Blumat auto watering

[LeeROI]

Replacement "watering heads" are available from Blumat Germany for a euro. No VAT for the USA but shipping is a minimum charge of 28.2€.

 

[rives]

That is the shit's, Marlo. Did you do the bleach thing before you stored them or when you were getting ready? I thought maybe if they hadn't been thoroughly rinsed the bleach might have gotten to them?? Anyhow, check out the following link at Planet Earth - I just ordered another patio kit from them a while ago, and they not only had the best price I could find and free shipping, but I got them in a couple of days. Good luck.

http://www.planetearthhydro.com/products/Tropf-Blumat-Self%2dWatering-System.html

PS - have you checked the Tropf Blumat site to see if there is a service part for the broken piece?

 

[rrog]

I liked Planet Earth Hydro also.

Maybe a warning to us all about the delicacy of these rubber components

 

[Marlo]

Turns out bleach is notorious for tearing up rubber.
I guess you learn something new every day, huh? Hopefully all you Blumat users will take note of my dumb ass mistake and learn from it too.

I tried popping the pieces of the top apart to get to the rubber, but couldn't get it done. At least not easily. Hopefully this hydro store still has em in stock...

 

[rrog]

This is really very good to know. Also, a very dilute bleach solution will kill microbes as well as full strength

 

[LeeROI]

Maybe hydrogen peroxide solution is not as destructive to rubber?

 

[rrog]

Personally I think we're often too focused with killing off microbes. I plan to do a dilute bleach rinse when I'm done cleaning them with soap and water. Maybe a light isopropyl wash instead of bleach, even

 

[Dawn Patrol]

As Marlo pointed out, bleach, pool chlorine, alcohol or other chemical sanitizers will probably degrade the rubber parts of this system pretty quickly.

For sanitation purposes, I'd use an oxidizer. LeeROI mentioned Hydrogen Peroxide, and a straight 3% solution should work fine and leave no residue other than the dead organic matter and that residue can be rinsed away with plain water.

It's pretty cheap at 3%, and if you can find pool (Bacquacil is 27%) or food (35% if I remember correctly) grade H2O2 and dilute it yourself, it's even cheaper.

OxyClean would probably work as well, but I'd be a little concerned about detergent residue as they seem to be adding all kinds of shit to OxyClean these days.

 

[ak-51]

I haven't been on the boards for a while, but I'm still putting in work. I just take new precautions when accessing the site, and those precautions limit my opportunities to connect.

Anyway, I had my first blumat failure a few days ago. Sediments had collected in the drip line and were plugging it up. I'm guessing it was at the pinch point, but I can't say for sure. I noticed that I could open the valve all the way up and water would barely run out, not only that but I had to close the valve pretty much all the way for it to stop dripping too fast. I pulled the carrot out and I could see an air bubble in it when I turned it on its side.

I think I've decided to do some regular preventative maintainence on blumats whenever I have them running:
1. Remove and clean all 3mm drip lines. Opening the valves all the way up once in a while, like I had been doing, didn't seem to be enough to stop that one from clogging.
2. Pull carrot and inspect for any air bubbles. It's pretty easy to see air bubbles through the light green plastic.

After detecting my failed unit I inspected all the others as well. Some other drip lines had buildup in them. Sometimes just removing the line and blowing through it dislodged some sediments. With the failed unit, I had to remove the drip line and massage it under hot water to eventually get out all the sediments.

I should have been able to notice that the unit was bad prior to that day, since the valve way much tighter than the rest of them. At that point it was basically functioning as a regular dripper, on one constant setting; this allowed it to continue watering the plant for some time after it was broken. The amount I probably had adjusted that valve over time should have been a clue to me that something was wrong, but I don't remember anything standing out until that day. Luckily the damage was very minimal. There are a few wilted and yellow leaves, but it's not nearly as bad as it could have been.

I wonder if there's some way I can put a filter into my system that will not clog it up.

 

[rrog]

AK, remind me if your using liquid ferts in your res?

Nice to hear from you also!

 

[sunnydog]

Bleach.........

Bleach.........

Turns out bleach is notorious for tearing up rubber.
I guess you learn something new every day, huh? Hopefully all you Blumat users will take note of my dumb ass mistake and learn from it too.

I tried popping the pieces of the top apart to get to the rubber, but couldn't get it done. At least not easily. Hopefully this hydro store still has em in stock...

Absolutely. Big Bummer.
Those bleach tabs for the toilet tank will destroy the flush flapper, also!

