Water Cooled Growers Unite!

[toohighmf]

I'm calling you out. Especially if you still have that bum arm. Let's meet at your commercial grow. I'll bring the vape. Get really baked and laugh at all the fucking idiots of the world. Peace out brother, stick to what you are good at, helping others become better growers.

Sucks to hear about accidents, hopefully you had a full recovery.

BTW we could meet at my warehouse but it's empty. Trying to figure out the easiest way to grow. I don't want to have to baby sit the thing. Current grows are currently killing me. Hand watering is for people who have no other life....

Hang loose.

I have about 30% range of motion my right arm now. it's strong, just doesn't go very far. no supination, either. I've adapted pretty well to being a lefty. I even shoot Lefty now in IPSC. To use circular saws and drills lefty as well as MIG weld, write, masturbate etc. I feel like I'm giving myself a stranger! The real problems lie w my broken back, but it hasn't stopped me in 20 years and 2 fractures. DG I get people running straight all the time that's my business. I don't do it for free, but I'm cheaper than any HVAC specialist, and I'm pretty fast now! irrigation is a specialty of mine. PM me if you really are interested in consultation.

thank you for cleaning it up freezerboy. that U4EA is like Arnold swarzenegger going after sarah conners! he won't die or back down, even when he's wrong. I hope someone banned him for the 7th time. not that banning works...

 

[Rednick]

masturbate etc. I feel like I'm giving myself a stranger! ..

That's it!
Got a sledgehammer in my left, and my right tied down to the table.
Casino style.

No more sitting on my hand for hours till it goes numb.

 

[toohighmf]

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[NorCal]

Liquid Lumens

Liquid Lumens

Alrighty people, I skimmed through this thread and I hope my experience can help you guys that decide to go the W/C route

a little more than a year ago I Wanted to build one of the dopest grow rooms I had ever
built.
After attempting to do research (nothing really out there at the time) and consulting with the guys in texas who manufactured the lights, I decided to go for it and do my next project water cooled. We agreed on a price for the pallet and a week later they were delivered.

I had ordered 24 lights and 24 hoods yet only got 12 hoods. No biggie. I figured I'd call them and let em know they forgot abut 12 of the hoods. When I call them, one of the guys talks to me and says he'll send it out ASAP. Then he calls me back saying his partner doesn't want to honor the price any longer and if I wanted the hoods I'd have to pay the difference which came out to twice the original price. WTF is that?

Now let me say, I don't think the concept is a bad idea. But it is a really high maintenance setup that should not be attempted by any one who doesn't fully understand all the components of the system and how they work. There's just so much that can go wrong.

The chiller used was a 3 HP pacific coast chiller which was placed in a room that was vented with a 12" H/O Vortex (2050 CFM, as well as prob the most efficient fan on the market, super quiet too)

There was also 16K BTU Mitsubishi Mini split that was used to cool the room but it probably wasn't necessary as heat was minimal.

the reservoir used was 200 gallons and there was a pump running water from the reservoir to the chiller and back via PVC.
There was also another pump that was used to move the water from the reservoir through the lights then back to the reservoir.
The pumps used were 3600 GPH FLOTEC Pumps.
The problem with these pumps is that they use oil in them. Not all flotecs do, but it just so happens that the ones I purchased did. So the first run I noticed there was a slight oily film in the light housings. So I replaced the pumps with some pondmaster oilless ones, flush the system and refill it with R/O water once again.
Another thing is to make sure your reservoir has a lid as dust and debris will also get in and dirty the water your using.

Now Everythings going fine except one day about a week later, I notice the lights were turning on and off in a random pattern. This continues for a few days until I decide to unwire the "no flow no go" switches I bought with the lights.
This solved my problem and I left them off until the replacements came in.

The switches came in and I replaced them. We harvested a decent crop and got started on the next one.

Then one day I visit the site and its a disaster.
Apparently the pump pushing water through the lights had busted and the no flow no go switch failed to do its job, because about half the lights were completely busted (seals, Housings,glass) and the other half were still on and submerged in water. Very Bad.

So because the pump had failed the water was stagnant in the system and getting hotter and hotter until it was so hot it Busted the seals on the lights and the bulbs and then the glass housings. Not to mention the PVC manifold had warped from the heat and probably spilled about 125 gallons of water in the room.

I got one run out of the whole system. Much of the time that should have been spent tending to the plants was spent on maintaining things I normally wouldnt have to worry about. Like tightening the housings (they get loose over time) or diagnosing issues.

It was a nice plan but in the end I would way rather just throw up some hoods, a big AC and some CO2 and get the room going. The whole experience was all about trial and error but unfortunately every 2 months that goes by is another harvest that could be coming in. If you guys got any questions I can help you with feel free to ask here or PM me I've definitely learned lots through those 2 runs.

 

[toohighmf]

Sorry to hear your woes of watercooling, but I appreciate the heads up. Do you feel you lost any lumens or spectral output through the glass & water? how were your yields compared to your previous methods? thanks for contributing.

