# dwc help



## cutthoatish420 (Jan 22, 2009)

anyone got any links to make a badass dwc system........................


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## INTHEDES (Jan 22, 2009)

hydroplans.com has a free bucket system,you can modify 4 your needs.It WORKS


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## Bleek187 (Jan 22, 2009)

DWC is so easy to make you dont really need plans... basicly all U need is some kind of tupperware, a air pump, air line, some air stones, and netpots and your ready..  just figure out how many plants you want in each tupperware, messure out the holes for the netpots, cut tha holes and the top is done... personaly i like to cover the top with black plastic and duct tape it on so no light gets thru... then hook up tha air pump to tha hose to tha stones and throw one in tha bottom of tha tupperware.. then just put your plants into tha netpots and stick um in tha holes you cut out for them.. turn on tha pump and there ya go... the ones i use hold about 10 gals each and i just top them off once a week and adjust the nutes and ph... works great... oh one tip that will help... when you first put the plants into tha dwc, most likely the roots wont be in tha water yet, so i just fill mine up to make sure the water is touching the netpot.. the rockwool soakes up tha water and the roots explode.. The beauty of DWC is the simplicity.


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## Tater (Jan 22, 2009)

I will post pictures of the ULTIMATE DWC project I've been working on.  Hopefully I can get them up tonight, provided I finish working the kinks out of it.  55 gallons of water rushing into a 5 gallon pail all at once creates quite a bit of pressure.  Its leaking out the lid lol, but I got an idea to create a proper seal that I REALLY hope works.  Keep your eyes open kiddies, this is going to be cool.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Jan 22, 2009)

Tater said:
			
		

> I will post pictures of the ULTIMATE DWC project I've been working on.  Hopefully I can get them up tonight, provided I finish working the kinks out of it.  55 gallons of water rushing into a 5 gallon pail all at once creates quite a bit of pressure.  Its leaking out the lid lol, but I got an idea to create a proper seal that I REALLY hope works.  Keep your eyes open kiddies, this is going to be cool.



Can't wait to see it--I am having trouble picturing this in my mind...but it sounds great.


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## pcduck (Jan 22, 2009)

Tater said:
			
		

> I will post pictures of the ULTIMATE DWC project I've been working on.  Hopefully I can get them up tonight, provided I finish working the kinks out of it.  55 gallons of water rushing into a 5 gallon pail all at once creates quite a bit of pressure.  Its leaking out the lid lol, but I got an idea to create a proper seal that I REALLY hope works.  Keep your eyes open kiddies, this is going to be cool.



Is this similar to the Niagara Falls bucket system?:laugh:


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## BuddyLuv (Jan 22, 2009)

Sounds like a soon to be flooded grow room to me


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## 420benny (Jan 23, 2009)

This I gotta see! Got my boots on already, just in case.


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## Tater (Jan 23, 2009)

Flooded with amazing pot maybe.  But not water, the wife made it perfectly clear that I'm not allowed to create an indoor pool.  The lid itself can handle the pressure its just that 5 gallon pails don't come with gaskets so at the moment I am experiencing a very small leakage problem.  Due to unexpected events though the project is being put on hold for a day or two until I get a few things straightened out.  And just to dispel the nay sayers no the problems did not arise in my grow room but out in the real world lol.


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## BuddyLuv (Jan 24, 2009)

Can't you buy roles of DYI gasket at Lowe's? I still see your wife kicking your butt in the near future.


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## andy52 (Jan 24, 2009)

WHY WOULD YOU NEED THAT MUCH WATER FOR.i'd sure hate to have to change that res out.


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## WeedHopper (Jan 24, 2009)

andy52 said:
			
		

> WHY WOULD YOU NEED THAT MUCH WATER FOR.i'd sure hate to have to change that res out.


 
:yeahthat: 

How many buckets ya got hooked up to 55 gallon res? I take it you aint never gonna have to top anything off.


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## andy52 (Jan 24, 2009)

this goes back to my beliefs on dwc.each plant has different needs and if you are doing different strains,thats even more reason to have individualized res's  even the same strain,the plants grow at different paces and have different nute needs.jmo


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## Tater (Jan 24, 2009)

Your opinions are all dully noted (typo made on purpose).

1) the 55 gallon barrel doesn't contain 55 gallons of water at all times.
2) the only water that gets put into the 55 gallon drum comes from the tub.
3) each tub holds 8 plants and 40 liters of water (about 11 gallons give or take)
4) 6 tubs X 40 liters = 240 liters (or about 63 gallons)
E) I'm high
lolz) ok so the tubs are never totally emptied, each one will contain approximately 10-15 litres of water at all times
9) the 55 gallon drum acts as the mixing pot

Time to abondon the bullet points.

