Is it OK? DWC Rez - Dehuey

[Chris P Bacon]

My tent is 1.5m sq and I have a 100l rez and 20l per day dehuey.

Is it OK to run the discharge hose of the dehuey back to the rez? I will be doing a KISS nutrient program and will be adding back daily to keep EC steady.

Currently with everything off the ambient RH is in the 70s.

Personally I don't foresee any issues feeding back what is essentially distilled water to the system but thought I would ask the knowledgable people here.

Thanks all.

 

[I'mback]

My tent is 1.5m sq and I have a 100l rez and 20l per day dehuey.

Is it OK to run the discharge hose of the dehuey back to the rez? I will be doing a KISS nutrient program and will be adding back daily to keep EC steady.

Currently with everything off the ambient RH is in the 70s.

Personally I don't foresee any issues feeding back what is essentially distilled water to the system but thought I would ask the knowledgable people here.

Thanks all.

No! It will mess your reservoir. I use my de-huey water but, I empty the bucket in my 45 gal drum in the garage for later use and, use that to water my girls.

 

[Chris P Bacon]

Just out of curiosity, how would it effect it, something to do with pH?

 

[I'mback]

I suggest you do some reading if you plan on growing. It will affect not only your PH but, your EC and PPM

 

[SeriouslySilly]

I’ve never disassembled a dehuey so don’t know what the guys are, but if it has copper (like an AC) don’t do it... the water will pick up copper and who knows what else.

JMO.

 

[Chris P Bacon]

Thanks I'mback, thanks also for the suggestion on the reading.

From my limited understanding and I am sure you will let me know where I am going wrong, isn't PPM is just a conversion of EC depending what meter one is using? So I am not sure why you said EC and PPM.

I didn't think that the dilution of the reservoir would make much difference due to being filled using the "add back" method on a daily basis.

Having actually given it some thought now it is clear that the distilled water, which would probably be around pH 7 would effect the rez, not so much in veg when the plant mass is lower and the RH is higher but in flower the plants would be transpiring more and the dehuey would be working harder and it would be a lot more time consuming and harder to keep control of the rez. I think I will drain it off as you suggest.

Interesting point SeriouslySilly, the model I have is a compressor type and, I would assume, has a metal condenser. I have no idea but I can't imagine that enough metal particles are sloughing off to make much difference. There could be certain biological bodies that might be introduced to the rez, which would be best avoided.

Anyway thanks for the feedback.

 

[Mr. J]

Imback doesn't really help, he just likes to talk and tell people to read. I think you have it figured out better than him at this point anyway. Personally, I would do like you said you were going to do and then see if it did cause any issues. I don't think it will be a problem.

 

[Chris P Bacon]

Thanks Mr J, your message prompted me to look in to this a bit further.

I just visited https://rechneronline.de/chemie-rechner/ph-dilution.php and used the calculator to calculate the effect on a solution of 80 units at pH 5.6 mixed with 20 units of pH 7 water (my rez being 100l and at max I don't see the four plants drinking more than 5l per day each) and was surprised to see what little effect it had on overall pH, it went up a measly 0.097. I am pretty sure the calculator won't be 100% accurate but even if it is off by a factor of ten, it still won't move the needle 1 point.



In light of this new information I think I will feed back to the rez and if any issues do arise I can deal with it as and when.

 

[pongster]

hey bro,
so the dehuey will be adding pure water (0 ppm) back to the reservoir?

the only thing that i can come up with is, if your reservoir has EC 1.3 pH 5.8 for example, adding more water will cause to have lower EC and perhaps different pH... then on humid days you can end up with underfeeding perhaps? ime, only a real test will tell you how much change you'll have, an internet calculator is nice guideline, but it's not reality.

not sure if i'm clear...

i'd leave the reservoir alone, and use that water for something else; not that it will cause devastation in your grow, but i'm lazy and prefer not to overcalculate... =)
cheers

 

[Chris P Bacon]

Cheers pongster, it is my laziness that doesn't want to deal with the dehuey water.

The dehuey only has a 3l tank and a 20l per day removal capacity. I don't want to be having to keep opening the tent during lights on/off to empty the tank, at full load that would be seven times in 24hr, of course I can drain to another container though so that's a moot point really.

The pH calculation is not a back of the envelope calculation for me, as it involves logarithms, which makes sense seeing as pH is a logarithmic scale. Being so it also makes sense that a quarter volume of pH 7 liquid would have little effect on a more base or acid solution.

As I mentioned earlier I will be using a add back method of topping the rez, therefor the EC will be reset on a daily basis.

I guess I can monitor what is happening in the rez as greater and greater quantities of recycled water is added to the rez and adjust from there.