 

[sunnydog]

I wonder if there's some way I can put a filter into my system that will not clog it up.

Been thinking along those lines myself.....

 

[sunnydog]

For sanitation purposes, I'd use an oxidizer. LeeROI mentioned Hydrogen Peroxide, and a straight 3% solution

Do not use an oxidizer. Bleach,chlorine, and H2O2 are powerful oxidizers that destroy plastics, rubber, etc.(and us, think anti-oxidants).

I would use nothing but water.
Possibly a tiny bit of white vinegar to remove hard water build up, if this is a problem.

 

[Grizz]

That is the shit's, Marlo. Did you do the bleach thing before you stored them or when you were getting ready? I thought maybe if they hadn't been thoroughly rinsed the bleach might have gotten to them?? Anyhow, check out the following link at Planet Earth - I just ordered another patio kit from them a while ago, and they not only had the best price I could find and free shipping, but I got them in a couple of days. Good luck.

http://www.planetearthhydro.com/products/Tropf-Blumat-Self%2dWatering-System.html

PS - have you checked the Tropf Blumat site to see if there is a service part for the broken piece?

thanks for that link,

 

[Marlo]

Got some replacement tops locally.

Absolutely no bleach this time. Hopefully I can get em hooked up in a day or 2.

 

[Herborizer]

I don't have problems. I use Canna Coco A/B and Drip Clean. Blumebastic in flower. Each of my 30gal res have two airstones each. They run 24x7. A single 1/2 inch flexible tubing from my res to my flood table. On my flood table the tube is made into a circle with a T fitting. I use those little connectors punched into the circle of tube, to connect the 3mm lines.

In my VEG/Flower tent I use 2gal Smart Pots with Coco.

NO ISSUES. EVER.

In my mother tent I use 1gal Smart Pots with Coco. The only problem I have from time to time is dialing in the blumats in this tent. I believe that the 1gal smartpots are just a solid root now from my year+ old mothers. I bet if I root trim them, they would go back to normal mode where it's super simple to dial-in the drips. Not that its complicated now, as I always shoot for 1% run-off. If I over drip it just goes onto the table. My tables drain so it doesn't matter. It just wastes a very small amount of nutes.

Don't forget, between rounds to bleach out the lines. Helps a ton. I went over 6 months in my mother tent without a single bleach run. Zero overruns.

 

[Herborizer]

Ow yeah, let me just add. I just harvested my 3rd round since switching to Blumats.

Not a single deficiency through the entire grow. No mildew no mold. No bugs. Perfectly SHINY green/purple leaves from clone to chop. Last two rounds I did just under 1gpw. This round is drying, but if I eyeball its looking about the same or more. Roots are always the best I have ever seen. Roots grow so thick and white. They poke out of the smartpots.

Blumats are the bees knees. Yes there is a learning curve, but ICMAG isn't growing for dummies either. Have a flood table and shoot for 1-3% constant run off and things should be great.

 

[walindour]

^ yep - I agree. I am starting my second run but have only been running plain water. No nutes at all yet and I have roots growing through the sides of my smart pots for the first time. I thought I was giving them a bit too much to drink with the Blumats but the plants I am getting ready to flip to 12/12 looks as healthy as hell.

 

[Wiggs Dannyboy]

Blumat Posts With Valuable Advice/Pointers

Blumat Posts With Valuable Advice/Pointers

Howdy Blumatters...

I'm about to purchase some Blumats, so I wanted to make sure I proceeded with as much info about them as possible. I filtered this thread for all of Sunnydog's great, advice-filled posts. And if he didn't offer the advice, he always seemed to quote other posters when they contributed something of value. I probably didn't get every single helpful post in this thread, but it should be helpful to those who are planning on using this fucking great watering system.

Without futher ado....

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

Official diagram of a feed line “loop”:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=3840765&postcount=70

Precautionary measures when using Blumats:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=3758073&postcount=62

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=3874646&postcount=75

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4040308&postcount=111

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4074202&postcount=118

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4296195&postcount=135

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4602945&postcount=173

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4627841&postcount=184

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4743271&postcount=196

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4743314&postcount=198

Great Multi-Advice post:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=3838590&postcount=68

Regarding the supply lines:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4092574&postcount=123

Making dial adjustments:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4302060&postcount=137

Using panda mulch:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4511201&postcount=161

Blumat components:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4627665&postcount=182

 

[walindour]

^ damn Mr. Robbins, sorry....Wiggs, nice job on the condensing. This is a hell of a thread and you deserve a medal for combing through. Good stuff right up there.