Blumat Recirculating Resovoir Question

[RonSmooth]

Setting up blumats for the first time and trying to put together a recirculating raised bucket res.

How high do you drill your overflow in the raised 5gal bucket?

Personal experience or an equation that would allow me to figure it out are welcome.

I'd estimate the water level being around 18" above the sensors. And I'd like to have as little water in the bucket as possible to keep weight down.

Also, is the bluelab ph meter waterproof? I know it can get wet but can you leave it hanging in the resovoir?

Thanks

 

[Ganja Maker]

Hi Ron,
Here's how I set mine up. I got it right below the ribs on the bucket. I wanted as much as I could get in there.

As far as the 18", that seems pretty low to me. I think the higher the better for more pressure. I don't recall exactly, but i think there is a distance for the number of sensors or something like that.
if you check out the long thread you will find everything you need to know in there.

My blulab says it's waterproof, but I never let it just float in the res.

Hope that helps.

 

[stoned40yrs]

I used a 5 gal bucket for the top rez. As soon as I looked at that stiff funky 8mm supply hose they give you I said screw that and used 1/2" black hydro hose and ordered some of their 3mm barbs to connect into the 1/2" line. So I cut a 1/2" hole near the top of the rim a 1/2" down. For the return line to the bottom rez I used 1.5" abs pipe and drilled the hole 2" down from the rim- center measurement. The return line has to bigger than the supply or it will flood. Maybe 1" pipe will work. I didn't want to have to do it twice. Buy a 2 part epoxy putty called waterweld at lowes to seal around and secure the pipe into the bucket hole. It's a gravity system so the higher the bucket and the more water in the bucket the better and more stable the pressure. Maybe you could use a 3 gal bucket for the top rez. Running only 6 plants on mine they can suck some water/feed during lights on. I had a timer on the pump to fill the top rez 15 minutes on 45 off during lights on then 15 minutes on 3 hours off when lights off. If you let that top rez get too low on water/feed the pressure drops and you may get a runaway or improper watering. There is a formula on the mega blumat thread for how high the rez should be. I also suggest running the supply line to the plants in a complete loop and back to the top rez. Easier to get bubbles out and makes the system more stable. After two runs with different nutes IMO these blumats are made for guys running straight water into organic media. Even using 1ml dripclean all those salts are going to sit in the media and buildup. The dc may help stop them from having a huge negative effect, I don't know for sure. I'm handwatering this run and when I hook them up for another run I will be doing a full 100% weak nute flush no more than every 5 days. I have no proof but I also recommend not using any silica product because I think it can build up in those 3mm lines. I like blumats over all but there is a learning curve that really isn't all explained in that 250 page blumat novel/thread on here.

 

[Snow Crash]

That sounds like a lot more work, setup, and money than running a simple reservoir, pump, drippers, and a recycle timer. You have to pump water up 5 Feet? That's a big ass pump. But if you're only feeding to the table you spend 1/2 as much on the pump, no money on the second reservoir or the blumats.

To each their own, but help me understand why you need blumats to water your plants?

 

[sanjuan]

I went with Blumats so I can leave my coco smartpots for three or four days, no prob. I've never felt the need for more than an simple elevated reservoir (8 or 16ft run).

 

[stoned40yrs]

That sounds like a lot more work, setup, and money than running a simple reservoir, pump, drippers, and a recycle timer. You have to pump water up 5 Feet? That's a big ass pump. But if you're only feeding to the table you spend 1/2 as much on the pump, no money on the second reservoir or the blumats.

To each their own, but help me understand why you need blumats to water your plants?

Any savings with blumat would have to come over time from less nute$ bought because there is no runoff.
Both my rez are on the second story of my house, top one is only 6" above the bottom one as far as pumping water up. Also I think people use the blumat over drippers if they don't want to or can't deal with runoff disposal. But that is dangerous in case of a runaway blumat. Fortunately I can use all my equipment (minus the carrots) as it's setup and run regular drippers, I just need a recycle timer that can be set for less than 15 minutes at a time.

 

[RedBeardy5]

Yeah I am switching back to blumats, I thought drippers would be easy but some plants drink more than other.

 

[Snow Crash]

Any savings with blumat would have to come over time from less nute$ bought because there is no runoff.
Both my rez are on the second story of my house, top one is only 6" above the bottom one as far as pumping water up. Also I think people use the blumat over drippers if they don't want to or can't deal with runoff disposal. But that is dangerous in case of a runaway blumat. Fortunately I can use all my equipment (minus the carrots) as it's setup and run regular drippers, I just need a recycle timer that can be set for less than 15 minutes at a time.

Any recirculating system is the same amount of nutrients used as a no drain to waste because what does drain is captured and fed again, and again, and again... Maybe at the reservoir changes? But I don't worry about my used nutrient solution feeding the outdoor plants at <$0.25 per gallon.

Sentinel has a recycle timer (BRT-1aHR) that can run from 5 seconds to 30 minutes, and can put 1 minute to 12 hours between feedings that retails for about $70. The DRT is totally unavailable right now but should be back someday...

