Snype's RDWC Construction Tutorial For 250 Watts - 7,600 Watts!

[dreaded]

Catatafish.....thats a nice problem to have.... i cant wait to get my parts in..

 

[Catatafish]

Just make sure to follow snype's recommends for parts exactly if at all possible. Its well thought out.

I have had a few issues with non-standard parts. I couldnt get the matching net pots so i went with what i could and it doesnt work so hot. I had to special order the hydrofarm bucket pots so they will be here for next run. I think they should arrive in a few days. Will also be converting to the 2x4 flood table for veg-a hopefully in a week or two depending on the special order tray lid with pre-drilled holes, still waiting on an eta.

 

[The fat]

Hey Catatafish where are you getting your 2x4 tops with holes for veg I got the same thing going on the plastic shop around my is trying to dick me around. An how much are you getting yours too.

 

[Catatafish]

I had my buddy order from a local shop.

The shop had to call botanicare directly to figure it out as no one heard of it. I guess they ship it to somewhere else to cut the holes, then charge you for each hole :, shipping) (be glad its 5's and not a shitload of 2"). Then once their done they ship it to the store directly.

Ill have to get the final price from my friend when i see him next, we work completely different schedules so it may be a few days. I know its not "internet pricing", and probably on the expensive side. I wanna say it was like $2 a hole drilled , plus lid cost, plus shipping(s), plus tax.....not cheap wanna say it was around $210 for the table and lid and all the surcharges.

I figure its well worth the extra cost as and wouldn't hesitate:

1. i dont want to ship friggin flood tables to a house due to people sending shit not stealth (i dont care if they assure me...not worth risk if someone screws up). My buddy just had a full pallet ship by truck and it was left in driveway while he was picking up kids from school. Clear saran-wrap packaging, was assured it would be stealth. Needless to say awkward questions soon followed and my buddy was not happy unwrapping and carry each item inside in broad daylight as he couldn't lift the whole pallet at once.

2. Drilling those holes yourself is gonna suck unless you have awesome tools. Was not fun making my diy version with 6" hole-saw. It actually blows quite a bit drilling it at least to me and i like diy. Big hole saw sizes suck.

3. It will look much nicer pre-drilled more than likely, unless as above, you have some pretty neat tools at hand.

Talk to which ever store you like and show them this so they know what you are talking about:

http://www.botanicare.com/Tray-Lids-P100.aspx

Notice its a 44" lid on the page. They make 44" and 48" trays now...make sure you double check what you are getting.

There are some reputable online retailers that will do this as well such as G-House. Just email them and they can get a special order for you. I already spoke with one place online and it wasn't an issue, just takes a little bit. Like i said though, i cant ship a flood table myself, you may.

 

[growlites]

I did the same with my 1800gph Danner mag drive the 1st time I hooked 1 up. I found a site where u can order the housing piece that encompasses the inlet or outlet piece. Is this the piece? http://www.petmountain.com/show_product/11442-511308 I was giggling like a school girl when I found this, hope it helps some people in the future. I built last year a 17.5 gallon per pot 8 pot uc version type system w/ 2" pvc pipe and uniseals and 1800 mag drive and alita 40. Too much water pump and not enough air pump.
Easy fix: using a "pump head" calculator figured I had 3' of head to waste so I converted it to air by making the pipe that came from pump to rez go up 3' higher before turning via 90 degree piece down towards rez. This over pressure loses some of it's power. I didn't stop there, I then put a 2" to 3/4" piece just after the pipe enters rez and put a splitter on that.
Result is an EXTREME waterfall effect x 2. The water flows mellow to pots but enters rez. in a torrent of DO.
I can't believe I'm going to share this concept I developed but I really like the enthusiasm of the participants of this thread so hold onto your hats fellow brethren:
When adding spaghetti sauce to your bowl of noodles what part of that mass of noodles doesn't get as much sauce? The middle and bottom correct? I HAVE HOT GLUED PLASTIC SPAGHETTI COLANDERS UPSIDE DOWN AT THE BOTTOM CENTER OF MY 17.5 GALLONS ROUND PLASTIC POTS(35 glln food grade barrels painted black then wrapped in reflectix). My air hose/stones go in the colander.
Result is tons of DO in the center of root mass plus more nutes to center of root mass. Please don't spread this to everybody but have fun, IT WORKS INCREDIBLY!!!!

