stealth sealed room for own consume

[unnamedmike]

Welcome Dots, good to see you around

Looking forward to the grow monitor tutorial. Great work unnamedmike.

Thanks Chris for sure, i'm close to finalize a useful version. The irrigation part is not finalized yet, now the controller is just a over designed timer.

 

[unnamedmike]

My old water pump lack in pressure, and now with 24 micro pipes to feed, is not enough. I buyed a new one, 1/2 hp 375w and 8 meters of suction. This is my first water pump of this kind, can some one help me please? its mandatory the suction pipe filled (red "line"...70 cm) before turn on the pump for the first time, or the pump feed the pipe be him self when start working ?

Unfinished aerocloner. Perfect new work for my old water pump. Waiting for the water sprinklers.

I have 90% success rooting cuttings from mature plants in cococoir, but my success rate with young plants is a bad joke, 50% if im lucky. Traditionally an aerocloner + sanitation + h2o2 do the work.

 

[Iamnumber]

My old water pump lack in pressure, and now with 24 micro pipes to feed, is not enough. I buyed a new one, 1/2 hp 375w and 8 meters of suction. This is my first water pump of this kind, can some one help me please? its mandatory the suction pipe filled (red "line"...70 cm) before turn on the pump for the first time, or the pump feed the pipe be him self when start working ?

I would say 'YES'.
there is the brass/copper colored bolt with big flathead bolt.
open it, that is/ should be the place to pour water.


you need to fill the pump chamber AND whole of red line. best way to do this depends on your setup and what can be done.


perhaps:
1) block the end of red line with strong plastic bag & gaffa tape, cord etc. co that when you pour water in it stays within red line and fills it up.
2) when filled. (small airpokets/ bubles are ok) close the the bolt.
3) end of redline (under water), (cut) open the plastic and turn pump on. water should stay within as replacement air cant get in.

4) remove all plastic etc from step 1.


ps. thet pump is quite heavy duty and quite noisy. If you take steps to reduce noise, make sure you allow for ventilation as to avoid overheating (depending on operating cycle )

 

[repuk]

Wow Mike!

Thanks for these threads! loving them, building my grow room at the moment.

I went the raspberry path previous year but even while I enjoy embedded sys working, the Pi and rest of pieces were not very reliable.

Then I discovered LoRa. Ready made arduino devices like the Dragino LHT-65, are hard to beat for the price versus sourcing and assembling yourself.

Mikrotik has cheap and really robust LoRaWAN ready devices.

This year I'm mixing that with Smart sockets and IFTTT/TTN. Once I have that working, I'll look into using my own chirpstack server and program automation on my own.

So far is soo convenient controlling/monitoring/programming all electrical appliances from my cell phone (Smart Life app for now), I'm loving it.

 

[repuk]

I'm reading the thread but not sure about what's that black thingy?

Also regarding the black "distributors" (manifolds?), that house the irrigation tubes to the pots, are those floraflex? (loved how you 3D printed your own pot caps!)

Back to reading

 

[unnamedmike]

I would say 'YES'.
there is the brass/copper colored bolt with big flathead bolt.
open it, that is/ should be the place to pour water.
you need to fill the pump chamber AND whole of red line. best way to do this depends on your setup and what can be done.
perhaps:
1) block the end of red line with strong plastic bag & gaffa tape, cord etc. co that when you pour water in it stays within red line and fills it up.
2) when filled. (small airpokets/ bubles are ok) close the the bolt.
3) end of redline (under water), (cut) open the plastic and turn pump on. water should stay within as replacement air cant get in.
4) remove all plastic etc from step 1.
ps. thet pump is quite heavy duty and quite noisy. If you take steps to reduce noise, make sure you allow for ventilation as to avoid overheating (depending on operating cycle )

Thanks a lot Iamnumber. Your instructions are very welcomed. That's explain why some irrigation systems that im seeing have a ball valve next to the water intake.

 

[unnamedmike]

I'm reading the thread but not sure about what's that black thingy?
Also regarding the black "distributors" (manifolds?), that house the irrigation tubes to the pots, are those floraflex? (loved how you 3D printed your own pot caps!)View Image
Back to reading

Thanks for the kind words Repuk. The black thing is a solids filter. No Floraflex stuff, all home made or bought at the hardware store or 3d printed in some cases. The manifold i remember they was very cheap, 3 bucks each one and here all is expensive or very expensive. I uploaded the pot cap files here. 11 pieces each 1kg filament spool.

