowing back into the controller?

Could you post a picture of the whole system. Id like to see how you have hooked up the return/feed lines.

 

[ynot-llat]

I got a male and female adapter, put the male on the inside of the bucket with home made rubber seal from osh, you can buy rubber in sheets 1/4" thick.

Hey what do you mean by use rubber from osh?
I need to get my bucket water tight like yours.
THansk man.

 

[Raphael]

Raphael the 1/2 inch line on the bottom of the bucket is your feed line? If so, how do you drain your system every week or so in order to get fresh nutes in there? When you turn off your feed pump, do all the nutes start flowing back into the controller?

Could you post a picture of the whole system. Id like to see how you have hooked up the return/feed lines.

Yes, the 1/2 inch line on the bottom bucket is my feedline. I don't drain my system every week or so, just once per grow. I have beneficial bacteria from using Bio Bucket theory as well as using the Lucas formula GH 0-8-16 from veg to harvest. When I turn off my feed pump, the nutes most definitely start filling up my res. It takes 30 minutes for it to fill up my primary res before it hits the overflow tube that will fully contain my 40 or so gallons in an additional res that's in my room.

 

[Raphael]

Hey what do you mean by use rubber from osh?
I need to get my bucket water tight like yours.
THansk man.

I bought a 1 foot by 2 foot sheet of rubber that is 1/4 inch thick. I bought it from Orchard Hardware Supply.

From that sheet of rubber I cut out a circle big enough to fit the piece of pvc I was using.

Instead of buying an expensive bulkhead I bought a male and female adapter of the diameter of 1.5 inches and used the male part to stick through the hole of the bucket to screw into the female part that was outside of the bucket. I used teflon tape on the male thread and that and the rubber seals up real nice.

Now, that is just good for a hole in the top of a bucket. I had a 1.5inch sump hose that I needed to connect to it. So, I got a 1.5inch straight to male threaded adapter and used pvc primer and cement to cement it into the other hole of the female adapter that is on the outside of the bucket. Then I just clamped the sump hose onto the male thread was cemented into the female adapter and there ya go.

My chiller and emergency res:

The drain bulkhead;1.5" male to 1.5" female to 1.25" male

 

[theblack]

Yes, the 1/2 inch line on the bottom bucket is my feedline. I don't drain my system every week or so, just once per grow. I have beneficial bacteria from using Bio Bucket theory as well as using the Lucas formula GH 0-8-16 from veg to harvest. When I turn off my feed pump, the nutes most definitely start filling up my res. It takes 30 minutes for it to fill up my primary res before it hits the overflow tube that will fully contain my 40 or so gallons in an additional res that's in my room.

That looks like a rec. DWC on steriods comapred to the one on this tuturial. What prompted you to do it this way? Did you have problems mainting your water table? or did you just want to replenish the nutes in the buckets like a hundred times an hour?

I just built my first rec. DWC alomst exactly like Blazeonup's but I have had issues with some buckets not draining fast enough. Apparently Im getting air pockets that restricte flow. Once I notice the nute level in some of the buckets are too high, I squeeze on the 3/4 returns lines around the affected buckets and they go back to their correct levels after a couple of minutes.
A real pain in the ass becuase its hard to get in the jungle cause I'm scrogging. In a few more days im going to have to put on fatigues and go under the canopy like GI Joe. lol

 

[Raphael]

That looks like a rec. DWC on steriods comapred to the one on this tuturial. What prompted you to do it this way? Did you have problems mainting your water table? or did you just want to replenish the nutes in the buckets like a hundred times an hour?

I just built my first rec. DWC alomst exactly like Blazeonup's but I have had issues with some buckets not draining fast enough. Apparently Im getting air pockets that restricte flow. Once I notice the nute level in some of the buckets are too high, I squeeze on the 3/4 returns lines around the affected buckets and they go back to their correct levels after a couple of minutes.
A real pain in the ass becuase its hard to get in the jungle cause I'm scrogging. In a few more days im going to have to put on fatigues and go under the canopy like GI Joe. lol

The water exchanges around 10 times an hour I would estimate. I fill from the bottom of the bucket and drain from the top to prevent stagnation as well as to prevent the roots from clogging the drain. The reasoning being that the roots won't grow up into the drain; we'll see if I'm right. They also have their own air line and air stone in each bucket. I wanted to be sure I hit the saturation point of DO in the water, since I only have 8-10" waterfall into the control res.

Excited to veg for a month and scrog 'em up.

Sounds like you need to either get bigger drain diameter or something to get air into that drain tube so it'll flow nice.

Cheers

 

[theblack]

The water exchanges around 10 times an hour I would estimate. I fill from the bottom of the bucket and drain from the top to prevent stagnation as well as to prevent the roots from clogging the drain. The reasoning being that the roots won't grow up into the drain; we'll see if I'm right. They also have their own air line and air stone in each bucket. I wanted to be sure I hit the saturation point of DO in the water, since I only have 8-10" waterfall into the control res.

Excited to veg for a month and scrog 'em up.

Sounds like you need to either get bigger drain diameter or something to get air into that drain tube so it'll flow nice.

Cheers

Dude i just noticed you are using clear air lines inside and outside your buckets. Unless your going to paint them, sure looks like plenty light is going to get in there.