intake/ light trap/ sump cooler & sump all in one idea

[disfunktional]

well i did a lil looking around and found out what is on the inside of coke cans. its a thin plastic liner. now, how do they getit to stick? and how do i do it? is it cheap enough to do? il have to look around some more tomorrow. on the right path anyways. peace

 

[disfunktional]

a quick question. what are the reasons that make aluminum not useable? would it work if it were anodized?

 

[ScrubNinja]

G'day bro I been so busy with a pest problem. This is some good research you're doin'

Aluminum from containers goes readily into solution at pH levels around 5.0 or lower. Excess aluminum can damage root and leaf cells, but it's primary effect is inhibition of P to the top of the plant.

Now, I guess it depends on how you interprate that statement, and I dunno, it's just a dude saying that but that's a thread I found earlier when this question came up. In my case, my nutes are mixed at 5.8ph, and it rises after that. So it could perhaps not fuck you over too bad, but still, that's a fine line to tread for such an important thing. Not too sure your plant knowledge but P is what it's all about in flower! Do I sound too cautious? I mean I can guarantee my nutes will never get near or below 5.0, but no way in hell would I even use an aluminium spoon to mix my nutes. It's probably becoming obvious that metal in general is not a good thing to have in contact with salty nutes.

I spent some time in a town where aluminium was mined and every goddamn thing was made out of aluminium so I am used to it being around. There is a tendency to think that it doesn't rust, but it will, it just looks different. Even alum exposed to rain water outside will rust (oxidize I think). It gets a fine powder and the surface is no longer shiny smooth.

I'm not sure you're aware but over the years there have been some serious health scares with alum. According to my brief research I got the impression these have technically been disproven, but I am just not too sure if I would trust that. The only aluminium I like is the tinfoil around my head.

I'm liking the idea of coating the alum. There must be some kind of spray or something. I'll let you know if I find anything cos I would love to know a product like that too. I have seen products mentioned on here where they used stuff to seal the whole bottom of cabs etc to waterproof it, but I'm not sure if that was safe for nutes to be sitting in 24/7. I think it was blue if that helps (lol)

 

[disfunktional]

lol i dont think your being too cautious at all. the oxidatation was what i thought the problem would be, but i wasnt aware of what it would do to the plants. with any luck il get to do some more looking around this weekend. im going to look a lil harder into anodized aluminum. i skimmed through some info on it lastnight and i think that it might work. i also want to look into podwer coating of some sort. im sure that theres something out there. not quite sure about the blue water proof product that you mentioned, my guess is that its probably toxic. thanx again bro.

 

[disfunktional]

hey Scrub i found a site that has coatings for all metals that are non corosive. i requested some of thier brocures on their products, they're free. so hopefully there will be something in there that will work and will be relatively affordable. i found it here on this site.

 

[disfunktional]

i think that iv found a more promising site.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Those look very promising indeed! Man, I didn't even think about powder coating. Can you do it to aluminium though? Anyway, good luck with their info and let us know what you discover. Sadly I don't know much about anodizing. But you're definitely on the right track.

 

[Mk3Jetta]

sounds interesting.

but wouldnt you be pumping 'heated' air into your grow chamber causing the temps to raise in there? Or would it not even be that noticeable?

 

[disfunktional]

i dont think that it would e noticeable. once the sump reaches its constant temp it should be cool air blowing into the cab. in theory anyways, lol. im going to be building it out of acrylic first to see how well the air flows before i dump money into building it out of aluminum.

 

[Buster Brown]

Sorry if you already covered this, but what about stainless steel? i have a few large sheets of this stuff, been lookin for somethin to do with it .......

 

[disfunktional]

Aerohead maybe building his next sump out of stainless for his wine fridge build. if hes going to build one out of stainless then its got to be safe.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Found this if it helps:

What makes Stainless steel rust?

not all stainless steel rusts those degrees of stainless that are followed by numbers in the 400-500 range have iron in them to give strength and therfore rust to a small degree.

Also found this:

Stainless steel can lose its "stainless" properties due to the weld process. The welding should be done cold and slow. If it gets too hot, the alloys can seperate out and you will have RUST at the weld interface.

 

[slowandeasy]

Using any kind of metal as a rez is a very bad idea. As stated before, it will screw up your pH and could rust. Why even take the chance? I know your cab is custom, but dont use metal. I would hate to see you build all that and fail because of an experiment. Good luck.

 

[disfunktional]

Found this if it helps:

What makes Stainless steel rust?

not all stainless steel rusts those degrees of stainless that are followed by numbers in the 400-500 range have iron in them to give strength and therfore rust to a small degree.

Also found this:

Stainless steel can lose its "stainless" properties due to the weld process. The welding should be done cold and slow. If it gets too hot, the alloys can seperate out and you will have RUST at the weld interface.

thanx Scrub

Using any kind of metal as a rez is a very bad idea. As stated before, it will screw up your pH and could rust. Why even take the chance? I know your cab is custom, but dont use metal. I would hate to see you build all that and fail because of an experiment. Good luck.

hey slowandeasy iv worked very extesnively with stainless and there would not be any worries of rust. stainless is my secondary option, aluminum being the primary. however its only if the acrylic one works, but if the acrylic one works and keeps the temps low enough then there would not be a need to try either of the metals. its all just fun experimenting/fabricateing for me. if it works then great!! if it doesnt then o well. either way we all will learn something from this.

thanx for stopping in guys!! il be ordering the acrylic with in the next three weeks and beginning construction of the sump.peace.

 

[slowandeasy]

Even if it does not rust, metal can mess with your pH. It could work, but I have never seen a metal rez...hmmm wonder why?

 

[disfunktional]

for the aluminum res in question will be coated so there wont be a problem with pH interference.

let me clear something with anyone wondering why im doing such a drastic fab all around. i wont be able to smoke for another two years due to my job, so theres no hurry for the build to be completed. that being said, since theres no hurry for the build to get done and i enjoy building things and i dont like the kiss way of building things may look way over done or a waste of time. if you feel this way then i apologize but i dont feel that way its going overboard that i enjoy. i amy stumble across something that may be a great find or i may build something that is completely useless to everyone but the garbage man. either way i enjoy what im doing and i will continue to try different things.

 

[disfunktional]

a question regaurding the size of the sump. would 5.2 total gallon capacity be sufficient? im trying to cut down the heigth of the sump for extra clearance. i was looking over some other DWC threads a it hit me, their useing 5 gallon buckets. the place where i think the problem comes in is the total heigth will be 6" from base to top. is this enough room for the root growth? or should i stick with 8" of heigth?

 

[disfunktional]

Finally may see some progress on the construction of the sump. Just got finished ordering the acrylic plexi glass that I will need. Il post the pics of the assembly as soon as I receive the plexi glass and get to work on it. Lets keep our fingers crossed that this idea will work. idk time will tell.

 

[Ac|dRa|n]

solid idea

solid idea

I will be watching this project as it unfolds. Best of luck to you!

 

[disfunktional]

Ok I finally have gotten started on the sump and I would say Im around 1/2 way finished. Heres a few pics of the progress. The first shot is of the inner piece which will be the sump. It starts out with the 3/8" floor and a 1/4" wall



this is a shot of the outer shell



and heres a test fit of the outer shell in the mini fridge