Wow Mike!
Thanks for these threads! loving them, building my grow room at the moment.
I went the raspberry path previous year but even while I enjoy embedded sys working, the Pi and rest of pieces were not very reliable.
Then I discovered LoRa. Ready made arduino devices like the Dragino LHT-65, are hard to beat for the price versus sourcing and assembling yourself.
Mikrotik has cheap and really robust LoRaWAN ready devices.
This year I'm mixing that with Smart sockets and IFTTT/TTN. Once I have that working, I'll look into using my own chirpstack server and program automation on my own.
So far is soo convenient controlling/monitoring/programming all electrical appliances from my cell phone (Smart Life app for now), I'm loving it.

please share your progress. Im just using arduino and the nextion mcu touch screen. But im gonna need a upgrade if i want remote video implemented in to the controller.

 

[repuk]

Superslick and ultraneat setup! thanks for the killer pictures, a pleasure to browse this thread!

Don't have a 3D printer yet in my arsenal, but guess there should be online printing services...

The pot caps are grrrreat!

I'll share my progress... you can count with that!

This thread helped me inmensely!

 

[unnamedmike]

After a security issue, im been forced to keep all the plants inside my tiny room, the growing ones too... The first step was clean the wall where i gonna make the veg closet. Blooming plants at left, multi purpose shelves in the center and the now empty space at right, gonna be the new closet. The shelving is unfinished and the pump still unplugged, but i need to do a ride to the hardware store before continue.

 

[unnamedmike]

The new pump, now is part of the irrigation system. Now there is a T and a ball valve in the pump intake, that able a easy manual fill when the intake pipe is empty. I added too a check valve to keep the pipe filled when the pump stop.
At the beginning of this round, i removed the filter mesh, because i thought "that stuff need too much cleaning" Today i cleaned the three manifolds because they stopped working ... Now i have a proper water flow from every microtube. Anyway im gonna remake the pipes circuit that are holding the manifolds, using 1" pipes instead the 1/2" ones. Im gonna need more outlets in future seed selections. SOG.

 

[unnamedmike]

i've been using the irrigation for some days, and i don't like it. The manifolds are a design joke, 8 * 1/4 outlets, and a 1/2" intake ... every outlet speed is different even between same manifold outlets.
The manifolds are perfect clean, and the pump is enought, then i think im gonna switch the 3 manifolds 1/2" pvc pipe, by 1" pvc with rubber plugs for the microtubes.

For the next round, Ive planned a SOG. Years back, i use to do "big" plant selections in small spaces. I love to breed, but do that in indoor is too expensive.
I think i can put 5 rows of 8 plants under my 700w led light, if all are the same strain or not too diferent. There is a lot of weed to try and the life is too short.

Old pics. Mostly hp#13 crosses.

 

[repuk]

Power Draws?

Power Draws?

I was wondering, was the power draw of your inverter mini split?

Been shopping/designing for extraction/intake/scrubbing and I end up with a 1086m3/h RVK (156W @220VAC) + a 341m3/h (67W) for intake.

Adding the circulation fan (34W) makes a total of 257W at full blast, around 1A @ 220VAC.

All of the inverter mini splits I've researched are like 4A... but you stated you hope to reduce the electric bill? even if you were running your fans at 125VAC figures doesn't match for me?

Obviously for sealed room there's no other way to go than a mini-split, I'm not going for sealed.

 

[repuk]

Irrigation

Irrigation

I'm also still looking for the perfect irrigation system.

This is what I use:

With inline filter from the reservoir pump.

16mm standard irrigation tube, closed loop, with microtubes ending on a self-compensating regulable drippers.

This works nice in the sense all provide the same amount of flow; so for hungrier plants I just add more drippers.

But... still I find it not convenient, specially to disable a dripper, or to add more.

Have some Jaco style quick fittings for 16mm, but they're outrageously expensive.

But realized RO quick fittings (6mm), water mist systems quick fittings (10mm) are really cheap; found also conefast fittings, which are also cheap and sport 10mm/6mm sizes (see attachments)

This one is available with 10mm main line, and 3x6mm... the idea is being able to repurpose the dripping lines in a snap without tools; I usually prefer to be able to reprop my plants around the flowering room vs having a fixed dripping system and tailor plant distribution around them.

 

[unnamedmike]

I was wondering, was the power draw of your inverter mini split?
Been shopping/designing for extraction/intake/scrubbing and I end up with a 1086m3/h RVK (156W @220VAC) + a 341m3/h (67W) for intake.
Adding the circulation fan (34W) makes a total of 257W at full blast, around 1A @ 220VAC.
All of the inverter mini splits I've researched are like 4A... but you stated you hope to reduce the electric bill? even if you were running your fans at 125VAC figures doesn't match for me?
Obviously for sealed room there's no other way to go than a mini-split, I'm not going for sealed.

The mini split dont work 24/7. Is in a sealed room and varely turn on. The fans are/was 110v, the ministplit run at 220v. My lamp is dimmed for efficiency, anyway never get too hot at 100% now that run at 220v instead 110v. My circulation fan is a 110v one, here all work at 110v, i need to order online a new 220v fan... and a 220v dehumidifier.