The 5 gallon pail is on the floor and is about 8 inch's lower than the tub.  The 55 gallon rez, mix tank whatever you want to call it is above the 5 gallon pail.  Every pair of tubs has a drain/fill line leading to the 5 gallon pail.  It drains and fills on the same line.  Now if the tubs are full then the 55 gallon drum is almost empty with just enough water to create a seal on the flapper valve (toilet tank valve).  The 5 gallon pail remains full at all times because of hydrostatic pressure (hope I'm using the right term here).  There is a pump in the pail that pumps water from the tubs into the 55 gallon rez, once its emtied about 3/4 of the water from tubs a float activates the flapper valve and the water runs from the 55 gallon drum out a 2 inch pvc line and back into the bucket then because of the differnce in pressure (the drum is higher than the tubs) all the water rushes back out the lines and into the tubs.  This works because the pump can't keep up to the pace of the water rushing into the 5 gallon pail.  Once the tubs are full the water level in the drum drops, the flapper closes and the cycle begins again.  This way you get the best of both worlds.  You get a recycling dwc system AND an ebb and flow system.  Each tub has 2 6 inch airstones and at the moment everything is being run by a multitude of air pumps.  In the near future I am purchasing a Coralife SL68 (don't quote me on the model number its off the top of my head) with 8 heads and it moves 68 liters of air per minute.

Every tub has its own individual connector and valve so tubs can be taken out of the sytem or added as needed.  Plus it can easily be adapted to suit a flood and drain table.  Oh yeah and I also got a 12 dollar tank top up valve for a toilet and installed it so that when the barrel drains back into the tubs if the water level drops below my set point it will automagically replenish the water in the system and keep it at a certain level.  This avoids nutrient burn due to the plants transpiring water.  Even if you check your ladies 1-2 times a day they could still cause themselves to burn if they were to say heavily feed while you are sleeping.



> Can't you buy roles of DYI gasket at Lowe's? I still see your wife kicking your butt in the near future.



Thanks for the tip I'll look into that this afternoon.  And I sure hope you are wrong on the butt kicking part.



> WHY WOULD YOU NEED THAT MUCH WATER FOR.i'd sure hate to have to change that res out.



Hopefully the above straightened some of that out and made things clearer for you.  Also changing the res is a simple procedure.  I take the fill line from the res and put it in a drain I installed in my wall of the grow room (yes its plumbed in lol) flip the switch on my pump and in 10 minutes the system is drained and ready to be changed.  Most likely easier than what you do.  I quite literally have take ALL of the physical labor out of maintaining my plants.



> How many buckets ya got hooked up to 55 gallon res? I take it you aint never gonna have to top anything off



6 heavy duty rubbermaid tubs with 8 4" pots in each for a total of 48 plants



> this goes back to my beliefs on dwc.each plant has different needs and if you are doing different strains,thats even more reason to have individualized res's even the same strain,the plants grow at different paces and have different nute needs.jmo



True but you can always find a balance that keeps everybody happy.  Just because your plants CAN handle more nutrients does not mean that they NEED more nutrients.  I've seen quite literally THOUSANDS of bedding plants of differing varieties, strains, hell species doing very well all being fed from the same trough if you will.  I'm automating my system for three main reasons.
1) the challenge
2) because I can
3) it will result in healthier plants and bigger harvest in the long run.

Now after all that, if anyone has anything constructive to add I'm all ears.

PS Sorry for jacking your thread new dude, but it kinda answers your question to lol.


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## pcduck (Jan 24, 2009)

tater said:
			
		

> Now after all that, if anyone has anything constructive to add I'm all ears.



I am having a tough time following this 

Do you have it going from a 55 gallon drum to a 40 liter tub then to a 5 gallon bucket  Would there be any chance that the roots would clog the drain and fill lines and valves?


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## andy52 (Jan 24, 2009)

thats why everyone has their own preferences.if it works for you,so be it.i personally would not want to take a chance on 50+ gals of nutrient solution leaking,unless i had it in an area with a floor drain.hell,i had a 5 gal bucket leak in my tent and it was a mess.plus water and elec. have a way of disagreeing with each other.good luck on this venture.i'm not ragging you,just commenting.


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## Tater (Jan 24, 2009)

Thats the only way I took it andy52.  If I quit everytime someone told me I couldn't do something I wouldn't be here lol.

PCDuck:

Think of the 55 gallon drum as a mixing tank.
If the tubs are full the mixing tank is empty
If the mixing tank is full the tubs are empty.
It just constantly cycles the water between the tubs and the tank ensureing a good solution mix.