 

[NorCal]

its all good. You learn from your misatkes. Im pretty sure there were lumens lost because the bulb has to shine through water. But the bulb stays so cool it can literally be placed right on the plants, I think that more than makes up for it. Unfortunately I never got around to using a light meter so no definitive facts about the lumen output.

Yields were sub par
my previous runs were all E&F tables and I probably got better yields out of that.
The watercooled setup was drain to waste.
I think in this room we hit about 1 per 1000W, not terrible but nothing to be that happy about either.
I also feel that whenever you setup a new space you need to have a sort of "learning curve" period before you really start to dial in the room(s) so that could definitely have been why my yield wasn't on par also.

 

[LoudBlunts]

why use a waterjacket over bulb instead of heat exchanger on end?

 

[toohighmf]

were you running flat or vert with them?

 

[Rocky Mtn Squid]

Alrighty people, I skimmed through this thread and I hope my experience can help you guys that decide to go the W/C route

a little more than a year ago I Wanted to build one of the dopest grow rooms I had ever
built.
After attempting to do research (nothing really out there at the time) and consulting with the guys in texas who manufactured the lights, I decided to go for it and do my next project water cooled. We agreed on a price for the pallet and a week later they were delivered.

I had ordered 24 lights and 24 hoods yet only got 12 hoods. No biggie. I figured I'd call them and let em know they forgot abut 12 of the hoods. When I call them, one of the guys talks to me and says he'll send it out ASAP. Then he calls me back saying his partner doesn't want to honor the price any longer and if I wanted the hoods I'd have to pay the difference which came out to twice the original price. WTF is that?

Now let me say, I don't think the concept is a bad idea. But it is a really high maintenance setup that should not be attempted by any one who doesn't fully understand all the components of the system and how they work. There's just so much that can go wrong.

The chiller used was a 3 HP pacific coast chiller which was placed in a room that was vented with a 12" H/O Vortex (2050 CFM, as well as prob the most efficient fan on the market, super quiet too)

There was also 16K BTU Mitsubishi Mini split that was used to cool the room but it probably wasn't necessary as heat was minimal.

the reservoir used was 200 gallons and there was a pump running water from the reservoir to the chiller and back via PVC.
There was also another pump that was used to move the water from the reservoir through the lights then back to the reservoir.
The pumps used were 3600 GPH FLOTEC Pumps.
The problem with these pumps is that they use oil in them. Not all flotecs do, but it just so happens that the ones I purchased did. So the first run I noticed there was a slight oily film in the light housings. So I replaced the pumps with some pondmaster oilless ones, flush the system and refill it with R/O water once again.
Another thing is to make sure your reservoir has a lid as dust and debris will also get in and dirty the water your using.

Now Everythings going fine except one day about a week later, I notice the lights were turning on and off in a random pattern. This continues for a few days until I decide to unwire the "no flow no go" switches I bought with the lights.
This solved my problem and I left them off until the replacements came in.

The switches came in and I replaced them. We harvested a decent crop and got started on the next one.

Then one day I visit the site and its a disaster.
Apparently the pump pushing water through the lights had busted and the no flow no go switch failed to do its job, because about half the lights were completely busted (seals, Housings,glass) and the other half were still on and submerged in water. Very Bad.

So because the pump had failed the water was stagnant in the system and getting hotter and hotter until it was so hot it Busted the seals on the lights and the bulbs and then the glass housings. Not to mention the PVC manifold had warped from the heat and probably spilled about 125 gallons of water in the room.

I got one run out of the whole system. Much of the time that should have been spent tending to the plants was spent on maintaining things I normally wouldnt have to worry about. Like tightening the housings (they get loose over time) or diagnosing issues.

It was a nice plan but in the end I would way rather just throw up some hoods, a big AC and some CO2 and get the room going. The whole experience was all about trial and error but unfortunately every 2 months that goes by is another harvest that could be coming in. If you guys got any questions I can help you with feel free to ask here or PM me I've definitely learned lots through those 2 runs.

Watercooling your grow, when and only when you have it all dialed in is pretty amazing. No more heat, and all the problem's that it causes to your plant's such as heat stress and root rot in hydro. The only problem is that watercooling is like a house of cards, and if a key component fails, like a fan, or your dehuey, or a pump, you're in big trouble if you don't catch it early.

If you're using heat exchanger's to cool your bulb's, you need to keep you humidity down below 50%. If you don't, moisture will build up on the surface of your heat exchanger's copper piping and their respective intake and outake line's and manifold's. If you're running sealed cool tube's, moisture will develop on the inside, right next to your bulb's. PVC piping has a tendency to leak if its connection's are not properly glued and sealed. Always pressure test everything before turning everything on.

To have an effective and safe watercooled system. you really need some kind of master electronic controller that has built in safeguards to shut down your power if heat and humidity go over preset parameter's. Ambient room temp and humidity are your 2 most critical things to have under control. Unfortunately, it sounds like you were using made in China component's from those fast talking jerk offs @ Hyrdro Innovations. Isn't the "no flow no go" sold by them....???

I've had their made in China day/night thermostat's fail on me, as well as one of their poorly made chillers. I'm bitterly disappointed after purchasing their equipment and having it fail.

 

[!PeAcE!]