 

[growlites]

I POAY JUST THE HOUSING U CRACKED, i DID THE SAME THING, REALLY CHEAP AND EASY PIECE TO REPLACE HERE: http://www.petmountain.com/show_product/11442-511308

 

[JamesFarmer]

Im a bit stumped on the trap adaptors. My local Home Depot doesn't carry PVC only ABS. Lowes has PVC adaptors but they are not the Nibco brand and the threaded end is too short.

I looked on the HD website and see several option as far as ordering them. Unfortunately I cannot tell what the length of the threaded end is from the pics. Don't want to buy 14 more that wont work

Can anyone point out which is the correct part on the HD website?

Thanks

FJ

 

[JamesFarmer]

Hey Catatafish where are you getting your 2x4 tops with holes for veg I got the same thing going on the plastic shop around my is trying to dick me around. An how much are you getting yours too.

The first time I built one I purchased a material called "starboard" from a plastics shop and rough cut the holes with a jig saw. Then I used a router with a flush trim bit and a template to bring the holes (neatly) to finished size

The second one was a bit "redneck". I bought a sheet of foam insulation and cut it to size to fit over a 2'x3' masons tray (HD).
I had to place some short lengths of 2" PVC
standing on end to support the middle of the foam lid.

Just a couple of ideas....

 

[itsallgoodsman]

When I was sourcing all my parts I bought a Female Trap Adapter from Lowes (Charlotte Pipe) and took it to home depot where they only had 1 Female Trap Adapter (Nibco) and everything was the same on them including the thread length. I decided to go with the Charlotte Pipe one as they were in stock and there is was no measurable difference.

I know what you mean on the threading though, only 3-4 threads come through the other side and it is a SOB to get the 2 washers AND the 1.5 Female Adapter screwed on.

I will be doing a wet run on one of the systems tonight to see if I have any leaks (due to the threading), I have been advised by people much older than me to use Vaseline on the washers, I am guessing this is due to the water repellent features of it and so it will not seize to the fittings.

I will post up what I found out, I also did not use the lowes buckets, too damn expensive, found buckets on CL for $1 a piece, so it could just be my thickness compared to the lowes buckets.

 

[paperchaser825]

You don't need 2 washers if you get the correct washers. 1 per connection, 2 per bucket is plenty. Been running the system for almost 2 months now with not even a whisper of a leak and I'm a terrible fabricator and thus my system is a bit crooked. Trust me.

 

[JamesFarmer]

You don't need 2 washers if you get the correct washers. 1 per connection, 2 per bucket is plenty. Been running the system for almost 2 months now with not even a whisper of a leak and I'm a terrible fabricator and thus my system is a bit crooked. Trust me.

I would guess that you placed the one washer on the inside of the bucket. Correct?

 

[Stonefree69]

I had my buddy order from a local shop.

The shop had to call botanicare directly to figure it out as no one heard of it. I guess they ship it to somewhere else to cut the holes, then charge you for each hole :, shipping) (be glad its 5's and not a shitload of 2"). Then once their done they ship it to the store directly.

Ill have to get the final price from my friend when i see him next, we work completely different schedules so it may be a few days. I know its not "internet pricing", and probably on the expensive side. I wanna say it was like $2 a hole drilled , plus lid cost, plus shipping(s), plus tax.....not cheap wanna say it was around $210 for the table and lid and all the surcharges.

I figure its well worth the extra cost as and wouldn't hesitate:

1. i dont want to ship friggin flood tables to a house due to people sending shit not stealth (i dont care if they assure me...not worth risk if someone screws up). My buddy just had a full pallet ship by truck and it was left in driveway while he was picking up kids from school. Clear saran-wrap packaging, was assured it would be stealth. Needless to say awkward questions soon followed and my buddy was not happy unwrapping and carry each item inside in broad daylight as he couldn't lift the whole pallet at once.

