Ebb and Flow tray keeps flooding my grow room? HELP

[ambertrich]

You need to add a ball valve (most pond pumps/aquarium pumps come with one) to the line from the pump to the fill fitting. You can then adjust the flood rate by either truning the valve more open or more closed.

I use a 1/2" fill and 3/4" drain on one 4x4 table and can let the pump run 24/7 and never a flood. Just have to adjust the flow rate (you could get a smaller pump, but valves are cheaper).

As stated above, your drain line should be short, not all the way down into your nute solution. One of the other reasons for this is so that the returning water (through the drain line) will aerate the water in the res.

You can use a combo of the height of your drain fitting and the flow of the pump to set the flood level for your table. Again, when this is set, you can let it run for 5 sec or 5 days and it ain't gonna flood.

My other table has 3/4" fill and 3/4" drain, again using the valve on the pump never have problems. Once it reaches the flood level I want it will stay there as long as I want it.

Also, take into account how long it takes for the table to flood and the time it takes to drain once the pump is cut off. This time should be included when determining how long to set you timer. Rule of thumb is to not keep you roots submerged for more than 15 minutes TOTAL to prevent drowning the plants.
So if it takes 3 minutes to flood to your prefered level, and it takes 5 minutes to fully drain when the pump is cut off, you have 8 minutes of flood time already. (just an example).

Bottom line, what I am hearing/seeing is that your pump is way oversize for the job and is overwhelming your drain. So, either get a lower capacity pump, or adjust the flow rate on the one you have.

Best of luck getting your table sussed.

 

[growshopfrank]

Flooding rockwool blocks every four hours is excessive, unless your room is 100 degrees with 10% humidity. The usual rule with rockwool blocks/cubes is, about the time you plan to flood pick up one block, tilt it slightly, if it drips it doesn't need a flood cycle yet. Keep checking until no drips, then set to flood at that time. Never flood on the dark cycle or even in the last hour of light if possible, this also helps new plants to establish good roots if for the first 10 days or so you only flooded once a day. Just to be clear, this is for rockwool block/cubes on a ribbed flood table.

 

[krunchbubble]

6" rockwool are not meant to be flooded, unless the entire block can be covered with water.....

the top 1/3 layer has vertical fibers and the bottom 2/3's have horizontal fibers.....

if your not flooding the entire block, it creates a super hot zone at the base of your plant, no good....

 

[faulker]

I'm with supersmallgiant on this one. even though you are not supposed to use the overflow, it should not flood your place when using it. add a 3rd hole, 1/2" , and make that your in, and then you have two 3/4" over flows.

 

[dune]

a tip before you go to far

a tip before you go to far

Im with krunch on this one if your gonna do that setup just go with 4x4 blocks asap. ive got ur same setup running ever down to the timers lol. except i got handy and attached 6inch tall scrog frames to the table.

6x6's have just been a pain in the flood and drain system. Well it does work and you can get decent results that will make most people happy. i feel that they should be left for hand watering/dripper lines.

Also a Quick flush out can get tricky as hell unless you keep on it weekly, ex. soooo you peak ur plants to much ur gonna have at least 2-3 days of pissed off plant time, getting the ppm down in ur plant without over saturating that block and loosing air. (it was a cluster fuck of learning). best thing i can say is once a week run a gallon of 1/4 str nutes and water throught ur plant and it will save ur ass in the long run.

PS you dont need to flood to 4 inches, 2-2 1/2 works fine cause ur medium wicks the moisture up rapidly. [ i flood 1 time a day at 2 inches and thats about the max i can push the block without loss of productivity].

i know im kicking my own ass for using the 6x6's, im on my last 6 woohoo so i cant wait for my new case of 4x4 so i can kill it.

just passing on the 2 cents i learned with playing with 6x6 blocks in flood and drain tables this year.

(Room temps of my set up is 78-83 with 48-52% RH) for anyone that will wonder.

 

[Lazyman]

Easiest fix is to put an inline shutoff valve on the line coming off the pump, and crank it down to restrict the flow a bit. Only costs a few bucks and a few minutes to install.

 

[OhighO]

Use a smaller pump

 

[Marshall]

is the overflow clogged?

I have run a lot of flood tables, never had this happen. My current tables have 2 3/4 fittings, one for fill/drain and the other is the overflow. I use a eco-plus 1500 gph pump and never flood the table

I have heard restricting flow is bad for the pump. I dont know why if they are magnetic there is no direct drive. Another solution is to tee off your fill line and put valves after the tee so you can control the flow and surplus water goes back in the res.

