i use a 524 gph not sure if it's too much or too little but I had it laying around the pad, it has no probs keeping the top rez's water at the right level at all times.
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Blumat auto watering
- Thread starter sunnydog
- Start date
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- Tags
- blumat drippers irrigation watering
fukndenny
Member
Strange goings on in Blumat land! I just returned from 10 days out of town to a tragedy - somewhere along the way, the blumats in 2 plants quit working. The third plant is fine other than it fell over in spots once the other plants that were partially supporting it wilted - these were some big bushy mamas that I had re-vegged, and should have been ready for harvest 10 days from today. They were way top heavy with buds, and once they stopped supporting one another, ugly things happened.
If anyone has a clue as to what happened, I would be more than interested in hearing it. This is the fourth run on basically the same setup, and the first time that I have ever had a stoppage like this. There are (3) three gallon smart pots, each with (2) regular blumats in them (funny, I doubled up the blumats to insure against this happening in case of a failure on one!). I have a vent line at the reservoir, coming up from a "T" at the reservoir bulkhead fitting, the bottom of which feeds the supply line. The supply line drops down and into the tent, with a single-ended line crossing through the middle of the tent with (6) T's set about 2" apart to feed the blumats. The supply line continues across the tent to the far corner, where there is a valve and purge line T'd in, and the open-ended line is then run up the corner post and elevated above the reservoir for another vent.
The reservoir level was fine, the plant attached to the first (2) T's in the supply line is fine, and the remaining (4) blumats were completely off. The carrots were dried out, but backing the adjustment off one-two increments started them dripping. Refilling the carrot and putting the adjustment back to where it started resulted in the blumat running a steady stream. There were no blockages and there is only 2" of straight line between the T's feeding a functional and a non-functional blumat. I ran the purge line and it didn't appear to have any air trapped.
I use CRF's, so I only use straight water in the reservoir. The soil mix is 70% S.S. #4, 20% perlite, and 10% vermiculite.
The only thing that I can possibly attribute it to would be an air lock. However, that seems unlikely to me when both ends of the supply line are vented, and when I have introduced air into the system before (reservoir or carrot maintenance), I could always tell when I bled it that air was coming out.
Any ideas?
If anyone has a clue as to what happened, I would be more than interested in hearing it. This is the fourth run on basically the same setup, and the first time that I have ever had a stoppage like this. There are (3) three gallon smart pots, each with (2) regular blumats in them (funny, I doubled up the blumats to insure against this happening in case of a failure on one!). I have a vent line at the reservoir, coming up from a "T" at the reservoir bulkhead fitting, the bottom of which feeds the supply line. The supply line drops down and into the tent, with a single-ended line crossing through the middle of the tent with (6) T's set about 2" apart to feed the blumats. The supply line continues across the tent to the far corner, where there is a valve and purge line T'd in, and the open-ended line is then run up the corner post and elevated above the reservoir for another vent.
The reservoir level was fine, the plant attached to the first (2) T's in the supply line is fine, and the remaining (4) blumats were completely off. The carrots were dried out, but backing the adjustment off one-two increments started them dripping. Refilling the carrot and putting the adjustment back to where it started resulted in the blumat running a steady stream. There were no blockages and there is only 2" of straight line between the T's feeding a functional and a non-functional blumat. I ran the purge line and it didn't appear to have any air trapped.
I use CRF's, so I only use straight water in the reservoir. The soil mix is 70% S.S. #4, 20% perlite, and 10% vermiculite.
The only thing that I can possibly attribute it to would be an air lock. However, that seems unlikely to me when both ends of the supply line are vented, and when I have introduced air into the system before (reservoir or carrot maintenance), I could always tell when I bled it that air was coming out.
Any ideas?
Thanks, rrog. In fairness to the devices, I should point out that I have been using them for right at a year and aside from the occasional runaway, they have worked quite well. My travel schedule forces me to be gone for about 10 days every 3 weeks, and I don't know of anything else that would have allowed me to do that.
I haven't tried to see if the manufacturer has any input - I just found this last night, and have always assumed that the language barrier would keep that from being an option. Has anyone else ever had direct dealings with them?
your right. i wouldnt invest in these until someone finds a way to work all the bugs out. i had bought a patio kit sometime ago and ran 2 flower cycles w/ it w/ minimal problems. after those 2 cycles everything went to shit like rives stated. there is just too much dicking around w/ these things imo. i like my hand fed results personally
M
mugenbao
For what it's worth, I have never experienced a runaway after initial setup. In fact, the only problems I've ever really encountered were plugged lines, which is infrequent and easily resolved and was probably due to attempting to use organic nutrients in my rez.
