Drip on coco...

[smurfin'herb]

I hate drippers. i use 2gph and i have and inline filter and change it every other day. they still clog!! i made a manifold perfect and i still didnt get equal water distribution without drippers, so thats why im using drippers cuz theyre pressure compensated. Anyone have any suggestions for me on this one as how to apply a system like this without the hassle of clogging? I cant believe a company would sell such a shitty poduct. How people with thousands of plants in greenhouses deal with this issue? You couldnt just go searching every day thru thousands of plants and fixing dripper heads, it would be too inneficient. I was thinking maybe an extra inline filter but if the particles are small enough to fit thru the first mesh, they will probably flow thru the second mesh cuz its the same micron grade. Any advice on open ended 1/4 tubing and manifolds is appreciated but any advice u have is welcome too. and yes ive seen pico's stuff. my design is pretty much the same exact. thx guys.

 

[DEDHEDFRED]

Hey Smurfy.......Pressure compensated drippers........What a fukin joke........Next thing they`ll be pushin is clog-free drippers.......No such animal.......

Get a bigger pump and install a ball valve in front of your filter before the juice hits the manifold......

The valve will letcha "choke down" the feed to where equal flow and pressure to each plantsite will be attained and the furthest plants can get the same flow as the closest.....with open end driptubing that is.......

The biggest problem with large manifolds is the volume they hold before getting to the 1/4" open end driptubing plus there`s no restriction with open ends so no pressure can be built up to allow equal flow without a bigger pump to push the juice.........

That`s why the furthest tubes drizzle and the closest ones blast...Are all your tubes the same length......If not that can pose a problem as well......If ya have any probs understanding this just holler back.........Take care and good luck........

Peace........DHF......... ......

 

[jocat]

check out the 12 head maverick drip feed manifold from raindrip should have 'em at home depot, i have used them with good results, they say there self cleaning, and you can remove the drippers and they won't clog very easily, can chain em together for more plants, JC

 

[stoned teacher]

read through these threads

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=62654&highlight=pico+manifold

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=93529

and i highly recommend these drippers
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=HPMDB

 

[herbal essences]

Get a bigger pump and install a ball valve in front of your filter before the juice hits the manifold......

Do you have a link to one of these so i can check it out? pictures in actions?

also I'm planning on installing extra dripper lines for future plants how can I plug them up or keep water from going through them when not in use?

 

[DEDHEDFRED]

Sorry Herbal.........No illustrations but with a large submersible pump you can add a T directly above the pump and a ball valve above that to help control the flow and pressure to open ended driptubing........

The T dumps juice back into the rez with a waterfall effect as the oversized pump pushes mega gph`s to your manifold where all the drip tubing is in place..........

The ball valve above the T can be opened up or choked down to allow the proper flow to each plant site in the manifold..........If you use vinyl tubing all you haveta do is punch the holes you need now and install your driptubing......for future holes for more plants buy the professional hole punch tool instead of plugging holes just punch em when you need em.....Hope that helps.........

Peace........DHF............. ..........

 

[globel]

use a smaller pump and no reducer just straight tube.

 

[smurfin'herb]

DHD, im not understanding the idea of the tee? and where do i get a ball valve? are those the pvc things with the red turn handles on them? And isnt the whole idea of making a manifold for even water distribution?

 

[smurfin'herb]

Anyone have experience with 1/8 inch spaghetti lines? i would think that since they are so small that they would have some kind of max flow rating that could not be exceeded. Kind of like pressure compensation in a sense. And the blue drip stakes that have a basket around them, are they pressure compensated or do you have to build a manifold for even distribution? And back to one of my original questions, how do greenhouse ppl get around the clogging issue? thx

 

[jocat]

you didn't check out the maverick 12 head dripper i mentioned, i think you would likey it, you can run 1/8th tubing or 1/4, adjust flow, plug unneeded drippers, mix and match different drippers to control flow, remove drippers to increase flow and STOP clogging, should check 'em out......j

 

[DEDHEDFRED]

Sorry Smurfy......Forgot about this one..........

The T and ball valve are "before" the manifold to choke down the flow and pressure to get equal juice amounts to each plant site.......

And yeah......ball valves are the lil red handle thingies that can control how much flow the pumps pushing out and the T just lets the overflow go back into the rez with a waterfall effect adding dissolved O2...........

I`ve not seen the maverick dripper jocat , but there can`t be anything easier than open ended 1/4" driptubing on a closed loopfield/manifold........

Hope you figure it out Smurfin......Peace.......DHF........ .......

 

[smurfin'herb]

dhd, can i use your same concept but without the tee and still be fine? i have an airstone in my rez for oxygenation if that is what the purpose the tee was for (still confused on that)... Anyway what about the spacing for the spaghetti lines.. is it important to have them evenly spaced to achieve equal distibution? or can i have 45 on one side of the manifold and 30 on the other? And to clear this up for me, the purpose of building a manifold is to achieve equal distribution right? you cant get equal distribution with a single hose capped off at the end when using open feed line right? the pressure would have to build up at the end i would think... And manifolds are meant to have only an IN right? Your not supposed to have an outtake that shoots back into the rez am i seeing this correctly? although i could see it possibly working that way. enough of me blabbin, anyone wanna take a shot at those q's. Big points for someone who tells me how greenhouses deal with the clogging issues, cuz i hear they use drippers.

 

[DEDHEDFRED]

Hey Smurfin..........I use the T cuz I`ve got a big ass waterfall pump and lettin a lotta juice blast back into the rez helps the ball valve not haveta choke off so much solution for proper flow and pressure through the manifolds and driptubing to each plantsite..............

There`s a guy at another place that runs straight capped off hosing with open end driptubing and swears by it ..........Works with smaller pumps according to him...........

My biggest thing is having equal spaced outlets and equal length driptubing no matter how close or far away from each plantsite to insure proper juice distribution...........

It does take larger pumps to run loopfields to promote equal feed , so the only wayta find out what works best for your situation is ta run both ways and see which is best for you............That thread`s at the cabana under berryhill`s name in hydro I think where a guy comes in and shows the inline capped off dripper setup so go check it out and it might work for ya...........

The only outlet is through the runoff that either goes back to the rez in a recirculating system or evaporates after feed in Drain to waste systems......Manifolds are "in" only as you said .......No outlet.......

Holler if I can help.........DHF............ ........