The other concern will be the temperature of the sequestered water and how that will effect the overall rez temp.

Good points, keep them coming.

Cheers.

 

[I'mback]

Cheers pongster, it is my laziness that doesn't want to deal with the dehuey water.

The dehuey only has a 3l tank and a 20l per day removal capacity. I don't want to be having to keep opening the tent during lights on/off to empty the tank, at full load that would be seven times in 24hr, of course I can drain to another container though so that's a moot point really.

The pH calculation is not a back of the envelope calculation for me, as it involves logarithms, which makes sense seeing as pH is a logarithmic scale. Being so it also makes sense that a quarter volume of pH 7 liquid would have little effect on a more base or acid solution.

As I mentioned earlier I will be using a add back method of topping the rez, therefor the EC will be reset on a daily basis.

I guess I can monitor what is happening in the rez as greater and greater quantities of recycled water is added to the rez and adjust from there.

The other concern will be the temperature of the sequestered water and how that will effect the overall rez temp.

Good points, keep them coming.

Cheers.

be smarter than the pot. My dehuey is outside the tent I used to recirculate my air back in, but this added an extra 6-8 degrees to the tent, in the summer time this is simply not suitable . So I suck from the top, and discharge in my lung room (air conditioned) via a charcoal filter. Works like a charm and, as intended.

 

[PurplePotion]

I would consider the cleanliness of the dehu itself, and test the water just to make sure you don’t have something funky in it. My main concern would be molds, funguses, mildew.. that kinda stuff. I’ve seen some pretty nasty drains on dehu’s before. You don’t want that junk possibly ending up in the res. I’d be more apt to do this with a brand new unit than one that’s run its paces.

 

[Chris P Bacon]

Cheers guys.

Ya the dehuey is new so should be clean for now.

I guess I would like to have it outside the tent but I have two tents in the same room so it would kind of throw off different veg/flower schedules. My place is pretty well insulated and the summers here are pretty bunk anyway so excess heat should not be too much of a problem.

I am thinking for now just to get a 15l container to drain to and empty it as needed. In flower I can do it at lights on and off, I would be a little surprised if the dehuey could even remove 20l per day as advertised. At least that way I can keep a keener eye on the rez.

 

[PurplePotion]

Cheers guys.

Ya the dehuey is new so should be clean for now.

I guess I would like to have it outside the tent but I have two tents in the same room so it would kind of throw off different veg/flower schedules. My place is pretty well insulated and the summers here are pretty bunk anyway so excess heat should not be too much of a problem.

I am thinking for now just to get a 15l container to drain to and empty it as needed. In flower I can do it at lights on and off, I would be a little surprised if the dehuey could even remove 20l per day as advertised. At least that way I can keep a keener eye on the rez.

Honestly, if you have a sink, sump pump well or any real drain close by you can save yourself some headache down the road. You’ll forget/won’t be able to empty it one day and bam, overflow. As nice as it sounds to recycle the “clean” water it’s just not worth it IMO. Run a line to the drain and be done.

 

[Chris P Bacon]

That would be easiest but it won't work in my situation as the drip discharge is only 29cm off the floor and the closest sink or toilet is higher than that, which will cause the water to back flow into the dehuey.

 

[I'mback]

Honestly, if you have a sink, sump pump well or any real drain close by you can save yourself some headache down the road. You’ll forget/won’t be able to empty it one day and bam, overflow. As nice as it sounds to recycle the “clean” water it’s just not worth it IMO. Run a line to the drain and be done.

... only if the overflow switch is KAPUT! and I have never had one that did fail, even when 10+ years old. Then again there is always Murphy's law I suppose.

 

[I'mback]

Cheers guys.

Ya the dehuey is new so should be clean for now.

I guess I would like to have it outside the tent but I have two tents in the same room so it would kind of throw off different veg/flower schedules. My place is pretty well insulated and the summers here are pretty bunk anyway so excess heat should not be too much of a problem.

I am thinking for now just to get a 15l container to drain to and empty it as needed. In flower I can do it at lights on and off, I would be a little surprised if the dehuey could even remove 20l per day as advertised. At least that way I can keep a keener eye on the rez.

The top hose sucks from the top of the tent. The front hose discharges via a charcoal filter that is sitting on top of the tent. As dehumidifying air increases air temp by 6-8 degrees (owners manual)

BTW, although I drain my "house de-huey" sometimes twice a day (summer) here is the maritimes (it has a capacity of 60l) this one never needs to be emptied and normally doesn't run, with the exception of the 1st day I water my plants. The bucket on the 60l has a capacity of 7l measured I couldn't find the data on bucket size in the manual and, I no longer have the box it came in. This one I would guess 1gal