Pump not reaching some lines in RDWC

[njayjay]

Hi, I just bought a 264 gph water pump for my RDWC system and have everything hooked up and I just gave it a test run. Some the feeding lines at the ends of the feeding rows are not putting out any water at all, I can see the water fill up about halfway up the tubing but it looks like the pressure is not strong enough to push it through. Also some lines squirt out water much more strongly than others. Does this all mean I need a stronger pump? I'm pretty sure theres no clogging, etc.
Peace

 

[stoneroad]

recheck the way you placed your barbs in the feed line, or possibly look for a new pump im averaging 3 full cycles an hour i hear 5 is optimal but who knows these days.

 

[njayjay]

Everything is fine in the feed line and I didnt use the poking holes in the feed rows method I used some adaptor T's and elbows with 1/2 to 1/4 nozzle size so theres no leaks there... I'm really hoping it's the water pump cos building the whole hosing thing was a bitch

 

[McChris421]

How many buckets or containers are you using? I have two rows of feed line with a cork in the end. Each line is responsible for 4 containers and it seems to work well with the 400gph i have. I'm not to sure about the 264 but it depends on the size of your system and if you are corking the end or running it back into the res. hope this helps.


-McChris-

 

[njayjay]

the ends run into elbows so they are basically cut off, I have 4 rows of 3, 12 bucket system

 

[Haps]

Do you have a bigger pump there to try?

 

[njayjay]

Seems to be pump strength, just tried cutting the flow to half of the outlets and it pumped fine. Gonna buy another the same size.

Peace

 

[socialist]

You def need a bigger pump. You could also try and cut down on the amount of tubing used by reconfiguring your bucket lay out, if that's an option.

 

[Merfolk]

Seems to be pump strength, just tried cutting the flow to half of the outlets and it pumped fine. Gonna buy another the same size.

Peace

2 pumps in one rez to pump through those lines? gonna T the 2 pumps together?

 

[Me2]

You could try using a closed distribution ring to even out the pressure, just add a tee after the pump, it removes any dead ends so the water can flow from both directions.

 

[njayjay]

2 pumps in one rez to pump through those lines? gonna T the 2 pumps together?

Either that or hook up 2 rows on one pump, 2 on the other

 

[opt1c]

1000gph+ will solve your problems; dead zones suck and more flow equals less dead zones... rdwc is all about big pumps; airpumps; and chillers; get em all and you have explosive growth

i ran a 1800gph pondmaster for 10 5gal buckets; if they aren't on the ground you have to account for the loss of gph in correlation to vertical hight

 

[njayjay]

Chillers sound very expensive i'm gonna be skipping on those for now

 

[Me2]

If the flow is unbalanced now it`ll be still be unbalanced with a larger pump. The pump won`t change the ratio of pressure differences within the pipework,the lines that are squirting now will still be stronger than the rest.
Better to balance the existing pressure across all the lines first and then use a larger pump to increase the overall flowrate.

 

[HydroFarmer]

You may consider this....

You may consider this....

I was having a bitch of a time with my feeder lines after my first crop doing RDWC...so I came up with this...works great...

Its basically tee grommets going into 3/4 PVC...some elbows, end caps and a tee connection...fed from the resi....with the two shutoff valves...I run 16 buckets and it breaks down much easier after harvest...rather than dicking around with the 1/2 tubing and barbs for the 1/4 inch feed lines...

Peace....HF..

 

[Mickymouse]

Not Haveing a chiller is a big mistake IMO with that many buckets.It can cost you quick I found out the hard way.

 

[njayjay]

Well right now it's winter in the southern hemisphere where I'm at, and I definitely cannot afford one of those expensive ass chillers at the moment. After first harvest I'll invest in one. If anything the roots will suffer from cold water temps for this grow. Maybe slower growth that way?

 

[njayjay]

The pump won`t change the ratio of pressure differences within the pipework,the lines that are squirting now will still be stronger than the rest.
Better to balance the existing pressure across all the lines first and then use a larger pump to increase the overall flowrate.

I believe this isn't true at all, theres a threshold past which the pressure evens out more and more as it increases.

 

[stoneroad]

fix your issue yet bro? or you still pondering?

 

[njayjay]

Fixed the issue, new ones to consider now