Blumat auto watering

[rrog]

There's a bit of dicking around you have to do to get the feel of it, but once dialed in I haven't really had to make adjustments over the course of weeks. I still like to purge the line once in a while just as a check, I guess. It's not like I actually see air being purged.

I also have my main supply line up higher than the small feed lines. The thought being that any bubbles might rise, and find their way to the larger supply line. I also have one end of that supply line higher than everything else so bubbles might keep rising and find their way to that ultimate high spot. I have a little valve there to purge. This is my second grow with this pipe elevation and I will continue to.

ALSO: I mentioned earlier that I use the distributors. I dig em. I also like the overly-expensive stakes that are used to hold them. They are solid and allow me to set the distributor on a slight angle so the cleanly drip rather than drizzle down the stake. I like to see a clean drip.

 

[greenmatter]

i went with the elevated supply line too, and made sure the entire run has a steady drop from the supply bucket, past the ladies and to the flush valve. i used 1/8" barbs fittings to tap into the 1/2" supply line instead of the 5/32" barbs because you can punch the holes in the poly pipe with one of the punches you buy at home depot ........... i did some testing before i committed to this and had a 100% success rate with 30 barbs. ZERO leaks!!!! the 3mm supply line is kind of a bitch to attach to the 1/8" barb though, so if you are going to use the connect the 3mm hose to the barb BEFORE you put the barb into your supply line.

there are cool people at kent systems! they know their web site kinda sucks but if you pick up the phone and talk to them they are all about helping you out. colorado is a med state so i would not be too worried about them getting you on any lists

the only thing in my system that is original blumat equipment are the blumats themselves (duh right?) and the 3mm supply line. spend $40 on barbs and you will have a lifetime supply.

much easier than the endless dicking around trying to find parts all the time IMHO

 

[Peacefrog]

Don't listen to the haters

Don't listen to the haters

I have to admit that I get pretty annoyed with people hating on Blumats. Maybe Blumats aren't for everyone but they certainly fill a niche for growers like myself that are looking for ways to not be slaves to their plants' feeding schedules.

Sure there are gotchas but the basic premise is get it set it to the proper wet/dry cycle and then leave it alone. Sometimes it is going to drip like crazy and others time it will be like watching paint dry waiting for it to drip. Don't mess with it if the pot isn't getting too light or too heavy. There isn't a magical time interval to attain between drips - it doesn't work that way. RTFM & RTFT!!!

Runaways happen because of two main reasons - air bubbles and setting the Blumats to water too wet to shut off before the pot floods. A third reason I guess would be doing stupid shit like knocking the Blumat out of the pot and not noticing until the next day - been there, done that, won't do it again. Don't do any of these things and it won't be a problem.

Water pressure won't be a problem either if the bottom of the reservoir is plenty high in ratio to the length of the feed line. A cheap plastic resin shelf stand purchased at your local big box store is an easy way to get your reservoir 5 or 6 feet off the ground. Keep in mind water weighs 8 pounds a gallon and pay attention to the maximum weight load of the shelf. Don't let the water level get so low as to allow air to get into the line and if you disconnect the reservoir for maintenance you have to assume air is entering the feed line. In that case you have to bleed the line of air bubbles past the last carrot at the end of the line or you will have problems.

I've been running Blumats for a year and a half now through several grow cycles with a wide variety of strains and I can't see myself changing the way I get liquid to my plants. I keep messing with what I feed them but I will never go back to hand watering past seedling/clone stage. I've just got better things to do with my time.

All hail the great king Tropf of Blumat!

 

[rrog]

I think the bubbles are the arch nemesis. Public Enemy #1 in Blumat land. I make an effort to let a bucket of water stand for a couple days, with the BMs soaking in it. A lot of air bubbles will come out of solution during that time. I see that as air bubbles that would have been released inside the carrot.

I use a small plastic syringe and while the carrot parts are underwater I blow the air off them. Waaay down at the bottom of the max carrot, as inside the brown cap, up near the top where the little membrane is... air hides in there. Air that comes out of solution inside the carrot will essentially lower the pressure on the feed line, which is the same as unscrewing the little top valve. Then you get runoff. I make the effort to let that air out of solution.

 

[heady blunts]

what caused me the most runaways when I was a blumat newb was allowing too much fluctuation in the res.

ie---don't wait till it's almost empty before refilling.

when I upgraded to my constant pressure res I stopped having problems.

 

[rrog]

What's happenin Heady?

 

[greenmatter]

what caused me the most runaways when I was a blumat newb was allowing too much fluctuation in the res.

ie---don't wait till it's almost empty before refilling.

when I upgraded to my constant pressure res I stopped having problems.

there is so much information in this thread that it's hard to figure out what i borrowed/ stole from who, so giving credit where credit is due is a bitch ........

