My 1st basement grow 12 bucket dwc

plumpm0nkey

Member

• Jul 15, 2007

• #1

After finally gathering all the damn materials and when you think you have em all there is always misc crap you need. Here is what i got so far. gotta finish up adding the feedlines and run airlines. Then mount the lights.







Since im a cheap ass and don't wanna lay down a couple of bills for a chiller, im going the salvaged water cooler w/ fridge method. My friend snagged it for me when he was at the dump. its a maytag the outside was cracked but the inside is what counts. Took it apart in 2 minutes it had ice on the coils. it has a adjustable thermostat



well i guess for one of my fuckups is having different strains in the setup, OG, SD, afganny



These will be for future clones, Strawberry cough and OG cush

 

G

Guest

• Jul 15, 2007

• #2

Looks nice. Go big or go home eh? Cant wait to see the finished product. What's the specs of the equipment? Lights, fans, pump, co2 fans ect?
Looking foward to some more updates.

 

plumpm0nkey

Member

• Jul 15, 2007

• #3

I only have 1 400w hps. I need to get more lights pretty soon. for the clones im goin to run em from the buckets in a day or so under fluorescents. I will be adding co2 later aswell. The pump is 600gph and the airpump is by sunleaves 600gph on a 12 port manifold, and hopefully i can use that cooler as a chiller, im lookin into the tool handle rubber dip will be ok to be in water and not discharge any toxins in the water, The basement hits 82 degrees high and 72 lows. the room has good air circulation and has windows open. Thank you for the interest!!. Oh the nute im using is Novagrow by genhydro.

Also as you can see kinda im running 1 feed line around the buckets and cappin it at at the end of the other row. the feed line has a ball valve just incase the pump is to powerful.

 

Last edited: Jul 15, 2007

V

vaprpig

• Jul 15, 2007

• #4

Plumpmonkey, nice job, I'm getting ready to start blazeoneup's system myself. Just working on the finishing touches of the room.

Anyway, My lights will be air cooled and I have AC so I am going to try and get away with out a chiller by wrapping the res., controller and buckets with that Reflectix reflective insulation for pipe and water heaters. I thought I could even cut circles for on top of the buckets and strips to lay down over the hoses. If I can't keep the temps. down then I'll get a chiller.

 

G

Guest

• Jul 15, 2007

• #5

Looks like you are going to have a prosperous future.

Nice setup, Maybe a 1k light for the 12? What are you planning on purchasing?

ALso, what about ventilation? I know you said the windows are open, is this the only air movement.

I am excited to see your progress!
Canaboost-

 

H

Haps

stone fool

Veteran

• Jul 15, 2007

• #6

If you want to insulate your tubing [I plan to, but do not know if it is needed or not], think about the pipe insulation at the homegrown stores, it is cheap, cuts easy and seems perfect for the job. I know once the canopy is going, the lights won't hit the black tubing, but until then, is seems imprudent not to cover/insulate it.
H

 

ItsGrowTime

gets some

Veteran

• Jul 15, 2007

• #7

Looks good! My only thought was to put down some plastic on the floor. It would be a shame to ruin that carpet when you spring a leak. And you probably will spring a leak at some point.

 

plumpm0nkey

Member

• Jul 16, 2007

• #8

Thanks for lookin at my setup, Nice to see people care The plastic i was thinking about bc i will be sealing off the room in the near fututure. I will put down plastic around the buckets somehow and calk it or something, it was to much of a pain in the ass to keep the buckets perfect 1 foot in all directions. I finished installing the pain in the ass 1/4" barbs. So hard to push in even with needle nose. the feed lines are connected to the 1/2" tubing. Now i just need to run the air then run the system for a day and find the leaks.

Vaprpig keep an eye on hosing from anywhere since since hydro shops seem to only carry 3/4". My lay out i found that all i needed was 50' roll not 100. I guess ill build another system and sell it. Maybe ebay?

I dont know what 1k lighting i would use but i keep seeing these threads for what is the best digi ballast. The local hydroshop guy here is like bill nye the science guy when it comes to whats the best. Ill throw up some pics shortly

 

plumpm0nkey

Member

• Jul 18, 2007

• #9

Where is erveryone

Where is erveryone

Where is erveryone

 

E

EatShitake

• Jul 18, 2007

• #10

Hey, plump! (First post-wooHoo!)