2. Drilling those holes yourself is gonna suck unless you have awesome tools. Was not fun making my diy version with 6" hole-saw. It actually blows quite a bit drilling it at least to me and i like diy. Big hole saw sizes suck.

3. It will look much nicer pre-drilled more than likely, unless as above, you have some pretty neat tools at hand.

Talk to which ever store you like and show them this so they know what you are talking about:

http://www.botanicare.com/Tray-Lids-P100.aspx

Notice its a 44" lid on the page. They make 44" and 48" trays now...make sure you double check what you are getting.

There are some reputable online retailers that will do this as well such as G-House. Just email them and they can get a special order for you. I already spoke with one place online and it wasn't an issue, just takes a little bit. Like i said though, i cant ship a flood table myself, you may.

Speaking of Botanicare they just came out with a 10" Aero Bucket w/ mesh bottom that fits right on a 5 gallon bucket. You'll get better roots this way as it will greatly help prevent cord roots (big fat twisted roots) which are not as efficient as the fine roots you see. Cord roots can develop where the water level drops below the net pot holes, exposing them to the air too much. Also helps to keep your water levels steady with an intake float to your res. I just gravity feed via 2-55 gallon water barrels filled with RO water and 1/2" hose.

No more hot melt welding plastic for me!

 

[cocktail frank]

If we modified a rdwc waterfarm system, could the riser and drip ring eliminate the need for air stones?
Just a thought.

 

[Catatafish]

Stone, do you just use those for your net pots in the same system and keep the water level above the bottom mesh? Or are you talking about using in an aero system?

 

[cocktail frank]

The beauty of those net pots is that the drainage holes are only on the bottom.
A normal net pot has holes all up the sides and all around.
This is when cord roots become a problem.
Heath Robinson talks about this in his ppk threads.
Proof is in the pudding.
Great find stone free!

 

[paperchaser825]

I would guess that you placed the one washer on the inside of the bucket. Correct?

Correct.

 

[Stonefree69]

Stone, do you just use those for your net pots in the same system and keep the water level above the bottom mesh? Or are you talking about using in an aero system?

Yes I keep water level about 2" above bottom net pot rim. No not aero but RDWC like Snype's buckets here. I have to get pics of my completed system (still in progress) as you know a pic is worth a thousand words...

The beauty of those net pots is that the drainage holes are only on the bottom.
A normal net pot has holes all up the sides and all around.
This is when cord roots become a problem.
Heath Robinson talks about this in his ppk threads.
Proof is in the pudding.
Great find stone free!

Bingo Frank! Talking about those net pots they just came in today (I believe I also saw 6" size but not 8" diameter don't know why they might not have the 8" size as it's popular). The regular 8" holds about 1 gallon of clay pellets or media the 10" seems to be about 1 1/2 gallons - could be 2 gallons though. Roots don't have any complaints with properly aerated media and I happen to have extra clay pellets.

Also ordered more glass for measuring, the graduated glass cylinders are Pyrex glass, gonna get some Corning Pyrex beaker sets (50 ml to 1 liter) to complete my measuring collection.

 

[paperchaser825]

I edited my answer but wanted to make a post to make sure I was clear....I use 2 washers per bucket on the OUTSIDE....sorry about that.

 

[Stonefree69]

Next on my list is Reflectix bubble-foil layer insulation.

Cross-Linked Polyethylene Foam (XLPE) 2 lb density has an r-value of 3.2/inch and you can get up to 2" thick (r-value 6.4) here: http://www.thefoamfactory.com/closedcellfoam/cross-linked-polyethylene-foam.html (got my mattress from here too, same quality as Tempurpedic but for way less).

Also Dow Great Stuff Pro is polyurethane which has a very high r-value:

 

[paperchaser825]

View Image

That reflectix work is beastly. Lightproofing really is underrated when doing hydro and then you get the added benefit of an insultated root motel. Good stuff. Can't wait to see your system later.