 

[unnamedmike]

I'm also still looking for the perfect irrigation system.
This is what I use:
View Image
With inline filter from the reservoir pump.
16mm standard irrigation tube, closed loop, with microtubes ending on a self-compensating regulable drippers.
This works nice in the sense all provide the same amount of flow; so for hungrier plants I just add more drippers.
But... still I find it not convenient, specially to disable a dripper, or to add more.
Have some Jaco style quick fittings for 16mm, but they're outrageously expensive.
But realized RO quick fittings (6mm), water mist systems quick fittings (10mm) are really cheap; found also conefast fittings, which are also cheap and sport 10mm/6mm sizes (see attachments)
View Image
This one is available with 10mm main line, and 3x6mm... the idea is being able to repurpose the dripping lines in a snap without tools; I usually prefer to be able to reprop my plants around the flowering room vs having a fixed dripping system and tailor plant distribution around them.

Looking great what pump are you using ? do you have same flow in every outlet ? or the water flow need to be regulated in every microtube ?


As i already say, for my next round im gonna do a SOG ... 1l pots, like a rockwool grow, but using cococoir, not sure yet how to water or what kind of system use. I need move the plants freely until they start blooming, different strains.

 

[PurplePotion]

My house has 110v or 220v. The change to 220v is for savings in electric bill, at 220v is half cost and less cable thickness is needed (Amps = Watts / Volts) Watts law.

The same light running on 110v vs 220v is going to draw the same amount of power (watts), aside from small differences in the ballast/driver which are typically very minor (+/- 1-2%). When you pay for electricity, you pay per Kilowatt hour(watts used), not per amp or volt.

Enjoyed reading through your thread! Keep up the good work

 

[unnamedmike]

The same light running on 110v vs 220v is going to draw the same amount of power (watts), aside from small differences in the ballast/driver which are typically very minor (+/- 1-2%). When you pay for electricity, you pay per Kilowatt hour(watts used), not per amp or volt.
Enjoyed treading through your thread! Keep up the good work

Thats not 100% correct, at 220v you got a lower resistance. at 110v the same device is generating more heat that the same device at 220v. 110V appliances are limited to about 1200 to 1500 watts.

 

[PurplePotion]

Thats not 100% correct, at 220v you got a lower resistance. at 110v the same device is generating more heat that the same device at 220v. 110V appliances are limited to about 1200 to 1500 watts.

Minor differences in the heat you are referring to. We’re talking 1-2% like I mentioned before. You’re not going to save 50% on your power bill by just switching from 110v to 220v, that’s the point I’m trying to make. The other details are minutia in terms of total power consumption that aren’t worth arguing about.

 

[unnamedmike]

Minor differences in the heat you are referring to. We’re talking 1-2% like I mentioned before. You’re not going to save 50% on your power bill by just switching from 110v to 220v, that’s the point I’m trying to make. The other details are minutia in terms of total power consumption that aren’t worth arguing about.

My electric bill and ohm dont think like you. My growing area have a dedicated 220VAC line, 20 meters- far from the breaker circuit, wire 8 awg. Leds 1000w, mini split and dehumidifier, fans, etc. Before install the minisplit, the 8awg wire use to be warm. Now with the minisplit installed, and the lights at 220v the wires dont feel hot when touched, and my electricity bill is 33% lower, +-. Here is "funny", the more you spend, higher cost each kW/h.
Anyway no matter how they charge your bill, if you are running more than 1500w at 110v, you are wasting electricity too. How do you calculate that 1%-2% ? from what i know, that depend of many variables to be calculated correctly, if you dont know the variables.




EDITED: I totally agree with you that i dont gonna cut in half my electric consume just switching from 110 to 220. My apologies, i expressed myself wrong and exaggerated. I reduced my bill near to 50% making some improves, switch to 220 was one of this, but not the only one

 

[PurplePotion]

With 220v, you’re splitting the load between two wires (110v, 180* out of phase, meaning the peak of each current’s sine wave occurs at the other’s bottom, which allows the current to continue flowing through the alternate hot wire as it would a neutral in a 110v configuration). You’re still drawing the same amount of power. This is why the wire used to feel hot and now it doesn’t.. you’re running half the load through that same wire(@110v).. and the other half through an additional hot wire (@110v). The small percentage I speak is primarily based on power factor. Look up the specs for a Meanwell HLG-240 driver (most common led driver I know of). Here you will see a 3% difference in power factor. These drivers actually run more efficiently at 110-115v than they do at 220-230v.

POWER FACTOR (Typ.)
PF≧0.98/115VAC, PF≧0.95/230VAC @ full load