Setup is lookin mighty nice. I run the B1up DWC's in the fall/winter. Where I'm at, the summer temps are brutal, so I gotta go E&F for another couple months.
There's a tool for those barbs-kinda like a punch. Still a pain, I hear ya.

Let us know how the water temps work out and if the DIY chiller is working. Things are lookin real nice.

Good luck and stay safe!

 

Dj Zion-i

Member

• Jul 18, 2007

• #11

Looks a bit complicated compared to my set up LOL...but ye good luck with that.
Heres mine

 

plumpm0nkey

Member

• Jul 18, 2007

• #12

I finally finish up all the last touches to do a test run. I liquid nailed the barbs to the buckets and barbs from the hose. The pump im using is by sunleaves that fills 600gph, pretty quite pump. i hope the pump i have is not to powerfull to turn down the flow with the ballvalve . NOW i need to do is drill some holes in the concrete and hang some lights, Then i have to buy a meter, i cant do this grow blindfolded. Once the system passes water leak test and works like its supposed to i will install the diy chiller.

Zip ties are your friend!


Some bling bling air splitter



How i connected the rez to the controller from a 1/2" fitting to 1/4" float

 

I

incubusflyguy

New member

• Jul 18, 2007

• #13

Might want to get that air pump ABOVE the highest level water will reach. In the unfortunate event of a power outage, those big ones have one hell of a siphon on them....and nute colored water stains...plus you risk frying your air pump.

 

G

Guest

• Jul 18, 2007

• #14

Looks good man , sometimes just sticking a 2 gallen frozen jub in every day is the best to keep the water cool. Also keeping the air pump in the coolest part of the room with air blowing onto it, that way it is at least pumping cooler air into your buckets. Gl grow on

 

Last edited: Jul 18, 2007

plumpm0nkey

Member

• Jul 18, 2007

• #15

incubusflyguy said:

Might want to get that air pump ABOVE the highest level water will reach. In the unfortunate event of a power outage, those big ones have one hell of a siphon on them....and nute colored water stains...plus you risk frying your air pump.

Click to expand...

I don't understand what you mean about putting the pump above water level? do you mean my air wands that i have in the buckets? I don't have power outages out here. I bought some dope ass Oxygen tanks to squirt into the Air pump air intake every now and then to get that extra boost of oxygen bubbles to stick to the roots. My air pump doesn't get hot so the air inst hot. I'm about to run a hose into the basement and fill up the Rez and cross fingers that it all works. i guess in the meantime i will try the frozen bottles if it needs a small temp drop. i will use the water cooler method if i need a drastic drop. I get my water here from a well so the temp is pretty low. The room has been around 80-82 degrees but a small ac unit may be added later on. i will post some more info later tonight . thank you for checking out my setup, it really means alot when everyone leaves a comment and a suggestion.

 

ItsGrowTime

gets some

Veteran

• Jul 18, 2007

• #16

He means because if the pump shuts off the water can run back up into the air hose and down to the pump. Destroys your pump, spills nutes on the floor, and a possible electrocution issue. I dont raise mine either but he's right, it is possible.

 

P

PUFFS-ENUFF

Member

• Jul 18, 2007

• #17

You can get check valves for the airlines @ any petshop for next to nothing. Also when you get her up and running keep a close eye on your return lines. mine would clog with roots causeing buckets to overflow

 

plumpm0nkey

Member

• Jul 18, 2007

• #18

ohhh ok, what do you think of using 35watt 5' light florescents i have about 12 tubes i think to hang really close to them ( the fixtures i mean ) how long could i use em effectively for? they will run 24 hr

 

plumpm0nkey

Member

• Jul 19, 2007

• #19

ok the update is this

I got 2 faulty 3/4" drain valves that leak from the seal. and 1 faulty 1/2" feed valve that has a small leak. the drain valve is a pretty fast leak. i swaped out the feed house and connected a hose to the pump to the rez to drain the whole system now so i can go return them and get hoepfully working ones, bc i dont wana do this shit again

 

ItsGrowTime

gets some

Veteran

• Jul 19, 2007

• #20

Dont forget about the wonders of aquarium silicone. $4 in the Walmart fish section. Itll fix most any leak you have with good coverage and a good cure.