......... but the rez system i used was 100% based on what you did with your set up heady. THANKS MAN! i might have gotten there on my own eventually but it would have taken years and countless disasters to get me there.

if you are not working with the blumat pressure reducer or a really large system than IMHO heady's rez system (or something based on it) is as good as it gets!

and i have to thank the guys who who laid down the groundwork that got heady thinking about it in the first place ....... combined effort is an amazing thing

 

[heady blunts]

if you are not working with the blumat pressure reducer or a really large system than IMHO heady's rez system (or something based on it) is as good as it gets!

and i have to thank the guys who who laid down the groundwork that got heady thinking about it in the first place ....... combined effort is an amazing thing

hey thanks GM. and +1 on thanking everyone who contributed to my education on this thread: gdbud, wasntme, reves, lazyman, lap, and of course sunnyd, and I'm probably leaving out some peeps.

rrog- I've got a seed run still vegging in my cab. work has been crazy busy, this was supposed to be a winter crop but I prob won't harvest till July lol. oh well! at least I got my ventilation upgraded.

I've been updating my cab thread every so often.

 

[sunnydog]

Sunny update;

Sunny update;

Hi.
Haven't been here for a while.

I have left my 30 B-Ms running with pressure reducer only checking every 2-3 WEEKS, NO PROBLEMS!!!
First 2 wks. was laziness, and then I was too scared to look! Put in little cuts, came back to see ~3ft. bushes!(they were looked in on for the first few days to dial in the B-Ms)

AFOM has same results.No floods, no dry-outs. He checks on his,though!

Passive pressure (IE, elevated res.) does not seem to be able to deal with trapped air bubbles in the long 3mm lines, for the pressure reducer, this is NOT A PROBLEM!

Pressure reducer KICKS ASS!

 

[rrog]

I have never used a res with these, only the pressure reducer. I'm very happy. Sunnydog, do you have an auto-shut-off just in case?

 

[sunnydog]

I have never used a res with these, only the pressure reducer. I'm very happy. Sunnydog, do you have an auto-shut-off just in case?

No

 

[McSnappler]

The only thing stopping me using the pressure reducer is my heavily chlorinated mains water.

 

[rrog]

I understand. Sunny and I have wells.

 

[RomulusUSA]

With SD's results using the pressure regulator, I would hope I can achieve the same with use of an elevated self-topping res.

Question, being my water must be stored in my grow room which is about 78*, will I run into issues with the warm water being kept around? I plan to run a water-only soil mix, so it will just be water, and I don't think I will keep more than 5 days of water in the room due to storage capacity and all.

 

[rrog]

Hmmmm... Well, it might, given that you'll not be cleaning out the tank regularly. I don't know. Small dose of H Peroxide?

Scratch that. Bubbles might be bad

 

[greenmatter]

With SD's results using the pressure regulator, I would hope I can achieve the same with use of an elevated self-topping res.

Question, being my water must be stored in my grow room which is about 78*, will I run into issues with the warm water being kept around? I plan to run a water-only soil mix, so it will just be water, and I don't think I will keep more than 5 days of water in the room due to storage capacity and all.

if you are just running straight water why not top of your res with a float valve hooked to your water line. the tap water will be a lot colder than 78*. might help a little

 

[RomulusUSA]

What I was thinking was along the lines of what HeadyBlunts suggested:

View Image

With about a 4gal for the constantly full one, and a 18gal for the topper. If cleaning them regularly is the ticket, can is easy enough. I just hope they won't get gross super quickly. The goal is to be able to go out of town for 5 days without needing any attention period, but at this point, I don't see a way without a water line feeding the blumats, and I am a bit scared if I had a flood and was out of town. Thankfully my buddies can stop by at take a look at them when I'm out of town, but automation is sweet!

if you are just running straight water why not top of your res with a float valve hooked to your water line. the tap water will be a lot colder than 78*. might help a little

That is 100% what I want to do, I'm just scared about it running away... I could even do away with the res in that case, however, it scares me a bit! The volume of water...

 

[rrog]

You have chlorinated tap water?

 

[rives]

The goal is to be able to go out of town for 5 days without needing any attention period, but at this point, I don't see a way without a water line feeding the blumats, and I am a bit scared if I had a flood and was out of town. Thankfully my buddies can stop by at take a look at them when I'm out of town, but automation is sweet!That is 100% what I want to do, I'm just scared about it running away... I could even do away with the res in that case, however, it scares me a bit! The volume of water...

You could use the leak detection/water shut off system that Rrog has going. You could also use the system to activate something to send you a text message in case it trips. The answer to inadequate automation is more automation!

 

[rrog]

We want more!