Yea I was all for watercooling until I saw the cost, So instead of putting in the 5 minutes to buy one I decided to go the day route with building one, Water chiller (water dispenser that I got for free off craigslist), cut and wrapped own heat exchangers "ice box" (you can buy premade exchangers on the cheap and cut to size also you can even get thicker ones too (if going thicker use stronger fans only if exhaust feels week after installation) which in my opinion is more effecient if the hot air has more cold metal to flow over. This whole systen didnt cost more than 50 bucks and a good 24 man hours of welding, bending, fabricating etc. To me it was A LOT of fun.

 

[LoudBlunts]

Watercooling your grow, when and only when you have it all dialed in is pretty amazing. No more heat, and all the problem's that it causes to your plant's such as heat stress and root rot in hydro. The only problem is that watercooling is like a house of cards, and if a key component fails, like a fan, or your dehuey, or a pump, you're in big trouble if you don't catch it early.

If you're using heat exchanger's to cool your bulb's, you need to keep you humidity down below 50%. If you don't, moisture will build up on the surface of your heat exchanger's copper piping and their respective intake and outake line's and manifold's. If you're running sealed cool tube's, moisture will develop on the inside, right next to your bulb's. PVC piping has a tendency to leak if its connection's are not properly glued and sealed. Always pressure test everything before turning everything on.

To have an effective and safe watercooled system. you really need some kind of master electronic controller that has built in safeguards to shut down your power if heat and humidity go over preset parameter's. Ambient room temp and humidity are your 2 most critical things to have under control. Unfortunately, it sounds like you were using made in China component's from those fast talking jerk offs @ Hyrdro Innovations. Isn't the "no flow no go" sold by them....???

I've had their made in China day/night thermostat's fail on me, as well as one of their poorly made chillers. I'm bitterly disappointed after purchasing their equipment and having it fail.

the user you quoted was using fresca sols not iceboxes... i blv


but ayo bro... what happened? you went form singing praises about chillking chillers and how much you love them to now they are shit?

what happened in a 2 month period bro?

 

[Rocky Mtn Squid]

I had too many problem's and breakdown's with their equipment. Plain and simple.

Poor customer service and support and lousy quality equipment is what I got. All I can say is buyer beware/caveat emptor when it comes to Hydro Innovation products.

 

[LoudBlunts]

ouch!!! their warranties have always been kinda 'eh' faced

 

[Rocky Mtn Squid]

They offer an incredibly pathetic 3 month warranty on their chillers that are 2 hp and under. Tp put that in perspective, you get a one year warranty from all the junk made in china a/c unit's @ Home Depot, or pretty much any other major retailer.

 

[U4EA]

Holy shit, 3 month warranty. That basically translates to "I, the creator/manufacturer, don't even trust my own work".

 

[D.A.R.E.]

any thoughts?

any thoughts?

water cooled diy idea.
Ive been reading posts on here for sometime now but this is my first reply.Im very interested in water cooled rooms having not done one as of yet.

However my first idea was to cut out the chiller and run a stainless steel resevoir in a $100.00 Chest freezer (craigslist special) plumbed into a single 20" x 20" heat exchanger(which advertises up to 160,000 btu delivery, courtesy of EBAY).
The heat exchanger would be mounted inside a custom plenum that connects the lights and a vortex fan would be mounted on opposite side of light plenum to draw air through the system.

Furthermore Antifreeze would be added to my resevoir to allow temps to drop to 0 - 10 degrees F or lower. My res would be approx 30 - 50 gal. (the larger the better) and my pump and fan would kick on simotaniously when t-stat initiated them.

my only concern currently is the recovery rate involved with the freezer chest itself. It would never loose btu's with opening or closing the lid and would be at such a low
temp that the pump and fan probably would not have to run very long to get my room down to temp.

I have also thought of running the lights into a small continuous flow system and a seperate heat exchanger for just the room. Both would run on the same resevoir... worst case senario I would double up the chest freezer and another resevoir.

Im sure I've forgotten may details as i've pondered this set up quite a bit.

Any thoughts, ideas, or constructive critisism would be greatfully appreciated.

 

[Lazyman]

Interesting idea, what about a chest freezer full of antifreeze, with a pair of aluminum radiators in series plumbed, sitting in the antifreeze bath? You could get the water to 0*, but I don't know how long the compressor would last, it would probably take longer to cool it back down than time would allow before the lights came back on. The compressor isn't designed to combat huge heat loads.

 

[D.A.R.E.]

Oh yah, I also considered building a stainless jacket around my ss resevoir and fill it with water allowing it to freeze for a better recovery rate. Mind you also the entire resevoir would be elevated in the chest freezer and have a 3" clearance all aroundto allow for air circulation. If I got a large enough freezer and it recovered easily, I could conceal the res with misc. frozen munchies.

 

[D.A.R.E.]

Good thinking lazy man
However I dont know what the reprocussion of liquid in a freezer not allowing air circulation would be.

 

[D.A.R.E.]

so essentially the frozen jacket would need to almost completly thaw in order to even allow heat into the freezer. Basicly its a giant storage of cold btu's or energy