Even the plugged lines I've encountered were always detected before the plants showed any stress, so for me Blumats have been a key part of putting my grow very nearly on autopilot. 95% of the time I spend with my plants now is just checking them over and admiring them, plus basically just topping off my rez every few days.
Even the plugged lines I've encountered were always detected before the plants showed any stress, so for me Blumats have been a key part of putting my grow very nearly on autopilot. 95% of the time I spend with my plants now is just checking them over and admiring them, plus basically just topping off my rez every few days.
If the runoffs were very occasional, I wouldn't be concerned. However there are some really sharp people here who suffer through these regularly. I don't have the system, never have even seen a Blumat, but the literally hundreds of pages of Blumat posts tell me this isn't ready for prime time.
I'm very grateful to all those pioneers we have here, though, including you, Mugenbao.
I'm very grateful to all those pioneers we have here, though, including you, Mugenbao.
wisco61
Member
Since I switched to an always full upper res I have had 0 problems. Its been explained why having fluctuating pressure will cause problems, but people keep thinking they can they can get away with it then complain when they get a runaway.
If you call the manufacturer they will tell you that runaways are a danger, that's why they are only to be used outside. It says so right on the box.
These things aren't some miracle grow tool from heaven. But for the price they are amazing and work as advertised.
If you call the manufacturer they will tell you that runaways are a danger, that's why they are only to be used outside. It says so right on the box.
These things aren't some miracle grow tool from heaven. But for the price they are amazing and work as advertised.
While the runaway problem is a nuisance, I am set up to where it isn't really a factor. My auto-refill circuit on the reservoir keeps the level to within 1"-1-1/2", and I have a drain plumbed in for the rare time when a runaway does happen. However, what I have just experienced is a new problem as far as I can tell, and I thought that I had provided insurance against it with parallel blumats in each pot. At this point, I am at a loss as to how to proceed.
I haven't read an explanation of how the pressure variance causes the problem, only that some feel this may be the answer. If I heard from more constant-pressure people with statements like yours, I'd be back on board.
EDIT: Rives is a constant-pressure user, and he's flooded. It would seem that constant pressure isn't the ultimate answer for me. That's me. Obviously for others it's dandy.
wisco61
Member
If I had to take a guess I would say something happened with your autofill circuit and your res dropped more than 2" for a while which reduced the incoming pressure to the blumats. Was it the ones farther away from the res that were affected?
wisco61
Member
if u ever used a blumat and understood how small the adjustment is between a constant stream and no water you would understand.
The res level was right where it was supposed to be when I got home - it may have had an intermittent problem, but that seems unlikely. It would have to have been of sufficient duration for the last 2 plants to dry out completely and leach the water out of the blumats in each pot, yet keep the first plant happy.
Yes, the blumats that were affected were the ones that were the furthest from the res, but only by about 2" from a functional T to the leading problematic T (about 8" overall to the last one), and the supply line is level along the area where the T's are installed.
You have redundant system with the parallel hookup, and constant pressure. And a runaway. I haven't read anything about a precaution that you haven't already done.
Well, a couple of things that I have planned on doing are to use a loop all the way around the plants, and to feed the loop from two different (opposing) spots. Unfortunately, I ran out of materials before I could get it implemented and my order hasn't arrived.
M
mugenbao
I agree with that, and that's what makes it frustrating. To exacerbate the mystery, I actually allow my rez to drop as much as eight inches at times before refilling, due primarily to laziness or hectic schedules.
I wish I could add some useful information to the conversation, but I have no idea why my experience might be any different from anyone else's. I use two Blumats per pot, have my feed line in a loop configuration, have my reservoir about five feet above the drippers, and once they are set I never adjust my Blumats. Other people do those things too, with apparently widely varying degrees of success.
I love my Blumats and strongly feel that they have been quite an asset, but I completely understand why people reading this thread may be less confident in spending the money for them.
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wisco61
Member
The fact that the plants farther away from the res were the affected ones points to either a clog or pressure problem. It just seems unlikely to me that it would happen that way if it was some other type of problem. Perhaps there was some partial blockage in the tee after the first pot that dropped the pressure to the remaining pots? Are you using the 3mm drip line to connect the plants?
What kind of auto top off are you running anyways?