 

[RonSmooth]

While I would like to have a loop with larger diameter feed line, its too late to set that up now. I'll reconfigure it after this run.

The 18" estimate is from the water level of the top bucket to the end of the dripper hose not from the floor to the bucket. I believe the instructions said 6" was sufficient. I have no problems with pressure and the upper res will be kept at a constant level, fed by a pump in the lower reservoir.

I am more concerned with having more water than necessary in the top bucket. Id like to keep it as light as possible.

I can control the flow from the larger, lower res with a ball valve I T'd off the supply line and rerouted it back into the bucket. If it pumps too much for the overflow to handle, I can just open the valve a bit.

So far, the blumats are working, once I set this circulating res up, it'll be nice to not have to constantly be mixing and watering daily.

Thanks

 

[sanjuan]

nm, confused myself

 

[Ichabod Crane]

I just need a recycle timer that can be set for less than 15 minutes at a time.

Mist king timers. Down to the second 8 times a day.

 

[stoned40yrs]

Yeah I am switching back to blumats, I thought drippers would be easy but some plants drink more than other.

Damn I never thought about that. I am in the process of going perpetual so there is no way the plants in bloom will be using the same amount. Back to blumats I guess, with a good nute flush every 5 days. Screw that no runoff bs

 

[GonjaLove]

I will never go with no runoff again. After about 2 weeks of no runoff I decided to check my runoff ec. Im feeding 1.4 ec. Well when I checked the runoff it was up around 2.2...so yea unless you want fucked up plants, I would feed to runoff

 

[Snow Crash]

Some plants will take in more than others. Genetics, plant health, where it is in the grow space... there are many variables. Even when running clones due to the environmental factors involved.

Drippers done in a drain to waste (or recirculate) system eliminate this problem. Am I sitting here hand watering 1.8L to one plant and 1.65L to another because "it drinks less?" No chance! They all just get 2L and the runoff is what it is: adequate. In a recirculating system the feedings are done to excess anyway so that there is something to recirculate. Once the coco is wet, it's wet, it's not going to get more wet by using more solution.

Set the drippers to feed an even amount to each container so that adequate runoff is collected at each feeding.

Feed frequently.

There's no need for the Bluemats, ball valves, float valves, etc, as I see this setup. I think they are a great product but there's a time and a place. Sorry for being all militant about it

 

[rives]

Ron, I get the impression that you are planning on running your pump full time. That is unnecessary - all that you need to do is top it off frequently enough that you don't start sucking air. I run my lift pump 2x a day for about 3 minutes each time.

Most of us have found that the higher the reservoir, the better that the blumats function. They like pressure - the hose bib adapter/pressure reducer runs at 15 psi, which would take 30+ feet of elevation.

I've never had a problem with nutrient build-up in the media in the time that it takes to flower plants out. My bonsai mom's get flushed a couple of times a year when I see that they are starting to need a fresh start.

Snow Crash, I see DTW and recirculating systems as completely different designs. Running DTW is going to waste nutrient and will impact the amount of time between reservoir refills. Recirculating systems wind up changing the make-up of the nutrient in the reservoir and only work with frequent reservoir changes. With blumats, my plants not only get the same moisture content all of the time, but I can be gone for 2 weeks and they just motor along happily. The reservoir never gets changed out, just added to.

 

[RedBeardy5]

My first run is with seeds here at my new place. One pheno was a giant and would drink about a liter more than the others. Everyday I would have to hand water for the first feed so I don't waste 2 gallons of nutes. I have cap timers and been running them for over a year now. You can adjust to the seconds. There is no rule when growing. Changing and customizing until you find out what works for YOU.

 

[RonSmooth]

Ron, I get the impression that you are planning on running your pump full time. That is unnecessary - all that you need to do is top it off frequently enough that you don't start sucking air. I run my lift pump 2x a day for about 3 minutes each time.

Most of us have found that the higher the reservoir, the better that the blumats function. They like pressure - the hose bib adapter/pressure reducer runs at 15 psi, which would take 30+ feet of elevation.

I've never had a problem with nutrient build-up in the media in the time that it takes to flower plants out. My bonsai mom's get flushed a couple of times a year when I see that they are starting to need a fresh start.

Thanks. I'm not going to run it full time, just enough to keep the upper res topped off. The timer has 15 min increments so I can run it for 15 min every hour or so. I wanted to make sure that it could run continuously without overflowing in case the timer were to fail.

Recirculation also seems to help reduce the clear slime that always shows up.

The bucket is 4' off the floor and the water level is about 3' from the sensors. Thats as high as I can go but it is working well with the constant topping off to maintain the level in the top res.

So far the biggest issue has been rising pH. Going to start adding nutrients at 5.2pH to allow a broader range.

So far, blumats are working perfectly. The worst part about installing them was trying to work around 8 flowering plants in a 3x3 room with a single door. (NOTE TO SELF: Future grow rooms must have access from at least 2 sides!)

 

[stoned40yrs]

what nutes are you using, what ec and how much ph+ or ph- down?

 

[rives]

I seem to recall that I've read about pH fluctuation being amplified by aeration of the water. The aeration from recirculation may be helping one way and creating problems in another.