The line that drains the tubs is also the line that fills them, so it shouldn't clog because if it clogs on the way out the pressure on the way back in would clear the line, plus I got filters on them all (pantyhose).  Also there is never enough water in the system to completely fill the tubs at anytime so the risk of flooding is low.  The only way it could happen is if I had a line break or the seal on the 5 gallon pail fails.  But because I'm aware of the issue I will address it before it becomes a problem.

think of the 5 gallon pail as a controller.  It has the pump inside of it and three drain lines hooked to it.  Each line is connected to two tubs.  When the flapper is closed on the barrel gravity pulls water from the tubs to fill the bucket.  The pump in the bucket pumps water up a line to the top of the barrel.  When the barrel hits the drain mark the flapper opens and the water goes into the 5 gallon controller pail and gravity forces it back into the tubs.


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## andy52 (Jan 24, 2009)

sounds like this will be a very efficent system.good luck and keep us posted with some pics.


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## Tater (Jan 24, 2009)

I'm hoping so.  No guarantees but if it works the way I see it in my head it will be awesome.  I'm sure I will ahve a few hiccups along the way.

I understand the pessimism, it dosen't bother me, in fact it's the opposite.  You have all raised valid points and forced me to think more on the issue which is a good thing.  Nothing like having another 30 sets of eyes check over your work.


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## pcduck (Jan 24, 2009)

Oh ok now I get it. was confused didn't realize the 5 gal was like a controller....That would be nice to have something self-sufficient for a few days...good luck


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## Tater (Jan 24, 2009)

PCduck: I'm shooting for total self sufficeintcy.  The next step once I can afford it is an evironment controller and doser that can be hooked up to a pc and programed.  This is only the first step.  My dream is to have it totally automated from start to finish, all I need to do is harvest, clean the tubs, put in new plants and start the cycle again.  The system would drain itself once a week, refill itself, and add all required nutrients  on its own all while constantly monitoring ph drift and ppm levels.


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## pcduck (Jan 24, 2009)

I just had a thought....If you are going to go that far and program  your grow from pc/laptop. Just might has add a few cameras with zoom and monitor those on your pc/laptop too. A picture is worth a thousand words..Then you could do a grow from anyplace...Wait am I thinking they probably already do that...


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## Tater (Jan 24, 2009)

I got all kinds of crazy dreams my friend.  The only thing that worries me about cameras is that they could possibly be viewed by an outside party.  If I did set up cameras they would only be accesible internally on my own network and locked to the mac id of a single device.  Even that could be circumvented but the chances are very small.  Anything networked to the outside can not be considered secure as the only secure computer is one that is shut off   Setting up a camera connected to the controlling PC in the room would be cool though, you could do a time lapse of the grow, how neato would that be.


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## Tater (Jan 28, 2009)

System = complete.  No leaks and flood proof.  I'll start a new thread this afternoon after some clean up.  Found my camera, got a memory card for it so pictures shall be forthcoming.  Look for the thread in the hydroponics section.  Don't think I'm going to do a how-to on this one but if the interest is there I could.  I'll do my best to explain it though.


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## JBonez (Jan 31, 2009)

tater, while i personally think that you could run a much more efficient or simple hydro setup like a standard e&f setup, I must say that your description of what you are wanting to create sounds all too exciting! Keep us up to date on your progress.


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## 84VW (Jan 31, 2009)

cutthoatish420 said:
			
		

> anyone got any links to make a badass dwc system........................



i messaged you with a link


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## Tater (Feb 1, 2009)

JBonez, the system has been running without a problem now for 4 days, one pinhole leak has presented itself.  Proper grommets will fix the issue but I can't get into the city for a bit so it will have to wait, the leak is minor though like less than a cup of water a day.  Also instead of using a 5 gallon pail as a controller I'm going to modify a water cooler, the kind with the screw on lid, for the next iteration.  I'll try and get to taking pictures today and putting them up for you guys to see.  I really wish I could post a video of it in action its the coolest.

Even if it does fail worst case scenario I have a dwc system with a mixing station.  Every tub is on valves so if I had to or if I have problems growing 5 or six strains together I can always stop the ebb and flo and isolate each tub from each other with a valve.  Then when I want to check them I open the valves on the tubs I want to check, flip on the pump, fill the barrel, check and adjust the solution, pull the flapper and send it back to the tubs.  Then you could close those valves and repeat the process with your other tubs.


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## pcduck (Feb 1, 2009)

Yes Tater pics would be nice. This is very interesting would most definitely like to see the finish product.


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## Motor City Madman (Feb 1, 2009)

Im sorry I just have to do this, only cause I like them so much

MCM

ostpicsworthless:


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## Tater (Feb 1, 2009)

I know I know, I'll get to it before the end of the day today promise.


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## Tater (Feb 1, 2009)

Sorry guys, the wife had a friend drop by and now's she staying for a while so I'm stuck.  Can't go in the room until she leaves, if I can't get the pictures up tonight I'll do it first thing in the morning after the missus goes to work.


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## Tater (Feb 3, 2009)

Pics are up in the hydroponics section.


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