How to fully automate reservoir top offs!

[little-soldier]

the reason I said you dont have to worry about water level is because you seem to have that covered already but you didnt mention anything about the ppm and ph which is just as importent as the water level. the ph swings alot in the last weeks of flowering

 

[Lazyman]

Ah I gotcha, I think just because of their size the two reservoirs seem to stay pretty stable in regards to ph and ppm, even temps rarely fluctuate by more than 2 degrees (range is 68-70* even when it gets hot outside.)

 

[little-soldier]

do you have anything cooling your water or do you simply live in alaska ,)

 

[grady]

 

[Lazyman]

do you have anything cooling your water or do you simply live in alaska ,)

Nope no chiller, 75' of buried garden hose keeps the water nice and cool, and the reservoirs sit on a big concrete slab so they usually stay between 68 and 70*F, just about perfect.

 

[grady]

were is the garden hose buried what do you mean? Pics if you can! thanks-grady

 

[Lazyman]

were is the garden hose buried what do you mean? Pics if you can! thanks-grady

Well, I grow in an outbuilding behind my house, so I used the closest spigot, trenched a 8" deep line to the side of my building, laid the hose in, covered it up, and drilled a hole in the side of the building to put the hose inside. Put a potted plant or woodpile in front of it and it disappears. No pics, nothing to see anyway!

 

[ItsGrowTime]

I like your style. R+

But your name is misleading. You're doing a lot of work in advance to allow you to be "lazy" later. How many growers actually bury 75 feet of garden hose??

You're "ForwardThinkingMan", not "Lazyman". Big difference. Looking forward to more of your ideas.

 

[Lazyman]

I like your style. R+

But your name is misleading. You're doing a lot of work in advance to allow you to be "lazy" later. How many growers actually bury 75 feet of garden hose??

You're "ForwardThinkingMan", not "Lazyman". Big difference. Looking forward to more of your ideas.

Aw thanks man, I do live by the motto "work smarter, not harder." Do it right the first time so you don't have to keep messing with stuff, and keep it simple and low-maintenance whenever you can. I have a regular full-time job and a big place to look after, various critters and whatnot, normal life like everyone else. I just wanted try and ensure that anything that needs to be done regularly is automated (within reason.)

Some things I have skipped so far, like automated Ph dosing, but the list of things I haven't automated is getting pretty short!

LOL, about that garden hose, I just noticed a freakin gopher gnawed on a spot (heard it hissing.) Be sure and check your lines, room, building, whatever on a regular basis (i do mine twice a week) looking for light leaks, smells and odd noises. Better for you to find it than ANYONE else!

 

[JohnnyToke]

very nice setup Lazyman!

I run rdwc too and have recently installed an auto topoff to my rez system using a $13 float valve off ebay which is hooked to one of my RO outputs.

The other RO output goes to a 35 gallon HD Rubbermaid tank which also stays full controlled by a float valve. I use this one for misc water for moms, clone system, drinking water refills etc.

I did mine a little different but with same result which is full reservoirs at all times. it saves me from having to manually topoff everyday. My PH has been alot more stable since going to the auto topoff.

JT

 

[Lazyman]

very nice setup Lazyman!

I run rdwc too and have recently installed an auto topoff to my rez system using a $13 float valve off ebay which is hooked to one of my RO outputs.

The other RO output goes to a 35 gallon HD Rubbermaid tank which also stays full controlled by a float valve. I use this one for misc water for moms, clone system, drinking water refills etc.

I did mine a little different but with same result which is full reservoirs at all times. it saves me from having to manually topoff everyday. My PH has been alot more stable since going to the auto topoff.

JT

Cool deal, I used to have a similar setup on an RO, but it was sooo slow I had to leave it on all the time. Does yours turn off during flood cycles or does the brief "float valve open" time not add much water?

 

[Warpainted]

What's the easiest way to make a water pump come on for 15 to 30 seconds every other day? I haven't found a timer that could come on for that little of time with settings for different days.

 

[Capn]

there are digital timers that are programable to do such things warpainted. look at wallyworld or the such.

 

[Coco4Coco]

Great info Lazyman... I am going to set similar up for mine to top off res's
I am always for making it simple... I have a bad back ... so less work daily the better.

 

[Lazyman]

Great info Lazyman... I am going to set similar up for mine to top off res's
I am always for making it simple... I have a bad back ... so less work daily the better.

Glad you liked it, I agree! Anything that you're doing by hand on a regular basis ought to be looked at for ways to automate. Oh, and welcome to IC!



You ever see how they harvest grapes? I bet a little modification and you could have the picker dump right into a Centurion or something, spitting out trimmed buds out the back into a hopper, just imagine harvesting acres of buds with a giant combine-type machine, lol

 

[Raphael]

Glad you liked it, I agree! Anything that you're doing by hand on a regular basis ought to be looked at for ways to automate. Oh, and welcome to IC!



You ever see how they harvest grapes? I bet a little modification and you could have the picker dump right into a Centurion or something, spitting out trimmed buds out the back into a hopper, just imagine harvesting acres of buds with a giant combine-type machine, lol

Your grow and whole setup is pro, very nice Lazyman. My dream is to have a vineyard, but not. A budyard, or ganjayard, or greenyard, etc. I could totally use something like that haha. Sweet, cheers

 

[Nute burn]

NIce thread lazyman, thanks for the info. I was wondering if you had this setup with dwc, wont the roots foul up the float valve and make it not shut off?

 

[rambam]

Lazy, you da man. Getting back on the subject of automating using sprinkler controller and automatic inline valve - that was a super helpful pointer. But how can you incorporate some kind of float sensor in the res that interrupts the 24VAC current/signal from the controller to the valve that's filling up the res? I was thinking of using one of the Chicago sensor set-ups a la OgreSeeker's DIY Ebb-N-Grow Tutorial, with a similar relay switching the 24VAC current to the valve on and off (or at least OFF, ON should be dictated by the timer already) based on the float sensor position? Any thoughts?

 

[Lazyman]

Hey guys, thanks for keeping this thread alive and spreading the word! Most of us work too hard on silly time-consuming things.

With DWC yep I'd worry about that too, I think you'd probably need to switch it to RWDC and have 1 central res/controller (I converted my 25 bucket Ebb and Grow to RDWC) and this kept things much simpler, easier to plumb one thing than dozens. If you used a small enough float valve you would probably be fine though. I've bent float arms 90* to keep them from dragging on hoses and pump cords, worked fine.

Rambam, great question. Yes, you could absolutely wire an electric float valve inline with the power supply for another valve if you wanted to go that route (MIGHT even work for a DWC bucket)

My ebb and grow controller came with 4 electric float valves plumbed in to the timer (for both pumps) so I got lucky and was able to use that for a myriad of plumbing projects over the years, but yes, I think you're on to something and that's a good idea!

I use one of the sprinkler valve setups on my pet rabbit cages too, so when it goes over 88*, the regular home aircon thermostat closes, allowing the ground leg of the 24VDC power supply to get to the valve and kick on a mister array. Works like a champ!

If you need something similar without a transformer, Farmtek sells 120V AC shutoff valves too, some with hose ends even. A regular timer on one of those would also do the trick for some projects/scenarios.

 

[sirripalot]

hey lazyman, based on your comments..do you turn off your pumps during night time?