 

[Guest 16149]

Use a smaller pump

 

[Mr Eckted]

I'm sorry, I didn't read the whole thread, didn't have time. But I am an engineer, who happens to deal with fluid piping systems all day. Does your overflow tube dip into the reservoir? It sounds like you're experiencing hydraulic lock. It happens when you essentially "jam" air in between two "pieces" of water. Since the air can't get to the atmosphere because it is trapped on all sides, it essentially turns into a clog in the pipe.

Make sure there is an air break in between the surface of your rez and the overflow tube. A couple of inches will be plenty

 

[Ninja_Joe]

Ebb and Flow tray keeps flooding my grow room? HELP

I had to cut a hole in the output tube ( the one the pump is connected to ) so it spits out water back into my Rez as it's flooding the table, bigger the hole, the longer your table will take to fill.... I run my pump for 24 hours initially with rocks it table just to make sure it doesn't flood, if you do it right the water should never get more then a few mm over your drain pipe, which should be like 2 inches lower then your table height.

 

[LittleAmsterdam]

Why don't you take some photos so we can see what you're working with

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

Whoa hold on now. My rez is inches below my table, the overflow is allowed to fall directly back into the rez. I think the thing to do in my situation would be to ditch the crappy hydrofarm timer that only allows me a minimum of 15 minute flood time for a digital one. Correct me if I'm wrong..... Please

Yeah, you could spend $12 on a cheap digital timer that can be programed in one minute increments and you'd be set. I have two small tables set to run for one minute, and three tubs that run for two minutes at each watering. Fifteen minute increments are pretty course.

The drain outlet capacity should be larger, but your table is already built and running. With a new timer, just turn the pump on and watch the clock. When you're happy with the flood level, see how many minutes have elapsed. That's your setting.

 

[krunchbubble]

Yeah, you could spend $12 on a cheap digital timer that can be programed in one minute increments and you'd be set. I have two small tables set to run for one minute, and three tubs that run for two minutes at each watering. Fifteen minute increments are pretty course.

The drain outlet capacity should be larger, but your table is already built and running. With a new timer, just turn the pump on and watch the clock. When you're happy with the flood level, see how many minutes have elapsed. That's your setting.

where are these $12 1 minute increment timers?

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

where are these $12 1 minute increment timers?

$12.99 double outlet

http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=TIBDD&eq=&Tp=

 

[ThePizzaMan]

Its not the timer on this one. Chances are it is your pump..that is way too much for a 4X8. get yourself a 396 ecoplus..and off you are.

Also..make sure there are no leaks, the o-rings go on top of the table..not below it(had to learn the hard way)..if your drain fitting is not doing it's job..which it supposed to do..so this does not happen.....

Than the answer must be that there is simply too much water rushing in to the table too quickly for it to work..assuming that the water is flooding out of the tray...which can only be one thing...your pump is too damn big.

TPM

 

[roots3003]

I skipped reading page 2..but you for SURE gotta have a bigger drain fitting(or multiple one's) then the fill fitting. Otherwise more waters gets pumped in than can get out.
I can leave my pump on all day and it won't overflow, so that's not your issue.

 

[0'dweeds]

The OVERFLOW is set soo high the water would never drain through it unless it was spilling over into it. Like I said before you're not supposed to use the OVERFLOW, but have better control with a smaller pump and a digital timer.

Research more how to correctly setup Ebb & Flow tables, specifically the OVERFLOW and you shouldn't have these problems anymore.......

Overflowing back to the rez plays a big role in the ebb and flow system. You want the flood tables to drain/recirculate back via the overflow fitting to create more dissolved oxygen and osmosis. You would NOT want to just fill a table up with out it spilling back through a taller fitting.

OP: Like others have suggested, if your rez isn't way off to the side of your table then your pump is too strong, also make sure your drain tube isn't submerged in your rez when recirculating.

 

[Ultra Current]

My 4x8 e and f has a 1000 gph pump and I love it. I don't use the drain stem so the water drains very fast and gives me more dissolved oxygen. Pump stays on for a few minutes and turns off and drains in a few minutes. In my situation the pump has to pump faster than it drains. This causes a faster waterfall and the water on the tray moves more and gives more oxygen.

 

[KUSHEATER1]

just change the pump too strong for your table I have homemade 2x3 tables without a overflow fitting and they work fine .Your pump is pumping too much water too fast slow the rate down or get a 20 pond pump that will do the job